Special meeting - tomorrow, 27th January 2009

You are invited to attend our next meeting, which takes place on Tuesday, the 27th January 2009 at 7.30 p.m.

The venue is the New Lamp, which is on Bankbottom in Hadfield (click here for a map).

This is a special meeting to discuss the outcome of our meeting with High Peak Borough Council last week, as well as to consider adopting a constitution.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Apply for your allotment now

 We'd like to urge all Hadfield residents that want an allotment to make a formal application to High Peak Borough Council as soon as possible. 

In the past, there have been reports that HPBC have been 'gatekeeping' the list (i.e. saying that it is 'full', 'closed' or similar) which may be a way for them to argue that there is no demand. However, we know that there is rising demand for allotments, both at a local, regional and national level and we need to do our bit to ensure that this demand is met. That means not taking 'no' for an answer.

It's important to remember that Councils have a Statutory (i.e. Legal) Duty to assess demand and to do their best to provide it. That's why it is important that those who want an allotment now or in the future do so formally. 

The application form for High Peak allotments can be downloaded here. You have only two choices between Glossop and Buxton, but do not be discouraged and indicate your choice* and also ask for an acknowledgement. You can obviously complete the form by post/snail mail or return it via email to this email address. If you choose email, please send a carbon copy to us. Whichever method you choose, please let us know so we have your details and can campaign on your behalf and keep you updated with our progress in future.

Please note - if you have already signed the petition which was formerly displayed at the Glossop Wholefood Store then you do not need to apply again. The petition of 450+ signatories has been formally submitted to High Peak Borough Council as an application for allotments by Glossopdale Action for Allotments. 

If you are from Glossop, we suggest you cc your application to GAFA, and if you live elsewhere in the High Peak, why not start your own campaigning group?

*Yes, believe it or not High peak have only two statutory allotment sites for their residents: Jordan Street in Glossop (with literally a handful of plots) & Cunningdale in Buxton. We aim to change that.

Where would you like to see an allotment?

Since we are now in talks with High Peak Borough Council about future allotment sites in Hadfield, it's really important that we have input from local residents. That's why we're asking "where would you like to see an allotment?". 

We don't expect you to know who owns the land, or whether or not it has been reserved for any particular special purpose - think of it as a 'wish list' at this stage. All of your comments are valuable and will be considered seriously.

When contacting us with your ideas, it would be helpful if you could indicate the location as precisely as possible - please bear in mind any roads or landmarks nearby that may help to locate it. 

At a later stage, we will provide information about the sites under discussion in our dialogue with the Council.

Meeting with High Peak Borough Council

On Tuesday last, members of Dig Hadfield met with Officers and Councillors from High Peak Borough Council alongside Glossopdale Action for Allotments and Gamesley Residents Association to discuss possible sites for future allotments in the area.

We can report that the meeting was positive, but we feel that we will need further detailed discussions before we are well and truly on the road to providing sufficient sites for interested people in the area.

We are pleased to report that a further meeting with HPBC is scheduled for next month. In the meantime, it's important that we know about any sites you think are suitable and that people in Hadfield who want an allotment make an application to HPBC. We will be providing more detailed posts about these two issues within the next few days.

Next monthly meeting - 13th January 2009

You are invited to attend our next meeting, which takes place on Tuesday, the 13th January 2009 at 7.30 p.m. The venue is the New Lamp, which is on Bankbottom in Hadfield (click here for a map).

We look forward to seeing you there.

Dig Hadfield - Next meeting 25th November

Hi Readers,

Just a quick line to let you know that our next meeting (only our second) will be held at the New Lamp, Bankbottom, Hadfield at 7.30pm on Tuesday 25th November. Anyone who lives in the area that is interested in the subject of allotments and who wants to help us campaign for more of them is welcome to come along.

If you are new to this site here is a potted history of Dig Hadfield and what it is about. The newly formed group originated from a blogpost on the Tintwistle and Hadfield Residents Association own blog entitled Not A Lotta Allotments which attracted a lot of comment and interest.

Consequently it was raised as an Agenda item at the September meeting, which resulted in everyone who had expressed an interest being contacted for an inaugural meeting which happened in October. At the meeting the name Dig Hadfield was decided upon and the newly formed group decided to become an autonomous organisation with the aim of procuring allotments specifically in Hadfield, since all who attended lived in the village and Tintwistle itself actually has an oversupply of allotments.

At the meeting, it was decided to promote the group via a poster campaign and a press release. Ralph Bennett agreed to do the poster, that is reproduced below and which was distributed around local shops with a view to broadening the campaign and building our next meeting.

Since then, this site has been created so the e-mail address shown on the poster is no longer required as the group now have their own e-mail contact address which is dighadfield@gmail.com which can always be found in the top right hand corner of this site. That, in a nutshell is the history, brief as it is of Dig Hadfield. We're a friendly bunch, so if you're interested in what we are about please feel free to come along to our next meeting, which once again is at: The New Lamp, Bankbottom, Hadfield, on Tuesday 25th November at 7.30pm.

CLICK ON IMAGE TO SEE FULL SIZE IMAGE OF POSTER

Details of November meeting

You are invited to attend our next meeting, which takes place next Tuesday, the 25th November 2008  at 7.30 p.m. The venue is the New Lamp, which is on Bankbottom in Hadfield (click here for a map).

We look forward to seeing you there.

Launch of Dig! Hadfield Weblog

Hello & welcome to the weblog for Dig! Hadfield, a new group set up to campaign for allotments in Hadfield, Derbyshire, UK.

Please keeping visiting to learn more about the progression of our campaign over the coming months.