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Issue Number 9 |
Spring 2001 |
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GOOD PRACTICE IN ALLOTMENT MANAGEMENT In June 2001 the Local Government Association will publish a new "good practice guide" for local authorities and allotment associations, explaining how a more secure future for allotments can be achieved through better promotion of allotment gardening to all sections of the community and by enhancing the social and environmental benefits which allotments provide. Growing in the Community has been written by David Crouch and Joe Sempik of Derby University and Richard Wiltshire of the University of London, with financial support for the research incorporated into the guide provided by the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, the Greater London Authority and the Shell Better Britain Campaign. Copies of the guide will be made available to every local authority in England and will also be on sale to the general public (ISBN 1-84049-204-X). The publication of a guide to good practice was one of the recommendations of the 1998 House of Commons Select Committee Inquiry into "The Future for Allotments", to which the QED Allotments Group submitted evidence, and QED features in several of the examples of good practice included in the guide. TREDEGAR ALLOTMENTS CLUB ... ... have made great progress over the past few months. They were one of the first groups in the country to receive grant aid from the Co-operative Society's Community Dividend Scheme for the specific purpose of regenerating allotments for community use. Vacant plots have been set aside for a biodiversity project, which will include a wildlife pond funded by QED, and which will serve as an educational resource for local schools. The Dartford Branch of the Kent Beekeepers Association maintain an apiary on the site, and is actively involved in the conservation of the indigenous bee. For information on the current availability of plots to rent at Tredegar Allotments phone Malcolm Still at 01322-401971. If you would like to learn more about bees and beekeeping phone Peter Fry at 01322-227703. GORE ROAD ALLOTMENTS ... ... have the advantage of facing due south on a gentle rolling hill. This situation allows every plot to be planted in the traditional way if you so wish. Why not come and see for yourself? Phone Les Smith at 01322-270852. PEOPLE, LAND AND SUSTAINABILITY The report on the "People, Land and Sustainability" conference held at the University of Nottingham last September and attended by several members of the QED Allotments Group was published in April. The report includes photographs and articles on gardening projects around the world, from the luxury of Japanese rural allotments to the prison gardens of San Francisco and the Quaker Peace Centre gardens in South Africa, along with therapeutic gardening projects in the UK. People, Land & Sustainability: A Global View of Community Gardening is priced at £10 (ISBN 0-9540408-0-5). A TRIP TO THE ORGANIC GARDENS AT YALDING The QED Allotments Group is planning a coach excursion to the Henry Doubleday Research Association's Organic Gardens at Yalding on Saturday June 2, to be followed by a pub lunch and a tour of the therapeutic gardens run by the Blackthorne Trust at Maidstone. The coach will leave West Dartford at 9 am, with a pick-up on route in East Dartford. For further details phone Richard Stone at 07980-389398. Plans for later in the year include a trip to Cambridge to visit the University Botanical Gardens and the Cambridge Allotments Network. NEWS FROM LOCAL SOCIETIES ...
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 at 10 King Edward Avenue, Dartford DA1 2HZ (01322-409184). If you would like to participate in one 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. Current QED groups include Biodiversity, Health and Waste Management & Pollution. DARTFORD FESTIVAL ALLOTMENT COMPETITION 2001 Congratulations to last year's winners, Michael & Brenda Godbeer and Jayne Lee (Dartford Road Allotments) and Edward Dixon (Kirby Road Allotments, Stone). This year's competition will again be for three trophies: the Borough Shield, the Villages Cup, and the Fred Brown Cup, which will be awarded at a prizegiving ceremony at the Civic Centre in the autumn. Judging will take place on the weekend of July 7-8, 2001, and will be in the hands of a senior officer from the allotments federation in Bexley, who has been asked to give consideration to the following criteria: (i) crop quality, (ii) crop planning, (iii) good husbandry, (iv) waste management within the plot, (v) use of organic methods, and (vi) visual amenity. If you have an allotment in Dartford and would like to take part, please return the slip below, and await further details. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ To: Dartford Festival Allotment Competition, 10 King Edward Avenue, Dartford DA1 2HZ. I would like to enter the 2001 Allotment Competition: please send me further details. Your Name: ____________________________________ Allotment Site: _________________ Your Home Address: ______________________________________ Phone Number: _______ Were you gardening on this site before January 1, 1999? YES/NO (Please delete as appropriate) |
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