The Blane Valley Allotment Association is proud to announce that following a lengthy consultation, full planning permission has been granted to the Blane Valley Allotments and work can now commence.

Are you a local person who would like a plot? please complete an Allotment Application Form and send it in. Due to changes in the layout plan we have more allotments of various sizes available but there are only a few plots left.

Signs have been placed along the railway path to inform walkers, cyclists and horse owners that work will start week commencing Monday 1st April. Initial works will see the deer and rabbit fencing installed followed by construction of the allotment plots.

There may be some disruption but this will be for a limited time 3-4 weeks and ask that people who use the railway path are patient and understanding that this is only temporary.

Please contact us if you have any questions.

The Duntreath Estate have been very kind in coming forward with a site which shows real community spirit, generosity and forward thinking in today's climate. The supporters of the allotment are very grateful and look forward to developing this relationship. The site has been designed incorporating the many views that arose in our consultations such as; layout; accessibility; sheds & greenhouses and visibility. Please click the small images below for a large copy of the plan; the location plan and the site section

Site Plan	Location Plan	Site Section

Strathblanefield Community Council voted to support the planning application for allotments on the proposed site on Monday 5th December. Recommendations to ensure accountability and responsibility will ensure that the allotment group have support from the Community Council in enforcing good neighbour behaviours. Please read their full report to the planning department

Throughout all the consultation events, the group have listened to any concerns that have been raised in the village and robust allotment rules have been adopted to address these concerns. Throughout the project it is anticipated that the community will work together to overcome any issues that arise to ensure that this project is a success.

The allotments project is also about much more than the site itself. We've assembled £67,000 worth of grant funds from LEADER and the Climate Challenge Fund not only for developing a site but also for engaging with the primary school children and the wider community and for setting up a programme of courses and trips to learn about growing your own fruit and veg.

Louise McAllister of Green Aspirations Scotland has been working with the allotment group on the community consultation, planning application, lease agreements and contracting to build the site.

We have 20 local residents signed up for an allotment already and are confident of further demand locally once a site is operational. Even if you don't want an allotment yourself but still support this project then please sign our petition or join our facebook cause

We held a public meeting on Saturday 12th November in the Village Club to present the full details of the allotment project. (Notes from the presentation follow the initial slides pages.) Please take your time to read through the document as it presents the various community benefits of the project and where it fits politically in the current climate. Comments from our consultation have been considered and ways in which they have been addressed are also presented. The Blane Valley Allotment Group value and welcome comments from the community.

Schools:
through funding from the Climate Challenge Fund and LEADER, the Blane valley Allotment Group are able to assist Strathblane Primary School and Nursery to make steps towards reaching their first Green Flag. Please read about The Schools Education programme.

We've been investigating ways to make sure that everyone uses foot or bike power to get to and from the allotments: check out these links to bike trailers and cargo bikes. We have prepared draft rules for people using the allotment site. If you've got any comments on them please let us know.

We also have the press release and some photos from our successful 'Grow Local' event in the school in September 2011, which was a celebration of local produce and crafts.

Here is the report of the workshop we organised in February 2011, where 40 local residents attended to find out more about the project and to give their input and ideas.

Here are some links to give a better understanding of the importance of allotments and the wider benefits that can be achieved:

Communities
Biodiversity
Health
Quality Of Life
The Stirling Draft Open Space Strategy
The Stirling draft Local Development Plan
Stirling Allotment Strategy

Contact Louise McAllister on 07540 246081 or you can email us at allotments@strathblanefield.org.uk or alternatively, come along to one of our meetings.

We also have a mailing list which you can join and keep up to date with what we are doing.
note you need to activate your subscription - watch out for the email you will get after adding yourself

Future Events -