Page 46 - ALG Issue 2 2021

North West
Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Merseyside and Cheshire
Allotment development and contamination
Sunflower project
Imagine a patch of sunflowers turning their heads towards the sun as a living memorial
to remember the people we miss, and those who have passed away. Why not join in and encourage your plotholders to plant some sunflower seeds on their allotments this spring?
With so much loss of all kinds due to Covid-19, sometimes it is hard to visualise that we have now lost more than 100,000 people who are all valued individuals, and who will be missed by family, friends, colleagues and the wider community.
To help her remember throughout the year, Miranda from Tindall Street Allotment Group has decided to plant some sunflowers on her allotment plot this year as a living memorial. With so many varieties of sunflower available now, we think this is a great idea and it is great for wildlife too. We would love you to encourage your plotholders to join in by planting seeds in a communal area or on their own plots, and send us their photos later in the year.
Salford Allotment Federation
Here in Salford, we are very fortunate to have an enlightened council whose staff and policies encourage the development of existing allotments and the finding/opening of new sites. All of our council-owned sites are ‘Statutory’, but many are contaminated and one, potentially excellent, site is causing
us some unusual problems. The land was formerly part of Swinton Sewage Farm in the west of the borough, a heavily developed and industrial area. The farm was used for spreading final sludges from the sewage treatment process, with the intention of providing free fertiliser and saving on removal to a disposal area.
Regrettably, although the initial intentions did work, the effluent and the sludges were badly contaminated with heavy metals from the nearby industrial sites, so the land was left unused for many years.
The allotments on adjacent land, which had also been used for sludge disposal, were abandoned, in the 1970s when their use went out of fashion, and have been left unused and considered a very difficult site to reinstate.
Two things have given hope that this large and strategically well-located site can be brought back into production.
Firstly: Part of the former sewage works has now been given residential
planning consent and is presently under development with a range of housing. The developer has agreed a Section
106 payment for improvements to
the locality, including monies to help reinstate the allotments.
Secondly: The huge surge in demand for allotments makes this well-located site very attractive and the Salford Allotment Federation (SAF) already has more than 30 potential tenants for the site.
The whole site stopped being used for sludge disposal in the 1970s but the council’s policies, quite correctly, preclude its use for allotments
until it can be considered no longer contaminated.
The Universities of Salford and Liege have both been consulted on the issue but, identifying the contamination is one matter whereas finding a cost-effective means of decontaminating the site is quite another.
I feel sure this is not a unique site with a unique problem, so if anyone can advise or help us to get this site operational
as soon as possible, we would be very grateful.
Geoff Hamilton
46 Allotment and Leisure Gardener