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QED ALLOTMENTS: FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT
Active participants in the QED Allotments Group over the
past year have included the allotment associations at Bean,
Dartford Road, Marcet Road, Tredegar and Wilmot Road
Allotments and the West Dartford Allotment and Garden
Society, plus individual allotment gardeners from other
sites within the Borough. Achievements since the previous
Annual Report (published in
Newsletter No. 6) include the
following:
- Participants in the 2000 Dartford Festival Allotments
Competition, organised by the QED Allotments Group,
received complementary tickets to the Bexley Gardens
Festival. The prize-giving ceremony for the 1999
Competition was held at the Civic Centre in December.
Watch out for the entry form for the 2001 Competition in
the next edition of this Newsletter.
- Continuing support has been provided to Tredegar
Allotments to further their regeneration. Signs have been
acquired, and access to adequate groundskeeping equipment
secured in partnership with the QED Biodiversity Group.
The generous donation of a mobile building by the Kent
Red Cross has enabled the Kent Beekeepers' Association to
develop a teaching apiary on the site. Progress made at
Tredegar Allotments was on display at the 2000 Dartford
Festival.
- In partnership with the QED Waste Management and
Pollution Group, supplies of used plastics drums (for
water butts), commercially unrecyclable pallets (for
compost bins, sheds and raised beds), old carpets (for
weed suppression and land reclamation) and wood chippings
(for paths) have been secured from local businesses and
contractors and made available to plotholders throughout
the Borough. A display on composting was mounted at the
2000 Dartford Festival. Plotholders at Tredegar
Allotments again participated in the Tidy Britain Group's
"National Spring Clean" in April, by removing a skipload
of accumulated rubbish from the allotment site and its
environs.The "Great Dartford Pumpkin Competition" was won
by the enthusiastic young gardeners of Wentworth School,
who received a prize of £100 and raised over
£20 for BBC Children in Need from a "Guess the
Weight" competition.
- In partnership with the QED Biodiversity Group,
further steps have been taken to promote organic
gardening in the Borough. Plans have been made to obtain
a commemorative plaque to celebrate Dartford's links with
Lawrence Hills, founder of the Henry Doubleday Research
Association, who once lived in Tower Road and obtained
his first employment as a trainee in Central Park,
Dartford.
- In partnership with the QED Health Group, further
efforts have been made to encourage the therapeutic use
of allotments. A substantial grant from QED for the
purchase of railway sleepers facilitated the construction
of raised beds for gardeners with disabilities which were
opened by Dartford MP Dr Howard Stoate during the Open
Day held at Dartford Road Allotments in June. A display
featuring the raised beds was mounted at the 2000
Dartford Festival.
- Talks have been given by members of the QED
Allotments Group to the Bromley Federation of Allotment
and Leisure Gardeners, the Liverpool Allotments, Leisure
and Community Gardens Conference, Wye College, the Isle
of Thanet Geographical Association, a Royal Geographical
Society "Environmental Justice" Conference (in Boston,
USA), and to plotholders in Rochester.
- Financial support from QED has enabled members of the
group to attended conferences and seminars on "Gardens
for People", "Health for the Over 50s", "National Lottery
Applications" and "Horticultural Therapy", as well as
Going for Green "Forming Bonds" conferences at Hendon
(twice) and a Conference on Sustainable Development
Research held in Leeds.
- QED also financed a coach trip to HDRA's Ryton
Organic Gardens near Coventry for the annual "Potato Day"
event in February. Seed potatoes for a number of heritage
varieties have subsequently been grown successfully by
participants in this outing on allotments across the
Borough.
- During the year QED hosted visits by two Japanese
delegations: one from the Mie Womens' Centre, the other
from a variety of universities. On both occasions talks
were given on the structure and functions of QED at the
Civic Centre followed by visits to Dartford Road
Allotments and lunch in Eynsford. A gift from the second
delegation financed the purchase of a Japanese maple tree
for the Millennium Bed at Dartford Road. (cont.)
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CHRISTMAS STOCKING FILLERS
How about a subscription to the NSALG's
magazine, the Allotment and Leisure
Gardener? Price £5.00 for four issues,
delivered to your door. Send a cheque made out to
The National Society of Allotment and Leisure
Gardeners Ltd to O'Dell House, Hunters Road, Corby,
Northants NN17 5JE. Or how about twelve glorious
issues of The Kitchen Garden magazine for
£27.50? Call their Credit Card Hotline on
01778-391180.
