Allotments in Dublin?

fionn67

Hi all

Fuinnseog
Yes know it well , on one side of the road is indeed football pitches the other side (beside dart station) was used for motor bike scrambling but I think is being redeveloped ...but absolutely fine...anywhere within 30 minutes of me would be superb!!

Elvisgirl
Yes Fallow, Meadow and Habitat thank you , couldn't think of them while writing Have considered green issues and yes area is probably good for butterflies and wild flowers etc but if the Park can make room for example Tennis courts - A race track for noisey smelly polluting remote control cars - and lots of football pitches hockey pitches and GAA pitches surely the could find a little space for a few allotments which would be far mor beneficial for the envoiroment and maybe turn a different area over to Meadow....... hopefully

beerbluemoon
Agree next step is to move it on a little... maybe fuinnseog could go back with people and suggestions or maybe its time to e-mail a few national politicians. As were all agreeed geographicallly so to speak maybe we can try our local TDs...just a few thoughts ... being a group of people would certainly help more than individuals

Fuinnseog

Ok so we probably have enough people now. So how about I feed back to Dublin City Council and check with him about the areas I have mentioned and what status they are, e.g. if the scrambling grounds are listed for further development or if the meadow would be off limits etc.

So if people would like me to do that, perhaps the best thing is to PM me your real name, area of residence and an email contact address. What do people think? Then we will be a group contactable by council etc rather than just existing on Boards.ie. Dublin City Council is registering all interested parties so we would also feed into that.

Then if BeerBlueMoon gets the article published, perhaps BBM can be that contact and feed back nay new members to rest of the group?

As for local TDs, it can only help. I have contacted David Healy from the Greens about this as it has been on his political agenda for a while now.

Wishbone Ash

Elvisgirl wrote: »

Thanks for the reply beerbluemoon. I live in Ballybough and although I have a lovely city garden, it's only for flowers/plants etc. I am very interested in being able to grow our own vegetables/herbs etc. Plus I know it's a hobby I would gain immense pleasure from as my dear departed Dad had a huge vegetable plot in Artane in his own garden and I have so many happy memories of shelling peas and digging up spuds with him and would love our daughter to have the same experiences. Will keep an eye on the boards here to see what transpires! It would be great if something came of it all.

Elvisgirl - please use standard size text when posting.

bonjoyle

my girlfriend and myself were only talking about getting an allotment recently and were disappointed to find out that DCC don't have any. We would be interested in getting involved. Currently living in D1.

totti

hello,

I live in De Courcey square and have an alloment there.
These are the others in Dublin
South Dublin County Council
Mill Lane, Palmerstown (76 plots)
Corkagh Regional Park, Clondalkin.(26 plots)
Friarstown, Bohernabreena, Tallaght. (c. 128 plots)
Tymon Regional Park, Tallaght. (13 plots)
Fingal County Council
Donabate (92 plots)
Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council
Mount Anville, Goatstown. (100 plots)
This site may help you
[FONhttp://homepage.eircom.net/~sthduballots/index.htm

bonjoyle

Cheers for that totti, but i just rang south dublin coco, and was informed that they only take applications for people who live within south county dublin i.e. lucan, clondalkin, tallaght etc. So back to the drawing board????

Fuinnseog

Hi everyone,

I just spoke with a guy from the council who thought that while the meadow in St Annes might be not be a runner that elsewhere in the park would be an excellent idea. So he gave me contact details for parks department and St. Annes park supervisor to arrange a meeting with them for a "walk around" to try and identify a suitable area of St. Annes to set up allotments.

So if people are interested in arranging a meeting in St. Annes with a view to setting up allotments, please PM me your real name, suburb of residence and an email contact address. I will then try to set up a meeting where we can meet with the parks people and move this forward.

Bonjoyle - would you also be interested in an allotment in St. Annes park D3/D5? Served by 130 and 29a bus routes.

bonjoyle

I would definitely be interested, st. anne's park is a hop down the road. I will pm you now.

Lao Lao

Hi all - I thought this thread had died a death and hadn't checked on it in ages. Count me in for this. St Anne's Park is an excellent area and would be perfect for me!


Fuinnseog - Cheers for the PM, I've just sent you one back with my contact details.

I'm rather excited about this now

Fuinnseog

Well the guy in the council was very positive but we still have to get the parks department on side! But hey, the meeting will be a start at the very least. I will wait another few days to see if BBM and ElvisGirl are interested in joining a meeting before i contact them.

