Daniel Clayton & the Rochdale Allotments

Letter to Editor of Rochdale ONLINE (28th, March 2017) :
Dear Editor,

Further to my recent letters about the creation of new allotments in Rochdale, I am now in a position to reveal that within the last 12 months twelve new plots have been created.
http://www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/138/community-news/107621/kellett-street-allotment-plot-thickens

Many thanks to Val at Townships & Communities for her efficiency and thoroughness in dealing with my enquiry.

Her letter states:
“In 2016 / 17 we have created 12 new allotment plots at a derelict horse grazing site on Kellet Street.
In 2013 [this site was] derelict and dangerous structures plus fly tipping of tyres, fridges, a boat etc.
All this has been cleared, the perimeter secured with fencing / gate repairs and new installation, small car parking area to prevent parking issues on already congested streets around the site,

Japanese Knotweed treated, path network created and new allotment society set up to run the site. The work to get the next 20 plots on this site ready for allocating is nearing completion and these should be ready for allocation from mid-April.

Work is also ongoing with our Estates Department to identify other sites and as a result of that process multiple sites are now being tested for suitability (checking access, if the soil is contaminated etc) prior to organising works to bring these other sites into operation as allotments during 2017 and 2018.”

Hence, by the end of next month 32 of the promised 100 allotment plots will have been created.
I had stated in a previous letter that my hunch was that the actual figure would be zero and it is reassuring to know that some work is being done. However, as things stand, just 12% of the stated target has been reached so I do not feel that my cynicism is entirely unwarranted.

Finally, I’d like to wish good luck to the people now tending those new allotments and to the people waiting for a plot of their own.

Growing one’s own food is a beautiful way to foster a relationship with nature, and with issues such as the exponential use of foodbanks these are vital skills that we all need to share with each other.

Yours,

Daniel Clayton

Rochdale Green Party

'Guerrilla Gardeners' Dig for Victory!

It has become a regular event now. Every Saturday, members of 'Ashton Allotment Action' meet with their shovels and spades to cultivate neglected land on Ashton Moss, near the M60 motorway in Ashton-under-Lyne, in Greater Manchester.

As we reported previously, the group turned to direct action when their local council, i.e. Tameside MBC, failed to allocate allotment sites to resident who had been on their allotment waiting list for years. Almost half of the 700 people on the council`s allotment list, want allotments on the Ashton Moss site.

According to the National Society of Allotment and Leisure Gardeners (NSALG), other people are experiencing similar problems across the country. A recent survey carried out by the Association, revealed that 150,000 people are on allotment waiting lists. Furthermore, over the last ten years some five to ten thousands allotment plots have been flogged-off by councils to developers.

In order to gain an allotment, many people like the members of Ashton Allotment Action, have started to illicitly occupy land in urban areas in order to clean it up and cultivate it to grow food etc. They are part of a wider social movement which has been dubbed 'guerrilla gardening'.

Last month members of the action group, were interviewed on the BBC One programme 'The One Show'. Nigel Rolland a spokesman for the group said:

"We've lost patience with the council after waiting seven years. Whoever is responsible for allowing this land to remain undeveloped, uncultivated, is negligent. The land has degraded, that`s why we are actually taking positive action to bring the land back into cultivation and we're improving it."

When asked to clarify their position, Tameside Council, declined to be interviewed by 'The One Show' but issued a statement, saying that they supported the need for allotments in the area but that the site, was owned by the developers. Cordingley`s, the agents who act for the landowners, Staley Developments Ltd, also declined to speak on camera but issued a statement saying that "negotiations were ongoing with the council and that they were hopeful that a positive conclusion would be reached in the short term."

Dave Morris, an allotment expert from NSALG, told the programme that progress would not be made unless the developer, the council and the allotment users, met together to sort this out. Meeting them separately, he added, would achieve nothing because developers and council's tend to blame one another.

Members of Ashton Allotment Action are of course, occupying the site illegally, and the owners or developers could take legal action to remove them from the site. When asked about this possibility, a spokesman for the group said:

"If they kick us off here, they will have to kick us off somewhere else, because we`re having allotments in Ashton-under-Lyne." 

It looks like the guerrilla gardeners of Ashton-under-Lyne are digging their heels in, for a long fight, to get the allotments they want.

Allotment Action Sparks Legal Wrangle!

The cultivation of land on Ashton Moss by members of Ashton Allotment Action, received publicity in the local press this week.

The Tameside Advertiser revealed that over 700 people are currently on Tameside Council`s allotment waiting list and almost half of these, want an allotment plot on Ashton Moss. According to the paper, the land is owned by Stayley Developments Ltd. Until recently, Tameside Council`s website was encouraging people to inquire about obtaining an allotment plot on Ashton Moss, but this has now been removed from the site.

A spokesman for Tameside Council told the Advertiser:

"The council is aware of the desire for allotments in Ashton and the development plan for Ashton Moss provides for the provision of allotments. The development is yet to be completed and the land remains in private ownership."

When contacted by the Advertiser, the local estate agent Cordingleys, who act on behalf on behalf of Stayley Development Ltd, said:

"The site owner has been in continued negotiations with Tameside Council. At present a conclusion has not been reached regarding the deliverability of the allotments. Stayley are legally not at liberty to offer any of the site for allotment use as contractual terms restrict their control. We are hopeful that a positive conclusion will be forthcoming in the short term."

