Allotments

Stondon Parish Council Allotments

Allotment gardening is hard work, but it also brings many rewards:

• providing fresh home grown vegetables, fruit and flowers for you and your family
• meeting new people within similar interests
• enjoying a healthy outdoor life with gentle exercise – cheaper than joining a gym
• having a quiet place to relax and unwind.

The Allotments are Located in Stondon!

Stondon Parish Council have a strip of land lying to the West of Three Star Park, which provides the village with approximately 59 allotments of approximately 10 m wide and 11 m deep (110 sq metres [each]) for a nominal annual rent of £30 with a initial returnable deposit of £75.

Allotments will be initially offered to those living in the administrative boundary (Parish) of Stondon.
We will then consider those that live outside the Parish if there are vacant allotments.

At present (June 2024) we have limited vacancies. Additional plots only become free sporadically.

This area of land has access via the new Bovis Homes development of Station Road.
This access route is via Redwing Croft and Goldfinch Place SG16 6FX. The entrance is via green gates (with a security pad).

The allotments are planned out with pathways between them and we have an eco-toilet on-site for use on the allotments site.
The site has a fence and a lockable gate. The land to the west is the new golf course.

The allotments also have a supply of water (water buts on site, but no hose pipes) available late spring till the autumn. The water is turned off in late Autumn till late Spring (weather depending).

The image to the left is the view from the gate end (facing south) showing the road that runs down the western edge of the allotments. The Three Star Park is the east and the back of Bluebell Drive.

Plot locations

The odd number plots are clearly numbered.

Sheds and Trees

You will need to request a form to apply for a shed and complete a lease agreement.
We also require an application for trees, which need to be of a dwarf variety.

Key points

The key points in the agreement require the tenant to:

• Pay a yearly invoice by 1 April or within 35 days of receiving the invoice (new tenants -immediately)
• Keep the plot reasonably free of weeds.
• Cultivate at least 25% of the plot within the first year and 75% plot within four years.
• Maintain surrounding boundaries and pathways to the plot.
• Keep the plot free from rubbish and unused items and ensure any items that are brought onto the allotment are stored neatly
• Live within the vicinity as detailed in the agreement
• Be kind to others
• Must reside in the administrative boundary (Parish) of Stondon.

Key Documents are available here

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•  Allotments FAQ’s

Inspections

We inspect the site and plots to ensure that the rules contained within the agreement are being adhered to. The process of enforcement is essential to ensure that standards on our allotments are improved to the benefit of current tenants, people who are on the waiting list (if we need one), the surrounding community and the local environment.  If any of the clauses within the tenancy agreement are breached by the tenant then we start the enforcement process by sending a notice. As long as the breach is remedied within the required 28 days, then the tenancy does not have to be terminated. Inspections are also important to ensure that the basics on the allotment site, such as fences, gates and water are maintained.

Full details of how to rent an allotment or joining the waiting can be obtained from the clerk to the Parish Council or completing the form below

Waiting list form

History

In 2009 the  Parish  Council  was presented with a petition calling on them to provide allotment gardens by a group of residents called the Stondon Allotments Leisure Gardening Association or SALGA.

Because at least six Local Government Electors/Council Tax payers made the request the Council is obliged to provide them, however as the Parish Council had nothing suitable and owns almost no land and could not assist SALGA in this quest.

SALGA decided to look for land themselves and publicised the requirement for 1-2 acres on either a freehold or leasehold basis in early 2010. They asked if anything was available that could be used for allotments. This included writing to local landowners, publishing the need on the old, now redundant, stondon.net website.

The outcome from this exercise was a number of discussions but no viable land options emerged from these discussions.

This changed in 2012 when an offer of land was made to the Parish Council. After some discussions, an offer of a long term (99 years), very low cost lease was made. This could fulfil the needs of over 60 people already on the waiting list. The Parish Council provided allotment holders with the contracts and manage the lease.

Full details of how to rent an allotment can be obtained from the clerk to the Parish Council.

Contact the Clerk

This information is provided as is and does not warrant any statement of commitment.

How Allotments Are Measured -The archaic system of measuring allotments

Allotments are usually quoted as being measured in ‘rods’ (also know as ‘perch’).

In fact these are square rods, as a rod is an old-fashioned measurement of length – the length of an ox-goad (like a sort of prodding stick to make your plough team go faster).

As you can imagine, it was a handy piece of kit for measuring land if you were a medieval farmer.

Fields were measured in acres which were one chain (four rods) by one furlong (in the United Kingdom, ten chains).

The rod is still in use as a unit of measure in certain specialised fields.

Typically a full sized allotment is 10 rods/poles/perches, the equivalent of 250 square metres or about the size of a doubles tennis court.

Just to add to the confusion, a ‘pole’ is the same as a rod and a perch.

Each square perch/rod equals 5.029m x 5.029m or in feet each square perch/rod equals 16.5 ft x 16.5 ft.

The allotments in Stondon are typically around 125 sq m (around 5 perch or rods).

Something to remember for the next family quiz.