Paul campaigning for more allotments
I am campaigning for more local allotment sites to meet the demand from local residents for new allotments. Telford and Wrekin Council have a long waiting list for council run allotment sites. Under current legislation any group of six or more residents who are registered on the electoral roll can make a formal application to their local authority to provide more allotment sites. The House of Common’s Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee recently published a report calling for the Government to require local authorities to publish, within three years, a plan setting out how it proposes to meet the demand for new allotments. Please contact me if you would like to join my campaign for more allotments.
Tags: Allotments, Wrekin
Allotment Sites must be rolled out across the country the fight to keep our food fresh and sustainable must continue and schools should be encouraged to grow their own food.
I have read about your campaign for more allotments.
My husband and I live in Priorslee and have 2 small children. We currently grow vegetables and keep chickens in our garden but would love an allotment within easy distance of home
Regards
Heather Clarke
I am a Teaching Assistant at Randlay school. I already have my own allotment at the randlay site, but I know that one of the teachers at the school has applied for a plot at randlay for the children to use. They have been refused and put on the waiting list. However, The site at randlay appears to have many unused plots.
I don’t understand this as all the plots are supposedly taken and there is a huge waiting list!?
Caroline – there is a review of allotment sites going on so hopefully this will improve matters. My campaign on Allotments For All is designed to ensure that we have sufficient provision. Some schools such as the Sutherland School are considering introducing mini allotments on their school grounds. Its also worth having a look at the landshare site on http://landshare.channel4.com
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Hi Paul, i would be very gratefull if you would add my name to your petition, it would appear that i may be a very old man by the time i aquire an allotment from the council via the normal channels, the very best of luck, Kevin.
Hi I would love an allotment but I’m worried I will go on a very long waiting list. I sent an email today asking for an allotment asap. There seems to be so much land not being used about. I Live in Donnington and we have no allotments here. Add my name to your list as it will help people like me.
Thanks a million
Marie
Marie – I suggest you contact Donnington Parish Council as they have plans in hand to develop a new allotment site in your area. Ask them to add you to their waiting list as well
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Thank you Paul, I have contacted the parish council and have been added to their waiting list. As I saw on the internet a planning application had been put in during march. I wait and wait i know I’m impatient but just so eager to get started. As the months go by i’ve watched the spring turn to summer and the growing season gets shorter i become despondent but i’m in this for the duration and can only just hope and plan how we will make it look good and we have involved the kids who are also excited to help, i just cant wait until we are chosen I hope so much it will be soon. thanks for your help and support xxxx
xxxxxx
Ive only just aquired an allotment at Randlay, now their are rumors that its going to be demolished as part of this southwater project. This is terrible, it is one of the biggest allotment sites in Telford, ive spent so much money and time to make my allotment nice, building my own shed from scrap wood. Buying manure, and bark chippings, i pray they dont take them away, havent had a chance to grow anything yet!
I rang the planning department at Telford and Wrekin, and they said it wouldnt effect the Randlay site, and that this new entrance would go via the lorry park.
Some please tell me we wont loose the Randlay allotments
Try your local councillor and ask them to double check for you. There are restrictions on local authorities changing the use of allotment sites, so ask your local councillor for help. You can find their contact details on the Telford Council website http://www.telford.gov.uk
Any problems, let me know and I’ll take it up with your Member of Parliament David Wright MP
Thank you so much! I did ask the council and they said the allotments are safe. But for how long? ow well, we have had no letters or anything about it. Im not sure how these alloments are owned, the council own them but not sure about the way they are owned, i.e. temporary allotments or not.
They would have a fight on their hands for sure, such a lovely community down there, its my escape from reality! They all just make me smile down there!
Paul, your allotment association, where do i join?
I would love to have an allotment but every time I contact Telford Council they tell me, there are so many people waiting for allotments,
they have closed the waiting list, I supose it is so they can say, there are only a few people on the waiting list!!!
how do i join your campain
Thanks Jim – it would help a lot if you wrote a letter to the Council asking for an allotment as it provides more evidence of the need.
I’ll ask the Secretary of The Wrekin Co-operative Society, Kenny to send you an invitation to our next meeting – date yet to be arranged.
It’s 2012 and we are still waiting. Waiting to get on a waiting list that is.. How many more years? My children will be grown up before I get an allotment. How hard can it be to simply find a bit of spare land?
Sarah – try writing to the Council asking to be put on the waiting list for an allotment or contact your local Councillor – Telford & Wrekin Council website will have details. Also try your local Parish Council – you can even attend one of their meetings and raise it in the public open forum session they normally have at the start of meetings.
I share your frustration and will keep on campaigning until we get more allotments.
Best of Luck
Paul, I contacted the council a few years ago, they told me waiting lists were closed. I contacted them again about a month ago, again, waiting lists were full. They did however, send me a list of Parish councils to contact. There were five suitable allotments, and of these, I was able to contact only one, phone numbers were incorrect, there were two incorrect e-mail addresses and a lot of out if date information. I finally managed to find someone who would add me to a waiting list, only to find I will have to wait around three years for my own plot..
I live in a rented house, and although my landlord is brilliant and will allow me to use part of the garden, when I have to move I lose my garden after such an investment of time and money, as I have had five homes in the last six years this seems fairly likely. I don’t drive, and I have three children of six years and under, so attending Parish council meetings isn’t really an option for me, and although I have tried to apply for allotments as far away as Newport (I live in Shawbirch), and would be willing to go that far, it would be extremely difficult for me to get there.
Sadly, it seems that far from encouraging people to use allotments and grow their own food, the council are making it as hard as possible for the majority of us. I think most people who are interested probably end up giving up before they’ve even got their boots dirty.
Try Leegomery Allotments – Jenny Collins on Tel: 506307 I’ve heard that they have four available
Best of Luck
Paul
Paul, Thanks so much for your help.. we now finally have a plot and are all keen to get stuck in as soon as possible!
Unfortunately all the information the council gave me was wrong, all the contacts and numbers, even e-mail addresses for the Leegomery allotment were incorrect. I wonder how many others could have been making use of these available plots had the council been giving out the right contact information…
Once again, thanks for your help Paul!
Best of Luck with your new allotment.
Paul