Hillingdon Allotment News 14: Hosepipe ban - comments from Southbourne Gardens Allotment Society

Southbourne Gardens is a very successful self-managed site in Eastcote. Perhaps because we have some newer plot holders on our committee, we were not aware of the Borough’s hosepipe ban for allotments, until informed about it at the HAF AGM last autumn. Prior to this our plot holders were using hoses under our site code of conduct: no sprinklers, hoses must be handheld at all times, and not used when other plot holders are using watering cans, so that cans always have priority access to the taps. Since becoming self-managed we have supplemented the original tanks and taps on the site, so we now have 10 taps and 10 open water tanks for around 70 plots. Hosepipes were mainly used in early morning or late evening when the site was quiet.

During last summer’s hose pipe ban we contacted Three Valleys Water who assured us that their ban did not cover allotments. We have several elderly or disabled plot holders for whom hand-watering is really not an option. Even for able-bodied gardeners, hand-watering can take an hour, sometimes daily in hot weather, so it makes an allotment a more difficult option for those with full time jobs, young children or other commitments. We have been successful in attracting men and women of all ages and backgrounds to our site and are worried that this ban makes allotments far less attractive to anyone who is not both able-bodied and retired.

There are good reasons why Three Valleys’ ban did not cover allotments: we all know the benefits of allotments in terms of health and wellbeing as well as cheap, fresh, locally-produced food. Three Valleys did not consider using hoses on allotments to be a wasteful use of water, so why does Hillingdon Council? As a self-managed site we pay our own (metered) water bills, so why not let us make decisions about how we use our water as long as we abide by Three Valleys’ rules? We found that our site rules worked well in ensuring that all plot holders were able to water their plots in their chosen way. We have had to scrap something that works well and replace it with a rule that at best inconveniences and discriminates against many allotment gardeners, and at worst may end up forcing them to give up their plots?

We would love an answer to these questions and an explanation of why HAF and the Council support this ban, and we would like to appeal to Hillingdon Council to lift this ban and to allow allotments, particularly self-managed sites, to follow the rules of their local water authority which is surely better placed to pass judgement on this issue.

Editors note. This item is produced without comment. Neither the Federation nor the Council have as yet replied formally to this letter which they will do in due course.
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