Bottle edging - Health and Safety b**ls**t

[running_muttley]

I've been using wine bottles to edge my plot for about 3 years now. I haven't edged the whole plot as I don't drink so it's taken a while to aquire the bottles. I've now had a phone call from the new chair of the allotments to say that they're a health and safety risk and I will have my tennancy of the plot reviewed if I don't remove them. I pointed out they were no more a risk than a greenhouse but apparenty a green house is a structure so it's different.

Any advice how to deal with shuch idiots?

[lindyloo]

no advice but i have used coloured bottles to edge my garden paths,too. ( like you, i dont drink wine, so i had to collect lots of bottles from all and sundry. to get them level i have jumped and stomped on the bottoms, with all of my 12s. weight, in wellies, and not a breakage or injury in sight. i dont know how you will convince the guvvnor's though!

[Flummery]

Ask him to try and break one. Then you can show him there's no risk.

[Nicos]

Maybe you should ask what other H&S aspects they are implementing?
...trip factors- rusty nails on posts-warning signs re sprayed areas or stored toxins....Fire risks...ponds...first aid box..parking...bonfires( are you in a smoke free zone?)just to get you started!!!

Sounds like an excuse to get their hands on your plot!

Mind you- you could alternatively just remove them and mutter under your breath.

[SarzWix]

Just to play devil's advocate...

We have 2 plots, one of them is practically unworkable with your bare hands due to the amount of broken glass in the soil Literally, you cannot take up a trowelful without picking out 2 bits of glass... Now, I know that this is 90% down to broken greenhouse glass, but... Can you just imagine if you give up your plot at any point and it gets overgrown? And then picture the next tenants trying to dig out loads and loads of bottles? If they were hidden by weeds, a lot of breakages would occur in the digging.

Seems to me that the threat of eviction from the committee is a bit OTT, but I can kinda see their point too. Personally, I think they ought to be banning glass greenhouses as well...

[tamsin]

You could also try a compromise, for example could you fill them with sand/cement or something that would make breaking them harder.

Otherwise, I would go direct to the health & safety body and get their opinion. If they support your view then put their written response into a formal letter to the chair and ask him to provide evidence to the contrary.

[Glutton4...]

... Mind you- you could alternatively just remove them and mutter under your breath.

Wot she said - plots are hard to come by nowadays!

[Nicos]

Wot she said - plots are hard to come by nowadays!

... n wot she said!

[Two_Sheds]

I think they ought to be banning glass greenhouses as well...

Well said.
Both my plots have been full of broken glass from former greenhouses: nobody warned me, it's what you expect to find on an overgrown allotment. I've also dug up knives, yards and yards of buried wire .... there are all sorts of hazards on an allotment.

Bottle borders are no more dangerous than a greenhouse, in fact they are less prone to breakages.

[Two_Sheds]

I've now had a phone call from the new chair of the allotments to say that they're a health and safety risk and I will have my tennancy of the plot reviewed if I don't remove them.

I was tipped off last night that I'm going to be getting the same message

Bottle borders are no more dangerous than a greenhouse, in fact they are less prone to breakages.

Let's see how long my argument holds water

I've had a bottle border since 2005, and no breakages yet