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- Since the publication of the Third Annual Report more
than forty articles have appeared in the local and
national press and professional journals on the Group's
activities, in publications such as the Dartford
Times, Dartford Messenger, News Shopper, Network 21,
Allotment and Leisure Gardener, The Kitchen Garden,
Amateur Gardening, Local Environment, Thrive Network
News, the Financial Times and the
Guardian. Items on the Group's activities have
again featured on BBC Radio Kent's Allotment Watch, to
which Richard Stone (the Group's Chair) is a regular
contributor on the organic allotment.
- Advice on the role of allotments in sustainable
development strategies and related issues has been given
to local authorities including Brighton and Hove,
Bristol, Christchurch, Middlesborough, Newham, Oxford,
South Ribble, Wansbeck and Weston-super-Mare, to
allotment groups and associations in Acton, Boston (USA),
Bristol, Bromley, Christchurch, Ealing, Gravesend,
Greenwich, Halifax, Harringay, Kettering, Leicester,
Leytonstone, Liverpool, Maidstone, Manchester,
Portsmouth, Sandwell, Stoke-on-Trent, Walsall, and West
Bromwich, to the NSALG and Foundation for Local Food
Initiatives, to Gardening Which? and the
Guardian, and to BBC London Live and the BBC World
Service.
- Whitfield Valley Community Allotments Project
(Stoke-on-Trent) joined the QED Virtual Potting Shed
Website. The web pages created for the Elder Stubbs
Allotments and Gardening Group (Oxford) have been
transferred to the NSALG's Societies Website The QED
Virtual Potting Shed can be found at
http://www.btinternet.com/~richard.wiltshire/potshed1.htm
- The QED Allotments Group submitted comments on the
draft "Allotments Advocacy Document" prepared by the
Local Government Association, and the Group's Research
Officer took part in the Allotments Round Table hosted by
the Shell Better Britain Campaign in Birmingham in April.
The Round Table was also attended by representatives from
the LGA, DETR, NSALG, FCF&CG and leading local
authorities, and its purpose was to find a way forward
from the LGA's "Allotments Advocacy Document" towards
defining a best practice regime for allotment management.
- The QED Allotments Group has joined the Federation of
City Farms and Community Gardens. The Group's Research
Officer is an elected member of the FCF&CG's Council
of Management, and has attended meetings in this capacity
in Birmingham, London, Nottingham and at the Federation's
magnificent headquarters building, the GreenHouse, in
Bristol. The Secretary and Research Officer also attended
the Federation's Annual General Meeting in Bristol in
July.
- Comments have been submitted by the QED Allotments
Group on Dartford Borough Council's Corporate Strategy,
Environment Plan, Community Development Plan, Best Value
Consultation Document, Local Plan Review, Local Agenda 21
Strategy, and Community Safety Strategy. The Group's
involvement with the Safety Strategy has led to the
formation of an "Allotment Watch" scheme in partnership
with Kent Police (whose Neighbourhood Watch Liaison
Officer gave a presentation to the Group on this subject
in April), and QED has agreed to finance equipment for a
property marking scheme for allotment holders. A
presentation on health and safety issues which arise in
allotment gardening was given to the Group in June by
Mike Pratt of Dartford Borough Council, and was well
received.
- Campaigns were mounted in cooperation with the Bolton
Allotments Council in support of Parliamentary Early Day
Motions 631 (Session 1998-99) and 942 (Session
1999-2000), which call for the revision of allotments
law, and with Gardening Which? magazine and the
FCF&CG in support of EDM 860 (Session 1999-2000),
which seeks greater protection for community gardens.
These motions have been signed by well over a hundred MPs
to express their appreciation of the value of allotments
and community gardens.
HOW TO GET INVOLVED IN QED ALLOTMENTS
Details of QED Allotments meetings are available from our
Secretary, Robert Johnson (01322-229298). Items for the
Newsletter should be sent to the editor, Richard Wiltshire,
at 10 King Edward Avenue, Dartford DA1 2HZ (01322-409184).
If you would like to participate in any of the other QED
groups please contact Justin Bettey at Dartford Borough
Council, Home Gardens, Dartford DA1 1DR (01322-343250) for
further information. For enquiries regarding the QED website
visit www.btinternet.com/~richard.wiltshire/ or e-mail
rw3@soas.ac.uk.
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