After taking Ellie we all went to the allotment. I planted a few alliums and also cleared out the cold frame while Mal was sorting out all the compost bins and there are a lot of them. He did tip some of the compost on to one of the kids spaces. Neighbouring allotment owners all stop and chat!
We have worked so hard on this allotment to clear it, get rid of all the rubbish and get it ready for planting. Both our backs are aching but we keep on, it will all be worth it in the end. The grandkids are so happy with it having spent a lot of their holiday there and now they have sown sweet peas at home ready to eventually take back down there.
So, after all this, it was the utmost surprise that I received this email:
“Dear Margaret,
The Town Clerk has asked me to contact you with her sincere apologies, to advise you that Allotment No 32 is no longer available. Unfortunately the current allotment holder has not been contactable for some time and as the allotment was in a state of some neglect, it was assumed that it was no longer wanted. On learning that somebody has been visiting the allotment, the holder has since contacted us to advise us that their contact details had changed and that they wish to continue with their lease, now finding themselves to have more time to invest in its’ up-keep. Unfortunately under the terms of the tenancy, we are duty bound to let them continue for the next year.
As the new contracts are about to be sent out for 2020 this month, we inevitably have one or two allotment holders who decide not to renew their lease for this year and you have been placed at the top of the list to be contacted directly when the next allotment becomes available. We hope this will be in the very near future, to allow you to prepare for the growing season.
Again we offer our apologies for any inconvenience and disappointment caused, as we know how thrilled you were to be offered this allotment. We assure you that we will do our utmost to find you an alternative allotment as soon as possible.
Caroline Leith
Visitor Information Centre
Sandwich Town Council”
To say that Mal and I were horrified is an understatement. I was so upset, all the work we had all put into this allotment over 7 days for what? Sometimes after all I have been through, I feel I can’t take any more. Mal and I immediately went to the town council. A decision could not be made that evening and we were told that they would ring us the following morning. Meanwhile we did warn them we would put this on Sandwich Town Facebook, which we did.
“I was told there was an allotment available at Black Lane Sandwich and I applied for it. On 23rd December I was informed that as from 1st January 2020 I had been allocated plot 32. I waited until 1st January, when my contract started and the whole family set about helping me return a severely neglected plot back into use after the previous owner we were told had given up because he was working 16 hours a day at Sainsburys. He had been contacted by Caroline Leith of Sandwich Town Council who phoned him, emailed him and eventually went to his home and as he was not in, posted a letter informing him that at the end of his 2019 contract, his plot would be re-allocated because he had not worked it for several months. He was given sufficient time to challenge the council’s decision which he failed to do.
From 1st January, when my contract started, until 7th, along with daughter in law, grandchildren and husband, we spent every day working down there, sorting out a mound of rubbish ready for the skip to take away at the end of the month. The grandchildren prepared their own plots, digging them, putting paths in and composting them and then went home to sow seeds ready to plant when the weather would be warmer. Then this afternoon,(7th January) I received this email from Caroline Leith.”
Once back home Mal prepared a press release ready to send to all the local papers with photos of the mess the allotment was in and photos of Ollie, Oscar and Josie working their patches. What sort of example does this show the children who were so excited at being able to grow things in their own patches and look after them?
Unsurprisingly there were over 100 comments on FB, mostly supporting me, all of which we have copied should we need them in the future. I didn’t dare tell the children what we were facing, I knew how upset they would be.
I may have been upset but I will not tolerate injustice.
Thought for the Day – “Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one’s definition of your life, but define yourself.” ~ Harvey Fierstein
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