How to start an allotment association

[WickedWitch89]

Hi everyone, hope I have come to the right place for advice.

In our village we are surrounded by farm land, but we have no allotments close by at all. I've heard on the grapevine a few locals fancy an allotment plot and it's in our councils future plans (but unlikely to go ahead as no one to really get stuff started).

I'm currently a SAHM to school age kids, so have plenty of time mon-Friday to work on a community project like this (and frankly need a project to keep me busy)

If anyone has any good advice where to start, who to talk to, and any information regarding the council (If my understanding is correct if there is enough interest they should source land to make this happen)

Many thanks

Have you contacted these people? https://thenas.org.uk/

can you gather a mailing list of people who are interested? stick an advert up in your local shop or church or school, put fliers through people's doors, gather as many names / email addresses as possible. that will help you show the council that there is lots of support.

then ideally you'd get a group of 3-6 people to be your 'allotment committee' who can write to the council and organise things etc.

Thanks for replying. So today I've spoken to our village gardening club, and will start going to meetings this month. We spoke about allotments and by what the chair was saying there is a lot of interest already which is good news and it's been on the parish council agenda since 2017...... I have one of my friends on board already who has been on an allotment waiting list for years in another area, our closest one won't allow us to apply as it's a different council. I didn't realise how bad this is so I'm gonna be looking through documents this week and start fact collecting see if I can push a little.

Amazing thank you

The National Allotment Society is an excellent place to start. The bottom line is that local authorities outside London are obliged by law to provide allotment sites, although many fall short. It's also worth looking at the Royal Horticultural Society website for ideas about community gardening.

Allotments are amazing !!!!! but they tend to be maintained and run by volunteers. Do not underestimate what it involves - especially if the land it’s self is not council owned. If the land is council owned they will have to take on some responsibility for boundaries/ existing trees etc. but everything else left to the committee in charge. If privately owned land there would be a lot of rental / legal agreements which would need to in place.

To create a new site is a massive undertaking.

Established sites have a committee in charge which has to have a constitution, have annual AGM, have a chair/ treasure/ secretary through nominations. Minuted committee meeting, agreed local processes ( such as plot inspections, guidance on bees/ ponds/ sheds ).
Plot holders have to sign a rental agreement ( usually created by the Council as is a legal document) - this is essential as it includes what the land is used for and also outlines any warning/ eviction processes. Councils use the same one for all allotment sites in their catchment.
I am sure there are books out there about stories about issues on allotment sites!

Running a site can involve managing all waiting list enquiries, letting plots, managing plots including managing neglected plots and difficult plot holders, clearing overgrown plots, storing and maintaining equipment for the site such as strimmers/ mowers, accounting etc. Having public liability insurance. Collecting all rent (which the council takes most of it) and other site charges.
Most of the allotments in our area have closed lists due to demand, and the council will no longer create more sites as any land is being used for housing developments.
We had a local area which was relatively new ( think about 12 years ago) and the new committee had some challenges as they were all new together/ new plot holders so limited experience and had a steep learning curve. The council did basic site clearance and lay out of the plots but the soil was not great to start with. Took a while for plot holders to improve their soil.
It would be amazing, but would need to have a very committed group of people who have time, skills and motivation.

Most allotment sites have difficult getting enough committee members and it reality it ends up being about 5 people doing all the work, And they do this in addition to their own plot and lives.

I would suggest trying to visit a number of different allotment sites as you can, to see what they are like. Many sites can vary with regards to size/ paths/ etc. how they are run, parking, access. to give you some idea of what they are like when trying to lobby your local council.

Good luck.