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Tuesday 19 April 2011

Portsmouth City Council clears fly tipped rubbish from Hilsea allotments

Getting an allotment was meant to be an enjoyable and relaxing experience for one Portsmouth couple. After waiting over two years on the council’s waiting list, Lee and Marc were delighted to be accepted for a plot at the allotments in Horsea Lane, Hilsea.

Some of the tidier Hilsea alllotment plots
Since they have taken over the plot they have faced a bigger problem than just the weeds. They were devastated to find their plot had been used as an area for fly tipping.

Fly tipping is a growing problem up and down the UK and has been made worse by the introduction of the EU’s landfill tax, which has made waste disposal more expensive. Fly tipping is not only unsightly and costly to the taxpayer; it can also have a stressful impact on the general public who then face either removing the rubbish themselves or a time-consuming process contacting the council for help.

One of the neighbouring plot holders said: “Nobody will admit to dumping the rubbish there, what happens is one person leaves a pile of rubbish and then others add to it and then it ends up in such a large pile it is impossible for one person to move.”

The allotments in Portsmouth are some of the most popular in the country with an average waiting time of over three years. Portsmouth City Council runs the allotments and they charge rent per plot.

David Moorman from Portsmouth City Council said: “Over the years, a great number of items accumulate on allotment sites – most of which were brought onto the site for a genuine purpose. However when these reach the end of their useful lives, or when a plot is taken over by a new tenant, plot holders need to dispose of them. The council provides a skip every month for this purpose, or plot holders can take this rubbish to the local tip.”

The skip that the council provide for plot holders
He continues:Sometimes when a plot has just been taken over there is nothing being grown yet, there may be a pile of things to dispose of. This plot is seen by some as fair game for dumping their rubbish, so what was a small pile grows into a large pile which the plot holder rightly feels is not their fault or responsibility to clear.”

If caught fly tipping you could face a fine of up to £50,000 and 5 years in prison. Recently a businessman in Essex was fined £10,000 after being seen fly-tipping twice at the same location. As for the allotments, if the council receive evidence of fly tipping they would look to prosecute the culprit. They would also terminate the tenancy of their much-sought-after plot.


The council removing the fly tipped rubbish from the site
The council have now cleared the rubbish from Lee and Marc’s plot and they hope that this will allow them to plant their vegetables in time for a bumper-growing season. Lee said: “We have waited so long for our allotment, I can’t wait to get started.”





For more information on the Portsmouth allotments visit: http://www.portsmouth.gov.uk/living/8583.html
View information on how to rent an allotment in Portsmouth: http://www.portsmouth.gov.uk/media/
PKS_Allotmentleaflet.pdf
Read up on tips on how to get an allotment all over the UK: http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/htbg/go_further_allotments.shtml
Join the National Society of Allotment & Leisure Gardeners Limited at: http://www.nsalg.org.uk

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