Breezehill Allotment Association, Wellingborough

We were once a very large site, surrounded by countryside but over the last few years, houses, factories and roads have encroached and now the site is a mere 2 acres. For three years there was a lot of theft and vandalism, so that only a handful of plot holders remained. The once neat site became overgrown and neglected. Two years ago a renaissance began and the site has been re-divided into 68 five-pole-plots, all of which are let, with an insatiable waiting list!

The land is owned by the local authority but had no facilities at all. When the site was surrounded by countryside and the membership was mainly male, use of a toilet was not too great a problem. However, now with many ladies and young families on the site, something had to be done. A new, keen committee rose to this and other challenges they faced.

A metal-framed market stall was securely clad, and thanks to our resident engineer and steel erector Dave, it was lined and floored and is now a comfortable community shed for our 42 members, complete with gas rings and drinks-making facilities. Scrounging from local building sites, we managed to construct a toilet and a store shed, and from the roofs of the buildings we fill two 500 litre tanks with rain water, the supply of which is supplemented by natural springs, for which our town was once famous. The cost of the work was around £200 and no grants were used.

Our local radio station took a plot and does broadcasts from the site, children are taught gardening and the local branch of MIND has a plot to provide rehabilitation for their clients. The radio station gives us a lot of publicity and we have been given various items of equipment to renovate, including a generator, which powers a strimmer, hedge trimmer and a chainsaw.

Fred Raitt, Cahirman
Breezehill Allotments Association

First published: ARI Winter Newsletter 07/08