Amendment to the Draft Parks Strategy

Received on the 10th October 3 days before the end of the extended consultation period from one of the Neighbourhood Managers 

Dear Site Reps 

thank you for your feedback regarding bonfires on the allotment sites following the feedback gathered please see the amendment to the draft parks strategy. If you wish to raise any concerns regarding the proposal please respond to the neighborhood services email address by the 13th October.

Policy P22

From 1st January 2020 open bonfires are not allowed on the council’s allotment sites. However waste material that cannot be disposed of by composting or other means may be burned in an incinerator or clean oil drum during the period 1st October to 15th March.  Fires should not be lit more than 2 hours before dusk and are not permitted on Bank Holidays during this period. Material that is damp or green must not be burnt until it dries out fully. See the allotment Gardeners Guidelines for more information on how to dispose of material without burning and never burn materials such as plastics that may cause pollution.

Note that by law you could be fined if you light a fire and allow the smoke to drift across the road and become a danger to traffic.  If you cause a nuisance by frequently having fires or allowing smoke to drift into neighbouring properties the Council can issue an ‘abatement notice’ and you can be fined up to £5,000 if you do not comply with the notice.  In addition, failure to abide by this policy will result in termination of the allotment agreement. 

 This Policy supersedes the guidance in Version 6 - 2018 of the Allotment Gardeners Guidelines.

Fires on Allotments - My Preferred Option

Following my article about Bonfires on Allotments are a contentious issue and the research I did over a number of Allotment Facebook groups that I sent to Mark Dalzell the Head of Parks and Open Spaces for the London Borough of Sutton I received an email in reply that said 

"Thank you for this comprehensive round up of all the options.  Which of these options do you think do you think would reduce the likelihood of nuisance complaints and what is your preferred option?"  

Here was my reply:-

From you initial email it would appear that you favour more limited months of burning, the main problem with this as I see it is that Idverde have not performed I have now been waiting for 8 weeks for them to send out invites to the next two people on the waiting list and currently according to their figures issued after the meeting and not before as promise last year there are 124 people (See here) on the waiting list with plots waiting for them to view NOW. And we have been informed that no invites will be sent out until they have processed the invoices.

Because Idverde were late and did not process the no cults and notices to quit in a timely fashion we have many plots in the borough that are now extremely overgrown so key to preventing a massive burn is to keep Idverde on track with the service they should be providing and aren’t. and to get new plot holders on overgrown and vacant sites as soon as possible. Let’s prevent the cause of most of the problems first before dealing with the symptoms

Ideally we (Parks Team and Site Reps) should make any decision about reducing the time more than we have at the moment based on the information re timing and magnitude of the complaints from environmental health over the last five years, once you have acquired and shared them.

Because people on the waiting list are unlike to get an offer, meet the rep and view, complete the paperwork and if they are lucky get a key in less than 4 weeks which is the longest ldverde have taken so far to supply a new tenant with a key. It is likely that they will need the period between December and the end of February if one was going to consider restricting fires to October, November and March.

I would suggest that this year we look at improving knowledge and educations and the guidance within the Allotment Gardening Guide and I attach the first draft of a replacement page for the Guide that I have created and uploaded onto the Site Reps Facebook Group for comment. I have suggested that once agreed we place this on notice boards ASAP. I I have assumed some actions that we can take to improve the situation, but these need to be considered and discussed and agreed upon i.e.

That large and open fires be banned and that we insist that incinerators or clean oil drums are used as they help keep a fire hot and reduce smoke emissions.

At the moment I have said ideally that fires should be started no earlier than 2 hours before dusk as this allows for an reasonable period of time to burn on site and stay to watch that the fire is out before leaving. Currently we don’t provide and restriction on what time of day fires can be set.

I suggest that we agree as soon as possible as we are now into fire burning season that the guidance I have created be distributed and placed on gates and notice boards.

That the Allotment Gardening Guide is updated with respect to fires and the other necessary amendments

Historically as newsletter used to be sent out with the invoices, I wonder could the bonfire guidance be sent out with the invoices this year?

That we monitor the situation this year and concentrate on educating the plot holders, and that we review the situation in April 2020 and discuss as a group at next year’s annual meeting if we actually need to restrict the burning period further.  

Good Bonfire Guidelines

Bonfires are currently banned on allotment sites from 1st April to 30th September. Sutton Council are considering banning fires completely on Allotments. Your Site Reps have protested as there is a legitimate need for the use of fires on allotments. Local Councillors and the Park team have listened and are currently looking at how we can improve and reduce complaints, and not have a total ban on bonfires. Thus it's important that every plot holder be considerate and follow the Good Bonfire Guidelines below and reduce the amount of complaints so that we may continue to have fires without further restrictions or a total ban.

