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Rochford Allotment Association
Past Events: Inspection Day: Lost the Plot? (8th April 2011)
Saturday 9th April is accounting day or, to be more precise, “Plot Inspection Day.” This, no doubt, will be a time when some feel happy and relaxed (if not tired) and others may feel defensive and make excuses. Not wanting to get under the feet of the Committee, we wandered along the allotments to find Chairman Dave, on the day before the checking, to see what it really was all about. We asked him what it was that the inspection group look for when they inspect the allotments:
Dave: Are they being worked?
RL: So they’ve got to be worked in some small measure.
Dave: If somebody hasn’t done anything since last October up until tomorrow, does that person really want it and are you holding back somebody who could use it? If you take on an allotment you take it on because you want to work on it. If you are not able to or can’t be bothered to work on it, then you shouldn’t have it, because there is a waiting list and you will be stopping someone else having it. Also if it has gone to weed, it is unfair to the allotment holders next to you if it has gone to seed and the seeds are blowing on their plot. That’s not fair is it? It’s being seen to be doing something. Not everybody has the ability to do it all at once but it’s just about working on it. It’s not fair on the waiting people or the people that are alongside if you’re not going to use your allotment. We simply report back to the Council and they take action.
Well that was a very simple and straight forward reasoning for keeping an allotment up to scratch. Below left are examples of the people who have put the work in. Below far right is an example of a purple haze and grass that says here is an anti-social allotment. What a shame!
Saturday 9th April is accounting day or, to be more precise, “Plot Inspection Day.” This, no doubt, will be a time when some feel happy and relaxed (if not tired) and others may feel defensive and make excuses. Not wanting to get under the feet of the Committee, we wandered along the allotments to find Chairman Dave, on the day before the checking, to see what it really was all about. We asked him what it was that the inspection group look for when they inspect the allotments:
Dave: Are they being worked?
RL: So they’ve got to be worked in some small measure.
Dave: If somebody hasn’t done anything since last October up until tomorrow, does that person really want it and are you holding back somebody who could use it? If you take on an allotment you take it on because you want to work on it. If you are not able to or can’t be bothered to work on it, then you shouldn’t have it, because there is a waiting list and you will be stopping someone else having it. Also if it has gone to weed, it is unfair to the allotment holders next to you if it has gone to seed and the seeds are blowing on their plot. That’s not fair is it? It’s being seen to be doing something. Not everybody has the ability to do it all at once but it’s just about working on it. It’s not fair on the waiting people or the people that are alongside if you’re not going to use your allotment. We simply report back to the Council and they take action.
Well that was a very simple and straight forward reasoning for keeping an allotment up to scratch. Below left are examples of the people who have put the work in. Below far right is an example of a purple haze and grass that says here is an anti-
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