Private Allotments Pricing
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paddy mac fisto
Rank attained: Hawthorn Tree
Joined: 17 Jun 2008
Posts: 57
Location: Co. Kildare
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 Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2009 10:39 am Post subject: Private Allotments Pricing |
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Having just taken on an allotment recently, I have been doing a lot of research online about various aspects of growing veg and allotment tips in general (great video links on this site btw). One of the things I have noticed is that there is a glut of new private allotments available now. I currently rent one in Maynooth, it's 120 sq metres (there or thereabouts) and it's 300 euros a year. Now I reckon thats fairly expensive but I took it on because:
(a) that it's something I've always wanted to do and I'll at least try it for a year or 2
(b) it's 5 minutes from my house
(c) It's private so there's a supply of manure and bark mulch and stuff on site, aswell as toilets and a shop (sells sambos but it's mainly for the fishing club which is also onsite)
(d) I don't really go to the pub or anything so I can think of worse ways to spend 300 quid
But having looked on
http://www.allotments.ie/
I see that prices and sizes vary hugely. I mean, most of them are "around" 200 euros for about 100 sq metres which seems par for the course. Some even have picnic areas, tea room, barbecue areas and some even have a shop for buying seeds, equipment and even selling your produce! But what really aggravated me into posting this thread is that CastleFarm Allotments (near Athy) are offering 30 sq metre allotments for 250 euro!!
http://www.allotments.ie/?p=400
http://www.castlefarmshop.ie/castlefarm-allotment.asp
Now I had a chat with someone at their stall at the Taste Kildare event out at the K club last year and as far as I know they were doing a deal where you take an allotment and you take a 1 day a month organic growing course for 450 euro but still...250 quid a year for 30 sq meters is "extracting the urine" to say the least. Take someone like
http://www.organicgrowingpains.blogspot.com/
(big fan of the blog, got lots of great tips here too)
who posts here regularly. She has 2 plots in Cork and it's only costing her 260. And her allotment owner even dropped the prices last year!
| Organicgrowingpains wrote: | 300e a year seems very expensive! We were paying 200e for the past 2 years but this year it has gone down to 130.00e.
Our plots are approx 30ft x 20ft with water laid on from standpipes all down the plots.We have a huge pile of free horse manure on site.
They were 200e and a second plot was then 50e as the owner was trying to encourage plot holders to take up a second one. This year we have a waiting list so in fairness she reduced the price overall. Two plots last year would have cost 250e, this year they are 260e, which is not bad. |
Sorry for the rant but overpricing is getting alot of press these days and 250 for 30 sq metres, to me, seems to be an example of serious overpricing.
I'm hoping the councils step up to the plate and realise that people and communities could seriously benefit from having their own allotments. They have the land, it just needs to be allocated for allotments. For very little outlay the councils could get people growing their own. I even went as far as posting as much on
http://www.ideascampaign.ie/
There's a good few on there with similar "allotment scheme" ideas. Fingers crossed something might come of that campaign, there's some great ideas submitted.
OK rant over. 
_________________
www.paddymacfisto.blogspot.com |
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Belfast
Rank attained: Sessile Oak Tree
Joined: 23 Apr 2009
Posts: 297
Location: County Limerick
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