He did say that the parks department are very interested in sourcing locally grown fresh produce, especially from allotments, for the St. Annes Farmers market but I told him it would probably be a couple of years before any of us would be ready to think about that!

fionn67

Fantastic news!!!!!

Big big Thanks fuinnseog for all the work.....

Very very interested,sent you a pm before but will attempt again

fionn67

Apologies Fuinnseog ,sent u another PM and just noticed your reply now .. better with plants than technology use either e-mail (was afraid you had been filtered out by first one)

Would be just unbelieveably fantastic if we could get this up and running

Fuinnseog

Fionn, Sorry I didn't reply earlier I was waiting for the rest of the guys to respond I agree that it would be good to have a brief meeting to discuss the main things needed for the site prior to meeting with parks dept.

So maybe to get the ball rolling and get us all thinking about what we need, we can all post some ideas here? Fionn, I know you have suggestions too.

Some of the main things i could think of would be:
- access to water
- reasonably flat land
- an area that is not too secluded for safety reasons
- an area that can be fenced off with chain link or something similar
- an area reasonably close to the road/parking so that heavy loads of compost/manure/chippings could be delivered
- an area not already designated for another function eg wildlife, sports etc
- ideally we would need some storage for tools so we don't have to drive them down each time (or get wierd looks carrying shovels on the dart/bus!)

Looking fwd to hearing everyone's ideas

Sundew

Fuinnesog: What a great thread.
Am sending you a pm with my details.

You were asking about potential sites.
I'm not sure what the status is of this site is but might be worth checking out. Just past Donore Harriers Athletic Club on the Chapelizod Road past Chapelizod village is few acres that run down to the liffey. I believe it is part of the Liffey valley park (not certain) On the opposite side is the revamped Liffey valley park. Perhaps it has been put aside for wildlife but I'm sure there is space for a few allotments although anti-social problems could be a problem here but unfortunately I'm sure that applies to many parts of Dublin. I will try and check it out over the weekend.

Fuinnseog

Hi all,

I've now heard back from everyone so will get on to the parks department tmw to try and arrange a meeting. I will try and keep it outside of 9-5 but i suppose this will be the hours the parks work and may not be possible. Anyway, i'll update this thread after I chat to the parks dept. and email people to see what times suit etc.

Lao Lao

Hi all,

Not sure if anybody else read today's Metro newspaper, however there was an article in it regarding allotments in Dublin whereby they had an interview with the chairman of the SDAA (South Dublin Alllotments Association)

Irrespective of how Fuinnseog gets on with the Parks Division, I think it would be a very good idea to set up the northside equivalent, the NDAA.

We may be able to put more pressurre / lobby TD's / Councillors/ DCC / Parks Division etc if we are acting as a proper organisation rather then 10-12 individuals.

I would be more than happy to act in whatever role needed, chairman, secretary etc etc or if somebody is better qualified, then that is fine to.

I have e-mailed the chairman of the SDAA just now asking him for some advice as to how they set up and how they run so hopefully I will hear back fom him soon.

If/when I hear back from him, I will let you know how I got on

So what do you think of having an NDAA????

jimi_t

Lao Lao wrote: »

Not sure if anybody else read today's Metro newspaper, however there was an article in it regarding allotments in Dublin whereby they had an interview with the chairman of the SDAA (South Dublin Alllotments Association)

Hell of a lot of journos prowling boards

Sundew

Lao Lao wrote: »

Hi all,

So what do you think of having an NDAA????

I'm sure that people would agree that would be a good idea even though I live on the south side

Saw todays article,I reckon we will be seeing more articles like this in the near future!

Lao Lao

jimi_t wrote: »

Hell of a lot of journos prowling boards

What are you talking about?

OldGoat

Hi all.
I applied to Fingal Council about 3 years ago to get on the waiting list for an allotment. I've tried to contact them again since but I get no replies to my emails. I'll try again. Meanwhile I'd be really interested in any developments of the NDAA (even though I hate 4 letter acronyms ).

John.

Sundew

OldGoat wrote: »

Hi all.
I applied to Fingal Council about 3 years ago to get on the waiting list for an allotment. I've tried to contact them again since but I get no replies to my emails. I'll try again. Meanwhile I'd be really interested in any developments of the NDAA (even though I hate 4 letter acronyms ).

John.

