History
A potted history of the pilot public allotment scheme in Clonmel is presented on the pdf poster here: Allotments poster 2009
Below are some old news posts from our original website, which give an idea of how the campaign progressed in the early stages. At the moment it has to be read from the bottom of the page up, we will fix that later!
25th Febuary
We are happy to report that the path and water points are in place on our site, and we have been given additional space by the Council, which means that almost everyone on our list as of the meeting on January 21, 2009 will be able to have a plot. We have, however, received a few more enquiries since then, which means that we will still end up with a short waiting list. We are expecting the fencing to be completed-weather permitting!-by the end of this week, and the plots are being measured as well. The scrub will be retained as wildlife habitat and screening for the adjacent houses, and the fence will be completed up to the wall with Highfield Grove.
The next meeting is Wednesday, March 4th at 8:00 p.m. at the Clonmel Resource Center on Kickham Street.
The agenda will include:
1) Confirmation and assignment of plots.
2) Review of licensing agreement and final approval – if approved, we can distribute agreements to be signed at the meeting
3) Discussion of official opening-all ideas welcome.
It is important that everyone who is interested in a plot , including Highfield Grove residents, attends this meeting if at all possible. If you are unable to make it, please contact Mieke (052 27930) or Ellen (086 226 4114) no later than Tuesday, March 3rd. If we don’t hear from you we will assume you are no longer interested and remove your name from the list.
Thank you to all of you who have been involved in making this happen with your interest and support.
We look forward to seeing you, and getting planting!
Dec 10
Success! The sod has been turned on Clonmel’s pilot allotment scheme, off the Cashel Road. Workers on behalf of the council are preparing the ground and getting ready to put in the fence. The Association are meeting on 11th December at 8pm in Clonmel Resource Centre to discuss the rules and guidelines that will be used for running the allotments smoothly, and our representatives hope to meet in our steering group with the Council in the near future to set up the administrative arrangements.
The Association would like to take this opportunity to thank Clonmel Borough Council for giving this project their support. We believe this will be the one of the first public allotments outside of the greater Dublin area, and the achievement of getting to the stage of physically putting in the allotments on the ground is due to the perseverence of the allotment group, the willingness of the council to pilot the project, and the positive response from local residents. We look forward to working with everyone involved to make this a successful pilot scheme and contributing to more sustainable local communities.
Nov 13
Clonmel Allotment Group
Following a very positive consultation meeting held in the Tipperary Institute on Thursday evening last, the Clonmel allotment group are pressing ahead to work with the council on getting the pilot scheme up and running. As well as the allotment group, local residents, and an elected representative, the meeting was attended by the local Community Garda and the chairman of Clonmel Tidy Towns. The latter gave an interesting insight into the value of allotments, as it seems that the national Tidy Towns judging committee had heard about the possibility of allotments being piloted in Clonmel, and were very enthusiastic about how this would contribute to the goals of Tidy Towns. Community representatives from Highfield Grove gave useful feedback at the meeting, and the allotment group have committed to distribute information to all houses in the estate and to continue to consult with the residents. Any residents with queries can either directly contact the group (details on www.clonmelallotments.org), or their own residents? association, for more information. The allotment group would like to thank everyone who has supported them up to now, including councillors and council officials, local residents and businesses. Following the consultation meeting, a separate meeting was held with those present who had expressed an interest in having an allotment. This was also positive and resulted in the decision to set up a formal Clonmel Allotments Association. Officers and ordinary committee members were nominated from those present to take this forward, and the Association will be launched next Tuesday 18th November in the Tipperary Institute, as part of a Clonmel Transition Town event on local food, starting at 7.30pm.
A Future for Local Food
An event exploring where our food comes from, and what the future of food production might look like. What might the concept of food security mean in Clonmel? This event includes a screening of the short BBC Wales documentary ‘Back to the Land’, followed by discussion. The Clonmel Allotments Association will be launched on the night. If you grow, produce, sell or eat food, then this is for you. Please bring along some of your produce to share, tea and coffee provided.
Date Tuesday 18th November’08 at Tipperary Institute at 7.30pm Admission Free
Oct 08
Clonmel Allotment Group
As we head into the winter after a challenging summer for gardeners, the Clonmel Allotment Group are still working with the Borough Council to try to get a pilot project up and running as soon as possible. A location with good potential has been identified and the group are waiting to hear back from the council to proceed this. Rising food and fuel prices and the economic downturn mean that local food-growing is coming much higher up the agenda for everyone. As part of the Clonmel Transition Town autumn workshop series, a talk and discussion on growing your own food will be held on Thursday October 16th in Clonmel library from 1-2pm. The short talk will focus on one person?s experience of growing their own fruit and veg in their very small back garden in Clonmel, followed by a discussion of the different options for growing more food locally, such as allotments, garden-share, and community gardens. All are welcome, bring your lunch!
Sept 08
This is just a quick note to let you all know that we are continuing to press for allotments in Clonmel.
The current position is that an appropriate site has been identified and we are awaiting a response from the borough council as to when they will be able to proceed with works.
We are hopeful that we will receive a response soon but as we all now appreciate, these things take longer than we would like.
We will keep you all informed of developments as the ?develop.
April 16
Mieke, Fiona and Michael met with the Borough Council on Monday. By all accounts the meeting was very positive. We are to come back to them with suggested sites for a limited number of allotments to be run on a trial basis. They are going to look at their land-bank to see what might be available.
Another meeting has been scheduled for two weeks time. Anyone with ideas for sites should contact us
April 08
Following a letter to local councillors in January from Fiona Hegarty and Mieke Muyllaert, a motion that the County and Borough Councils commence the provision, on a pilot basis, of allotments/plots for cultivation by interested individuals? was proposed and passed by both Councils at their March monthly meetings. The allotment group were delighted with the wide support that the proposal received and would like to thank all the councillors who have helped them up to now, and who have proposed and supported the motion. The minutes of the County Council meeting will appear in the next few weeks on the council’s website, under the ‘Councillors’ section.
The campaigners then posted flyers at strategic locations around the town, and put a press release in the Nationalist. So far, around 10 people have expressed an interest.
A small delegation of potential allotment holders are to meet Borough Council officials on Monday 14th April to discuss how to progress the project. A meeting of interested people will be organised in the coming week to discuss everyone?s thoughts on how the allotments should be developed.
Feb 08
South Tipp Council to explore the possibility of setting up an allotment garden scheme in South Tipperary
At a monthly meeting of South Tipperary County Council held on Monday 1st October The Council considered a motion in the name of Cllr. S. Lonergan:
?That this Council would explore the possibility of setting up an allotment garden scheme in South Tipperary in unused land left in the aftermath of motorway construction?.
The reply stated that the National Roads Authority’s policy was that any surplus land on the N8 Cashel/Mitchelstown Road Improvement Scheme was to be disposed of by Public Auction. Where a section of land was landlocked then it was to be disposed of by agreement to one of the adjoining landowners. Accordingly, it would not be possible to pursue the request as outlined. The Council would not be in a position to identify surplus lands, if any, until the scheme was complete towards the end of 2008.
