Hi folks
I have an allotment in the Scottish Borders, I just took it over in April and it's been mega-stressful, to be honest I haven't been enjoying it at all, though hopefully next year will be better and I'm determined to carry on. The plot was completely derelict when I took it over, overgrown with grass and weeds from front to back and full of junk, and with a collapsing, rotten shed.
After several months of weekly work I have cleared the junk, demolished the shed, dug over most of the ground, moved the fruit bushes to the back of the plot, and brought in compost bins which are currently holding approx. 1800 litres of annual weeds. It hasn't helped that the ground was chock full of couch grass, buttercups, and even a large pit of stones
The attitude of the other plot-holders has been varied, some of them have been really encouraging, and I was quite touched that an old-timer expressed indignation that the plot had ever been allowed to get in such a state, and swore that he would not have even attempted to take it on. On the other hand I have been feeling rather pressured, with a steady stream of comments that I should dig the ground, plant potatoes (which I did - I harvested over 20 kilos actually) and clear all the left-over timber from the site. I feel I have had to constantly beg for patience from the other people there, and often feel some of them don't understand how hard it is for a single, working, car-less person to cope with such a mammoth undertaking...
Now my new shed is almost completed and the site maneger has told me the neighbours have complained about the roof being too close to the boundary fence. When I spoke to them they expressed disbelief that I had built the roof right up to the fence (it doesn't touch it though). The shed itself has enough clearance that you can physically get through the gap but the roof overhangs at front and back, and the back left corner is centimetres away from touching the fence. The neighbours complained about the view from their house and said it would have been 'common courtesy' to ask about leaning wood against the fence. I countered that I had mentioned the wood to one of the three neighbours whose garden adjoins my plot and they had seemed completely untroubled about it. I do not want to start a big massive fire to burn off all the wood because a) I might still need some of it and there are some good pieces and b) last time I tried to have a fire the neighbours callled the fire brigade, who put it out.
The neighbours refused to clarify how far the roof should be from the fence and said that was up to the allotment association (NB it's not council site). The site manager could not specify the clearance either and said 'you should cut it back to about here' - obviously some arbitrary distance he had just made up. The roof would be a nightmare to cut because it is corrugated polycarbonate sheeting, it will most likley shatter or crack if I try to cut it with a woodsaw, AFAIK you need to use a jigsaw or circular saw to cut the stuff. Anyway even if I cut it they might still not be satisfied. There is no planning permission required for garden sheds <4 square metres here. The allotment regs say you should inform the commitee of site and size prior to building a shed but they never gave me any contact details when I started. The site manager just comes up and hassles me about this and that, he never once gave me a number to call if I needed any advice. They never even told me who was in charge.
Any advice please? I'm feeling hassled and stressed by the whole show really.