Locking Sheds

[Bigmallly]

http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...ent_91894.html

[Alison]

Does your allotment not have a communal lock up for those sorts of tools?

We've no communal things on our site (except the new composting toilet) so I may simply not understand but wouldn't a central shed full of expensive gear be a real target for theft?

[MarkPelican]

Does your allotment not have a communal lock up for those sorts of tools?

No. The allotment has little or no communal activity, the "shed" is only open for two hours on the occasional Sunday.

[Snadger]

Think you need to put this on the scrapheap challenge Snadge..............too much vino maybe?..............

Consider it done big guy! Cheers

[sparrow100]

Whatever the Poll answers show, your questions are biased - based on the assumption that everyone with a shed on an allotment is concerned about theft or damage.
It was never an issue on my allotment site. The worst that happened was kids using the pumpkins as footballs. We didn't lock up the pumpkins though!

It's a good point. Mine has a lock, but it's not usually fully closed. Even if it were, I have windows, so if someone wanted to get in they could do so easily. Any thefts we have are usually produce, not tools.

[Bigmallly]

Think you need to put this on the scrapheap challenge Snadge..............too much vino maybe?..............

[Cadalot]

Whatever the Poll answers show, your questions are biased - based on the assumption that everyone with a shed on an allotment is concerned about theft or damage.
It was never an issue on my allotment site. The worst that happened was kids using the pumpkins as footballs. We didn't lock up the pumpkins though!

I take your point, actually on my first allotment we have only been hit once in four years because we are so out of the way, and that was only after the building works next door drew attention to us. However my second allotment normally gets hit a couple of times a year, and is beside a recreation ground that attracts scallywags, this year for some reason they are being more destructive and besides my grow house set fire to the mentally and physically handicapped schools polytunnel as well as coming back every couple of days to re enter sheds and working their way around the site.

[Cadalot]

We used to leave old bits of netting,fleece, a few bamboo canes, an old sharp knife, layout and future plans for the plot ( a scruffy one ...the best kept at home so I could photocopy it) , a few packets of seeds,plastic bags for rubbish and carrying crops, empty compost bags,small bags of growmore, FBB, hormone rooting powder,club root powder, a sharpening stone, cigarette lighter for the fire, sun cream, old twine, manky gloves,bottle of drinking water and a Tupperware of snack bars, loo roll and most importantly my orange pee bucket!
Nothing of value in reality...the rest were securely stored at home.

But they do have value because that's the first thing the Police want to know is the value of what was damaged or stolen. if you total up the normal contents of a shed you will be surprised

Rake
Spade
Fork
Hand Tools various
Hoe
Gloves more than one pair in a draw
Potato Fertilizer
Tomato Feed
Slug Pellets
Screws for the building of raised beds
Axe
Saw
Hose and hose fittings
Watering Can
Weed Membrane
Debris Netting
Seeds / Seed Box
etc. it all starts to add up.

One plot holder bought a load screws for the building of his raised beds and they were taken, another lost his mini blow torch that he melts the weed membrane with, another a load of seeds. My growhouse that was set on fire was �24 knocked down to a �10 in the sales but it all still adds up.

[veggiechicken]

The aim is to see how many people on Allotments lock their sheds and how many don't because of the damage they do when they break in and allow free access for them to just go in and take what they want.

Don't forget to complete the POLL above this post

Whatever the Poll answers show, your questions are biased - based on the assumption that everyone with a shed on an allotment is concerned about theft or damage.
It was never an issue on my allotment site. The worst that happened was kids using the pumpkins as footballs. We didn't lock up the pumpkins though!

[Snadger]

We used to leave old bits of netting,fleece, a few bamboo canes, an old sharp knife, layout and future plans for the plot ( a scruffy one ...the best kept at home so I could photocopy it) , a few packets of seeds,plastic bags for rubbish and carrying crops, empty compost bags,small bags of growmore, FBB, hormone rooting powder,club root powder, a sharpening stone, cigarette lighter for the fire, sun cream, old twine, manky gloves,bottle of drinking water and a Tupperware of snack bars, loo roll and most importantly my orange pee bucket!
Nothing of value in reality...the rest were securely stored at home.

Reminds me of someone who took their urine sample to the doctors in a small brandy bottle. Someone nicked it out of there bag. I would love to have seen there face when they went to drink it!

[Cadalot]

And the title of the thread is 'Locking Sheds'. I have a shed, locked, but not on an allotment as I don't have one.

Point taken, perhaps a Mod could alter the title to something like "To Lock or Not Lock an Allotment Shed that is the Question" I know very Shakespeare of me

[Nicos]

We used to leave old bits of netting,fleece, a few bamboo canes, an old sharp knife, layout and future plans for the plot ( a scruffy one ...the best kept at home so I could photocopy it) , a few packets of seeds,plastic bags for rubbish and carrying crops, empty compost bags,small bags of growmore, FBB, hormone rooting powder,club root powder, a sharpening stone, cigarette lighter for the fire, sun cream, old twine, manky gloves,bottle of drinking water and a Tupperware of snack bars, loo roll and most importantly my orange pee bucket!
Nothing of value in reality...the rest were securely stored at home.

[Bigmallly]

If you leave "nothing of value" in your shed, what's it for? My allotment is 2.5 miles away and I usually walk. So my shed contains the basic tools (if I need my tiller or strimmer, I go in the car) not high value but if I had to take them every time I'd give up my allotment.

Does your allotment not have a communal lock up for those sorts of tools?

[veggiechicken]

My unlocked shed contained old garden tools, pots, string, seeds, labels, notebook & pen, first aid kit, boots, old coat - nothing of any real value. Its real value was as somewhere to shelter from the rain and to change into my gardening clothes when I called in straight from work!

[MarkPelican]

We were advised by the Police and the Local Council who run the site, to leave nothing of value in the shed and not to lock it.

If you leave "nothing of value" in your shed, what's it for? My allotment is 2.5 miles away and I usually walk. So my shed contains the basic tools (if I need my tiller or strimmer, I go in the car) not high value but if I had to take them every time I'd give up my allotment.

Those sheds which have been broken in to have (in general) had small portable things stolen rather than large valuable items so (for example) a shed with rotavator, lawnmower, and other similar things was broken into (everything moved out of the shed) but the only things taken were a set of spanners and a trowel