Scott Road Housing Development Plans

Please be advised that Kettering Borough Council has now formally applied for planning permission to build 22 homes on the derelict land that was formerly garages on Scott Road. This is where our main gate to the Scott Road allotment field is. As neighbours to this development we are being consulted. 

 

Kettering Allotments Society is very supportive of this development as it uses brownfield land to provide much-needed social housing. We welcome this. We have only two questions that need further clarification:

1. A guarantee that full vehicular access to the allotments is maintained throughout the construction phase and upon completion. We have received verbal assurances of this, but expect to be assured in writing by all parties and will be delighted to support the application if this clarification is provided. Vehicular access includes tractors delivering manure and skip lorries, so not just cars.
2. We also need an assurance that a secure gate will be constructed between the new houses and the remainder of the track leading to the allotments. There is a public footpath along this track which we are happy to support; however if there is no gate preventing unauthorised vehicles proceeding then the allotments security and other land to the North of the development will be vulnerable. Many years ago when there was no gate at Scott Road and the former garages were still present there was a great deal of fly-tipping and “joy-riding” by unauthorised vehicles. It is vital for the security of properties and land owners in the vicinity of John Clare Court, Milton Court and Brambleside as well as the allotments that a secure gate is provided to prevent unauthorised vehicles accessing this track.

 

Therefore, please check out the application online, using the link below. Please then comment giving your support to the development and raising the above 2 points which require further clarification. If we all do this, then there is a greater chance of success. 

The application is on the website now and the application can be found here: https://www.kettering.gov.uk/planningApplication/128345 . The application reference is KET/2018/0799. Comment on the planning application can be made online by emailing planning@kettering.gov.uk or in writing addressed to ‘Head of Development Services, Kettering Borough Council, Municipal Offices, Bowling Green Road, Kettering, NN15 7QX’. Please ensure you refer to the site address and use the reference number of the planning application if you choose to comment. Any support for the application is also welcomed.

 

Application = KET/2018/0799

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November 2018 Allotment News

Good News about 2019 rents

The good news is that, once again, there will be no increase in the rents for 2019. Our rents have been held for many years at the same rate, thanks to prudent control of our expenses. The rent reminders will be sent out in December and payment is due on 1st January 2019. The rent is £2 per pole plus £2 membership subscription, so a 10 pole plot costs £22 per year in total and a small 5 pole plot costs £12 per year. More details of how to pay are available by clicking on the link at the menu on the top of this page and also on our website at

http://www.ketteringallotments.co.uk/rent.html

 

Remember, remember… (bonfire hazards)

Less good news is that we have had more complaints about bonfires at Northfield Avenue. Members of the public were driving along this important highway found their vision and breathing impaired by smoke that was also drifting across the railway line. The law allows bonfires, but not the smoke pollution. Our society rules and policies discourage bonfires, particularly if they are smoky. This pollutes the planet and annoys our neighbours. If there are more complaints, we may be prosecuted and fined. The committee will be discussing this issue at its next meeting. Any comments or suggestions are welcome, please use the contact button on the menu at the top of this page

More guidance is available on our website at:

http://www.ketteringallotments.co.uk/bonfires.html

Bonfire guidance from Kettering Borough Council 

http://www.ketteringallotments.co.uk/bonfires.html

If you really want a bonfire, then November 5th is a day when you can probably get away with it. The rest of the year, please use composting, your grey bin or the civic amenity recycling tip for any allotment waste.

For sale – Thousand-litre IBC water tanks

One of our members, Grant, has 6 IBCs for sale. They are clean and have been rinsed out with water. The price is £40 each. Delivery may arranged. Contact Grant if you are interested on 07984 075 226 or tggonzo@live.co.uk

Cordial exchanges with our new neighbours

More good news, we have congratulated Kettering Football Club on their purchase of land next to Scott Road allotments for their new stadium. We are already on good terms with our new neighbours and hope to continue a friendly dialogue as they develop the site.

Want to cook on the BBC?

We have been approached by the company that produces the BBC show “Britain’s Best Home Cook with Mary Berry and Claudia Winkleman. They are currently looking for new fabulous home cooks who might want to apply to be on the BBC1 show. Apply via their website, link below

https://britainsbesthomecook.co.uk

 

Records Broken at Margaret Road

Margaret Road allotments had their annual competition. The winners were:-

Heaviest marrow = 28lbs grown by Rebecca

Longest runner bean = 47.5 cm grown by Rebecca – a new record!

Heaviest Pumpkin = 132.4 lbs grown by Dylan – a new record!

Well done everyone. Time to start planning for next year?

Last chance to see the Pumpkin Show in 2018

This entertaining show will educate you about an amazing way of gardening with no digging, no weeding and no watering.

This is the final performance in 2018 of the popular pumpkin show that has been on tour for many months and returns to the home town of Kettering.

All proceeds to the Kettering Mayor’s Charity appeal. See poster below for details and tickets.

