Blooms Solihull Garden Centre in Warwickshire is opening 44 plots for rent at £260 a year, or £520 a year with extra facilities. Plots are 90sq m. Average costs for a standard 250sq m council-owned allotment plot are around £40 a year.
Cantre manager Simon Millar said: "We hope lots of people get in touch as it's such a fantastic opportunity, particularly for anyone who doesn't have space to grow their own fruit and vegetables."
Dobbies Garden Centres applied for pemission to open plots at Southport last year as did Alton Garden Centre in Essex.
The National Society of Allotment & Leisure Gardeners (NSALG) says there are more than 100,000 people on the UK waiting list for allotments.
Plots from the former Wyevale garden centre group will include a composter and access to a water trough. Alternatively, people can have a site that includes a greenhouse and a shed as well as a water butt to help with water capture and conservation for £10 per week.
Millar said: "We anticipate that half of the plots will have a greenhouse and shed, however, these can be provided for any site."
The site is rabbit-proofed and allotmenteers can use the garden centre's toilets and restaurant. Plot holders will also receive a starter kit containing a selection of Gardman products worth £15.
Simon added: "We have already allocated a free plot to the Heart of England Business and Enterprise School. We specifically decided to give the school a plot to encourage them to learn about growing their own food. We will aim to involve and educate children on how fun and easy it is to grow-your-own fruit and vegetables.
"We intend to allocate a plot to a group of less able gardeners too, as one of the plots has disabled access. We're also using another plot as a demonstration vegetable patch and have one plot left for a community group to use for free, and we're inviting people to get in touch to register their interest."
As part of the starter kit, plot holders will receive free seeds, information pamphlets on what to grow when and a copy of a 1940s Ministry of Agriculture "Dig For Victory" leaflet as well as a complementary hessian bag. They will also receive a voucher for money off Joseph Bentley tools, which can be redeemed at the garden centre, as well as a variety of other grow-your-own goodies.
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All Comments
This would sound like a great idea if only the plots were not so expensive to rent. I'm sure the costs will put off the people who would benefit most. As an allotmenteer of 35 years standing I'm still amazed at how cheap veg is in the shops. £10 a week still buys a lot of produce without any effort so, if you add in the cost of seeds, tools and the other bits and pieces you need to grow food successfully, this does not look like a particularly good deal.
I entirely agree. In fact, the subject sparked a heated debate in the office yesterday. I think that to charge £260 pa for a plot that is a fraction of the size of a council allotment is pure profiteering and greedy. I can appreciate that a private landowner may have to charge more than the council to cover costs and make a small profit but these figures are ludicrous.
This kind of pricing structure will only attract the middle class wannabes and will exclude everyday folk because it simply isn't cost effective.
Compared to the gym even £260 a year is a good deal. Compared to new private allotments its double the price though. Garden Centre Group has plans for more allotments at Sanders Garden World (and possibly others) - but won't tell me about them bizarrely.
Dobbies is getting back to me with their allotment plans. This is an opportunity for independents to win the hearts of the locals. It doesn't just have to be a publicity stunt-see National Trust and the mass of publicity they got for installing 300 allotments -the Trust owns 1.5 per cent of UK's land mass-surely room for a few thousand plots.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/7272161/My-plot-is-rubbish-exam-update-the-allotment-bandwagon.html
Come on, Matthew!
Who's comparing allotments with a gym? Gyms have buildings, that need heating, lighting, cleaning, maintenance. They have swish toilets and showers and shiny chromium plated equipment, plus bars for drinks and snacks. They also have trained staff to advise on your fitness regime etc., etc.
Allotments with all these facilities are scarcer than hen's teeth!
Philip
Quite right Philip. The facilities at my allotment are (1) a tap and (2) another tap. It hardly seems possible but maybe Matthew is paid too much and has gone all yuppie. Looking at my fellow plot holders it doesn't appear that they are gardening in order to achieve a perfect body as most of us are as misshapen as our veg.
Very expensive! and not geared towards the spirit of allotments - providing lower earning family's the ability to produce food and provide for themselves. Councils could easily undercut this and open up plenty of land currently doing nothing. This would not only generate extra revenues and jobs -but help bring the local community together and address some aspects of anti social behavior through community involvement.
This must be worth a go - time will tell if there is a new breed of allotmenter waiting to be offered something different, possibly better, than the traditional cheaper allotment. Mathews comparison to the gym option highlights our need to recognise the danger of losing these new 'grow your own' first timers to the next latest trend. Thinking outside of the box is often a great way to attract new customers ...and some of these customers are ours to win or lose for a potential 50 years worth of custom, and healthy fun - lets hope we find ways to convert them into lifetime gardeners.