Cropwell Bishop Village Parish Plan

Cropwell Bishop Allotment are here - now! (28-4-10)

In spite of the long wait, members of the Cropwell Bishop Allotment Association flocked to the Old School this evening to sign forms, pay in cheques and collect their handboook: in short they became the proud owners of an allotment plot on the Fern Road site.

The site is ready and waiting for their spades and seeds. Several have already applied to have a shed on site and all were talking of their plans for the coming year.

Even the weather seems to be looking kindly on them. The prospect of rain this coming weekend is not what most people would welcome on a Bank Holiday weekend, but after weeks of dry weather, plot holders will probably smile if rain falls on their new plot.

Members of the Allotment Committe and Councillor Alan Wilson had to work hard to cope with the rapid arrival of people during the one hour set aside to complete everything but, eventually, everything was done and all could relax.

The Allotments Page of this website should now spring to life and there should be a steady supply of photos and stories in the coming months. Keep a look out.

Tony Jarrow

Allotment members gather to plot their birth (24-3-10)

Tony Jarrow addressed members of the Cropwell Bishop Allotment Association at the Old School tonight, 24th March.

He assured them that the legal arrangements for the setting up of allotments on Fern Road was only a week or so away.

Tony and the rest of the Allotments Committee have been working hard to prepare for the setting up of the site. Now, everything is in place and, as long as the solicitors involved do their job, everyone will soon be talking about planting and growing rather than waiting and waiting.

Empty field, full of plots and dreams (20-3-10)

What do members of the Allotment Committee do on a Saturday morning? Well, today they wrapped themselves up and set about marking out all of the plots on the Fern Road Allotment site.

Although legal contracts have yet to be signed and exchanged, that should be done in a matter of days, and so farmer Richard Barlow gave the go-ahead for us to mark out the corners of all 44 allotment sites (some are half-size).

In no time at all we had organised ourselves into a well-oiled staking machine! Gary worked out the position of the stakes and then he and Sally stretched the measuring tape into place.

Catrin carried the wooden stakes to the correct place and finally Ryan and myself hammered them into position. All 120 stakes in just over an hour: what a team. Might sound like boring work but the heavy rain during the last half hour added to the interest!

At the moment, the stakes seem to have no recognisable pattern, but to the Allotment Committee it is a familiar one. Not surprising, since they have spent many hours discussing and planning the site.

To the 44 plot owners and - in many cases - their families, it represents an opportunity to grow all sorts of vegetables, fruits and flowers to their heart’s content, not restricted by the dimensions of their own back gardens. Not only that, up on the field on a spring day you feel like you are in a different world: you are able to forget all those jobs that forever await you around the home. No wonder there is already a waiting list for plots.

On Wednesday, all plot-holders in the Allotment Association will be meeting at the Old School (7.30pm) to help work out the final details of the formation of The Cropwell Bishop Allotment Association.

Tony Jarrow

Allotment members want to plan their plots (20-2-10)

Allotment members are rearing to go now that the opening of the Cropwell Bishop Allotments is not far away.

They are supplying a steady stream of questions and these, hopefully, will all be satisfactorily answered at the Members Meeting at The Old School on Wednesday 24th March.

Below are the questions that have been posted so far; this list will be added to as more arrive. In red are our best answers to date.

Tony Jarrow

• 1. Can I put a shed up for tools etc and any rules around this?
  Yes. You will need to notify the committee of your intentions and you will then be given the go-ahead ….. subject to being purpose built and not affecting neighbouring plots (eg shadow). Similarly greenhouses and polytunnels. Notification will be by email or the community box in the post office.


• 2. Can I/will I have to plant a hedge around the plot or will it already be fenced?
  There will be four posts marking out the plot – nothing else. You don’t have to have a fence; you could put a path along your boundary. We will probably establish some simple rules to ensure plot boundaries are visible, eg., as with houses, you maintain your left hand boundary.


• 3. Any plans for shared tools (rotovator!)?
  No. This is something members might want to arrange between themselves. We will put up a simple notice board where members can advertise plans/ideas. This could also be done via the village website.


• 4. Can I help?
  Certainly! We are all in this together and few people have any experience of being an allotment holder.


• 5. Is it worth creating a Facebook group which people can join to get up to date details? I would presume that a few here do use it!
  Anyone could do this. Would it be better than email or the village website? However, not everyone is online.


• 6. Will the site have been tested for any traces of toxic chemicals e.g. residual agrichemicals or substances dumped on-site at some stage in the past?
  No. There is no history of the land being used for any other purpose than agriculture: about 80 years ago it was used for allotments. Hence we have no reason to think that the soil is any different to that in our own gardens.


• 7. Will there be a shared secure storage facility or will it be up to each plot holder to erect a shed/store?
  A longer-term goal is to consider having a communal shed. However, we would hope to get a grant to pay for it and it may well be a year(s) before one is erected. Meanwhile people may want to put up their own shed.


• 8. Will the site be prepared in any way? e.g. will the grass/turf be skimmed-off or ground turned over?
  Having sought advice from the National Allotment Association and a commercial grower with clay soil like ours, we have decided to leave the ground as it is – except for having it mown (yet to be arranged). This would make all paths and roadways immediately available. Rotovating is likely to create a compact layer of clay several inches below the surface (not good for plants) and also chop up the more persistent weeds like couch grass, which will then spread and multiply. Double digging is recognised as the best preparation.


• 9. Will the CB Allotment Association negotiate a collective supply of manure for plot holders at an appropriate time of the year?
  Nothing arranged at the moment. We are looking to see if we can obtain compost and bark chippings from recycling centres but no news at present. Anyone knowing of a supply could put a notice on the Notice Board (once erected), have it put on the village website, or emailed to others. Members can then make their own arrangements.