Pumpkin Poster 29Oct2018

Click on the link above for details

October 2018 Allotment News

Brian Nix

Brian Nix, one of our committee members representing Margaret Road died suddenly a few days ago. His funeral was on the 27^thSeptember at Kettering Crematorium. Brian was twice the winner of the Bridgstock Cup, our annual competition for the best allotment in our four fields. The plot he tended with his wife Jackie has been one of the best maintained in our society. Brian also served the committee in many ways, for example keeping the ridings mown for several years and helping repair and strengthen the boundary fences at Margaret Road.

For sale – Thousand-litre IBC water tanks and blue water barrels

One of our members, Grant, has 6 IBCs for sale. They are clean and have been rinsed out with water. The price is £45 each. Grant also has blue barrels for sale at £10 each. Delivery may arranged. Contact Grant if you are interested on 07984 075 226 or tggonzo@live.co.uk

More 200 litre blue plastic barrels for sale

At our Scott Road field, we have sourced some of these strong and durable plastic barrels, ideal for collecting rainwater in the coming winter. They are only £5 each, buyer collects. Contact Russell using the Contact button on the top of this page and “email the secretary” link.

Car Park improvements

Our main car park at Scott Road is being improved and the task is nearing completion. The ground is being levelled and we plan to create an area for wood shreddings and compost to be deposited neatly for use by our members. The old well-rotted mulch remaining from woodchips of many years ago has been separated from other material (weeds, soil, rubble and plastic litter) and this compost has been taken by many grateful members at Scott Road. Many, many thanks to all those who have helped out, especially Ryan and Pat. We appreciate your hard work.

Catalogues published

The catalogues of seed potatoes and seeds from the Garden Shop on London Road, Kettering is now published. Pop in for a copy and see their wide selection of garden supplies. Click here for a pdf version of the catalogue.

 SEED POTATO CATALOGUE 2019

https://russellattwood.files.wordpress.com/2018/09/seed-potato-catalogue-2019.pdf

Kettering Football Club

http://www.ketteringtownfc.com/news/official-statement

Recent news stories have stated that Kettering Football Club has agreed to buy land off Scott Road to build a new stadium. This was news to us, but we have sought reassurances from KBC. We understand that the land in question is the empty field next to us, known as French’s Field. The structures will not be large enough to cast shade on our plots and the Football Club will have to consult us on any plans before a planning application is made. The following is a quote from the message we got from our contact at KBC:

“I would like to reassure you that all that has happened at this moment  is  the council has agreed, in principle, the disposal of the land.  The development of the site is some way off as the  club will need to resolve issues of access before they can do anything on site.

We have been advised the club have modest ambitions for the development of the site – there will not be large buildings right next to allotments; in any event the planning process will be the right mechanism for consultation on the impact of any development and the allotments will not be at risk.

Moving forward I  will keep you posted on any developments.”

Waiting lists

Our fields currently have short waiting lists. In is anticipated that some plots will become vacant soon, as a few members have indicated they may be retiring or relocating. Stewards are working hard to allocate plots as soon as they become vacant. If you wish to reduce your plot size or retire from your allotment, please contact us. We will be able to make someone on the waiting list very happy and allow them to start their allotment journey sooner rather than later.

Data Update

Our Data Manager, Ilona Bickle is working hard to keep our data up-to-date. If you have moved, changed phone or email etc, please contact us as soon as possible. This helps us keep in touch and makes our membership lists accurate, as well as making sure we comply with the new data protection laws (GDPR).

 

September 2018 Allotment News

Rainbow over Scott Road allotments

Bridgstock Cup Winner 2018

The winner of our fabulous cup for the best allotment in 2018 is Pat Mullins, Scott Road. Many congratulations to Pat and his grandson Ryan who helps out on the plot. Pat has done wonders to his plot and is also a trained Master Composter, making amazing compost and growing great crops. His nickname is “The Riddler”, but that is another story…

The Runner up is Norman Elson, on Margaret Road. Well done Norman.

The Best newcomer for 2018 is Sonia Wasowska, Northfield Avenue. Well done Sonia.

Many thanks also to the Cup Judges for all of their hard work.

Come and see the Pumpkin Show

• Want to find out how to grow amazing vegetables with no digging, weeding or watering? 
• Want to find out more about pumpkins?
• Want a great evening’s entertainment?

Then come to the Pumpkin Show on Friday 28 September, 7:30 pm at All Saints Church, William Street, Kettering.

 

Break-ins at Scott Road

Bad news, unfortunately. Thieves broke into Scott Road field by cutting through a very strong hardened steel gate padlock, broke shed doors and stole strimmers  lawnmowers, cultivators and other tools. (Overnight on 21-22 August and again on 29-30 August). Please be vigilant and report any suspicious activity to your stewards. Report any crimes to the Police. Please take petrol powered tools home for security rather than leaving them in sheds. Please remove sledgehammers or similar tools that might be used to break open sheds. The link to report a crime online is below – quicker than calling 101

https://www.northants.police.uk/webform/online-crime-reporting

Still time for solarisation.

The most dangerous weeds are those with seeds. These weed seeds will germinate in future years and cause a lot of hard work, so many gardeners are reluctant to put weeds with seeds on their compost heaps. A similar problem occurs with those weeds that grow back from a small piece of root. WE DISCOURAGE BURNING WEEDS, so what can we do with them?

