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bodran



Joined: 07 May 2007
Posts: 18
Location: North Wales.
PostPosted: Thu Aug 23, 07 10:50 am    Post subject: Allotments... Reply with quote
    

We have turned one of our fields into allotment's, we have 2 allotmenteers, but no other enquires,The people who have been to look expected ready dug plots and water on tap........
If anyone out theres interested in a piece of organic land to keep your bees on or grow your veg, for a £1 a week let me know..i've obviously been advertising in the wrong place..yikes this didnt start of as advertising, i just wanted to know what people expected in reality.

joanne



Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 7100
Location: Morecambe, Lancashire
PostPosted: Thu Aug 23, 07 10:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

To be honest for £52 per year - I would expect something more than just a blank piece of grass - How have you set the allotments up ? Is each plot clearly defined?

I paid £25 for a years allotment and got a tap at the end of my allotment although I had to dig over the plot myself as it hadn't been worked for a couple of years

What is the local council charging for allotments? What do you get for your money ? - Could you do anything that is cheap but adds value to encourage people to use your plots - maybe build compost bins out of pallets on each plot so they are ready to go for instance

People often find a blank canvas difficult to deal with - that may be one of the problems

Barefoot Andrew
Downsizer Moderator


Joined: 21 Mar 2007
Posts: 22780
Location: In the 17th century
PostPosted: Thu Aug 23, 07 11:01 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Hi Jo, not seen you on here for a while.
A.

Jb



Joined: 08 Jun 2005
Posts: 7761
Location: 91� N
PostPosted: Thu Aug 23, 07 11:07 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

My last allotment was £33 pa which included water on tap, all the manure you wanted and membership of the village horticultural association (which then gave 10% discount at the local garden centre). Oh, and rabbit proof fencing but noone told the rabbits that

At the new place the parish council charge £19 pa which includes water on tap and not a lot else. (and there is a waiting list of four people but when I went up to the plots there are at least half a dozen overgrown and unused).

For £52 pa I wouldn't necessarily expect it to ready dug but if it's completely new ground I'd suggest you turn it over at least once yourself to mark out the plots as much as anything else and make them big plots. Could you provide water on site? that makes a big difference. Could you offer half plots at £26 pa (or standard and traditional if you want to avoid the terminology sound like someone is getting less than they might elsewhere). How big are you making your plots?

bodran



Joined: 07 May 2007
Posts: 18
Location: North Wales.
PostPosted: Thu Aug 23, 07 11:18 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Hi Andrew, I try very hard to avoid chatrooms as time flys, and i need to be out there digging ....
What do they get for £52 a year, HMMMmm hard work i suppose and a very beautiful place to sit ........! We are on spring water so they 'll do just what i do and collect it when it's there,the compost things a good idea but i really don't want to give myself more work .The field as been fenced and allotments wiil be clearly defined when they are needed.....actually is it worth the trouble, if i have 4 people it'd still take 4yrs to cover the cost of the fencing we've done , never mind the insurance, what i should be asking is what do i get for my money and loss of privacy....

Last edited by bodran on Thu Aug 23, 07 11:20 am; edited 1 time in total

bernie-woman



Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 7824
Location: shropshire
PostPosted: Thu Aug 23, 07 11:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Same as the others have said - I pay £19.00 per year for our allotment - I have a tap and water butt at the end of the allotment, reduced price seeds and have my grass paths cut on a regular basis - looks like you may be charging too much

Allotment provision is something that parish councils have to do (although that is easier said than done once allotments have disappeared) does your local council have an allotment site?

bodran



Joined: 07 May 2007
Posts: 18
Location: North Wales.
PostPosted: Thu Aug 23, 07 11:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

No there are no allotments near by.....and i can offer none of the other insentives, we do mow the paths though, and i can't compete with the council ,,ahh well .. We have got loads off poo though, but they'd have to collect that themselves to...

Jb



Joined: 08 Jun 2005
Posts: 7761
Location: 91� N
PostPosted: Thu Aug 23, 07 11:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

bernie-woman wrote:
Allotment provision is something that parish councils have to do (although that is easier said than done once allotments have disappeared) does your local council have an allotment site?


IIRC if at least 6 people express an interest in allotments then councils have an obligation to provide allotments that may still be done privately, i.e. the council can decide that as you offer allotments then the parish has allotment provision.

Fee



Joined: 21 Mar 2005
Posts: 15922
Location: Earth
PostPosted: Thu Aug 23, 07 4:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Hmmm...we pay £16pa, which includes water rates (and have a tap on our plot) and membership of the local horticultural society. It hadn't been looked after properly for a while, and we're still getting on top of it (only in our 2nd year).

Saying that, we were very surprised how cheap it was, and would probably pay £1 per month, especially if there aren't any other allotments around, but I think I would expect access to water for that.

bodran



Joined: 07 May 2007
Posts: 18
Location: North Wales.
PostPosted: Thu Aug 23, 07 6:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

They are all really reasonable, you lucky folks.......but in real life if you've land you can let it for grazing for £200 a year plus ! i don't want to . We are not council etc we are just trying to develop our site and open it to more people, but not at a loss to ourselves, so i suppose i shouldnt call them allotments as there are so many expectations with the name.... 20yrs ago before we lived here i paid £3 a week for a patch 30ft-30ft approx... so you are all very lucky to have what you do at that price, happy growing

alisjs



Joined: 23 Jun 2006
Posts: 1497
Location: Conwy
PostPosted: Thu Aug 23, 07 6:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

where abouts in n wales are you Bodran?
I pay £16 pa for a half plot in Llandudno

BelindaC



Joined: 09 Feb 2007
Posts: 464
Location: Hertfordshire
PostPosted: Thu Aug 23, 07 7:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

We pay £28 per year for our half-plot. For that we have water on tap, and the council do a bit of site maintenance on the paths etc. I think people may be dissuaded by lack of water on tap nowadays.

toggle



Joined: 30 Dec 2006
Posts: 11622
Location: truro
PostPosted: Thu Aug 23, 07 7:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

lack of water can be a really big problem, transporting water is a real bitch, made worse by any distance at all between car p[arking and plot.

I'd not expect to have water on tap on the plot, or to be able to use hoses to water, but water on site is pretty much a necessity

bodran



Joined: 07 May 2007
Posts: 18
Location: North Wales.
PostPosted: Thu Aug 23, 07 7:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

I'm in llanfairtalhaiarn......I can see why some people would be disuaded by the lack of mains water............but it certainly teaches you about water conservation and it is a challenge And guaranteed if we had taps some b...er would leave it on then we'd all be !!!! pretty fed up

alisjs



Joined: 23 Jun 2006
Posts: 1497
Location: Conwy
PostPosted: Thu Aug 23, 07 7:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

yes.....taps have been left on at our site before now. We are on metered water, so we are always reminding people to be sparing.

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