The Upkeep of allotment by council

I'm in the borough of Spelthorne (near Heathrow) and the whole site looks like an absolute tip, with rubbish all over the place, there vermin all over, mice rats and rabbits, at a guess I would say there is enough room for at least 100 plots (at 10 poles each) about 30 have been taken, the rest are very overgrown, there's a new car park (sponsored by BAA) there going to put a big front gate up soon, I just feel they have there priority totally wrong, clear the rubbish first then do something about the vermin, I know your not going to get rid of 100% of the vermin, but surly you try and keep it in check, I had a word (a few time) to the guy who is the allotment spokesman (or whatever title he has) when i speak to him he agrees with me, and tells me he has spoken to the council and they just dont do anything about it, it must be so off putting for a prospective allotment holder to come on site and see how much work they have to do and the fences they have to put up even before they start to dig and plant, Runnymede has the highest rent for allotments in the UK, so surely they should look after there property, if a gypsy was to leave the site in that mess, they would complain soon enough, they get away with it because they thing its not there problem, or just they do what they want? i dont know.... what's the law in all this, surly they just cant leave it in a mess like this

 

Its rare that I agree with the councils, they rarely do things logically, but I think it makes sense to secure the perimeter first.

Patches of ground that are already a mess tend to be regular targets for fly tippers, so the problem is self perpetuating. By securing the perimeter first, they can hopefully stop any new dumpings/vandalisms etc, so that it wont be an endless battle to tidy the ground up.

In reality, I doubt the council will tidy it. They are compelled to save money with all these cuts that are happening, so they'll do the least they can. Having secured the perimeter, they will get tenants for the plots, regardless of the state they're in. Those tenants will then proudly tidy up their plot.

I'm not 100% sure, but I think the council are obliged to tackle vermin problems, if it is a problem, because it is a public health issue. If its just a few families of mice they won't bother, but if its large numbers of rats they might.

 

Well IF the perimeter is secure and gated, then most people interested in an allotment would be pleased, to take on an allotment
All new allotments need a lot of work to clear, clean, then produce

Personally I have a predicament with an allotment
I have just started gardening, greenhouse last May, started late, so did not have
very good results, but I am trying again this year
From November, I have managed to glean part of our back lawn from SWMBO, removed the turf, double dig by removing the top spit to taurpaulin, second spit to dump. refill with compost and top soil, and now realise that apart from 30 taties, 60 onion sets, and some salads I do not have enough GARDEN

This is in preparation to my retirement in APRIL

Our council have announced that for the first time ever they are to make allotments available in every area of the town
The have fenced off and gated about ten allotments, in each area
they removed the top turf and rubbish, dumped 6" of topsoil and levelled, provided a small wooden shed 3'x3' for tool storage

Now my problem
If I do not take one soon I will not get one
Though I feel I am too inexperienced enough and not FIT enough to take one on
My initial thought is to take one, and just sort of keep it tidy, maybe just potatoes and brassicas for a year, then IF I find I am a bit fitter, get more into it following years rather than lose the opportunity

Ooops of on me tangents again, so will stop and post the rest of my thoughts ideas in a new allotment thread

Jack McHammocklashing

 

Jack I think you should get the plot, even if you just plant a few things, its a start, and like you say if you get better you still have the plot, as long as you plant a do something m8, you keeping your hand in, otherwise, you dont take it, and you get better, your gona wish you did take it then, and its too late, or the wrong time of year to do anything with it, im not the fittest person in the world, but i do a pit at least each week, and by the time you realise it.... all the hard graft is done

 

Grab that allotment Jack.

Dopey. About the mess, should the council get round to tidying up the site, the vermin problem will (hopefully) be greatly reduced. Cheers, Tony.

 

I'm going to try and see someone on the allotment this week, and I'm going to tell him to pull his finger out and clean up the mess, its at times like there you need to self manage I think?

 

I echo the other comments here, get that allotment Jack.

Dopey, is there no possibility of organising some outside help to help clean up the site?

We have recently had some extra help at our site from around a dozen or so well behaved prisoners, they came down with strimmers/brushcutters and cleared a few neglected plots, those plots have now been let and are currently being dug over by their new tennants.

Steve...

 

I just wish I could show you what its like, there are mounds of earth pallets mattresses, tyres, you need skips, and I'm not talking about the type of skip you use for household waste, the very large ones that arctic's pull, you'll need about 7 to 10 loads at least I would think just to get shot of the rubbish, when my son gets back from Dubai (he has my camera, i will take some pics to show the mess

 

Whats the address of the site, whats the name of the nearset road?

We can perhaps use google maps and get a view into the site.

Is it commercial road?

Steve...

 

Hey Dopey have a look on wikipedia.org/wiki/Leptospirosis or just google Weil's disease, Not very nice & carried by rats in there urine & can be transfered to a water source I'de keep your gloves on f I were you, Mick

 

Good idea Steve - I've just Googled the area and I would hazzard a guess that the allotments are either on Spout Lane TW19, or Priory Green TW18 both look as if they have many uncultivated plots, - strange when we hear of the long waiting lists especially around London - but of course the land could be ear-marked for some future expansion of Heathrow (particularly Spout Lane)

a-a

 

I looked up the boroughs allotments (http://www.spelthorne.gov.uk/text/leisure__amp__allotment_sites.htm#staines) and plumped for Commercial road as it has 250 plots, Dopey says around 40 are in bad condition, from street view it looks ok (what you can see) but from the air it looks like lots of plots are not in use.

Steve...

 

This is a very old google picture though, it doesn't show how it really is

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=Spout Lane, Stanwell Moor&hl=en&ll=51.465912,-0.49799&spn=0.00524,0.016512&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&hnear=Spout Ln, United Kingdom&t=h&z=17

The land is not earmarked for anything, they have finished terminal 5 a long time ago, and if there was to be a 3rd runway it would be on the other side (bath road)

the pic looks like its almost totally empty that's just not the case, if you look at google you'll see a large poly tunnel, my plot is opposite the tunnel, from the (car) track all the way back to the fence (all you can see is some kind of border)

 

The Vineries, Spout Lane
Over 100 plots
Location: Access is at the end of Spout Lane, Stanwell Moor
Mains Water: Yes

One of our larger and more remote sites. Can be an issue with wild rabbits. There is a car park on site.

 

I'd second Madmick, i've had Weils disease & not only is worse than Flu, it can kill you a year later if not treated straight away.