Concerns over allotment plots left neglected despite long waiting lists

Gardeners have asked why the council has allowed allotment plots in Maidenhead to go to seed – given the strong ongoing demand for them.

The Royal Borough’s webpage on allotments says there are ‘no vacant plots in Maidenhead’.

All Maidenhead allotment sites have a waiting list and the waiting time can be between two and six years depending on the site, it says.

The website also says the council ‘expect[s] a reasonable standard of cultivation’ and therefore allotment sites ‘have regular inspections.’

But Cox Green resident Bryan Staples, who has a plot on Breadcroft Road Allotment, says that he could easily point out several of the 55 plots there that are neglected and overgrown.

“We’ve got one that’s been empty nearly two years, another one that’s been empty for 18 months, and two that have been empty over a year,” he said.

“There was a [council] chap who used to come probably three or four times a year and make a note of which plots weren’t being used or cultivated.

“[Its tenant] would get a polite letter saying to tidy it up – or if you can’t make [full] use of it, let somebody else have it.

Bryan argues there has been little evidence of this happening over the past two-and-a-half years, but the Royal Borough maintains that regular inspections are still carried out.

“Two or three of us have phoned the council, and we’ve got very negative answers,” said Bryan.

“The last answer was, ‘Sorry, we’re too busy. We haven’t got anybody to see to it’.”

Bryan knows another person who has given up his plot this year and suspects that if somebody doesn’t push the council, that will also become ‘another bed of weeds’.

“[It shows] when an allotment is worked,” he said. “People who took over one plot at the beginning of the year spent close to £2,000 getting it right. They really worked hard at it.”

On the other hand, if you don’t cultivate it, ‘the weeds take over very, very quickly,’ he said.

“It’s a shame because we know several people who say they’d love to get an allotment and every time they call the council, they’re told there’s a no free plots – which is basically untrue.”

Bryan thinks it’s possible that potentially interested people will look at the under-tended plots and ‘shudder’ at the state of them.

A recent Lib Dem pamphlet through Bryan’s door said that the local Lib Dems want to protect allotment space. Though relieved by this, Bryan felt it didn’t quite tally with what he was seeing.

“We were doubtful down at the allotment because we thought, ‘Well then, why are they leaving all these plots unused?’”

“We might see some bungalows or something [built] here – which I agree are much needed – but not on my allotment, thank you.”

The Royal Borough was contacted for further comment.