How do you go about getting an allotment?

[No19]

Well .. that's it really.

The first place to start will be your local council offices. Probably the environment or leisure service. If you phone their main helpline they will know where to put you through to.

From there they can explain what sites there are in your local area, and will probably send you a pack of info.

You will then need to wait for any spaces to come up, or there may be spare plots at one or more sites. If it is outside London, there is a good chance there will be something spare.

Yes its the council. We have been on the list for 6 years and are now at No2. Have just been on amazon for a book on how to grow veg in containers in our yard while we wait.
When we rang last week to check where we are on the list, the council man said there are now HUNDREDS of people waiting so we got on the list at a good time.
We are well outside London- in a backwater in east lancashire - ALL areas of the country have high demand for allotments these days, I read today that this year for the first time ever, sales of veg seeds have outsold flower seeds.
Good luck.

Wow bad news on the waiting lists, it's for a friend of mine in London who's not on the web. I'm in Ireland, there isn't an allotment scheme here at all.

Thanks for your responses.

If I had even alittle garden it would have been dug up this year for veg. But just a little yard, so I'm putting trailing tomatoes in window boxes and potatoes in a big tub thing.
The council are about to start an inspection of allotments and write to anyone whose allotment looks like its not in use, telling them they have x amount of time to use it, or lose it.
Fingers crossed, although its too late this year to get one and grow anything so we are hoping to get our hands on one in the autumn, tidy it up all over the winter then get cracking next spring.

Yes I've got spuds in sort of sack things, and tomatoes in pots, and of course herbs and so on. How do you pay for the allotment, is it rented?