Page 50 - ALG Issue 3 2023

East Midlands
Platinum Jubilee Allotments official opening
Kirton in Lindsey, North Lincolnshire
After years in the making, the historic rural market town of Kirton in Lindsey in North Lincolnshire now have allotments again thanks to the work of Kirton in Lindsey Town Council.
Back in the 1920s-1960s, the town had allotments across two sites, but allotments fell out of fashion, tenants were not forthcoming, and the sites were closed.
In the early 2010s, residents began to contact the Town Council requesting allotment provision. The sticking point for enabling this was always finding land within the town which could be turned into allotments.
In 2017, a large-scale housing development on part of the former RAF Kirton in Lindsey site was approved for
outline planning by the local authority, North Lincolnshire Council. As part
of the approval, a 0.5-acre section of the land was to be given to the Town Council for the sole use as allotments for residents. This finally gave land to turn into a new allotment site.
The land given over had, in the later years of the RAF occupation of the land, formed part of a golf course for service men and women to make use of. In the time since the site was closed by the RAF in 2012 to the Town Council gaining ownership in 2018, a thick woodland had developed which needed clearance before anything could be done.
Due to the use of the land previously by the RAF, a contaminated land survey was required to ensure the area was safe to be used for the purposes of
In the early 2010s, residents began to contact the Town Council requesting allotment provision
allotments. This thankfully came back with the all clear.
The land could then be measured out, the number of plots determined as well as areas for car parking, communal paths and water supply to the site for
a tap. The Town Council fitted gates to the roadside entrance and the adjoining landowners put security fencing in place around their perimeter.
Due to the length of time passing from the initial clearance work, the required land surveys, security and training, the land required clearance and rotavating by Town Council contractors and the generous voluntary support of local farmer, Graham Clements.
The Town Council then put in place a working group to develop
50 Allotment and Leisure Gardener