Allotment costs (From The Argus)

Allotment costs

8:20am Wednesday 8th February 2012 in Your Argus

I WRITE regarding allotment fees “growing” (The Argus, January 25). Could a Brighton and Hove City Council spokesperson please clarify the maintenance and staff, fencing and security it says it has to finance?

Maintenance: what does that involve? Ten minutes of grass cutting twice a year, plus occasional empty plot strimming. Most of us keep empty plots adjacent to ours strimmed for our own benefit.

Fencing: the camp site in Portslade has had a hole in its fence for about 18 months and has been reported to no avail.

Security? That is a joke – each allotment holder had to pay £10 for one key for a new high-security lock (we were told), which has since fallen apart three times.

We have a fence not fit for purpose – at the age of 64 I could scale it if required, as have thieves who stole five strimmers in one weekend and on numerous occasions vandalised sheds and greenhouses.

Angie Burtenshaw, Easthill Park, Portslade