Allotment Restoration

Association assists with Allotment Restoration.

The Moor Pool allotments have suffered greatly since Grainger plc evicted many tenants. Some money was allocated by agreement with Birmingham City Council for restoration and this was carried out by Banner Homes working closely with the Association. However there was still a gap before which the allotments transferred over to the Moor Pool Heritage Trust and a programme of seeking new plotholders could begin. MPHT have also started to map out the allotments so that the boundary of tenancys and responsibilities is clear and allotments can be reshaped if necessary.

MPAA is keen to support MPHT in finding tenants and Committee members are already showing prospective tenants the location of allotments and guiding them as to how they can take out a tenancy with the Trust.

Some allotments are very overgrown and can be an intimidating challenge. Nick Ball the MPAA treasurer has been leading groups of volunteers to clear these and enable their reuse. 2020 has seen an increase in demand for the allotments and this has been spurred by the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown in the spring. Several allotments have been subdivided to cope with the demand.

To show what can be achieved, we will be showcasing some of the restoration work as it proceeds.

If you have a group who would like to come along maybe just for a few hours to help restore Moor Pools allotments please get in touch. Moor Pool is a fascinating place to visit being one of the most intact remaining garden suburbs. As Englist Heritage said "an exceptional survival" and the allotments are a key aspect of Moor Pools garden suburb ethos.

Andrew Bull asked if the Association could help him start to restore his A5 allotment. The pictures show the progress made over a period of just 2 hours. With about 15' x 15' of cleared space after hacking through brambles and weeds Andrew now has an opportunity to start planting and see some produce from his allotment this year. We will be returning to show some pictures of his produce later in the year.