Am Furious! Waiting lists in excess of 200 and Council selling off allotment sites!

angelavdavis

Don't get me started!

Is it true they are moving the coach park to the White Rock area - I thought it was going to blight my end of town - St Leonards on Sea!?

But that is Hastings BC - they are only concerned about the Old Town - stuff whoever else is paying the council tax, we don't exist. Sadly there seems little alternatives - each party is as bad as the next and none offer any innovative ideas. One thing we certainly have enough of is art galleries! It's one moneywasting fiasco after another....

Yet another white elephant that will offer a handful of part time jobs.

I went to Hastings Museum and Art Gallery in Bohemia Road a couple of weeks ago - it was a Saturday and there was one other car in the car park other than us. So, the whole Museum had seven people in it - including the guy on the door! The Old town gallery was no better, and the private galleries in High St and George St were empty! The pubs in George Street, seafront and restaurants were all busy - so the visitors were there!!!

I have never known arty luvvies to spend much money. It will hardly be Saatchi standard! I have watched them nurse their complimentary glass of wine or champagne for hours at exhibitions, rather than part with a couple of quid to buy another!

I had written a long post listing the fiascos - but its unfair on the green fingered moneysavers so I will vent on the Facebook site instead!

peter_the_piper

AFAIK they are putting it in Grosvenor Gardens, the only place overlooking the sea that they have not yet put parking meters on. Their logic seems to be:-
Oh dear, the shops are losing money, it must be all the traffic stopping people shopping. I know lets put the price of parking up , that'll help.

Valli

nodwah wrote: »

Collar your councillor in person or go along to a meeting and harangue them!


I've been bugging my local councillor about a local issue and he's actually got results for us - haven't told him I've never voted for him ha ha

doesn't matter for whom you vote - he is there representing all voters...

OP what you need to do is fire up all those others who want an allotment and complain. Hereabouts a sale of allotment land got blocked...

Step one - local paper/local radio

is there a local allotment association?

nimbo

good luck in getting something sorted....

councils can be such a pain in the rear end...

angelavdavis

Valli wrote: »

doesn't matter for whom you vote - he is there representing all voters...

OP what you need to do is fire up all those others who want an allotment and complain. Hereabouts a sale of allotment land got blocked...

Step one - local paper/local radio

is there a local allotment association?

Yes have contacted local allotment association who are going to obtain legal funding assistance should we get that far, I have also sent a letter to local paper which I am hoping will be published this week to get people on board (only need five people who are currently on the list) and have also posted on various local forums to get interest going.

I have also contacted members of the environmental forum who runs the transitions town initiative locally to see if they can also spread the word. I will also be posting posters advertising the need to fight the allotment closures in the local organic shops this weekend.

Haven't yet contacted the radio - that will be the next step if other methods fail. I want to use the radio and local papers for press releases when we launch the challenge to the council.

nimbo

havr you goe down the allotments and small holding route or gaining 6 signatures of residents who ay council tax, as this i supoosed to be all it takes to get the ball rolling in the procurment of new sites?

i threatened my local council with this, and lo and behold it took 2 weeks to get offered an allotment...

angelavdavis

This is what I want to do, but I am struggling to get hold of five other names.

Although having dug around this process, the Council only has to consider your challenge.

kazwookie

Go to the local radio, they love green issues!!

Make plenty of fuss to them and the local paper

angelavdavis

Oh - things are picking up you will be pleased to know.

Here is the response from the head of the local Allotment Federation:

"I've spoken to the NSALG (National Society of Allotments and Leisure
Gardeners).......Regarding letting most of Apps Field (Croft Road), which is a statutory site, fall derelict, I was advised that this is tantamount to taking the site out of allotment use, for which permission has to be gained from the Secretary of State. They haven't gained such permission, and so fall foul of allotment law. I shall pursue this with colleagues in the Federation.

Regarding the '10 year rule', apparently this was part of a Local
Government Act (?1989) which has now been repealed, so it no longer
applies."

So, it looks like the Council have acted illegally shutting it down (ie, they didn't get permission to do so!)

I will keep you posted everyone! Thanks for your continued support.

savemoney

Just wish you good luck Angela, not a allotment holder myself but I do think there is a big demand for them and that will only increase. I think its short sightedness on the council to sell of land like this, as there motives clearly are for getting money at the detriment of the allotment holders