·         Remember to check for hibernating hedgehogs and sleeping pets!
·         Large Open Fires Not Allowed only Incinerators or Oil Drums to be used.
·         Allotment Fires are Only for Allotment Debris Do Not bring items from home
·         Ideally start your fire 2 hours before Dusk
·         No Fires On Bank Holidays
·         Avoid lighting in unsuitable weather conditions.
·         Avoid burning when the wind will carry the smoke over roads or into other people’s property
·         Be Considerate to your neighbours - have they windows open or washing on the line, if so don’t light the fire
·         Only burn dry material that is clean e.g. not oily or painted
·         Never burn household rubbish, rubber or anything containing plastic, foam or paint.
·         Never use old engine oil, mentholated spirits or petrol to light the fire or to encourage it.
·         Keep the fire small and hot and feed it a little at a time to maintain the heat - this minimises smoke emissions. If the fire is kept hot a large amount of material can be burnt in a short time. In this way a fire should last no longer than an hour
·         Never leave the fire unattended or leave it to smoulder – douse it with water, sand or soil if necessary. 

Under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, it is an offence to emit smoke, fumes or gases which are a nuisance. Allowing smoke to drift over nearby roads may also lead to prosecution under the Highways (Amendment) Act 1986 if it endangers traffic. Remember that smoke from bonfires can be annoying to neighbours, ruining their enjoyment of their gardens, and preventing them from opening windows and hanging out their washing. Bonfires can damage the health of children, the elderly and those with asthma and other breathing problems. Continuing to cause a nuisance in this way could lead to termination of your agreement. Please consider other ways to dispose of your rubbish.

Bonfires on Allotments are a contentious issue

Bonfires on Allotments are a contentious issue, what with smoke and global warming, and residential neighbours that will blame allotments for the smoke even when it’s actually coming from a fire in their neighbours back garden four doors away, however they are a necessary evil on an allotment plot.

Some weeds can be composted, however fire is the main way of dealing with Perennial weeds, like couch, dock and hogweed or spiky thorny stuff like holly, hawthorn and brambles, and tree branches that too thick for the shredder. There are no Allotment Sites in the borough that I’m aware of that are lucky enough to have electricity to power a shredder.

The traditional advice for the  control of infected or diseased material like Potatoes or Tomato when blight hits is that it should be burnt burned rather than composted.

Having allotment fires produce a valuable by-product a natural fertiliser,  wood ash which is an excellent source of lime substitute and potassium or potash (they’re not identical but - scientists look away now - the terms are often used interchangeably), and potassium is a vital nutrient for crops, and also provides many of the trace elements that plants need to thrive. Wood ash fertilizer is best used either lightly scattered or by first being composted along with the rest of your compost.

The biggest problem with Allotment Bonfires especially with new owner who take over late in the year is that they don’t allow the material they have cleared from the site to dry out before attempting to burn it.

This is a photo from 2012 when I first took over my plot at Mill Green and I built pallet boxes to lift the material off the ground and allow the air to dry out the weeds, timber and branches of the trees that I had removed, and It took a great many nights to burn and get rid of it all but the fires took place a couple of hours before dusk in two incinerators and we stayed until the fires went out

With my second plot in 2015 the amount of clearance required that needed burning was much less and this time I built a fire on top of pallets and covered with a tarp to keep dry when I was not on site and removed the covering to allow the material to dry when I was on site and I managed to burn and get rid of everything in one go.

On Mill Green I have a couple who took over their plot that had not been worked by the previous owner and was left a terrible state. Neither of them drive or own a car and they got a friend with a van to assist them only to find out that the rules had changed and that they needed to book a van in at the local dump and only managed to get one load to the dump. Burning was their alternative but again they heeded advice and ensured that what they were burning was dry. Lack of resources to get rid of rubbish off a plot is another reason for allowing fires.

So with the impending total ban on fires on allotments that is already drafted in the and a decision appears to have been made without consultation with the draft strategy document without directly consulting the 2500 London Borough of Sutton plot holders I decided to undertake a survey of my own and simply asked the 55,000 members of four of the most popular Allotment and gardening forums on the internet what were the rules with regards having Bonfires on their allotments and here is the range of results I have received from 225 comments over a three day period.

I have listed them in semi order of restriction with Fires Allowed at any time at the top and a Total Ban at the bottom of the list.

