[andy135]

On a recent thread, I made a coment that our assoc chairman stated that any coming hosepipe ban did not apply to us as we were considered to be food production. Today, he has said that he has been in touch with the federation who have stated that we do have to comply with local water restrictions and failure to do so may result in a £1000 fine.
Has anyone got  any accurate information on this please?

[Missy1970]

Sorry cant answer your question but I would have thought the ban would have applied, allotments are not food production for commercial purposes just personal use.

Surely someone will confirm soon - you can still use your watering can

[fatcat1955]

Hosepipe bans only cover private land, so if your allotment is council run you are ok. Sprinklers on the other hand would be banned.

[Sideshoot]

May seem a stupid question...
How are they inforced...? I mean whose to know if you give yr veg a quick squirt etc

[simonwatson]

If you've got a little money to spend, you can get a pump to stick in your water butt that will easily run a hose pipe. I got one off ebay for about £30. On the allotment (don't have one yet, grrr) if you don't have power, you could run it off a car battery and a small inverter no problem. Mine is sufficient to run a small sprinkler or hose with a rose attachment no problem.

[Salmo]

May seem a stupid question...
How are they inforced...? I mean whose to know if you give yr veg a quick squirt etc

I am sure it would not be long before a fellow plot holder or someone living nearbye reported you. Probably the committee members would ask you to stop. It is difficult to hide wet ground.

I do not mind farmers amd market gardeners irrigating when private individuals are banned but I do get upset when golf greens are watered.

[Johnnywesto]

........just to cap it all it rained here in Barrow last night and this morning and just to add insult to injury Black Combe and the local hills are swathed in rainclouds as I type this.

The real crime, of course, is that English Heritage (or some other bunch of tourism Nazis) refuse to allow the water companies to divert the top 2 or 3 inches off the top of Windermere and a couple of the other lakes because it'd leave a tourist/photograph un-friendly tide-mark around their precious cash-cow. Aesthetics

[DD.]

If you've got a little money to spend, you can get a pump to stick in your water butt that will easily run a hose pipe. I got one off ebay for about £30. On the allotment (don't have one yet, grrr) if you don't have power, you could run it off a car battery and a small inverter no problem. Mine is sufficient to run a small sprinkler or hose with a rose attachment no problem.

And when the butt's empty? It won't take long using a pump!

[Cheshire Phill]

How can I confirm the "council-owned" land exemption claimed earlier in this thread?

Apparently United Utilities is likely to impose a hosepipe ban from this weekend in the NW, according to the radio this morning. Don't mind my lawn drying up at home really, but would like to keep my crops fed and watered on my council lotty.

Do I need to contact my local council?

Phill

[simonwatson]

If you've got a little money to spend, you can get a pump to stick in your water butt that will easily run a hose pipe. I got one off ebay for about £30. On the allotment (don't have one yet, grrr) if you don't have power, you could run it off a car battery and a small inverter no problem. Mine is sufficient to run a small sprinkler or hose with a rose attachment no problem.

And when the butt's empty? It won't take long using a pump!

Yes, you're right about that. I've got 3 butts linked together for 600 litres capacity and that's enough water to my veg patch in the garden for about two weeks without some rain. I worked out I could run the pump for about an hour and it would be empty. It does save on lots of trips to fill the watering can though.

[fatcat1955]

Regarding the water pumps and butts, if you are on private land you would not be allowed to fill the butts from the mains water via a hose pipe. So when the butts are empty you would need to fill them with a watering can, so you would still be doing the same amount of work.  As regards to golf clubs watering the greens, i understand that if they are private clubs they are covered by the ban, unless they have their own supply of water.

[simonwatson]

Regarding the water pumps and butts, if you are on private land you would not be allowed to fill the butts from the mains water via a hose pipe. So when the butts are empty you would need to fill them with a watering can, so you would still be doing the same amount of work.  As regards to golf clubs watering the greens, i understand that if they are private clubs they are covered by the ban, unless they have their own supply of water.

You're right, once they're empty, they're empty. The hope is that the large capacity will last between the dry spells.

[Dominic]

You could always ring the water company and ask them?

[mikem]

I hope that this is not too controversial but if there is a hosepipe ban shouldn't we stop trying to find a way out of getting round the ban?  We have taps at our allotment but we are never allowed to use hosepipes as it does waste a lot of water that is metered and costly.  Watering cans are OK and most plants (except starting off seeds) don't need lots of water.  Despite the lack of recent rain an occasional watering with the can should be sufficient.

[Aidy]

I hope that this is not too controversial but if there is a hosepipe ban shouldn't we stop trying to find a way out of getting round the ban?  We have taps at our allotment but we are never allowed to use hosepipes as it does waste a lot of water that is metered and costly.  Watering cans are OK and most plants (except starting off seeds) don't need lots of water.  Despite the lack of recent rain an occasional watering with the can should be sufficient.

Agree with you 100% I hate seeing hosepipes used, its my pet hate. I go mad at our rep when I see people hosepiping their veg 2 days after a full day of rain and you can clearly see the ground is not dry. Apart form the waste of water there is the cost of water, I don't like paying for someone else's water 
I hope this ban goes on for a few months, just to miff the hosepipe peeps off.