QED Allotments Newsletter

Issue Number 4

September 1998

PLOTS IN PARLIAMENT The Report of the House of Commons Environment, Transport and Regional Affairs Committee inquiry into The Future for Allotments was published in June. The Report calls for local authorities to draw up a regime of best practice in allotment management, and the QED Allotments Group has been invited to discussions with the Local Government Association on the best way forward. The Committee comments favourably on the QED Allotments Newsletter, and identifies participation in Local Agenda 21 as something to be encouraged. This theme is amplified in Early Day Motion 1598 which Dartford's MP (Dr Howard Stoate) introduced to the Commons in July, and states: "That this House welcomes the work done by local allotment groups; further welcomes their involvement in many areas with Local Agenda 21 initiatives, for example, Quality Environment for Dartford; notes the contribution that allotment gardening can make to the local environment through recycling, sheltering wildlife and conserving open spaces; further notes the benefits for health of allotment gardening through regular exercise and fresh fruit and vegetables; and calls on the Government to do everything it can to support local allotment groups." Early Day Motion 1598 has attracted the support of MPs from all three major political parties, from allotment gardeners around the country, and from organisations such as the National Society of Allotment and Leisure Gardeners, the National Federation of City Farms, and the European Office International du Coin de Terre et des Jardins Familiaux. DARTFORD'S ALLOTMENTS IN THE NEWS The QED Allotments Group has been helping to update the popular image of allotment gardening. Over the past year we have had a hand in some fifty reports in the local and national press including Garden News, Amateur Gardening, Allotment and Leisure Gardener, EG Local Environment News, local free newspapers and of course the Dartford Borough News. You can read about future meetings of local allotment and garden societies on the new Gardening Page of the Dartford Times, which was launched with an article on QED activities at Dartford Road Allotments in July and appears on the last Thursday of every month (except December). To ensure your society's news is covered, call Darryl McCarthy at 01474-363363, or write to him c/o The Kentish Times, 38-46 Harmer Street, Gravesend DA12 2AY. For radio fans, Swanscombe plotholder Richard Stone is a regular guest on Andy Garland's "Allotment Watch" on BBC Radio Kent (96.7FM), which is broadcast every Sunday at 10.30-11.00 from one of seven different allotment sites around the county JUST SPROUTED IN THE VIRTUAL POTTING SHED News items from local allotment societies, and updates on all the QED groups, can be seen at the QED Website (http://www.btinternet.com/~richard.wiltshire/), which is updated every Monday. In June QED launched its "Virtual Potting Shed" Project on the Internet, a scheme to encourage allotment societies and community gardens around the country to take part in Local Agenda 21 initiatives, to acquire for themselves the skills needed for effective communication in the electronic age, and to spread information on best practice in allotment gardening. Clients with pages hosted on the QED Website include London CityHarvest, the Bristol and District Federation of Allotment and Leisure Gardeners, Hull and East Riding Allotments and Gardens Council, and Birmingham's Uplands Allotments Association. The Project also caters for local groups: the latest to join is the Crockenhill Leisure Gardeners and Allotment Association. B&Q's "QUEST" SCHEME AIDS GARDENERS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS B&Q has awarded QED a grant to buy tools for use by gardeners with learning difficulties on allotment sites in Dartford. Beneficiaries will include a group from the Assisted Learning Division of North West Kent College who are cultivating a plot on the Dartford Road site. The grant was the result of a joint application by the QED Allotments and Health Groups. SOMETHING FOR RAINY DAYS Just published: City Fields, Country Gardens: Allotment Essays by Michael Hyde. edited by David Crouch and Martin Stott. Price £7.99 (ISBN 0 907123 72 4). Published by Five Leaves, PO Box 81, Nottingham NG5 4ER (Cheques to "Five Leaves", add 10% P&P). QED ALLOTMENTS: SECOND ANNUAL REPORT Active participants in the QED Allotments Group over the past year have included the allotment associations at Bean, Dartford Road, Marcet Road and Wilmot Road and the West Dartford Allotment and Garden Society, plus individual allotment gardeners from other sites. Achievements since the previous Annual Report (published in Newsletter No.2) have included: Submission of evidence to the House of Commons Future for Allotments Inquiry (see overleaf), to the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions' public consultations on Opportunities for Change and Making Biodiversity Happen, and to the South East Regional Planning Conference's public consultation on a Sustainable Development Strategy for the South East. Participation in the NFCF's First National Conference on Community Gardening, the Shell Better Britain Campaign's Spring into Action events in Birmingham and Bradford, and Uplands Allotments' Bloom 98 Arts Festival (featuring Dartford's gardener-poets). Forging new links with other local food producers, including the Kent Beekeepers' Association (Dartford Branch), who co-hosted a visit to the teaching apiary at Kent House Leisure Gardens and joined us on the QED Allotments stand at the Dartford Festival. Drafting plans for the QED Darenth Country Park Project, including a "model allotment site" to show off the best in allotment gardening, in partnership with the QED Biodiversity, Health and Waste Management Groups. Joint action with the QED Health Group in support of allotment gardening for people with special needs, including adults with learning difficulties (see overleaf), and to promote healthy eating (fresh fruits and vegetables, locally grown). Monitoring and dissemination of advice on best practice in allotment site management, through contacts with national bodies, local authorities and other Local Agenda 21 initiatives, through the press and across the Internet (see overleaf), and through the provision of judges for allotment competitions and horticultural shows. Production (in cooperation with the QED Waste Management Group) of a leaflet soliciting recyclable materials from local firms for use on allotment sites. A second leaflet encourages safe disposal of garden chemicals. Plotholders from Dartford Road and Bean allotments also participated in "Tidy Britain Week" to facilitate environmental improvements. Agreed priorities for the coming year include: Joint action with the QED Waste Management Group to support the recycling of waste materials on allotment sites. Joint action with the QED Health Group in support of gardeners with special needs. Launch (in partnership with the QED Biodiversity Group and Woking's LA21) of a Gardening for Life scheme to encourage environmental conservation in domestic gardens. Promotion of a new QED Food Issues Group, to encourage local food production and marketing and to enable local people to express their concerns about food issues. Enhancing levels of participation in all of the QED Groups. WOODLAND PRODUCE FOR SALE Items available from the Joydens Wood Support Group include: Hazel Tree Stakes (£0.80 each), Hazel/Chestnut Poles (4" diameter, £0.10 per foot; 2" - 4" diameter, £0.06 per foot; under 2" diameter, £0.05 per foot) and Pea Sticks (£0.25 per bundle). For further details, please contact Ian Hammerton (522492), Den Collcutt (521195), John King (522236) or any member of the Support Group. Prices inclusive of V.A.T. HOW TO GET INVOLVED IN QED ALLOTMENTS Details of QED Allotments meetings are available from our Secretary, Robert Johnson (229298). Items for the Newsletter should be sent to the Editor, Sheila Morey, at 9 Devonshire Avenue, Dartford DA1 3DN (270382). And if you would like to participate in one of the other QED groups, contact Alan Cremer, the Secretary of QED, c/o Dartford Borough Council, Home Gardens, Dartford DA1 1DR (343250). Current QED groups include Biodiversity, Health, Transport, Waste Management, Youth Action, Newtown and Swanscombe & Greenhithe.

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