Dartford Road Allotments Association was formed in 1991 to manage Dartford Road Allotments under a lease obtained from Dartford Borough Council. The site, the main entrance to which is located at the junction of Somerset Road and Devonshire Avenue has an area of approximately 7 acres in total and the equivalent of around 100 full sized plots. The site is usually nearly 100% rented.

Reclamation

The site was about 35% derelict when it was taken over. Where there were contiguous blocks of vacant plots, the Association cleared away all the metal and other debris and then paid a local farmer to rotovate the land. It cost £50 to rotovate 9 plots, and all were rented (at £20 per plot) within three months. Prior to achieving full tenancy of the site an attempt was made to keep at least two plots vacant but in tenantable condition at all times, using old carpets covering half of each vacant plot to enable cultivation and planting on the same day that plots are rented. Vegetation on vacant plots was strimmed each summer to avoid nuisance to plot-holders from seed dispersal. Some of the carpets on site were used on more than a dozen different plots since 1992. Surplus materials are stored in the Association's concrete garage, supplied free of charge by a builder who had to get rid of it before he could put up a side extension. We have widened suitable paths wherever possible to accommodate a tractor and trailer, and installed 10 meter square bays built from pallets at intervals along the main track through the site to allow for deliveries of manure and building materials.