Private Allotments

Hi All

How do I find out about private allotments, I share a small part of a friends allotment and I am on the council list (number 25) so I am 47 if 1 allotment becomes available each year I should be in receipt of my allotment at the ripe old age of 72. There are other considerations that I need to think about they close the gates to the allotments at 4pm in the winter (starting October) so as I work I never get time to go up there through the week.

I did ask a reasonably local neighbour if there was any chance of me using his garden as it is overgrown, but as he did not know me he was a bit concerned I think and said he would think about it and contact me if he was interested. Nothing heard as of yet so that looks like a dead end again.

Now maybe I could talk the local farmer into turning one of his fields into allotments!!

Your comments welcome

Dave

 

thats a great ideaDave with farmers having to divesify these days it would be a regular inciome for them.

 

Yep bigun

You are right I work in the fishing industry and diversification is the word at the moment for us and the farmers.

I think it is a good idea just got to work out the finances for the local farmer, I would like to help him as he was farming free range chickens but he needed new sheds and the cost was outweighing the benefits. So the I came up with this idea, trouble is he is not that keen on people!!

I am not sure how much a farmer would expect from a field (per Acre) but it seems there are alot of people wanting allotments in this area at the moment, the other idea is boot sales but for a farmer who is not too keen on people this may be a bit of a challenge.

Thanks for the quick reply

Dave

 

My son has just applied for an allotment. I believe they have halved the size of allotment to accomodate more applicants where he lives. I don't know if that is a good idea or not but it might be worth mentionning to someone for consideration?

 

hi David, I think it is a good idea to ask the farmer to let his field for allotments. In the countryside in Leicester we have a farmer who has done just that. Rent per year is £50-£100 and a skip is provided all the time for stuff that cannot be recycled. Apart from that it helps keep the plots tidy. We have two skips a year on our site but our society provides this.

We now have a waiting list of 9. Plots that become vacant are now devided into half in order to accomodate demand.

I think the farmer has to get planning permission for change of use but I dont think that will be a problem.

 

I am a BBC journalist trying to find new or existing private allotments in Kent or East Sussex. If you know of any please drop me an email with contact details. Thanks Stephan [email protected]

 

They can't give allotments away in Egham, Surrey.

 

Well not quite that bad, but Spelthorne Council don't actively promote their use.
Where the particular allotments are, it's mostly an affluent area and they are a bit hidden from view. Some of those who have one, use some of the others to make them look used, by planting "anything" in them so from a casual observation it all looks "busy." The fear of those who rent and cultivate about 60% of them is that the Council might decide to sell them for housing development, as they are only about 200yds from the Thames, though the main south railway line is between them and the river.

 

It is a good idea in principle for a famer to let out a small field for allotments. However, a lot of farmers get paid a subsidy by the EU penpushers, to leave fields fallow. Ludicrous to my way of thinking, but then I hate anything to do with the EU.

I am in negotiations with my neighbouring famer to buy a part of the orchard that my garden backs onto. It is taking a long time but I am hoping the the lure of cash money will swing things in my favour.

If you know a farmer that has some land that would be suitable, why not try this? Get together with a group of people that would be interested in sharing some land. See how much they would be prepared to pay for a certain amount of land. Take the names and figures and go see the farmer. You may need to agree to some formal lease arrangements and restrictions on what you can and cannot do. Nothing is ever straighforward nowadays, thanks to red tape.

Worst he can say is "GEROFF MY LAND"!

I would suggest that you also consider things like fencing, especially if the nearby land is used for livestock. Somebody will have to pay for that to be done. You will also need a good water supply and again that will be a cost to consider.

Good luck with the idea.

Chopper.

 

You sure that's still the case Chopper? I don't seem to see any fields "set aside" around us any more.

 

No mate, I am not sure about the scheme. However, we do see a few fields lying fallow round here. I had heard, (Could be mis-informed of course), that there is some other scheme in place.

Whatever the case Kristen, I think it would be a good thing to see spare land used as allotments. I have an interest so obviously I am biased. Can't help wondering how many people that do not have gardens would like a small patch to grow either veg for the table or flowers for interest.

Think about it. Modern life is very busy, spare time is at a premium. The allotments I have seen nearby (Taunton) are pretty large. A person wanting a small patch may very well not want or be able to cope with a full allotment. Dividing it up among a few like minded people makes sense and everybody wins.

Having a local farmer prepared to set aside some land for this purpose would have the added bonus of enabling people to get to know and understand how farmers work, learn about the land, nature, wildlife. If I was a farmer, I would much rather see a group of blokes stood around an allotment having a cuppa and chatting, than see them in the pubs.

Chopper.

 

I agree, I hate to see land unused .... just didn't want to, possibly, tar Farmers & Politicians with the wrong brush!

If I was a farmer I'm not sure I'd want the hassle of a plot of land being used as allotments - I'm sure there are plenty of hassles involved - unless an allotment association could say "We will pay you X per year and you will have zero responsibilities" - which is maybe doable. Tenancy arrangements are rarely that simple!

There is a scheme run (I think) by Channel 4 called (from memory) Landshare. That aims to put people who want to grow in touch with people locally who have some land to share. Dunno if any farmers have offered land - but I think the concept is good, and I hope its working

 

I Googled it. Looks like Channel-4 plus River Cottage and some others.

http://www.landshare.net/