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Issue Number 2 |
September 1997 |
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QED ALLOTMENTS: THE FIRST YEAR The launch of Dartford's Local Agenda 21 Initiative, QED (Quality Environment for Dartford) in June 1996 offered a unique opportunity to improve the public image of allotment gardening in the Borough and to broaden and extend its benefits to the local community. The Dartford Allotments Steering Committee (DASC) was formed in September 1996, and subsequently gained recognition from the Borough Council as the allotments group within QED. Participants in our activities over the past year have included the allotment associations at Bean, Dartford Road, Gore Road, Marcet Road and Wilmot Road and the West Dartford Allotment and Garden Society. Many other associations and individuals have recorded an interest. This month our first Annual Report - and overall contribution to QED - received a very favourable reception from the Borough Council's Environment and Housing Committee. Activities of the QED Allotments Group in its first year have included: € Regular meetings of representatives from local allotment associations to discuss means of achieving the aims of Local Agenda 21. € Monitoring and dissemination of advice on best practice in allotment site management, through contacts with national bodies such as the National Society of Allotment and Leisure Gardeners and the National Federation of City farms, other Local Agenda 21 initiatives promoting food production, and allotment federations and authorities in other boroughs - including Bexley, Bromley and Gillingham. € Publication of a leaflet to encourage rental of allotments on both Borough and Parish sites. € Publication of a Newsletter distributed free to all 650 allotment gardeners in Dartford. € Participation in the QED Marquee at the Dartford Festival. Our exhibit highlighted the environmental benefits of allotment gardening, including recycling, maintenance of biodiversity (through HDRA's heritage seed scheme), enhancement of wildlife habitats (through, for example, the installation of bird boxes), and local food production (leading to a reduction in "food miles" and thus reduced pollution from air and lorry transport). € Cooperation with the QED Waste Group (which includes allotment gardeners amongst its membership) to recycle waste materials of use to allotment gardeners from local factories and businesses. These include pallets (for sheds and compost bins), carpets, plastic panels from false ceilings (for cloches and cold frame lids) and plastic barrels (for water butts). € Participation with the QED Waste Group in "Tidy Britain Week", involving the provision of skips to the Marcet Road and Wilmot Road sites to enable environmental improvements. € Organisation in cooperation with the QED Waste Group of an experimental "community composting" scheme at Wilmot Road allotments. We have also actively monitored new developments in this field, through our membership of the Community Composting Network and contacts with other local authorities. € Submission to the Borough Plan Review calling for expanded community garden provision in the major development areas in East Dartford to allow for the local recycling of compostable wastes. € Launch (in conjunction with Kent Police) of an experimental "Allotment Watch" scheme. € Cooperation with schools and colleges to encourage the use of allotment sites as a resource for environmental and development education. For example, students from Dartford Grammar School for Girls have completed a project on recycling and allotment gardening which has been posted on the World Wide Web (http://www.dggs.demon.co.uk), and SOAS (University of London) has used the Dartford Road site as a simulator for teaching social survey techniques to students of geography prior to field research in India. € Hosting a visit to Dartford (with HDRA) of a representative from a South African charity specialising in organic agriculture (the Valley Trust), including a talk to local sixth-formers. € Promotion of community relations through participation in local flower and produce shows and the provision of flowers for religious observances. New activities planned for the coming year include: € Active participation in the proposed QED Health Group, with an emphasis on the therapeutic value of allotment gardening, regular exercise and the nutritional benefits of "Grow Your Own" schemes highlighted in the Health of the Nation report. € Planning and installation of raised beds and other facilities for disabled gardeners, using materials obtained through the QED Waste Group from local businesses. € A campaign to remove and dispose of unwanted pesticides and herbicides from garden sheds across the Borough, in cooperation with the QED Pollution Group. € A series of themed "Open Days" during which participating sites will be open to the public. Themes to include "organic gardening" and "heritage seeds and biodiversity" - the latter linked to the proposed formation of a QED Biodiversity/Natural Resources Group. € Participation in the formulation of a new Open Space Strategy for the Borough, to improve access to (and public enjoyment of) open areas in and around allotment sites and to enhance their visual amenity. WHAT'S ON FOR ALLOTMENT GARDENERS IN DARTFORD Southfleet Gardeners' Society: For more information about the Society's activities, contact the Social Secretary, Mrs N Salway: 01474-833622. Sutton-at-Hone Horticultural Society: Meetings are held on the Third Tuesday of each month at the Village Hall. For more information, contact the Secretary, Mrs L Garner: 01322-864555. Wealden Organic Gardeners: For more information about the Society's activities, contact Mr D Holman: 01622-203787. West Dartford Allotment and Garden Society: For more information about the Society's activities, contact the Social Secretary, Mrs J Dixon: 01322-226786. Wilmington Horticultural Society: For details of meetings, contact the Social Secretary, Mrs Whelpdale: 01322-220479. HOW TO GET INVOLVED IN QED ALLOTMENTS Our regular meetings are open to representatives from allotment sites, associations and societies throughout the Borough of Dartford. Further details of QED Allotments meetings are available from our Secretary, Robert Johnson (01322-229298). New participants - and new ideas - are always welcome. If you have something to say about allotment gardening in Dartford, why not say it through this Newsletter? Contact the Editor, Sheila Morey, at 9 Devonshire Avenue, Dartford DA1 3DN (01322-270382). And if you would like to have your say in one of the other QED groups - or form a group yourself - Alan Cremer, the overall Secretary of QED, would be delighted to hear from you: contact him c/o Dartford Borough Council, Home Gardens, Dartford DA1 1DR (01322-343250). Current QED groups include Transport, Pollution, Waste & Recycling, Youth Action, Newtown and Swanscombe & Greenhithe. |
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