• Fires allowed anytime all year
• Burn any day as long as there is no Pigeon Racing
• Fires allowed anytime all year but not more than 3 on the site at any one time
• All year as long as early in the morning or late at night
• Open fires not allowed only using an incinerator all year round
• Communal Area for Fire Committee light the fire on a Thursday Night after 6pm
• Fires allowed on one day every month
• Site size Incinerator with flue controlled by committee
• Sundays Only
• Fires only from 1^st October to the end of March -  A Sensible Compromise common and what has been in place within the London Borough of Sutton for some time 
• Fires Only from 1^st November to the end of March after 6pm
• Fires Only from 1^st November to the end of March after 6pm on a Wednesday or a Saturday
• Fires only from 1^st October to the end of March but only using an incinerator
• Bonfires only allowed in November & March (The end and the start of the growing season)
• Bonfires only allowed from the 1^st November until the end of February after 6pm
• Bonfires only allowed one weekend in November and One weekend in March after 6pm
• Two weeks, one either side of the 5^th November
• Bonfire Night Week in November
• Bonfire Night or the nearest Saturday
• Bonfire Night only
• 2 Specific Burn Days a year in November & March
• Banned on the site but Owner now provides a skip for green waste only
• Fires Banned on the site

Where fires are allowed here are some of the restrictions 

• Incinerators Only No Open Fires 
• Dry materials Only
• Open Fires only between 1^st November – end of March / Incinerator only between 1^st April and End of October 
• Have to be attended
• A communal fire once a month
• Allowed from an Hour before dusk
• Allowed 2 hours before dusk
• No fires on a Sunday
• Not allowed at weekends and Bank Holidays
• We have to ring the local fire service to inform them we are having a fire on the site
• After 6pm
• Wind Sock on site and not allowed when active or pointing towards housing
• No more than 3 fires on the site at any one time
• Fire Pit Area Only no individual fires

Source of the list above was from 255 comments during a 3 day period to a survey question on

My hope is that the Gardening group and all the Site Reps will be able to meet with the Suttons Parks team and find a solution that allows for fires to continue to take place on allotments and also reduce the amount of complaints from neighbouring domestic property owners. 

That being said it is a pain when you are on a plot and are having problems with smoke from fires from their back gardens during the period between 1st April and the end of September when you are not allowed them on the other side of the fence!.  #justsaying  

Allotment Growers UK – 30,545 members

The Allotment Shed – 20,089 members

Allotment & Garden Club Mind Your Peas and Cues – 4,109 members

Grow Your Own Magazine – Grapevine – membership numbers unknown.

Bonfires on Allotments

Just before the annual gardening group meeting one of the Site Reps became aware of the draft Parks and Open Spaces Strategy for 2019 – 2026 in which Policy P22 had been added which states 

“From 1^st January 2020 fires of any kind will no longer be allowed on the council allotment sites. Failure to abide by this policy will result in termination of the allotment agreement of any plot holder found having a fire on the site. This Policy supersedes the guidance in version 6 -2018 of the Allotment gardeners Guide. “

The assembled Site Reps brought this matter up under any other business, as

1) There had been no discussion / consultation with the site reps and the 2500 or more plot holders in the borough regarding the possible change in policy.

2) The on line consultation period had expired, it has been reopened following our complaint however there are no specific questions in relation to Fires on Allotments so we are still not being consulted.

3) The Policy states “fires of any kind” thus could be taken as including those for brewing tea of coffee, and BBQ’s and as written the policy is unclear.

The whole concept of the Gardening Group Meeting is for the consultation and discussion of these matters and at a previous meeting a few years ago it was agreed that bonfires would not be allowed between the 1st April to the 30th September.

This allows for the burning of wood, weeds that cannot be composed and tomato and potato blighted foliage and the production of wood ash that is a valuable source of fertiliser and alternative for lime, It also allowed new plot holders taking over new plot to burn the weeds and timber debris they inherited on a vacant plot between October and the end of March.

During this time of year it gets darker earlier and there are not as many neighbours with their windows open. With Bonfire night in November it allows for the drying of weeds and cleared vegetation in October and the burning on the 5th November.

With thirty six allotment sites with over 2,500 plot holders we are a significant group within the borough and should be consulted on this issue. There are many things that can be done to reduce any complaints regarding bonfires and stove fires on allotment sites causing nuisance, we have not had the opportunity to explore and discuss these.

I would suggest that as many of us write to our local councillors as possible, stressing how difficult this is going to make things for us, and the fact that we have not been consulted at all on the change, particularly that we have not been given the opportunity to work out a compromise to alleviate the problem. You can find out who your local Councillor by putting in your post code in this link https://moderngov.sutton.gov.uk/mgFindMember.aspx 

Your Neighbourhood Manager can be found here