Cripley Meadow Allotments Association

Cripley Meadow could contribute £2000 (£1000 for 2009 and 2010 as this is our budgeted reclamation fund for these years. We have had a grant of £2,600 from OCC.  This is designated statutory allotment land within our lease which has sadly been unused for many years.  Now Cripley Meadow is full and we and other sites are experiencing ever growing waiting lists we aim to try to bring this area back into cultivation.  We are responsible for it but cannot maintain, nor sustain nor protect it in its present state and it has suffered from the continued threat of rough sleepers and now from cracking willow.  In February 2010 2 groups had to be removed by Park Ranger Team. Also the willow trees bordering it and some which have self set internally are now at cracking height.  If these crack and layer it puts our present new fencing at risk and it will be much more difficult to reclaim the land so that it is fit for its designated purpose.

If successful reclaiming this area could bring back the equivalent of c.25x10 pole plots. 

The project has a number of unknowns as the site is not readily accessible and was riddled by bottle diggers over many years which make it treacherous terrain when overgrown.  We need to proceed in stages and assess the quality of the land.   The area has some internal trees grown whilst disused and a few ash along with scrub.   The majority of the tree work would be pollarding willow around the boundary in order to manaae the land and sustain the longevity of the trees.  As always the Tree Officer would be in charge of the decisions about trees.  We aim to try to establish a section of ground on the RHS leaving 15m badger corridor around the main sett located on the LHS.  We would leave the trees here which would also offer a buffer to the Castle Mill and Venneit Close flats.  One self set tree is a particularly fine ash forest grown with space to provide a handsome specimen. We will need to talk to OCC about future maintenance of this land as it is no longer available for allotments due to the badger sett and we will need to agree access to manage the land. There are further badger setts in Castle Mill and the copse by the car park. 

We would then need to level the ground as it is presently unworkable terrain with many potholes and rubbish.  WE could then mow off to establish a useable base for cultivation.  We need secure fencing to manage the badger population and allow badgers and potholders’ to be neighbourly. We have had advice from both the local badger group and Natural England.  Their advice is that we limit the badger land available so that the sett is retained but not expanded unduly.  Sadly they are losing friends amongst an increasing number of potholders’ as their destructive behaviour takes out many hours of cultivation and crops.  New members could be there I year after mowing off for a year providing fencing needs can be met.   This will involve finding additional funding. 

This will return statutory, designated allotment land, which was fenced off by OCC in 1991, to use as plots.  We have reported it as dangerous on a number of occasions over the past neither four years, particularly as it is not accessible for use so cannot be monitored, maintained nor used. Consequently the clearance and fencing should be as concurrent as possible. Like the rest of the site this is divided from the towpath by Fiddlers Stream and at the southern tip by nothing more than the latter. For the rest of its western boundary it has an additional strip of land (unnamed and unmanaged so a good wildlife corridor) adjacent to Fiddlers Drain.  Unfortunately the drain is now mostly filled due to the layering of willows and lack of any maintenance.  In 2007 it was decided by Parks that our new fence could not be placed along our outside boundary due to the need for this tree pollarding and clearance which made access impossible. It was then planned to move the fence when clearance of this land was possible.  The drain was due to be cleared to make our other boundary but this was never completed so we are still open on two sides.

 We estimate there is approx 4 acres here and we hope to reclaim 2 acres which is potential for c. 25x10 pole plots (or the equivalent in smaller plot sizes). We could use this to accommodate our waiting list (July 2009) with some additional space to accommodate some of the 32 reported waiting for plots on Trap Grounds and possibly help with the c.250 recorded across the city.   Our waiting list has been between 10 and 20 since September 2008.  We take seriously the proper use of the site in accordance with our lease and do two audits a year and are working towards ensuring plots are being used in accordance with our rules. We have accommodated 30+ new members from Sept 2008 to June 2009 and managed 45 new members since then.   Some of these are changing memberships as we have a thriving PHD student population. This reclamation will require the (previously planned re-location of our temporary boundary security fence ONLY when appropriate and safe to do so.   The other boundaries have some variable fencing from the Castle Mill and Venneit Close developments.

We cannot measure the disused land but information on Google earth suggests there may be 50m additional need for boundary fencing if the land is usable up to the boundary.  If so this would require either additional fencing or a modification of our usable boundary.  As this land has not been worked for more than 40 years we have no experience on site of what it is like.  We do however have the oral record of an uncle of a present member who had a plot about 2/3rds of the way down some 40 years ago and left ample evidence of snowdrops.

We have an ongoing Local Food’ lottery funded reclamation project (with an award of 10,000) for which we have committed much of our voluntary working parties (First Sunday in the month 10.30 to -12 30hrs and First Wednesday evening May to Sept 6-8pm) over the next two years.

 There has been substantial development of new housing in the area served by Cripley Meadow much of it flats or housing (some social) with very small/no gardens. More building is ongoing.  We have a culturally diverse membership and operate an equal opportunities policy. Any member can apply to the committee for a reduction in the cost of a plot if they are experiencing financial difficulty.

We have a proven track record in reclaiming Cripley Meadow.  Since 2005 we have brought over 100 plots back into active cultivation. We have in the process engaged the support of local organisations and local businesses: for example, the Co-op, Berkeley Homes and M&M Skips have all contributed funding, time, machinery and/or expertise. However we think it was primarily our willingness to make the most of our committee and members' experience and hard work.  Our members are mostly local to Jericho/ City Centre area where affluence sits beside pockets of poverty, loneliness and multi occupancy.  

 Enabling people to grow food makes it as accessible, affordable and environmental with a short route from ‘plot to pot’.  As can be seen from our website we have developed a systematic and planned approach to reclaiming Cripley Meadow however we must recognise we already have a major voluntary project ongoing in reclaiming Cripley Island so our contribution may be limited by this.

2010

The project was delayed by investigations which required contact with Natural England in managing the work with reference to the badger population.  We also consulted the local badger group. We were cleared to do the work and asked to make an application for a license to work if needed.

Shaun Gibson and James Dixon (horticultural manager) visited in April 2010 to advise re tree management. Shaun Gibson (tree officer) to organise tree marking asap and work will begin during July 2010.