allotments - should be cleared before allocating Y or N?

[Jay-ell]

I am secretary of our plots.................you should see the Soweto type village I've just taken on!

PS Meant to add this to the committee privileges post!

Keeping the best plot for yourself. And I had thought I had the sweetest deal

[Snadger]

I set them free.

Dolphin friendly.............that's what I like to see!

[21up]

i agree tidy your plot and get it like YOU want but like where i am plots are so overgrown for years as i have said in my earlier posts but we have people who get letters every year and still keep their plot and never sort them out we have plots empty for up to 2 years and a waiting list of 38 and they are left untill they are overgrown then other people are allocated them they seem to think as long as we are getting rent let the plot stay like that.
But then when they leave people on waiting list get a rundown mess of a plot and maybe been waiting up to 3 years while the plot was getting worse

[Snadger]

Photos are required by our council before we throw people off for bad plots. You need to keep a photographic record and point out the council's errors.

Would this qualify?

[21up]

Would this qualify?[ATTACH=CONFIG]63255[/ATTACH]

get that chappie banned a-s-a-p

[Muddy_Boots]

Would this qualify?[ATTACH=CONFIG]63255[/ATTACH]

Snadger looks like you have done nothing this year

Got a half plot and asking the council lady about another half plot that's grass and docks if there's a chance I can have it. You are asked if you want them to rotavate your plot before you take it on, I said no as they don't clear it and if its got plastic and/or wood on it they just rotavate that lot into it. Someone took on a plot last year and it was rotavated by the council, he told me he half expected to dig up a kitchen sink when he was digging it over as everything else was in it. They won't give you a free year or reduced rent here if its in a state its up to you to clear it in a reasonable time and get at least a third cultivated.

[donksey]

What's with all the crap fencing these days, parts of my allotment site look like a third world shanty town!
People bring too much detritus on site and a lot of them are the 'in like a lion, out like a lamb' types.
The sort that have 3 rusting cars on the drive that will be renovated one day, but the day never arrives.

When like on my site the most scruffy overgrown plots are rented by a committee member, then that does not set much of an example for others, it makes a great reference point for 'scruffies' to point at when they are told to tidy up.

Maybe membership should include a day or two a year tidying up abondoned plots or plots of those that are ill.

New members should be allocated half plots only, until they have proved they have the minerals to get stuck in and keep plots productive and up to a reasonable standard.

[donksey]

Your site seems to have a lot of rules, am thankful mine is much more relaxed. I don't care where people put their shed or what it is made of, it's about growing things to eat . Also, I would consider myself to have been very UNlucky to have had a plot that had been sprayed as I, like many other people don't want to have that approach and would much rather have the choice of digging conventionally.

Yours will have probably been sprayed, it will just have been some time ago.

[Alison]

Maybe membership should include a day or two a year tidying up abondoned plots or plots of those that are ill.

New members should be allocated half plots only, until they have proved they have the minerals to get stuck in and keep plots productive and up to a reasonable standard.

To be honest if I sent a couple of days tidying somebody else's plot it would be at the detriment of my own and I don't see why I should be responsible for somebody else's rubbish. I pay for my plot not the site but maybe it's different if you're saddled with a committee type site, not sure.

Re the half plot thing, I kind of understand the logic about proving but I knew I wanted a full plot and would have found it very difficult to put that level of effort into a half plot in the hope of moving either to a full plot or getting an unconnected half plot at the other end of the site. Knowing it was my space for Kees allowed me to plan properly and meant I could be self sufficient in veggies within a year from an abandoned plot.

Yours will have probably been sprayed, it will just have been some time ago.

Quite possibly but it won't have been immediately before I took it on which is a major plus point to me. Wouldn't have got the bonus raspberries I found at the back either.

[Guest]

Just wanted to make a point as there seems to be a lot of 'people don't care how they leave their plot' statements which I think is a little unfair. When I had my lottie and knew I was moving I sent a photo of my plot to the commitee and asked them what they wanted me to do as there was a clause that the plot should be left empty. I was happy to clear it if they wanted. Next thing I knew I got an e-mail telling me to hand in my key asap and I wouldn't get my deposit.

I am sure my plot wouldn't have been to a lot of peoples expectations but hey ho

[ESBkevin]

Your site seems to have a lot of rules, am thankful mine is much more relaxed. I don't care where people put their shed or what it is made of, it's about growing things to eat . Also, I would consider myself to have been very UNlucky to have had a plot that had been sprayed as I, like many other people don't want to have that approach and would much rather have the choice of digging conventionally.

