Protect Our Allotments!

Allotments are great for people and the environment:

This great picture is from 'Tales From The Allotment' a local Preston Allotment blogger, who is also a talented artist and a member of Save The Ribble, it really points out the reasons why Allotments are gaining in popularity.

His best post so far is this one on the various benefits of allotment keeping.

Save The Ribble is making a stand about the importance of allotments because the developers and property consultants behind the Riverworks Barrage proposals desperately want to get their hands on this land so that they can build housing and business premises over it.

The facts are that Preston is one of the unhealthiest towns in the country, and people badly need the fresh organic vegetables they can grow on their allotments, and that the allotments in question are actually in the Ribble flood plain, and currently help us with our flood protection (they are like big sponges that soak up rain and flood water, preventing it getting to our houses). These facts don't seem to matter to our council, when there are huge potential profits at stake.



Allotment plotter also painted this great picture, pointing out the kind of beautiful scenery we could lose if the Riverworks proposals go ahead. Preston is one of the few cities where within five minutes walk of the town centre, you can find yourself in open countryside, with cows grazing. It is one of the great things about living in Preston, and local people don't want to lose this beautiful green land to yet another suburban housing estate.

Where Preston wants to build on the greenbelt land beside the Ribble - the darker pink areas would all be new housing

Read more about the threat to our allotments, and the campaign to save them here.

Save Penwortham Allotments - Stop Riverworks

Local allotment keepers are fuming that Preston City Council should even be thinking about building housing and businesses all over their precious patches of land.

Elaine Knox, secretary of Penwortham West Allotment Association has had this well argued letter opposing the Riverworks scheme published in today's Lancashire Evening Post:

Penwortham Allotments Under Threat - click on the picture to make it bigger

Elaine argues that Penwortham Holme West is one of Preston's largest allotment sites, despite having already lost many areas to road building. Losing it would reduce the allotment provision to Preston residents by a third, at a time when allotments have never been more popular, and when the sites are fully let and subject to a waiting list.

She says

Allotments are priceless community assets that, once lost, cannot be replaced

Elaine also points out that there are huge social, environmental and health benefits to the community offered by allotment gardening, and that for many families, this is the only way they can have access to fresh, nutritious and chemical free food.

The allotments are part of the precious green corridoor between Preston and Penwortham, a corridoor the council wants to destroy, in it's aggressive plans to expand across the Ribble.

Where Preston wants to build on the greenbelt land beside the Ribble - the darker pink areas would all be new housing

Preston City Council is currently applying to the North West Development Agency for funds for a feasibility study into the Riverworks ideas - ideas that would mean the loss not only of these local allotments, but also of local football pitches, recreation grounds and beautiful greenbelt land, all for the sake of a 'water sports park' that nobody actually wants.

There is no doubt that Preston City Council could make a killing by redesignating this greenbelt area, and selling it on to greedy developers - but this would be directly against the interests of local people, who love our river as it is, without a barrage, and without large housing estates springing up along its banks.

The NWDA must be stopped from spending public money on a project the public do not want, and which is directly against the interests of local Preston people.

Find out more about the threat to our allotments and the importance of allotment keeping to local people by clicking on the links below:

Ten Reasons why Preston City Council should not build over our allotments
Weekend on the Allotment
Tales from the Allotment, a blog by the Allotment Plotter.

Unite to Save Our River Ribble

At a time when the government is planning to make it easier for developers to build over green belt land and a time when our council leaders seem determined to ignore local views on unitary authority status, we feel that it has never been more important for the people who live near the River Ribble to stand up and defend our beautiful river.

Preston City Council has irresponsible and dangerous ideas to build a barrage across the River Ribble and over 4000 houses in its floodplain, on the beautiful green belt land that divides Preston from South Ribble. These ideas are contained in the councils over-hyped and under-scrutinised Riverworks Proposals.

Local people love the Ribble and our green spaces, in all seasons, at all tides, and in all nature's moods...



Save The Ribble has been campaigning since the launch of our blog to give the pro-Ribble Response of local people to these proposals.

