RobD1
27-11-2006, 19:02
I was browsing through the council website this afternoon and came up with the following:
In Jan 2002 the Parks and Countryside Service published an Allotment Strategy for Sheffield, which had five clear aims for the allotment service:
1. Well-managed and maintained sites.
2. Customer satisfaction and active community participation.
3. Sound administration and sufficient staffing.
4. Provision of adequate resources.
5. Promoting and increasing the benefits of allotments.
Obviously I only have experience of our site (Hagg House) but I'm still laughing at the first one. So far I think they've managed to achieve no 5.
For those of you wondering about apparently dis-used plots, the allotment office says are let...
In response to a recommendation to increase the number of site inspections (March 2003), "Currently undertaking an annual site inspection of every plot with follow up visits where tenants are served with a non – cultivation notice.
Difficult to increase this without additional resources."
So appears quite easy for a neglected plot to go unnoticed for many months.
For those of us in Hagg House, on 8 Feb 2005 just 18 of the 144 plots were let, making it the most neglected site in the city, followed by Rivelin Valley. Fortunately there must be many more taken now.
And of the 'acheivements' listed in the 2006/7 Service plan for Parks and Countryside, they have cleared 26 derelict plots and relet them. Well done... Certainly to those people who managed to get help in clearing their plot. Anyone actually managed to get help from the council in clearing their plot?
So what does this say? Not sure really, but there appear to be great discrepancies between different site in the city in terms of support (or not) provided by the council. Yes they have a lot to look after (over 3,000) and that's great, but they're certainly not meeting their aims set out a few years back.
For the real allotment anoraks out there and those who think they can do a better job than the council, there's an interesting report on the Potential for the Devolved Management of City Council Allotment Sites at:
http://www.sheffield.gov.uk/index.asp?pgid=87859
Rant over, I'm off to moan to my local councillor instead of here :hihi:
Rob
In Jan 2002 the Parks and Countryside Service published an Allotment Strategy for Sheffield, which had five clear aims for the allotment service:
1. Well-managed and maintained sites.
2. Customer satisfaction and active community participation.
3. Sound administration and sufficient staffing.
4. Provision of adequate resources.
5. Promoting and increasing the benefits of allotments.
Obviously I only have experience of our site (Hagg House) but I'm still laughing at the first one. So far I think they've managed to achieve no 5.
For those of you wondering about apparently dis-used plots, the allotment office says are let...
In response to a recommendation to increase the number of site inspections (March 2003), "Currently undertaking an annual site inspection of every plot with follow up visits where tenants are served with a non – cultivation notice.
Difficult to increase this without additional resources."
So appears quite easy for a neglected plot to go unnoticed for many months.
For those of us in Hagg House, on 8 Feb 2005 just 18 of the 144 plots were let, making it the most neglected site in the city, followed by Rivelin Valley. Fortunately there must be many more taken now.
And of the 'acheivements' listed in the 2006/7 Service plan for Parks and Countryside, they have cleared 26 derelict plots and relet them. Well done... Certainly to those people who managed to get help in clearing their plot. Anyone actually managed to get help from the council in clearing their plot?
So what does this say? Not sure really, but there appear to be great discrepancies between different site in the city in terms of support (or not) provided by the council. Yes they have a lot to look after (over 3,000) and that's great, but they're certainly not meeting their aims set out a few years back.
For the real allotment anoraks out there and those who think they can do a better job than the council, there's an interesting report on the Potential for the Devolved Management of City Council Allotment Sites at:
http://www.sheffield.gov.uk/index.asp?pgid=87859
Rant over, I'm off to moan to my local councillor instead of here :hihi:
Rob