Kitchen Garden Forum

Pa Snip I have listed below what we pay as I wasn't sure your poll wouldn't disappear.

Council run. We have two half (called on our allotment starter plots) plots of 50sq mtrs each(according to my OH) We pay £22.00 per plot, two lots of water rates £8 each plot (£16) The attached plot to us is exactly the same size as ours but is shown as ONE plot on the plans and they pay ONE water rate!! £8. & £22.00. We pay £60. We have been on there 15 years. We get no benefits at all. We had to fence, drain and clear our plot. (It is a very wet allotment we have had to make all raised beds over the years) The more recent arrivals get the allotment cleared of rubbish left behind by previous holders and tidied.

Sorry I sound so grumpy but it touches a raw nerve when we discuss money paid on the plot. (Though we have won the best allotment for two years.)
I will endeavour to post a photo.

Catherine I agree on many levels but not quite the same.

I had to clear my plot from nothing but weeds. Buy my own shed, still can't afford a greenhouse down there as well as home. I could have taken an old plot on the site but would still have to have paid for the shed (rotting) & a greenhouse (broken glass).

Now they are giving them away to the newbies with greenhouses & sheds for nothing! Two plots up they have taken on a plot with a brand new shed & an 10 x 8 greenhouse & didn't ask them for an extra penny & it's a 1/2 plot so they are paying less then me! OK know they have less land but have so much more really - & I can almost see them giving up soon - hubby looks keen but wife doesn't know how to use a hoe even & kiddie is just a wee too young to teach yet.

Westi

Hi Pa Snip
My allotment is approx 1/3 plot, probably 3 poles;
It's council owned;
I pay less than £50 per year.

AdetheSpade

One rod/pole/perch is 30 square yards, or 25 square metres.

So Catherine has four rod???


I have two full plots each nominally ten rod, not sure what the rental is next year, 2014 I paid £80, this year £100 and they're Town Council owned, and I'm Site Agent, my annual remuneration for which is less than my rental and they won't dLtdo the maths and just charge me net.

Pensioner and unemployed discounts.

Catherine,
Peter has confirmed there is currently a technical problem with starting a Poll, he has deleted the thread as I requested, so thank you for starting this thread.

I will post the original questions and reply options here.

The poll is only to satisfy my curiosity and for no commercial purpose.

1. If you have an allotment is it council or privately owned

2. What size is your plot
10, 5, 3.3 or 2.5 Poles. A pole is 25sq mt (30 sq yrd)
Any approx. measurement will do if you don't know Pole size

3. How much is the annual rent
Under £49,
£50 > £74,
£75 > £99,
£100 > +

4. Does your site operate an age related discount scheme

My answers are as follows
1. Borough Council

2. 10 pole

3. £50 >£74 (£61.70 for coming season to be precise, we have all just had invoices)

4. NO, they used to operate 50% pensioner discount but decided a couple of years ago that as the waiting lists were so long they didn't need to offer discounts. Its not as if they are expensive anyway.

Westie,

On our site the council do not offer either sheds or greenhouses. Individuals put them up.

On some sites in the borough sheds have been put on plots as part of the package, however the plot rent is higher on those sites.

There are 9 sites located in and around the outskirts of the town, 3 different rental fees charged by the Pole.

•Grade A+ site = site locked, water tanks, pathways between plots, shed & greenhouse allocated per plot ( A stonking £25 per pole !!)

•Grade A site = site locked, water tanks, pathways between plots (£6.17 per pole)

•Grade B site = site locked, water tanks (£5.40 per pole)

Incredible as it may seem as at 1st July 2015 the £25 per pole site had the biggest pro-rata waiting list. There are only 15 plots on that site and 44 people were on waiting list. They are not 10 pole plots.

Peter,

that's one hell of a rental increase you suffered, 25% that's hefty.

Surprised you get remuneration, the few site agents I know are all volunteer.

But with your rental cost they giveth with one hand and taketh away with t' other.

And I agree with you , Catherine has 4 rod, pole or perches. Unusual size.

There doesn't seem to be any plot on the site that is a particular size. They all seems to be different shapes and sizes. Ours seems a nice shape looking at some of the others.

Pa Snip, I'll try to answer you questions, but I do remember haveing this same discussion some years ago on this forum, so you may find it in the archives!

There are approximately 15 plots in our village on two sites. The land is owned by the Trustees of the Chatsworth Estate (that is, the Duke of Devonshire) and is let to the Parish Council, administered by an Allotments Association.

All fences, sheds etc were put up by the individual allotment holders. Water is a 'dipping trough' in one corner of each site. There is no vehicular access.

We pay 17p per square metre. Due to the lie of the land, all the plots vary greatly in size and shape. Our own plot is about 6 pole (greatly reduced since last year) and we pay less than £50 per annum which includes the water rates and, depending on the Association's finances each year, also free cow manure which the farmer drops over the fence. Everybody pays the same per square metre, no concessions.

Hope that helps.

Hi Monika It helps a lot thank you. Based on paying around £50 per annum at 17p per sq mtr plot charge for a 6 pole plot, which equals 150 sq mtr, it sounds like your water rates are about the same cost as your annual rent.

Yes I figured the subject may have been raised before. I suspect there aren't many subjects which haven't
I didn't go through archives though because the answers might well have changed between then and now

I can honestly say I don't know the size of our plot I will guess it's around 38 x15 meters I will measure it if I can get there over the weekend, ours originally was 2 half plots we used to get invoiced for one in summer and the other in winter both where discounted as we are oldtimers in total we pay around £40 per year our water is on tap and free as is all the woodchip we need we have a nice new 8 feet high perimeter fence as well as a composting toilet a committee shed a lock up container and a field type shelter for our barbeques all paid for by grants our council are strict but fair inspections every 3 months we also have a vermin control guy who visits every month he is very helpful if you report sightings or rats or mice he will put extra poison down even under your own shed,overall most of us are very happy with our set up our council can be approach through our chairman and most complaints are dealt with, the problem facing pa snip would not happen on our allotment

Hi, we pay £12 subs per plot, then £1 per rod. My plot is 5 rods so I pay £17 a year - an absolute bargain! The subs have just gone up from £5. Increase needed as we've had to replace lots of stolen equipment - to be fare it was £5 for years so probably about time.

No greenhouses or sheds but you can put your own up. Equipment such as strimmers, rotivators are available to borrow. We have skip day once a year which helps stop people dumping rubbish around the place

We don't have a main water supply - we have standpipes which we pump groundwater from - extra Excercise .

It's ran by an association - it was donated to them many many years ago. Although there is also a town run site next to us.

They don't offer full allotment plots anymore. When a full one becomes available they split it into 2 or 3 which personally, I think is a great idea as it helps to reduce the waiting list, gets more people growing and helps new starters as a full plot is such hard work. Then if you want more land you can apply for more.