Allotment Wars (BBC1)

Did you see the Allotment Wars programme last night on BBC1 (or catch-up) ?

Is this representative of Allotment societies? My own experience with anything that has a committee is one of politics and ego's - which is why I've never volunteered to go on one of those boards.

By and large, can I assume they just let the gardener get on with it?

My worry is for me to take on an unruly patch and make it good to be pushed off the allotment so the patch can be used by someone else favoured by the committee.

The waiting list I am on - it's been a few years now - I was told I had a plot waiting for me and for me to go down. While I was waiting for the appointment to go see and pay, another email came by to tell me I was 3rd in the waiting list.

What's your experience?

 

Committee obviously decided to pass it to someone else, personal friend, relation whoever.

 

I saw this last night and found it quite amusing especially the 2 plot neighbours who hadn't spoke for 3 years. I did feel sorry for the guy who was pushed out when all he was trying to do was grow some pumpkins and veg with his young kids. I've had my name down for a year on a council run allotment and I hope it's not going to be like that for me. Putting weed killer in water butts is quite low after all the hard graft that's put into growing

 

Thanks all.
John - I'd rather not risk antagonising the powers that be. I think the demotion can work both ways - I've got an idea of how this committee works and they potentially get to see how I work if I start making a fuss before I have even got a plot. It has made me all the more thankful for the polytunnel to come in late Feb to be in my garden.

 

You probably only get to hear of the horror stories from where things go wrong as people don't tend to post about well run allotments and fair & efficient management committees, but there still seems to be too many of the former. I stopped reading one forum because I found the constant accounts of how badly tenants were being treated all rather depressing.

One year I had my best contenders for the local giant marrow competition nobbled (stems cut through and marrows left there). As there's nobody else on my site who enters I was somewhat reassured that the culprit was from elsewhere, but I still won with a backup growing elsewhere. This sort of thing does go on.

 

I watched allotment wars and I am also on our committee, we dont have problems.

what we do have is vandalism from external sources, the sheds get broken into and gypsies come through our allotment and steel diesel from the council depot next door.

Allotment holders get on well with each other but there is one couple who refuse to shut the gate and do push it open wide before leaving. The parish council seem to be too frightened to expel them. They have had plenty of warnings. The gates need to be shut because of toddlers on the sllotment.

 

We have an allotment and never have any problems except like you Julie with vandalism, stealing the water taps is a yearly occurance,as is sheds being set on fire, even stole a lead bath used to collect water(god knows how they moved it) and tools etc, not safe to leave anything in your shed!!!!!!, last year all the greenhouses were smashed by using pumpkins off one of the allotments, but all the allotment holders get on well.

 

I had an allotment years ago. The only bother I ever had was from vandals and thieves who were not fellow allotment keepers (I know this, because ours was the kind of community where you very quickly found out who did what, to whom, where, when and how - a village in other words).

My dad has had an allotment for many, many years. He loves it, and again the only bother is from outside. Most notably, a bunch of youths bricking everyone's greenhouses. One summer my dad's allotment grew out of control because he was ill, and couldn't keep on top of it. He got a polite warning letter. My dad didn't have to do anything about it because once word got round, several of the other allotment keepers got straight onto the committee to explain that my dad had been ill, was on the mend, and would no doubt have it ship shape for next season, which thankfully is how it turned out.

I sometimes wonder what the motives are of people who write reports or make documentaries portraying allotmenting to be blighted with snobbery and petty antics. I sometimes wonder if the state owned BBC might have been slightly biased, given that this time last year Huge Furry Witteringstall was getting everyone worked up into wanting an allotment and if enough people ask, local government have to find land to turn into plots.

 

Perhaps because there's enough of that sort of behaviour around to make make it worth reporting? Although it's in a minority, in my experience as both an allotment tenant and Parish Councillor, problems do exist. Accusing the BBC of bias is a traditional tactic of attacking the BBC's reporting of facts (whoever they criticise), if it differs from the protagonist's point of view.

 

I wasn't accusing the BBC of anything, I was merely questioning whether or not they are in a position to be unbiased.

Reporting facts is one thing. To report that an incident had occurred on an allotment would be fair enough, but a documentary with a name like 'Allotment wars', where even the name associates allotments with trouble, can't possibly be unbiased.

EDIT: I should add, I'm not knocking the BBC. They sometimes make good entertainment programs. They make a fair few good factual programs from time to time too. They have to earn their license fee and to do that, they have to give people what they want.

 

From my experience in managing Parish Council allotments, I wasn't at all surprised with that choice of title as that's exactly how it was (still is?) for some tenants, and from speaking to those responsible for allotments management at the local District Council they encountered similar problems.

Self management of allotments does not appear to have been subject to same controls/scrutiny/etc. as those controlled by Local Authorities who employed experienced, knowledgeable & accountable staff (but who even then still didn't always get it right).

 

I caught the last half it,those 2 woman had it right cosy in their shed i could of revamped my kitchen with what they had but not nice for somebody to be stealing from them!I hope there are more episodes.

 

I thought - indirectly - the programme made a case against local allotment committees and gave some merit towards having *all* allotments (except private) managed by an impartial council.

 

I dare say fewer people would have watched the program if it had been called "harmonious allotments" or similar (I didn't see it myself), The local council runs my allotment, the comittee asked said council to advertise vacacant plots in April last year, they did so in August. I applied received a letter within a fortnight datailing which plots were available. I work full time so by the time I got home most of them had already gone but I took one that was not too overgrown. Most people there seem freindly and wiling to offer advice. I do know of people who have been evicted for not keeping their plots tidy (there is a no carpet rule).