[FCG]

Been offered plot 9B on my local allotments but it's utter rubbish. It's not been cultivated for a few years and has bricks and god knows what else in it. I quote 'Not very good and has quite a lot of rubbish/bricks on it".

That said, should i have a pot shot at trying to get it? Or should i bide my time and try elsewhere? It looks now that i'ld have to doff a duffer off to get one at my preferred place where this is. However i can always try the letter to the local mag saying send me your addresses people and we'll get a petition for more going... but knowing the empowered jobsworths at local councils (not all, mind) it'll never happen.

So it boils down to this. I'm going to the plot now and will take some photos, see if i can get some feedback on it from other allotment holders there.

Oh and there is a bonus in.. they're 'willing' to waive the rent for the first year a grand total of £28.80.

Unfortunately there is a down side in that the highest up the allotment list will get it, i'm very much near the bottom.

[Kate and her Ducks]

I'd go for it, Bird in the hand and all that.

You've got the autumn and winter to get some of the back breaking grind out of the way in time for spring planting.
Sounds like fun, such a shame I can't join you :shock:

[Aunt Sally]

Go for it.  A bit of hard graft and you'll be laughing

[Elcie]

Looking at your signature, I am surprised you are even asking the question!  Wait around and the next plot might not be perfect, then the next, etc, etc.  Go for it.  Might be a pain (most of them are to start with!) but the benefits will be brilliant.

[DIGGER]

YES OF COURSE

[Flaf]

Why on earth not?  OK, so it's not ideal but not many allotments come problem free.

it's a great time of year to start too.  Get the soil all cleared and prepared and you're not wasting key planting growing time. When winter comes you can get all the planning done and be ready to roll come spring  

[Kate and her Ducks]

All seems pretty unanimous Mike.

[compostqueen]

how many plots come ready to go ?  Most of them are filled with dodo which you have to cart off to the dump. Bricks are useful on the plot for a 1001 tasks so stack them to one side for now. Glass is the worst but you just have to set-to and collect it all up as you can't get going.  I still daren't kneel on my plot, always use a kneeling mat, due to the broken glass which still keeps surfacing and I've had my plot about 4 years.  

If there are brambles, nettles and docks you can bet it will be fertile

I've just been clearing the plot at the side of mine as it was letting the whole site down.  About four of us have got together to do it.  Get some helpers, free burgers and lagers etc, and it will get done much faster  

[poultrygeist]

You'll only be cultivating a small area to start with, so it won't take you long to clear enough for Spring. Then move on to the next bit and so on. By next year, you'll have the full plot sorted. If it wasn't bricks, it'd be weeds and roots, so it's not far different. And maybe you can use the bricks as a base for a greenhouse, or a path, etc.

You've got youth on your side  

Rob

[Pompey Spud]

Hi
No brainer. Book it Dano!!

Good time of year to get cracking & you could be waiting for years for your next chance.

Plus the satisfaction of turning it round.

How big is the plot?

If you look like your avata, I'll even help....hhhmmm  

[woodentop]

Joe Swift on Gardeners World didn't have all this trouble ! Aren't all allotments like his with loads of freebies ?

[FCG]

* my guiddy aunt.

It's not just got bricks all over it, it's a bomb site and a health hazard. Went for a closer look today and it's 4ft high with rubbish and i mean asbestos, needles and decomposing nappies. Local council estate has obviously used it as a tip for the last god knows how many years. Also the house across the way has been recently renovated - i know where all the broken up concrete and smashed glass has ended up. Established trees all over it and the fence is/has fallen down.

Oh and on top of that, the weeds are bigger than me. There isn't any couch grass or mares tail... it's all been killed off by the bindweed.

I'm going to say no. Whoever came up with this wheeze deserves the corner office at the council. It would cost over a thousand pounds to put it in order and just don't have that amount of money to spend on this.

[Bombers]

that's made it 10 out of 10 then! As others have said, are you in a position to be picking and choosing?................ NO!
It'll take 6 months to get it straight, and then your good to grow! ha ha.
Good Luck.

[poultrygeist]

Could you tell them you'll have it once environmental health have cleared it of hazardous waste ?

Might get the lot cleared.

Rob

[Aunt Sally]

Turn it down and you'd go to the bottom of the waiting list on my lottie site.  

If it really is a health hazard the council will be legally obliged to make it safe before letting it !!!