As they say, the plot thickens. But what does seem strange, is that while the council`s own development plan for Ashton Moss provides for the provision of allotment plots, the owners, Stayley Developments, say they are "not at liberty to offer any of the site for allotment use as contractual terms restrict their control." If this is the case, then what are these continued negotiations with Tameside Council about? Moreover, who are Stayley Developments Ltd?

The company report for Stayley Developments Ltd, says that the primary trading address for the company is the estates office, Enville Hall (pictured above), Enville, Nr Stourbridge, West Midlands. Enville and Stalybridge Estates form part of the ancestral estates of the Earls of Stamford and Warrington. Enville Hall is set in 6,500 acres and according to the estates websites is "ideally suited for game shooting - we are happy to organise game shooting parties on request."

In 1976, the 10th Earl of Stamford and Warrington, Roger Grey, died. The three esates - Leicestershire, Staffordshire and Cheshire - were divided between three relatives. The Leicestershire estate is now a country park. Dunham Massey is owned by the National Trust and Enville Hall remains a private family house.

There are currently four Directors of Stayley Developments Ltd:

Mr. M.J. Scott-Bolton, who is a 'land agent' and resides at Leigh House, Stourbridge, West Midlands.

Mr. P.B. Williams, who is a solicitor and resides at Enville Hall, Enville, Stourbridge, West Midlands.

Ms. A. D. Williams, who is a landowner, and resides at Enville Hall, Enville, Stourbridge, West Midlands,

Ms. E.J. Bowen, who is a company secretary and resides at 2 Hall Drive, Enville, Stourbridge, West Midlands.

According to the company report, the main activities of the company are - "The dealing in, and development and exploitation of land, forestry and logging." Ashton Moss Developments Ltd, is a subsidiary company.

Despite all the bull-shit nowadays about Britain being a stakeholder society, the ownership of land in this country is still very much concentrated in the hands of a very few. A report by Country Life Magazine in November 2010, revealed that more than a third of Britain`s land is still in the hands of a tiny group of aristocrats. According to the report, a group of 36,000 inviduals (only 0.6% of the population), own 50% of our rural land.

For further enquiries contact the estates office at Enville Hall on 01384 872635.

ASHTON 'DIGGERS' TAKE DIRECT ACTION TO RECLAIM ALLOTMENT LAND!

A quiet revolution is taking place in Ashton-under-Lyne. Like the 'Diggers' of the seventeenth century who in 1649 reclaimed the common land of St. George's Hill in Surrey, from the Lords of the manor by digging and cultivating it, members of Ashton Allotment Action, have now started to dig and cultivate land which was once allotments and market gardens on the Ashton Moss.

According to the action group, in 1996 at the time of the development of the M60 motorway, allotments at Ashton Moss, were taken out of use and the land was given by Tameside Council to the local estate agent Cordingleys. Why the land was given to a local estate agent is not entirely clear, but the contract apparently stated that the land was to be developed for business and leisure use and would provide alternative allotments sites.

The Cordingley family, we would hasten to add, have been surveyors and land agents in the Tameside area since the early 19th century and they administer 'the still extensive residue of the Earl of Stamford`s estate'.

Curiously, since giving the site to Cordingleys fifteen years ago, no allotment land has been allocated to the people who are on Tameside Council`s allotment waiting list. Although the group point out that there was some development of the site by Cordingleys seven years ago, much of it remains mismanaged, uncultivated, and overrun with weeds, which needs to be cleared. The group also claim that they have been told that "the site is not due to be handed over in the near future".

Ashton Allotment Action have therefore decided to take matters in hand and have taken over control of land allocated for allotments in the same spirit as Gerrard Winstanley and the 'Diggers' did on St. George's Hill. Ironically, St. George's Hill is today, one of the most expensive pieces of real estate in the country.

However, unlike their 17th century English radical forebears, who as agrarian communists believed in the expropriation of land and that the common land should be given to the poor, the action group - which includes local members of the Green Party - are calling for Cordingleys to hand over the allotment sites to the council and are demanding that they pay reparations to future allotment holders, so they can buy agricultural equipment to clear the site. They also want the council to call a meeting of all people who are on the council's allotment waiting list to allocate allotment plots and to establish an allotment association.

The action taken by the Diggers back in 1649 was a timely project. It came at a time of excessive food prices in England in the 1640s. But the project was short-lived as the Diggers were eventually dispersed by force (mob violence) and legal harassment. Nevertheless, because of rising food prices we have seen nowadays, an increase in demand for allotments that is not being met by local authorities, who by law, are obliged to allocate so much land for allotment use. Section 23 of the 1908 Allotment Act, gives people a right to demand plots from their local authorities.

The action taken by Ashton Allotment Action, raises a number of important questions. Why was land once owned by Tameside Council, given to an estate agent? If this is the case then this needs to be looked into, and questions need to be asked about the contractual relationship between Cordingley`s and Tameside Council concerning this land and why, despite fifteen years having elapsed, land has not been allocated to people who want allotments on this site?