The Nag

DIY Nag # 16: The Community Allotment Nag

Time to join in the land grab!

created by slow 4 months ago

The general idea

How to join in the land grab:

1. Find at least 6 people who'd love to grow fruit & veg together, and maybe even keep chickens & bees etc.

2. Demand land from your local council.

3. Fill that land with food, livestock and fun - in the process, thwarting social alienation by letting local people get to know (and like, even love) each other.

4. Open it up to the community in any way you can, get everyone growing together and hopefully it'll spill into helping each other out in general.

Why why why?

It's fun, it's basic knowledge you'll benefit from learning and it'll give you a wide & varied new group of people to get to know & share local life with.

And I've done it! I never thought I could do something so ambitious, but it turns out you just have to get started and people can't wait to join in.

What do you want me for?

The more people join in this nag, the more land is kept in use for local communities and not land developers, and the more people have access to land to grow in and a community to be part of.

How? How? How?

How to join in the land grab:

1. Find at least 6 people who'd love to grow fruit & veg together, and maybe even keep chickens & bees etc. You need to all be in the same local council's area, and don't stop at 6! If you have a local Freecycle group or community centre etc. ask them if they'll put out an email to their groups asking for people to join in.

2. Demand land from your local council. You need to find the email address for the Allotments team of your local council - try phoning or search their website. Then email to say we are a group of 6 or more who would like land to grow food on together, and would like to have livestock.

3. Fill that land with food, livestock and fun. Look out for, or organise, a seed swap event in your area; put WANTEDS on Freecycle for spare seedlings & plants, water butts, compost bays etc.

4. Open it up to the community in any way you can - once you've got organised, think about setting up as a community group and supervising regular community days when anyone can come along and join in. As people get to know each other you find that they start to help each other out beyond the allotment - fixing something, helping move things, giving things away.

Who? Where? What? How Many? Can You Prove It?

1. I've done this for my local group Transition BS3 (http://www.transitionbs3.co.uk) and it took one email to the council to identify land, one visit to two sites to choose the plots, and a bit of paperwork.

2. Councils have to provide land for groups of 6 or more, even if they have to buy it in order to provide it for you. Most have sets of overgrown allotments that no one wants to take on that they will let you rent.

River Cottage has plenty of info:

"Under the 1908 Small Holdings and Allotments Act, where there is "demand" (to be determined by each respective Council), it is the duty of the local authority to provide residents, registered on the electoral roll, with allotment space. The Act even gives local authorities the power to compulsorily acquire land for allotments, if they don't have sufficient already."

See River Cottage website for more: (http://www.channel4.com/food/on-tv/river-cottage/river-cottage-spring/river-cottage-your-questions-answered-08-06-04_p_1.html)

See also National Society of Allotment & Leisure Gardeners for more info:
(http://www.nsalg.org.uk/) - click on FAQs to start with.

3. Do a web search for "seed swap" and "seedy Sunday" for events in your area. They will generally be January time and focus on potatoes, or spring time. If there isn't one, start your own. Check out www.seedysunday.org for details on how, or again use your Freecycle group.

4. Many community allotments have a regular day (each week or each month, depends on what you can manage as a group) when people can come along and join in. You need to have enough of you there to help show people what needs doing, and to teach newcomers how to do things. It's also best if you have a shelter, and a way of making your volunteers a hot cup of tea. A compost toilet extends the day (no going home because you need the loo) and makes the whole thing more pleasurable for everyone!

Contact any local groups doing something similar. For inspiration about what can be achieved in an area with few advantages see HHEAG's website (http://www.hheag.org.uk)

How was it for you?

Tags

allotment | Bristol | chickens | community | fruit | fun | smallholding | social | vegetables