3 years :eek: :eek: :eek:
I am in the Dublin City council area even though my nearest allotment (a 10 min cycle) is under South Dublin County Council and I'm not entitled to apply for an allotment there. My father-in -law applied as he lives in the SDCC area on our behalf (cheating I know) but desperate times and all that
From the feedback lately it seems imposssible to get an allotment from the waiting list.

jimi_t

Lao Lao wrote: »

What are you talking about?

During the silly season you'll have a lot of journalists scouring boards for human interest stories - there was another yesterday in the fitness forum asking about lipotrim and the leaving cert forum will often get picked up by the Irish Times, and even Liveline. I was insinuating that the same happened here.

Sundew

jimi_t wrote: »

During the silly season you'll have a lot of journalists scouring boards for human interest stories - there was another yesterday in the fitness forum asking about lipotrim and the leaving cert forum will often get picked up by the Irish Times, and even Liveline. I was insinuating that the same happened here.

.................... well the more journalists that pick up on this human interest story the better

OldGoat

Sundew wrote: »

<Snip> My father-in -law applied as he lives in the SDCC area on our behalf (cheating I know) but desperate times and all that</Snip>

I'm gonna call and tell the SDCC unless you give me half your allotment. :P

tampopo

Well done Fuinnesog,

it's been a while since I've been active on boards.ie and you have certainly come on in leaps and bounds. It's great that you've got a long way on the road to a 'home'.

Sundew, yeah, the old dear was telling me that that part of the river side was indeed allotments 50 years or so ago. I just see there's another page...back later

Fuinnesog, I will email you a couple of pix re the stuff that's available for free!!!

Lao Lao

jimi_t wrote: »

During the silly season you'll have a lot of journalists scouring boards for human interest stories - there was another yesterday in the fitness forum asking about lipotrim and the leaving cert forum will often get picked up by the Irish Times, and even Liveline. I was insinuating that the same happened here.

Oh, ok, well just to clarify, I'm no journo, I'm the OP who started this thread months ago. However, as Sundew says, the more journos pick up on this the better. It needs some attention!

Sundew

OldGoat wrote: »

I'm gonna call and tell the SDCC unless you give me half your allotment. :P

You would be welcome to half of it if I could only manage to get hold of it....but my father-in-law will prob have kicked the bucket but the time he gets to the top of the list.

blanchdub

Hi Beerbluemoon, Fuinnseog, bonjoyle, Lao Lao,...

I live in Clonee and interested in having a plot in North Dublin.
I placed my name on the list for the Finglas + Donabate allotment more than 2 years ago...however the list is so long...

Have you started to organize something? I am interested to get involved? can you please let me know if I can join?

other idea:

I met a farmer in county Meath ( 5 - 10 minutes away from Blanchardstown - he owns a lot of land) and asked if was Ok to rent out a plot of land...he explained that he cannot rent out such a small allotment....normally rent larger surface, However if we were 20-30, he might be Ok to lease?
What do you think? ..I am glad to meet him again ....a few of us could go...I heard about a farmer in West Cork who lease land for allotments...why not trying?...and could be faster than through the council...

please let me know what you think, regards

Sundew

Hi Blanchdub
Welcome to the club

It seems like there is major interest out there among people about allotments. Have you seen this site?
http://www.growyourown.ie/

Apparently an enterprising farmer from Oldcastle has set these private allotments up. Unfortunately it is too far from Dublin for me and I'm sure others feel the same but I commend him all the same.

On a seperate note has anybody had the chance to read this months issue of Grow Your Own. There is an interview with Diarmuid Gavin and he says that "he has been presented with an opportunity to develop allotments on an incredible stretch of coast 40/50 acres long in Dublin.

Has anybody heard anything about this? It's the first I've heard about it.

Fuinnseog

Hi all,

LaoLao - that's a great idea. Any update so far? Perhaps when you hear back from SDAA we should all meet up and set up the NDAA?

Hi Blanchdub, welcome on board. Meath is a too far from me but perhaps we can find other people in Dublin West who will be interested.

As for the parks dept...bit of a disappointment really. St. Annes were not interested in meeting us as yet and I was not able to contact the other 2 council people on my list as they were both away on holidays. But i did find a guy was working on a plan (very fancy ones too, including polytunnnels & GHs!) to set up 145 allotments in the currently derelict walled garden in St. Annes but had lost funding for it. He was delighted to hear about our group and was revisiting ideas to get alternative funding. So he advised we send our formal expression of interest to the head of parks. So this should be one of the first things on the agenda for NDAA!