Allotment Police

[Andeldore 10]

I took on an allotment in November last year. It had, obviously, no work done on it for several years and become a bit of a dumping ground. I spent my Christmas break taking down the 20ft hedges, cutting up and burning what I'd cut down. I am now trying to clear the brambles which cover about one third of the area. I am uncovering huge amounts of rubbish, and loads of plastic which is biodegradable and breaks when you try and pick it up.

I am putting in lots of work and have a vision of what I want to achieve.

The literature I have received and the contact I have had with the allotment people at the city council seems very authoritative and a bit threatening. I don't want my hard work to be lost because I haven't done much cultivation. This plot has gone to ruin while the council has overseen a waiting list of many years.

Are they serious about inspecting plots for the level of cultivation and are they as jobsworth as they seem?

[sskirrrow 10]

Should it not have been cleared before you took it... I'm sure it say "We are working hard to bring uncultivated and unlettable plots back into use" on their website and will be inspecting twice a year.... It must have been raining on the day they were due to inspect your site..

[gunner1980 10]

My understanding is they do do the inspections and send letters out to plot holders that dont seem to be doing anything. There are some threads on here from people that received these letters.

 

My only suggestion would be to take photo's as you go along showing how it looked and the work you have done to clear it so if you do receive a letter you can at least argue your case.

[SheffAllots 10]

Hi Andeldore,

 

It sounds like you've made a really good start and based on what you've said I'd be surprised if we needed to write to you. However if you're concerned please feel free to give me a call on 2734771, I'd be more than happy to talk things through with you

 

with regards

 

Ceri Ashton, on behalf of Sheffield City Council Allotment Office

[gnomi 10]

Ok so here is my allotment police rant...

 

We took over our plot in Dec 2011 and completely transformed it, we have grown loads of fruit and veg, added a greenhouse, redesigned parts of it to make it more user friendly and even opened it up at the recent Allotment Soup event where the feedback we received about it was phenomenal (given we have had it for less than a year)

 

However, when we took it over, as others on here have said, it was a mess. The boundary fence that runs the length of the plot was at least 9 ft high. This boundary we have kept thinned so that it doesn't encroach on the gennel for other plot holders, but the height we couldn't do anything about without hiring expensive equipment.

 

We received a horrible letter preaching about the water being taken away from plots due to the height of the privet ( a joke when you see the amount of waste land/mess surrounding the area) telling us to sort it in 28 days.

 

So, we hired equipment that we really cannot afford and i slipped when trying to hold the ladders for my partner, injuring my back. But, a full day later, we completed the job.

 

This was on Saturday 10th Nov. Today, the council have sent a tractor. The tractor has done what it should have over a year ago, and chopped the privets all down the gennel

 

:rant::rant::rant:

 

Are these people trying to justify keeping their jobs? What the hell was the point in causing all this trouble for nothing? Here's a thing Sheffield council- TRY COMMUNICATING WITH EACH OTHER'S DEPARTMENTS FROM TIME TO TIME.

 

Rant over.

[Delgaty 10]

They are total jobsworths.

Promise you the earth & give you nothing

[Becky B 31]

I'd do as gunner1980 said and take photos as you go along. Unless it's 100% cultivated in the space of a few weeks you'll get a letter, I reckon.

 

I'm giving mine up as I can't meet the requirements for cultivation. I took it on supposedly as a hobby, but it's a hobby I can't devote enough time for as I have a full time job as well...

[Parvo 13]

I'd do as gunner1980 said and take photos as you go along. Unless it's 100% cultivated in the space of a few weeks you'll get a letter, I reckon.

 

I'm giving mine up as I can't meet the requirements for cultivation. I took it on supposedly as a hobby, but it's a hobby I can't devote enough time for as I have a full time job as well...

 

 

thats a shame-if you would prefer to keep it you could advertise for someone to share maybe

[joat36 10]

Me and her now have an allotment each and have had nothing but kindness courtesy and friendliness from Ceri (SheffAllots).

In our opinion they are rather too kind and slow at evicting the hopeless people that should not be allowed on site!