Greedy plotholders

Yea every plot has its share of Ming Mongs

 

When my dad and I had adjacent plots years ago, there was a mean bloke a couple of plots down from us. In the height of summer we would put a hose on the communal tap (as most did) to water our crops. This bloke would come along and just take our hose off and put his on, while we were still using it. He didn't even have anything growing, has patch was just bare mud.

We turned a blind eye the first few times and just waited until he'd finished then set ours back up. After a while our patience wore a bit thin though. We tried to speak to him about it but he just ignored us completely, so we would take his hose back off and reattach ours. Things escalated through me putting a large stone on his hose to block it, to the climax when I severed his hose pipe with my spade.

Not long after our dispute he left his plot. Not sure if he was kicked off or left of his own accord.

 

There could be a book written on the characters I have met, usually half the plot holders are potterers who just come and weed and weed and weed and dont grow anything but they are stopping the real gardeners from having a plot.

 

Clueless that guy sounds like a right old grumpy b*gger I really can't understand people like that allotments are I know for people to grow their own but also brilliant sociable places.

I thought the 'baddie' on our site was just shy and that was why he didn't talk much to the rest of the guys I have never been one to see another left in the wings in fact have always encourage my children to include others who appear somewhat lost in their environment.....childish as it seems this one guy needs to be left on his own!

Clueless haven't you thought about maybe getting another allotment or haven't you got much time now?

I live only a very short distance from Parkway/M1/M18 junction and I know there are a fair few allotment sites around Sheffield.Hel.xxx.

 

Let`s hope that with the current trend for growing your own, the council responds by opening more land up to allotments-they certainly won`t have the need to sell off good land to private developers at present. It seems ridiculous that perfectly good land can be given over to these developments that are now standing either unfinished or empty.

 

As far as i understand it, the local authorities have a legal obligation to find allotments when there are people waiting. I cant remember how many off the top of my head, but down in Totnes, south Devon, when there were 50 people waiting for plots, they organised themselves, put pressure on the district council who then had to prompt the town council into finding, i believe, purchasing the land on which the district council would then over see the new allotments.
I will try and dig out the relevant info pertaining to council obligations...
Meanwhile...
There is a wonderful book written about ten years ago. The allotment handbook by Sophie Andrews. It was written in response to the shameful wholesale sell off that councils undertook in the eighties and early nineties.
I would suggest that you make yourself known to the local council, explaining to them that they have a legal obligation to find more sites. Good luck