I want an allotment!

**Farmer_Gyles** · 10-05-2012, 07:39 AM

i had to give mine up last year because of work and lack of time .... and then things changed, quit the job, partner moved in, and now i can't even get on a waiting list for an allotment ....

**alldigging** · 10-05-2012, 07:42 AM

Is there any unused open land near you?

How up for a bit of work are you? I mean campaigning rather than pure guerrilla gardening.

**Peas'n'Kews** · 10-05-2012, 10:20 AM

Have you tried any of the landshare-type sites such as
Landshare - connecting growers to people with land to share.

??

**Kleftiwallah** · 10-05-2012, 10:31 AM

I should take a stroll round your allotment sites and have a look at the plots / people. Is there a plot that looks 'forgotten or unloved' or an elderly chap or chappess that looks as though their allotment is getting too much for them? A quick chat about the weather, turn it towards you lusting after an allotment and do they need help on theirs?

If you are succesful you would be helping an elderly couple and getting some valuable knowledge at the same time as growing your veggies. Good hunting. Cheers, Tony.

**Farmer_Gyles** · 10-05-2012, 10:38 AM

Originally posted by Kleftiwallah View Post

I should take a stroll round your allotment sites and have a look at the plots / people. Is there a plot that looks 'forgotten or unloved' or an elderly chap or chappess that looks as though their allotment is getting too much for them? A quick chat about the weather, turn it towards you lusting after an allotment and do they need help on theirs?

that approach probably worked in the days before multi-year waiting lists for plots .... now you have to join the queue with everyone else and wait your turn, which could be 2/3/4 years ....

**Kleftiwallah** · 10-05-2012, 10:51 AM

I'm not recommending you 'userp' the legal allotment holder, just giving them a hand to ease their burden and ease your lust for growing 'stuff'. Nothing wrong with that.

Of course, waiting lists would be a thing of the past if 'Those in Authority' got of their backsides and sorted out those who are sitting on a weed strewn patch year in, year out with no intention of handing it back or working it either. Cheers, Tony.

**baby_blue** · 10-05-2012, 06:17 PM

i was on our local waiting list for 4 years before i was offered my plot, and then i was told that i was lucky to get it that soon, as the person before me had only had it for 1 year before giving it up!

there's not much to be done really other than waiting. i did make a habit of calling every so often to check out my place on the list (and just to show how keen i was!), i think within a year i had gone from 13th to 3rd place waiting! you will find that by the time a person gets to the top of the list they may have moved away, changed mobile numbers and can't be contacted, changed jobs, etc etc and you will jump up the waiting list.

i would agree though at looking at the plots, if there are some that look unused / overgrown for example, it may be worth a call to whoever manages the plots to let them know, although this may not necessarily secure you the plot, it may move that person on for someone else and moving you up the list. the management of out allotments do this, they don't really tolerate uncultivated plots and will contact plot holders to either get growing or to reallocate their plot, which is only fair given the waiting list in our area.

good luck!!! hope you get one soon.

**T8Ter** · 10-05-2012, 06:25 PM

3 1/2 years on the list for me and finally got mine in February, worth the wait!! now I can't wait to see the plants/seeds I've put in grow

If there's more than one site in your area put your name down on multiple lists. - Good luck.

**briggsy2011** · 11-05-2012, 06:30 PM

thanks for your comments, I was chatting to a lady who has an allotment near us (we were swopping freecycle stuff). She has had an allottment near me for a few years and some of her fellow allotment holders have let their plots go to grass, unfortunatley the council wont do anything about it. I might email the council to see how long they let the plot holder to leave their plot untended before they take them back, this might push them to doing something!.

**alldigging** · 11-05-2012, 07:09 PM

And then local councillors if that gets you no where!

**SarzWix** · 11-05-2012, 07:56 PM

Originally posted by briggsy2011 View Post

...some of her fellow allotment holders have let their plots go to grass, unfortunately the council wont do anything about it. I might email the council to see how long they let the plot holder to leave their plot untended before they take them back, this might push them to doing something!.

Take photographs if you can. And as alldigging said, contact local councillors too, not just the allotments officer on the council. In my experience, local councillors like to be given easy-to-solve problems, it makes them look good. So they'll happily chunter away on your behalf if you keep prodding them

**Currysniffa** · 12-05-2012, 07:35 AM

If you lived in my area you could get a lottie on the community garden. Its free once you've been a volunteer of a while and as long as you help out round the garden. Is there a community garden in your area that's short of volunteers ?

**Mr Dave** · 14-05-2012, 07:59 PM

I was in this exact same boat only 1 month ago, Desperate for an allotment and thinking I was years away from getting one with waiting lists being so big. One avenue you could try is writing to your local paper saying the allotments local to you are poisoned so alot of the present plot holders leave haha. That's basically how I got mine. At the beginning of last year the local paper ran a front page story saying one allotment site in the area (not the one I had my name on the waiting list for) had been found to contain high levels of arsenic and all produce from the site must NOT be eaten. The whole situation was blown out of proportion but in the end a full report was issued with investigation findings concluding the allotment was safe. So people had left, I got a call saying the allotment I wanted was still full but I had FOUR plots to choose from at the troubled allotment site. So keep your head up as you don't know what is around the corner buddy

**Moo's Mum** · 14-05-2012, 08:37 PM

I applied for a plot on my local allotments just last month. Was told I was 14th on the list and the wait could be in excess of 4 years

I went and introduced myself to a few of the people at the lotties and am now a regular visitor. I had a phone call this evening to say I'm now 10th on the list. Don't know if that's coincidence or what. So it may be worth showing your face and making yourself know.

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