Couperman Posted March 18, 2009 Share Posted March 18, 2009 I was down on the plot yesterday when a couple of high-vis clad gents approached and asked me to move my car off the site as they had to lock the gate Our lottie is situated in a public park and in order to get a car near to your plot for dropping off bulky stuff like manure and paving etc, you have to drive through what is essentially a play area. Obviously this requires more than one coat of careful driving and faster than about 5 mph is stupid on two counts, The second one being that the grass is a bit bumpy. Mr Hi-vis said that a woman had almost run a child over at the weekend and the Police were called. I don't know how old the child was, but presumably the driver was a plot holder and unlikely to be a speed demon. SO the council have quite understandably reacted by locking vehicles off the site. How this is going to work I am not sure I have visions of a dirty great pile of manure blocking the main road and an army of wheel barrow pilots belting back and forth to the far end of the site. Luckily there is a narrow alleyway right next to our plot so I can park my trailer really close about 50ft and barrow it through that way if necessary. It will still be a pain though. It will be interesting to see what the council does. On one hand it is a bad idea having people driving through a playground but the plot holders obviously need access. The simple answer is put in an access road which is separated from the play area by a fence. That wil cost money so that won't be happening. I will phone the council and try and find out how much it would cost for a couple ot tonnnes of manure to be airlifted in by Chinook Helicopter. Oh well at least no-one got mowed down. Kev. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowy Posted March 19, 2009 Share Posted March 19, 2009 Oh my goodness, what a palaver! Trouble is, they will now have to 'investigate' the incident (months) then decide what risk management strategies they will be putting in place (years). Best book that chinook Kev. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted March 19, 2009 Share Posted March 19, 2009 What a pain!! You could be lucky and find that the Council Amenities Dept. has money to use up before the end of the budget year (March) and a fence and access road will miraculously appear! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Couperman Posted March 19, 2009 Author Share Posted March 19, 2009 I just called the council. The gate will remain locked as it was only for grounds maintanence access not for the plot holders, so the lady said. I think the best we can hope for is for the Lottie association to be issued with a key so we can have controlled limited access. I am not holding my breath though. The chinook is going to be too expensive and the downdraft would probably blow my beans over. I have been thinking about the medieval trebuchet approach, but it will need some work on the accuracy, not sure if I could hit the compost bin from 500 yards I think I best get me a racing barrow! Kev. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwing Posted March 19, 2009 Share Posted March 19, 2009 A nice wheelbarrow with some go faster stripes, blue downlighters and a burberry lining would be very classy! Sorry about the locked gate, its not like allotment holders are likely to race around a playing field Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted March 19, 2009 Share Posted March 19, 2009 I like that idea Tasha! Kev, perhaps some compromise could be reached if there was a 'marshall' (fellow allotmenteer) keeping a watchful eye for free-ranging children while someone drives through? I bet they're all down there doing risk assessments as we speak Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Couperman Posted March 19, 2009 Author Share Posted March 19, 2009 I like that idea Tasha! Kev, perhaps some compromise could be reached if there was a 'marshall' (fellow allotmenteer) keeping a watchful eye for free-ranging children while someone drives through? I bet they're all down there doing risk assessments as we speak That's the answer we need a wee man with a red flag walking in front of the vehicle. To be honest it doesn't affect us that badly because we can park fairly close anyway. I would have built my compost bins at the other end of the plot if I had known though Kev. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluekarin Posted March 19, 2009 Share Posted March 19, 2009 I have been thinking about the medieval trebuchet approach, but it will need some work on the accuracy, not sure if I could hit the compost bin from 500 yards Kev. I can just picture that! Maybe accidently get a council person or two. They'll soon change thir minds! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valkyrie Posted March 19, 2009 Share Posted March 19, 2009 Ooh, love the trebouchet idea! How stupid. Was this woman in a 4x4 and doing 10 miles an hour? If she nearly ran the child over, it would sound as though she missed. Also children can run a lot faster when you least expect it. Maybe the parent is at the bottom of the allotment list. Next time a Chinook goes over the top of me I'll flag him down for you - your need is far greater than some prince's party. Second thoughts it might be the lad himself - well he can't possibly refuse then! Ooh got one going over now - damn, too late! I'll get him on the way back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAJ Posted March 19, 2009 Share Posted March 19, 2009 We had new gates fitted to our allotments recently. After the number of break-ins the police do patrol, however the council have been told us if we close the gate it is no longer open access so the police will not patrol anymore as they are not allowed to open gates to access the land (on foot)! So we can either close the gates to keep people out or leave them open so the police can patrol, but we cannot have both - it is a funny world we live in. Tracy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ygerna Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 it seems that historical poor planning is now having an effect on you today People need access to their plots and lots of required items are heavy so vehicular access is needed. Obviously not a consideration when the play area/allotments were put in. Do you know which came first? It may be possible to prove the 'established use' of the land and so force the council to put in a fence and access road. Does anyone know who it was who was driving at the time? It may be worth getting their version of what happened too. As a mother of three, I personally would expect my childrens play area to be enclosed and completely void of traffic otherwise I wouldnt consider it a safe place for them to go even with supervision. However, as an allotment keeper, I would also expect to be able to drive a vehicle onto the site if needed. Would it be possible to start some fund raising, so that perhaps you can contribute to the costs of the fence/road. Also, it may be worth talking to your MP, the local papers, local radio etc. Hope something is sorted out soon, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Couperman Posted April 1, 2009 Author Share Posted April 1, 2009 it seems that historical poor planning is now having an effect on you today People need access to their plots and lots of required items are heavy so vehicular access is needed. Obviously not a consideration when the play area/allotments were put in. Do you know which came first? It may be possible to prove the 'established use' of the land and so force the council to put in a fence and access road., I am not sure what came first but both the play area and the allotments have been there as long as I can remember. I used to play there myself. We can still get access if we phone the council and arrange for them to come down and open the gate for manure deliveries etc. Presumably they will ensure "Ooops, word censored!"ody gets run over in the process. The trouble for me is that I pick up horse manure with my trailer from a friend for free as well as using our abundance of chicken poo rather that having a bulk delivery in one go. I don't think the council have any spare dosh at the moment as they foolishly invested £6 million in an Icelandic bank the day before it sank. The allotment society are trying to secure lottery funding to improve the water supply which is very poor (we aren't allowed sheds and greenhouses so rainwater harvesting is a bit of a challange), so maybe we could get some funding for the access issues too. Again I won't be holding my breath. Kev. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chook n Boo Mum Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 Do you have to drive through the middle of the play area or around the edge which would be a sensible way of doing things, I may have missed something here, but can't the council put up some kind of temporary fencing, which shows where a car can & may well be driving, so small children are kept away from said car? Common sense is once again winging it's way to far flung places......probably in the downdraft of a passing Chinook! Sha x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