Our members and supporters include (in no particular order):

* Anglers, who want to keep the river tidal and fast flowing because it this makes it an ideal habitat for barbel (and the Atlantic Salmon, one of the most endangered species in Europe)

*Allotment Keepers who do not want to see their historic allotments built over

*Dog walkers who find the river a great place to walk with their faithful companions

*Ramblers who love walking along a beautiful everchanging tidal river.

*Bird lovers who understand the mortal threat that a barrage would pose to the Ribble Estuary, an internationally important home to over 250,000 birds, which all rely on the nutrient rich silts washed down the river

*Local householders, who do not want to see the Ribble turned into a race track for jet-skiers, and who fear that raising the water level to permanent high-tide and extensive development in the floodplain will increase the flood risk to their homes.

Environmentalists who understand the key importance of our tidal river and its estuary to a huge variety of flora and fauna, and that a barrage and marina would turn the Ribble into a concrete-lined sterile imitation of a river.

*Footballers, who do not wish to see precious pitches like Penwortham Holme, Vernons or Frenchwood Recreation Ground turned over to the developers



We are not opposed to progress, but we are opposed to wanton destruction of beautiful green spaces, environmentally sensitive areas and precious community facilities like allotments and football pitches.

Preston City Council could put local people's minds at rest today, by simply promising never to barrage the Ribble or to build more housing in its floodplain - until we receive such assurances, we will continue to build locally and nationally to resist these crazy proposals - proposals which were dreamt up over two years ago, which have had huge amounts of public money and council officer time spent on them, but which were never been asked for by local people, and on which local people have never yet been consulted.

We are certain that if the council had ever come to local people for ideas, they would have come up with much more creative, responsible and sustainable ideas than this overblown and dangerous project, a project that seems driven by the potential profits of greedy developers rather than by the wishes or needs of local people.

Join Us!

If you want to join our campaign, please write to: 'Save The Ribble' PO Box 1104. Penwortham, Preston, Lancashire, PR2 0DB or email us at savetheribble@tiscali.co.uk

Feel free to download our window poster and stick it in your window or on your noticeboard at work.

John Sawhill said that "in the end, our society will be defined not only by what we create but by what we refuse to destroy" - we must unite to defend one of the last truly beautiful parts of Preston, a precious part of Lancashire, an asset to North West England, the richest inter-tidal habitat in the UK and an internationally important area for birdlife - the River Ribble.

UPDATE

Much to our surprise, South Ribble Borough Council has listened to local people and opposed a merger and joint unitary authority bid with Preston.

This shows that if we make our views heard strongly enough, we can make a difference - the barrage and floodplain housing ideas can still be stopped!

Allotments gaining in popularity

The BBC News magazine has recently reported on the increasingly popularity of allotments, which in some areas have 10 year waiting lists. There is now a new breed of allotment enthusiast – more likely to be young, female and bringing the children along.

In Penwortham this trend is also apparent. On the plots near to my own 5 are rented by young women, although we still have many older men and couples that are happy to help with advice and expertise.



Claire Willis of the National Society of Allotment and Leisure Gardeners (NSALG) says ‘ Its becoming much more of a community activity’

Allotments are also being used to improve health – with the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers running “Green Gyms” where gardening skills are used as a form of exercise. In Penwortham there are plans for the council to adopt an allotment and use it to help educate secondary school children about the environment, food and health.

But in spite of their growing popularity and valued place in society the future for allotments remains uncertain. Allotments have protected status, and a spokesman for the Department of Communities and Local Government is quoted in the BBC report as saying it aims “to deliver and protect allotments” and that “planning policy guidance is clear that new housing development should not be at the expense of losing recreational open space”

But it still can be a struggle to save the land from development. NSALG’s Claire Willis says ‘People pay lip service to wanting green space – but with the building programme going on at the moment, it looks as though we wont stop until everything is concreted over’

From BBC News Magazine at Can You Dig It?

Previous articles on the Riverworks threat to local allotments:
Weekend on the Allotment
Tales From the Riverbank and Local Allotments
Allotments - Ten Reasons Why Preston City Council Should Not Build Over Them

Allotments: Ten Reasons Why Preston City Council Should Not Build Over Them

The allotments near Penwortham Holme are under threat from the Preston City Council Riverworks Initiative - which includes proposals to build over 4000 houses in this area. The area threatened by this huge housing estate also includes popular land used by local amateur football leagues and some rather amazing beautiful green space, only 10 minutes walk from the City Centre. This area also happens to be greenbelt and in the RIbble floodplain.



