Kitchen Garden Forum

has anybody had any luck in getting their local council to lay on water onto their allotments. On my site we are bone dry, despite having 5 ibc's around the back of the shop all of which are empty, we like many other allotments are dry.
If you have managed to get water on site please can you advise what tack you took with your council and an idea of the costs.

thanks for your time

Tracie

Mine, and other site I see from train, have horse trough water supply laid on.

Try the ARI website and the ODPM's website to see if water is a statutory requirement.

thanks for your advise will check to see what i can find

We have stand pipes and baths, water butts etc on our site. Have a word with the council and see if they'll put them in for you. If not, someone will be able to. It's not a difficult job to do.

Maybe, one day in the far distant future, our site might let us use hose pipes but i'm not holding my breath. At least we have the stand pipes

thanks for your reply.I wanted to see if they had a duty to provide the water, just emailed the nat allotment association to see if they can advise.
I have two allotments on different sites, one has water the other doesnt. The water is not abused, people use hoses but with consideration of fellow allotment holders.
Even stand pipes would be better that nothing on our dessert plot.

We're allowed to use the hoses to fill up water butts but not to water the plots!!!!!!!!!

Why? Answers on a postcard to..........

It doesn't make any common sense. If a hose is used at the base of the plant there is no loss of water as it goes straight to the roots. Leave it in a water butt and it dissolves off at a terrific rate in this heat so you have to keep topping up the butts.

Anyway, that's where I am. It just winds me up, the pettiness

Quite agree Lizzie - not only do we have a hose-pipe ban there is also a drought order in force, even more things you're not allowed to do with the water you've paid for!

On our site we have water troughs fed by mains water with stand pipes alongside. We're allowed to fill our cans from the trough or the tap, slosh and spill loads carrying them the 120 feet to the plot, and then you still can't get in as close to the base of a plant in the middle of a bed with a watering can as you can with a lance on the end of a hose.

Even just being allowed to run a hose from the tap to the plot to fill the watering can would conserve water, never mind time and energy.

I suspect this is another case of a blanket ban being forced on us because a few spoil it for the rest. The authorities find it simpler to ban hose-pipes altogether so as to prevent the few inconsiderate people that will set a sprinkler going and waste water left, right and centre.

Hi Belinda

We don't have a hose[i[e ban from the water authorities, just from the committee!!!

Apparently, our resovoirs are full to bursting which makes it even worse. I really hate stupid rules and think I should break them just for the hell of it. What do you think?

Lizzie you get better by the minute.
It seems your just like me, a non-conformist.

Kind regards Old Herbaceous.

Theres no fool like an old fool.

Fortunately we have taps strategically placed throughout the site.
Theoretically we are allowed to have a hose pipe running for twenty minutes allegedly to fill water butts

The water contained it my butts wouldn't last five minutes for the greenhouses alone and I have seven butts scattered around at the G'houses and sheds

Hi OH

I do like a bit of anarchy/direct action. I find it's good for the soul