Wasted resources
Hi, everybody
I'm new at this lark so bear with me.
From the day I decided to apply for an allotment I was utterly disgusted by the amount of wasted plots when the waiting list is growing longer all the time. This revulsion generated an idea of how to reduce such squandering of much sought after resource.
I was on the waiting list for only three months in an area where the would-be tenant has an average two year wait.
I kept bombarding the official in charge with photos of neglected allotments almost on a daily base until the chap decided that enough was enough and assigned me one of them.
All over the country the waiting list is exceedingly long while, at the same time, there is a great deal of uncultivated or badly run plots.
Too many people get filled with idealized thoughts of a cornucopia full of “healthy, organic produce†buried just a few inches under the fertile soil. They therefore apply for and are given a plot to dig it out from.
Too often they find out that it is not just a few inches but two spits down that they have to dig if the fertility of the soil is to be maintained; the soil itself can be overgrown with all sorts of unwanted vegetation that has to be constantly removed; the crops will be need continued attention against a horde of inimical organisms and, after all the backbreaking work, the cornucopia won’t be half as full as imagined.
So, after the first tentative spadefuls and a row of sickly runner beans and a bucketful of potatoes they give up and the plot is left to spoil for another year.
Recently our site has gone self governing and I suggested that one or a couple of vacant plot ought to be put aside as proving ground for applicants to test their aptitude. By dividing such plot into three you remove that number from the waiting list an start them digging. The ones who prove themselves able and willing will then be given a full spread soon as one becomes available and if anyone looses heart then you have only wasted a third of the ground. Some people might even consider a full plot to be beyond their capacity and be happy with a smaller acreage. I know that, when I was waiting, I would have jumped at the chance of a reduced strip.
I’m happy to say that this measure is now being implemented on our site and present it to the community at large for consideration.
Have a fruitful year,
Zappatore
The next person on the list to take on one of the proving grounds surely has much less work to do to 'pass the test', since the former 'tenant' would have done all of the hard work for them?
They will not have to dig over a plot that's been neglected for a year or more and a 'newbie' will possibly form an opinion that to control an allotment is easier than it is in reality.
Where plots are not being cultivated, the site manager/controller together with the council allotment head bloke (enforcing officer) must use their powers to cancel a tenants lease and then rent this to the next tenant in waiting.
There are too many neglected plots here in Peter-Bog-Horror, but the above is not happening because the site supervisor is either too lazy to deal with the situation, just wants an easy ride in an 'I'm all right Jack' fashion, or fears confrontation with someone that (s)he has previously built up a good relationship with.
It's simple really, when you get an allotment, you get a contract with a list of terms and conditions. 'Neglect' breaks those terms and conditions. At this point you should be given a short period of time to put things right and when that time is up an inspection should determine if your contract/lease should be revoked or can continue.