One answer is Solarisation – using Solar Power to kill the weeds and their seeds and make them safe to compost. Solarisation is simple but requires sunny warm weather. There is hopefully still some of this weather to come in September, especially if we have an “Indian Summer”.

How to use Solarisation to kill weeds – simply put the weeds in a thin layer on top of some cardboard and cover them with clear polythene (plastic). The plastic layer will trap the sun’s heat just like a greenhouse or a car on a sunny day. This heat will kill the weeds, their seeds and roots and make them safe to compost. You can also use large clear polythene bags to solarise weeds, just put the weeds in the bags, seal them up and leave them in the sun.

Data manager

We are delighted to announce that we have a new officer on the committee. Our Data Manager will help to maintain our records and ensure we remain compliant with the new data protection laws (GDPR). Our Data Manager is Ilona Bickle who is well versed in GDPR and has excellent IT skills to be able to manage our data. You may well be contacted by Ilona to check that our records are accurate and up to date. If your contact details have changed, please let us know using CONTACTon the main menu on this website, or use this link

http://www.ketteringallotments.co.uk/allotmentcontact.html

Thanks Rob!

Once again, our thanks go out to another member who has volunteered and helped our fields. Robert was able to fix one of the gates at Scott Road, so they open much more smoothly. Thanks again to all those members who help each other and do great service to our society. It is most appreciated.

Time to tidy your plot.

As Autumn draws near, it is a great time to tidy your plot. Crop residues and weeds can be composted and other recyclable waste taken home to your blue bin. Non recyclable items can be taken to your black bin. We discourage burning and bonfires – see our guidelines on this on our websitehttp://www.ketteringallotments.co.uk/bonfires.html

If each of us took a bag of rubbish home this month to bin, then our allotment fields will look much neater and tidier in the coming months. Take another look at your plot, are there any items that you really don’t need and should be binned? Please take them home and bin them!

Spot your plot?

Some of our members have taken photos from flying drones. You have a chance to see a bird’s eye view of our fields. See if you can spot your plot…

Finally, a sunset over Scott Road

Vacancy for new service role

Vacancy – a service opportunity to be our first

Data Manager

The committee is seeking to appoint a data manager for our society. The appointment is initially until April 2019, thereafter the post is reappointed on an annual basis, in the same way as field stewards. There is a small annual allowance for expenses (£30) plus a rent-free plot.

For more information or to express and interest, please contact the secretary.

Full details and a job description are available on our website at the following page

http://www.ketteringallotments.co.uk/Datamanager.html

 

Allotment News August 2018

Is our data up to date?

We work hard to keep accurate records on our membership. If your contact details have changed, please let us know. We need to be kept up to date with any changes to your email, phone number, address etc. This will help our data compliance and allow us to keep you informed of our news.

Please see the following link for our data protection policy

http://www.ketteringallotments.co.uk/data.html

Phew what a summer!

After a very wet April we have had 9 or 10 weeks of dry weather and a heat wave. Many gardeners have found this weather “challenging” to their crops. Find out how one of our members has had great yields and bountiful harvests without watering! It’s all down to the Power of Mulch.  Read the blog post on mulch by using this link

 https://russellattwood.wordpress.com/the-power-of-mulch/

Vacant Plots at Scott Road

We have a few vacant plots at Scott Road. Some of our members there have retired from allotment gardening and given up their plots. If you know anyone who wants to start an allotment, please contact us.

Thanks Kev!

One of our former members, Kevin has generously donated a Terrex autospade to be sold for the Society’s fund. Sadly Kevin had to give up his allotment at Scott Road due to health problems. He offered the spring-loaded spade as a thank you to the Society. See next article for how to put in a bid.

Terrex Spade for sale

Offers invited for this Terrex “backsaver” autospade. The spring-loaded mechanism means digging is less of strain on your back. Price new is approximately £100, see this link

https://www.backsavergardentools.co.uk/product/autospade/

If you wish to make an offer, please contact us. The spade will be sold to whoever makes the highest sensible offer received by midnight of 14^th August.

Thanks Malc! (and Tony)

Many thanks to Malcolm and Tony who constructed a new ramp to the secure container at Scott Road. This will be safer and make it a lot easier to wheel machinery in and out of the container.

Thanks Pat!

Thanks also to Pat, field steward at Scott Road who was able to source some IBCs a few weeks ago. These were all sold very quickly and we are still hoping to get some more in the near future. Pat has also been working hard to get sources of tree sheddings for Scott Road for mulching. Thanks again.

Thanks Robin!

One of our members, Robin has been helping his neighbour in recent weeks. The neighbour has been unwell and not able to tend the plot. Robin and a few others have helped out, harvested crops and taken them to the unwell neighbour. A heartwarming story of allotment community life.

Cup Judging

If you see people viewing your plot and holding clip boards, do not worry. Our prestigious Bridgstock Cup is awarded annually to the best-kept allotment. The judges are now touring the fields and making their assessments. They will inform the committee of their decision at its next meeting. For details about the history of the cup, see the link below.

http://www.ketteringallotments.co.uk/cup.html