LLRA have recently been given an update on the progress of the city-wide allotment improvement programme by Bruce Kelsey, Strategy Officer at City of Lincoln Council. The City Council are using funds, generated by selling off an unused allotment site, to upgrade facilities at all the City Council allotments including those at Long Leys Road. Below are the details LLRA have received. We will share further information on progress on the allotments as it becomes available.
Work at Long Leys Road Allotments
The work at the allotments on Long Leys Road is to improve drainage, security and water supply. The site has two main areas, described as Long Leys Road (northerly area) and Long Leys A (southerly area).
- Security work has been completed
- new 5ft high palisade gates and fencing at all entrances. Shown as a red line on the diagram.
- New standpipes and taps have been installed and the council are looking at where additional taps may be required.
- Drainage work has started but was interrupted by the poor winter weather and the arrival of the nesting season and will resume around October.
- New drains have been are installed under the roadside hedge (blue line)
- The boundary hedge and ditch parallel to the nearby housing (green line by Tapin Close, Oberon Close, Mitchell Drive) and the remaining internal site drains (blue lines) are still to be cleared.
- An access track will be extended (orange line).
Security remains a concern for the site. Over the years there have been a number of break-ins to sheds with the loss of tools and in some cases produce. Whilst it is difficult to make the area 100% secure, the City Council now regularly remind tenants to keep the gates closed even when they are on site and to make sure they lock the gates when they leave rather than assuming that someone else will lock up.
Bruce Kelsey commented: “Key cards are something we would like to install in time but this will not happen in the short term as the costs and technology infrastructure to enable this is not currently there. It will remain as an option to keep on the table and we will, in all likelihood, install such systems when the necessary infrastructure is available.
In terms of other facilities, a self-composting toilet is a future consideration. It is on hold at the moment as the costs are quite large and we need to be sure that there is on site support for these and that tenants are prepared to undertake the servicing duties associated with them. In reality, they are only ever likely to be installed on the larger sites as there is not enough capacity on the smaller sites. If there were a large group on Long Leys Road or the Burton Ridge sites who committed to maintaining a self-composting loo then we would explore this with them.“
Burton Ridge
As well as Long Leys, the Burton Ridge site at the top of the Higson Steps in the nearby Castle Ward, has also had a makeover.
This has involved:
- Whole site rotovation
- Plots re-laid and re-marked
- Hardcore pathways (road planings 350m) marked red on diagram
- 10m wide boundary with hard core path (275m) created at lower edge of plots (blue line)
- Lincolnshire fencing boundary (275m) to delineate allotments from rest of area
- Access gate included for maintenance vehicles
- Area below lower boundary left to grow naturally
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