Councils sometimes provide garden space, called allotments, which can be rented by people who want to grow flowers and vegetables but do not have sufficient garden space at home. Taking care of the allotments is an important part of the allotmentholders’

activities.

A facelift is on the cards for Barnstaple’s allotment sites. The town council, which runs Bryant’s Field, Sunny Bank, Fair View and Higher Raleigh allotments, is looking to carry out a three-year improvement plan. It follows an inspection carried out in the summer which highlighted five main themes.

Security was a major issue at Fairview allotments while weeds and overgrown plots were the most significant problem at Bryant’s Field. The distribution of water, caused by low pressure and a lack of taps, was a big concern on all sites. And other issues which came to the fore were health and safety and allotment management.

The information gleaned will be taken on board by the council’s new allotment sub-committee when drawing up its recommendations for improvements. It is intended that the work will be carried out over the next three financial years, dealing with the worst faults first as funding allows.

One of the recommendations is likely to suggest the appointment of an allotments warden. For the first time there would be a link between the council and those working the sites. The person appointed would also be expected to carry out some of the remedial work to improve the allotments.

The rest of the improvements would be done by outside contractors or the council’s own work force.

The recommendations will be discussed as part of budget planning for the Cemetery and Grounds Maintenance Committee next year.

Cllr Jeremy Phillips, chairman of the committee responsible for allotments, said: ‘The three-year improvement plan for town council allotments should offer enormous benefits to our tenants. We want to provide a really good service for our allotment holders and I hope they will contact the town council if they have any problems and work with us to bring about these much needed improvements.’

Discussion points
1 What are the cost headings that need to be included in the budget statement?
2 What are the costs which will appear in the budget for the first time?