Here is a list of 10 good reasons why the allotments should stay, and Riverworks housing ideas should be scrapped.

1. Growing your own vegetables on an allotment has huge health and social benefits - it provides exercise, occupation and nutrition and is being promoted by local health authorities - they are a place where you can grow organic food that you can be truly confident IS fully organic.

2. There is a national shortage of allotments, because greedy property developers are building all over them.

3. The Penwortham Holme allotments are part of a ‘green corridor’ that supports a huge variety of wildlife along the banks of the Ribble - allotments are key to preserving biodiversity, both locally and nationally.

4. People of all backgrounds, ages and ethnicities are using the Penwortham Holme allotments - it is a place where people are meeting, chatting, helping each other out, and becoming a truly diverse community.

5. For many city dwellers, including many children who don’t have gardens, an allotment is the only opportunity to connect with nature, get out in the fresh air, and learn about how to grow things and healthy eating.

6. Preston City Council has recently spent £thousands on cleaning up the Penwotham Holme site and bringing it back into full use.

7. Allotments are nicer to look at than a stale suburban housing estate, and Preston and South Ribble both have a housing surplus already.

8. Allotments recycle virtually everything you could imagine, packaging becomes seed trays and bird-scarers, food waste becomes compost, old bits of timber become sheds, walkways or fencing.

9. There have been allotments at Penwortham Holme since 1913. In 1919, there were 1.5 million allotments nationally, one plot for every five families, the ‘Land Settlement Facilities Act’ made it clear that all members of the community were eligible to take up allotment gardening. In 1996 there were 33 000 acres of allotments, representing a major decline from the war years and a decline of 43% between 1970 and 1996.

10. Allotments are a natural flood defence - they absorb rain water, while housing estates, roads and car parks do not!

(Thanks to allotment keeper Elaine, whose excellent article I have based this list on)

Read more about the Penwotham Holme Allotments here: Weekend on the allotment and here: Further Tales and Pictures from the Riverbank and Allotments

Here's a link to the National Association of Allotment and Leisure Gardeners and the Office of the Deputy Prime Ministers Publication Allotments - A Plot Holder's Guide.




allotment allotments lists

Weekend on the Allotment.

Allotments near the Ribble are under threat from the Riverworks Proposals - here a Penwortham allotment keeper explains the positive contribution these allotments make to our environment, and to his family's leisure time:

Our Allotment is about 100 yards back from the Ribble. It is backed by a stand of mixed woodland. It is lovely peaceful spot. Spring is here and the Allotments are a hive of activity. Spuds and onions have been planted and in the lull before green house seeds can be planted out we decided to rescue and repair our water storage.

Hopefully we will not have to water too often this year as the soil is full of organic matter and soaks up water like a sponge. Young seedlings will need some attention though. We collect and store rain water to enable us to do this. Unfortunately we have developed a leak. Repairing this has involved emptying and relining the reservoir. A task complicated by having to move 7 frogs and about 1000 tadpoles. Does anyone know how many slugs a frog can eat? I would be interested to know.

Much of the organic matter used on the allotments is provided by local stables. This mixture of bedding and manure which presents a problem for the stables as it can not be tipped or burnt. On the allotment however this waste product becomes an asset. It adds fertility, improves the water holding capacity of the soil which is teaming with many invertebrates such as worms. Any one digging on our plot will probably be followed by a Robin who quite happily follows as you dig, feasting on some of the many fat worms uncovered. I hope the Kestrel does not see him.

The allotments are an asset to the local area. They provide recreation and exercise to local people of all ages. They add to the incredible biodiversity of the area offering habitat to a number of birds, mammals, amphibians and insects. They are fantastic recycling centres; vegetable waste is composted, old pallets and wood are reused, discarded pop bottles are used propagate seedlings in spring. I could go on.

The high organic matter in the soil stores moisture ensuring minimal water wastage in times of drought. During rain they can also help to prevent flooding.

Losing these leisure facilities to the developers would not enhance the environment but detract from it.