Allotment awareness
Jane has post an interesting comment in response to my earlier post about Bristol's allotment strategy. One point that particularly struck me was about the advertising of allotments.
I've never seen any! In my experience it's up to the individual to initiate the whole thing - the potential plot holder has to decide they want an allotment, then has to have the information seeking skills to delve into the depths of the city council to work out the application process.
In that case, there must be a strong element of word-of-mouth in the uptake of allotments. So, no wonder there are disparities between communities! It makes me wonder how many neighbourhoods are seething about the piece of derelict scrub land in their midst, completely unaware that it's theirs for the taking?
(Actually, a person-in-the-know has told me that not even city council knows where all the allotments are, but that's another story.)
Anyway, Jane's comment has made me notice that advertising and promotion are conspicuous by their absence in the whole strategy. I've already sent one tranche of feedback to the city council (to be published later) - I now feel another one coming on!
I've never seen any! In my experience it's up to the individual to initiate the whole thing - the potential plot holder has to decide they want an allotment, then has to have the information seeking skills to delve into the depths of the city council to work out the application process.
In that case, there must be a strong element of word-of-mouth in the uptake of allotments. So, no wonder there are disparities between communities! It makes me wonder how many neighbourhoods are seething about the piece of derelict scrub land in their midst, completely unaware that it's theirs for the taking?
(Actually, a person-in-the-know has told me that not even city council knows where all the allotments are, but that's another story.)
Anyway, Jane's comment has made me notice that advertising and promotion are conspicuous by their absence in the whole strategy. I've already sent one tranche of feedback to the city council (to be published later) - I now feel another one coming on!
posted by AllotmentBoss at 7:48 AM
1 Comments:
from The Allotmenteers. Great Central Road Allotments. Loughborough. Leicestershire.
Our wonderful council are adamant that there is a 3 year waiting list for a plot on our allotment. We have had ours for 18 months now, and got it within a week. How? We don't know!
We know of several folk who would love to join us there and have applied to get on the waiting list, but every time a plot becomes vacant it is always a friend of one of the plot holders who gets it. Oh, did I say, that particular plot holder... works for THE COUNCIL!!!
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