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When can we start digging

Latest News

Date for Digging has arrived

1st April 2009

Robert Bell is caretaker and very handy with hammer and nails. These raised bed frames made from roof sarking cost £45 for 12 x 4 ft and £38 for the smaller 4 x 8 ft (in picture)

Soil and compost to fill these beds is also available. The Allotments Association is trying to find suppliers who will deliver these items at reduced prices.

8th March 2009

Almost ready for action. Plot holders visit the site on a cold winter morning. The roads and the fencing are complete.

1st March 2009

There is a suggestion that the contractor might finish off the work he has been doing on the allotments by ploughing the entire site. The diggers and trucks he has been using have messed up the ground quite a bit and probably compacted it. So ploughing seems like the only option, but it would be ploughed parallel to the roads, in other words right through everyone's plot. Therefore it would be difficult to miss one out. Does this affect your plans? If so, please let us know immediately.

The contractor has done a great job getting it all finished by the end of the Contract Period on Friday 6th March. He still has to do a bit at the entrance gates."

The lease is finalised with a 5 year term, with a promise to review the clauses of the lease to make the wording more appropriate for a non-council contract such as ours. Any member who would like to read these documents can get them by email. 

17th February 2009

Good News and a big sigh of relief!! Attached are the soil sample results for the extra 4 samples required by pkc contaminated land officer. The thing to look at is the PAH result at the bottom of each table (poly aromatic hydrocarbons). These range from <1.0 up to a max of 2.6 mg/kg The threshold level for gardens and allotments is 50mg/kg. I have checked with Adrian Dawson at Lancrop Labs and he confirms we have no problems with these levels. The heavy metal levels are also well below the thresholds with similar results to the 1st 4 samples. This now gives us a good coverage across the site to feel reassured about. I will send these in to Christine Brien and Robin McKenzie at PKC requesting that they now lift this planning condition. One more thing ticked off the list! Chris

9th February 2009

Work started today to lay out the site for the long awaited allotments. With funding in place from the Scottish Governments Carbon Challenge, the contractors have moved quickly to get ground ready for Comries aspiring diggers.

With 4 weeks required to put in the hard standing, the water pipes and rabbit fencing, that makes 10th March 2009 the best estimate for a start date for digging.

29th January 2009

Flooding was considered not to be an issue by SEPA as the allotments are well above the flood risk zone shown on the SEPA flood map for Comrie. SEPA had not asked for a flood risk assessment, but for some reason Susan Veitch from PKC thought it might be necessary. However, once she on the site and she could see for herself the significant change in level between the main plateau of the camp and the surrounding fields and river Ruchil, she seemed to be satisfied. We are hoping that she has conveyed this back to Christine Brien, the Planner so that this condition can now be lifted.

24th January 2009

The current hold-ups centre around the lease, the infrastructure contract, and planning permission. All of these issues have solutions "just round the corner". At the moment, the gates are still locked. Ideally the contractors would like to keep the public out entirely till June or July and thus save us money on health and safety requirements. CDT agreed with the Allotments Chairman, Ruth Graham, that this idea was unacceptable,since it would set the allotments back by a year. The result is that we must now wait for the contractors to erect safety barriers that will guide plotholders away from the drains and ditches that are being repaired.

We also have to wait for the plots to be marked out although we could do this ourselves with the voluntary help which has been offered. Other hurdles in the quest to dig is the continuing interest of the P&K planning authority.We have not yet received a full acceptance of the soil tests for ash containing coal residues from the heating stoves that were reputedly used in the huts that once occupied the allotment area, and the latest request for a "flooding report". It is likely that these are negotiating points that will be cleared up fairly quickly. Clearly the planning authority must retain credibility.

One piece of interesting news. When the CDT asked the Allotments Association to put forward their own constitution and set out their requirements, we suggested a figure of £35 for membership with £25 paid annually for each of 30 allotments, a total of £750 per year. Our figures were based on typical amounts paid by other allotment associations across Scotland and our desire not to exclude anyone on the grounds of affordability. What we did not take into account was the implied subsidy paid by some District Councils and that these figures did not go far enough to meet the requirements of a private landowner like our own communitycompany the CDT.We have therefore agreed a higher figure as our annual rent. We will pay £38 x 31 including vat, a total of almost £1200. It is not the full commercial value but a rent that reflects the community value of the allotments as an asset of the village.This means that our subscription rates for plotholders will increase to a figure between £45 - £50 per year. Comrie in Colour have agreed to be the 31st plot holder and to be fully integrated with the Allotments Association. We will share our hut accommodation and hopefully encourage more Comrie gardeners to volunteer to keep Comrie to the fore in the provision of flowers in the hanging baskets, tubs and our village garden areas. Comrie in Comrie have now secured all the funding needed for the new polytunnel. They hope to install it very soon to allow preparations for the year to start.

When will we start to dig? The best estimate is now late February, with full unrestricted access by the beginning of April 2009.

Blair Urquhart - Treasurer, Comrie Allotments Association

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