Frome Allotment Association has already made progress with the new allotment site at Birchill Lane, which it manages on behalf of the town. Earlier this month, Frome Development Community Interest Company and Frome Town Council purchased the Muriel Jones site with funds from a local benefactor.
The first plot at the new site is marked out
The five-acre site will be home to 80 plots, fifteen by five metres in size. There will also be a number of smaller plots, ten metres by five. “We’re very conscious of the fact that we have over 150 people on the waiting list,” said Allotment Association Chair, Neil Cameron, “and we have a responsibility to ensure that as many families as possible have the opportunity to grow their own food. We are in the process of contacting people on the waiting list and allocating the first twenty plots. By the New Year we hope to have them up and running.”
Marking out a 15×5 metre plot
An old barn will be renovated. It will used as a base for courses on growing your own food, which we are developing in conjunction with Frome Community Education.
In the coming weeks much work on the infrastructure will take place, including hedging, new gates and hard-surfacing the car park. The plots will be marked out and the top layer of grass will be removed with a turf cutter, so that plot holders will be able to cultivate the soil with ease. Raised beds close to the car park area will be provided for gardeners with disabilities.
Across the River and into the Trees. The fishing rights come with the land and there’s space for a community area.
The work of volunteers has always been crucial to the work of the Allotment Association and a team of members will renovate an old barn. “The barn will serve a variety of purposes,” said Outreach Worker, Steve Neal. “But one of its main uses will be for a course on growing and cooking food, which the Allotment Association will develop with Frome Community Education.
“The site is so large that there’s something for everyone,” said Neil Cameron. “It’s an exciting time for gardeners in Frome.”