Lynwood Allotment Association will soon celebrate its fifteenth birthday.
It was in 1990 that Cllr. Ruth Lyon approached some plot holders at Lynwood Road Thames Ditton. Members of that site, in common with most other sites in the Borough, were experiencing a low occupancy rate and there was some disillusionment and worry regarding the future. The two key areas identified were poor recruitment of new members and the lack of proper maintenance. It was thought that these areas could be best organised if each site could become self managed, but this concept needed the consensus and competence of existing plot holders. It was decided to proceed with a trial and Tony Johannsen and David Drake (both plot holders at the Lynwood Road site) took the concept from theory into practice by creating the three crucial documents felt necessary to launch viz. a constitution to establish an association, a master lease with Elmbridge Council and a plot holders sublease. After approval by SBC councillors/officials a meeting with all plot holders was held to seek support for the new operation. Self management would mean that a committee would need :0 be formed (some of whom would become trustees) to manage the site for members and on behalf of EBC. This would take over the responsibility for letting the plots, collecting rents and paying bills for water and maintenance.
In 1991 a self management lease for 20 years was signed with EBC. It allowed the Council to deal with one body instead of hundreds of individuals and to receive 10% of the collected rents in return whilst at the same time committing them to carry out some vital improvements before the handover.
The new system worked well. A newsletter was created and an AGM organised. The members felt in control of their site and easily identified with the elected Committee's objectives.
EBC was now keen to have this system applied throughout the rest of the borough. Lynwood Allotment Association's chair Tony Johannsen became instrumental in helping to achieve this objective by visiting and passing on to other sites copies of their documents and details of the benefits and experience they gained.
Over the next two years all sites followed suit and signed up so that by 1993 Elmbridge would become the first Borough in the UK to have all of its allotment sites under self management. Mike Smith of EBC chairs 2 or 3 meetings annually for the 16 sites involved. Of more importance however is that all sites have reported being able to increase their occupancy rate. Since self management the number of plots let in the EBC area has increased by some 75 to 660 which represents 92% of the current total capacity.
The low cost of an allotment plot (varies between £20 and £25 p.a.) and the benefit of working in the open air to cultivate your own fresh fruit and vegetables have their obvious attractions and Lynwood Road's occupancy now stands at 95% with some 4 plots currently available.
However an allotment holder doesn't just need to be fit. The secret to a well kept plot is to keep a keen eye on the seasons and give your plot regular attention. A regular 2 - 4 hours every week is essential and probably more when planting and weeds grow most vigorously. LAA currently have a plot with 6 bee hives, another with a pond and one almost exclusively with flowers. Plots at Lynwood Allotment Association are let by Committee Member Barry Jordan (0776 282 5014) who will be glad to show prospective new members around.
Tony Johannsen