• 10. Will there be a water supply on site?
  No, at least not this year. Providing a supply of water is a top priority, but it will take time and money. The availability and cost of alternative supplies is already being investigated. It may be possible to obtain water from a borehole and use a wind turbine to pump it up. Alerntatively we could each collect our own supply via a shed roof and water butt. Finally we could connect to the mains water supply and pay by water meter. The final choice will be determined by a combination of initial cost, availability of grant funding, estimated completion dates, running costs and environmental impact.


• 11. Are there any restrictions on growing fruit bushes/trees?
  The growing of fruit bushes and trees will have to be approved by the Council, via the Allotment Committee, but it is anticipated that there will be no objection as long as nothing is above head height (approx) and as long as it does not affect adjoining plots (shadow or roots).


• 12. Will the allotment committee have a store/shop where holders can buy seeds/fertiliser etc where things can be bought cheaper due to collective purchasing power? It could also be opened up to non-allotment holders to make a little extra money for committee funds.
  See answer to question 7. Our contract states that the land is for use as an allotment garden only. Anything beyond the sharing of crops, seeds, equipment, etc would appear to be prohibited. However, we could always sell at the monthly Saturday Café at the Old School.


• 13. Also would it be possible/worth considering separating the plots into those who wish to use organic methods and those who don’t? Organic ones being on any higher ground to reduce run off? Not sure how this would work for future turnover though.
  We don’t think this is would be practicable. If, after a lot of planning, we did create an organic section, it would only need one of these members to leave and be replaced by a non-organic grower for the whole plan to be upset – and we cannot afford to turn away prospective plot holders, organic or not. It will be a duty of all plot-holders to take care not to allow sprays, etc, to fall onto neighbouring plots.


• 14. If we do get water, where are the water-points likely to be situated?
  See answer to question 10. Assuming that the water supply and financial supply were ‘free running’, it is envisaged that there would be one tap to about four plots. As emphasised earlier, a water supply is a high priority goal but we do not imagine that it will be available this growing year.

Parish Council give Allotments the go-ahead (3-2-10)

At their monthly meeting last night, our Parish Council approved the planned lease of land for Allotments in the village.

I know it has been a long wait but it is good to be able to give you good news at last. Thanks must go to the Barlow family for making land available to us. As you are no doubt already aware, the allotment site will be on Fern Road, on the right, just beyond the Cropwell Bishop sign.

The legal documents will take at least 6 weeks to complete. That gives the Allotment Working Group time to plan the handover. The Working Group is meeting tonight to make plans. A meeting of all of you who signed up for an alloment will be arranged in the next few weeks. You will be conacted individually by email (or note throught letter-box if you are not on-line).

Tony Jarrow

Update on Allotments (20-8-09)

We recently had a meeting of the Allotment Committee, the Allotment Working Group and members of the Parish Council when we were able to discuss the draft contract for the allotment site.

Getting the legal side sorted out is made a bit more complicated by the fact that it is the Parish Council that will rent the land from the farmer, and then the Allotment Association will rent it from the Parish Council.

Nevertheless, we were able to work through the clauses in the proposed contract and discuss each point in detail.

Today, representatives of the Allotment Association and the Parish Council sat down with the solicitor who is representing us to try and clarify several points. It is a slow process and at this time of the year it tends to be made slower because people are often enjoying their holidays.

As soon as there is more to tell you, I will let you know.

Allotment Association Committee (26-5-09)

The Cropwell Bishop Allotment Association now has a committee.

Although the meeting of all Allotment members at the end of April had to be cancelled, the feedback that all members provided via email and letters, has enabled our Association to make progress.

We now know that 43 people want an allotment. Of these, 29 want a full size plot and 14 want a half size plot. Thus we need a minimum of 36 full size plots on our allotment site.

Eight members were willing to stand for election onto the Allotment Association Committee. The Working Group had originally envisaged all members choosing the committee through an election (at the meeting planned for April). However, it was decided that a committee of 8 would be just the right size to run our Association. It was therefore decided that there would be no need for an election: all 8 could be considered "elected unopposed".

As a result, these are the members of the first Cropwell Bishop Allotment Association Committee:

• Mick Beazley
• Helen Burke
• Steve Coe
• Ryan Emans
• Sarah Gladman-Bell
• Tony Jarrow
• Sally Orgill
• Catrin Styles

The committee will work alongside the Working Group until the Allotments have been established. It will meet in a few weeks time.

Solicitors are still negotiating the letting of the land on Fern Road and at the present time there is nothing new to report on this.

Rules like these? (26-3-09)

The rules for our allotment association will be agreed by its committee - once it has been elected. Even so, you can get a taste of what they may be like by looking at the rules I have copied from a nearby allotment asslociation that has been operating 50+ years. Click on the following to download the docments available:

Possible draft rules for CB Allot Assoc

Possible draft rules of tenancy for CB Allot Assoc

Tony Jarrow

Allotments on Fern Road? (20-3-09)

This field could well be the site of the new Cropwell Bishop Allotments. It is, in fact, the same field that was used as an allotment some 60 or so years ago.
Negotiations are progressing well and all members will be contacted during the next few weeks.

Cropwell Bishop Allotments: there at the start (16-9-08)

The Memorial Hall was full - there were 70 people there. It was the first meeting of the Cropwell Bishop Allotment Association. Between them they signed up for 38 allotments (with more to follow). Amazing really, because, at the present time the Association has no land, no money for water, fencing, etc and not much idea where they will pop their seeds next spring.

In spite of these little problems, Tony Jarrow and Alan Wilson encouraged a feeling of optimism. Over the next few weeks a working group of 11 people will explore the options facing the fledgling Association and report back to the rest by the end of the year.