Fears for allotments after land deal

A mystery bidder has bought up a patch of land used for allotments in Lincoln – casting uncertainty on their future.

The 3.53 acre site on South Common to the east of Cross O'Cliff Hill was put up for sale as part of a Government sell-off of former British Railways land.

It fetched just £19,000 at auction at Manchester United's home stadium, Old Trafford, last Thursday.

http://www.thisislincolnshire.co.uk/news/Fears-allotments-land-deal/article-736043-detail/article.html

Its a case of use it or lose it.
I don't know why the auction was held at this particular football ground.Was it to attract investment from footballers?They must have a lot of disposable income.
I feel that the current state of affairs with respect to job losses and the general economic climate may see an upsurge in the use of allotments and therefore far more should have been done to secure this land for the use of the general public.
Its a loss that won't easily be replaced.

omega2618 wrote:Its a case of use it or lose it.
I don't know why the auction was held at this particular football ground...

i suspect they wanted it far from lincoln, so allotment users didnt buy it!

It's not my site but as far as I know it's well used. Definitely has a waiting list. I'm curious as to who bought the land and why. Seems unlikely that planning permission would be granted for homes or a buisness development and it would take decades to get £19K back in lottie rents. I agree with omega that this really isn't a time to be letting allotment land go! Healthy exercise and cheap, high quality food - whats not to love?!

and atm the govt. are trying to get more ppl to grow veg, and use allotments!

I was interested to see where the term allotments came from and found a brief but interesting article here:-
http://www.allotment.org.uk/articles/Allotment-History.php

The recommendation in 1950 was for 4 acres per 1000 head of population.I wonder what the figures are for Lincoln at the present time?

I'm quite suprised that the article suggests there are less than 300,000 allotments in Britain! That really isn't many for a population of over 60 million!

Mind you, I'm all for throwing my spade and fork over my shoulder and declaring The People's Republic of the South Common

" From the men of property, the orders came,
they sent the hired men and troopers to wipe out the Diggers claim.
Tear down their cottages, destroy their corn,
" we come in peace", the orders came to cut them down.

You poor take courage, you rich take care,
the earth was made a common treasury for everyone to share,
all things in common, all people one,
they were dispersed, only the vision lingers on.

I shall see you on the barricades Arkley, 9am sharp!

I'm here with my thermos of Bovril and a copy of Das Kapital but there's no sign of you.

but the burning cross you have made to demonstrate your dissatisfaction and that you are "burning cross with them" seems to be getting misinterpreted!

combom wrote:and atm the govt. are trying to get more ppl to grow veg, and use allotments!

Quite the reverse me thinks They want us to spend our money in the shops. It wasn't the Government's/Council's choice anyway. they can't stop BR selling the land although they can veto any planning applications on it.

My Dad used to have an allotment down Boultham Park Road which he enjoyed but gave up when he moved into a house with a bigger garde. Fortunately my house has a nice big garden too and am currently digging the final 18ft ready to plant

AC

When you've finished yours you can start on mine!

There is a movement gathering pace down south whereby the chores of running an allotment are shared in return for a share of the spoils.

i'd love to have a allotment to work on, but there seems to get less and less, and more and more houses

Arkley, I was the one in the Che Guevara t-shirt building a tree house whilst belting out Billy Bragg's greatest hits. I can't believe you didn't notice me! Tsk

Seahorse, i had this pre-conception based upon your avatar and i neglected to acknowledge the bearded, denim - clad and cropped haired protester struggling with some discarded pallets half - way up a lofty Elm.
Be unceasing in your struggle.
Leon.

Hmm, maybe I should lose the beard. It's taken me ages to get the full Karl Marx effect though...