Yes not spraying is a good thing, but even so the conventional digging was painfully slow with a lot of bindweed in every spade full. A few blackbury brambles were difficult and I broke a nice new stainless steel fork on one of them! It was a huge struggle for two of us to get it ready to plant in time. But once planting got underway things seemed very good. I took on the second half of the plot at the end of the season, it was sprayed again and the bindweed was much less of a problem because it was also spot sprayed. I did have a problem growing peas on that patch but everything else was quite productive given that I had less compost and organic material to use on it.
This year it is all nice and clean apart from a couple of escaped bits of bindweed and the soil is now well fed so great things are expected.

There will be no more spraying of commercial products on my plot, organic vinegar based weed killer if I ever need any more. I am concerned about the nicotides and the bees and have signed the current petition to parlement to that effect.

[Stan79]

It's great how passionate everyone is about their plots and keeping them tidy and wanting all plots on their site to be in use and productive... I doubt that's particularly high up on any council's list of priorities though.

Firstly, as has been stated numerous times in this thread, councils are trying to save money so i'm amazed they're even offering to clear plots.

Secondly, as was stated fairly early on in these 7 or so pages, if someone isn't prepared to clear an overgrown, messy plot, how likely is it that they have the work ethic required to keep it in good order a year down the line? Yes - help with a skip or reduction in rent would be helpful but i can imagine in many cases that's not realistic.

[gardening_gal]

Secondly, as was stated fairly early on in these 7 or so pages, if someone isn't prepared to clear an overgrown, messy plot, how likely is it that they have the work ethic required to keep it in good order a year down the line?

Happy to accept I'm maybe a bit naive but I've always found it odd that people are offered allotments that are sometimes little more than mini rubbish dumps.

The objective is to pay for a piece of land to grow on. There are usually fairly strict rules within the allotment sites about what you can or cannot do, yet it seems acceptable for someone to be offered something that a) couldn't actually be grown on in that state and b) is an example of what kind of condition that is not accepted or allowed to be done by an allotment holder even if they are paying good money for the privilege. It just seems so wrong to me.

That said, I do agree that councils shouldn't have to foot the bill for mass clean ups.

Perhaps there should be some sort of deposit taken before a plot is allocated, much like there is if one rents a property. At least that way the deposit could be forfeited and used to clear away someone's mess if they left one.

[Samurailord]

To be honest if I sent a couple of days tidying ..... it would be at the detriment of my own

To I pay for my plot not the site

But I suppose you still expect the communal areas (carpark, orchard, paths and roads, any other grassed areas) to be kept clean of rubbish and tidy with the grass cut? Hedges trimmed? Boundary fences maintained?

I do hope that you are not one of those plotholders who want nothing to do with the general upkeep of the site their plot is on, and feel it is 'someone else's problem' ?

These tasks all need to be done throughout the season,and if the plotholders don't do it who will?

The Allotment fairies perhaps?

In reality you usually find that it is always the same people who give up their time to help keep the site clean, tidy and do those little jobs that always need doing whilst the rest sit back and expect to see it all done by someone else, but will be the first to complain if the overgrown boundary hedge next to their plot is blocking the light.

If you really don't want to get involved in communal work parties would you be willing to pay towards getting a contractor in to do the jobs that need doing instead?

[Alison]

But I suppose you still expect the communal areas (carpark, orchard, paths and roads, any other grassed areas) to be kept clean of rubbish and tidy with the grass cut? Hedges trimmed? Boundary fences maintained?

I do hope that you are not one of those plotholders who want nothing to do with the general upkeep of the site their plot is on, and feel it is 'someone else's problem' ?

These tasks all need to be done throughout the season,and if the plotholders don't do it who will?

No most of those things don't need to be done on our site as we don't have a carpark, orchard, roads, boundary fencing etc. We do have a grass path down the middle of the plots which we all strip back from time to time but all hedges are round your own plot so you just sort yourself out. There is no reason for organised working parties therefore we don't have them. Therefore clearly no need for any Contractors either. Quite why you think I spend my time complaining that people aren't doing imaginary tasks I have no idea. Your post makes a lot of invalid assumptions about both myself and our site. You may have a labour intensive site but we don't all.