Butler's Field or the Klondyke?

A look at two proposals for more allotments

June 2009  As part of it's Site Allocations Consultation the Borough Council has suggested that part of Butler's Field on Sacheveral Way, which is owned by the Parish Council, should be earmarked for future use as allotments in Groby. The Parish Council doesn't support the Butler's Field idea and feels the current use as dog walk and wild flower meadow is more appropriate.

There are many, including would be allotment gardeners, who may agree. Despite being on a busy road this is a fairly isolated spot. The existing sites are relatively free from vandalism because they are overlooked by housing but this constraint would not exist on Butler's Field. Personal safety would also be a concern. Allotment gardeners are now just as likely to be women as men and it is unlikely whether many would feel comfortable in such a location particularly as daylight was fading. Few would walk there and vehicular access could be difficult. And although the Allotment Society members have agreed a voluntary ban on bonfires during the summer months the prospect of bonfire smoke drifting across the cemetery in the winter would be most unwelcome.

The Parish Council alternative

The Parish Council has put forward as an alternative the land known as the Klondyke on Newtown Linford Lane. The Council would like to see part of the site returned to allotments and the rest planted with trees to screen the quarry. In it's response to the Borough's Site Allocation Consultation the Parish Council has said that “ it is strongly felt that this site should be identified for priority attention by the Borough Council for use of their powers under the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004.”

It's likely that most residents would favour a tidy up proposal and there may be villagers who would be very happy to have an allotment down at the Klondyke. But the site suffers from the same disadvantages as Butler's Field for allotments, so if the land came into public ownership others may prefer some alternative use.

As the entrance to the Klondyke is considered to be in a dangerous position for vehicular traffic, and was thought to be unsuitable for travellers vehicles, it has been suggested that allotment gardeners could park on Groby Pool car park. This might restrict their access to the site to the opening hours of the car park to the disadvantage of early birds or late gardeners. Because of the increased risk of vandalism and theft they would be unlikely to leave any tools or materials of any value on site and would have to carry them across the road at a dangerous point, possibly with a barrow. Manure deliveries by tractor and trailer direct to the site would face the same hazards as traveller's vehicles. Winter bonfire smoke might also be an issue for Pool visitors.

Safety issues

The personal safety aspects of the site might cause concern, bearing in mind the notoriety that Groby achieved on the World Wide Web for the activities of a minority on and around Groby Pool car park. Just last month the Leicester Mercury said that strangers are still meeting for sex at Groby Pool, six years after problems were first reported. Both men and women might be reluctant to work alone on allotments at the Klondyke. When this site was originally allotments it was cultivated by quarry workers who would not have had to face such issues. Village life was quite different then.

Demand for allotments

Although there is a waiting list it seems that the extra allotment site suggested by the Borough Council is not designed to cater for current demand, as a target date of 2016 linked to funding availability has been suggested.

“Improvement to allotment provision is identified as being delivered from 2016 onwards as this is the likely date in which funding will be available to implement the new provision through new development,” said a spokesman for the Borough Council. However if and when that funding becomes available there will be many more demands on a limited pot.

“We have used the Allotment Audit of Provision (November 2008) to identify where there is a current demand. We have used the number of people on Allotment waiting lists to identify where there is a current shortfall,” he continued. “We are working with the Borough Council's Green Spaces Team to identify whether new housing development set out in the Core Strategy will cause a deficiency in green spaces within settlements and this will be applied to the next stage of the Site Allocations and Generic Development Control Guidance Development Plan Document.”

This implies an increase in demand for allotments and hints that this demand will come from new housing. But the plan for Groby only suggests a minimum of a further 109 dwellings and some affordable housing. A handful of extra plots would cater for the needs of these additional homeowners. This suggests that a higher proportion of residents will take up allotment gardening for recreational, health and environmental reasons or that the number of new homes will be significantly higher than the minimum forecast of 109.

The demand for allotments ebbs and flows and although the sites have gone from having vacant plots to having a waiting list the pendulum could swing again. There is a cost to providing 'allotments on demand' as vacant plots can quickly become overgrown unless they are actively managed, an expense born by other tenants. Although it may seem unreasonable to new applicants, it is not ideal to completely eliminate the waiting list.

Sweating the assets

Monitoring the waiting list and continuing to take action to increase supply on existing sites, for example by reducing plot sizes to reflect the demands of today's lifestyles, is perhaps a better approach. “Sweating the assets” in this way is helping keep the local waiting list manageable. The time to introduce an additional site is when there is no capacity left to maximise the use of existing resources and waiting times have become excessive.

So has the case for an additional allotment site been made or is the Borough Council forecasting a possible increase in demand 'just in case'?

First published in the Groby Spotlight June 2009