When a large heap of soil was dumped in a Chester street there was speculation it was in connection with an act of revenge for some kind of misdemeanour.
However, all was revealed when gardeners from Kingsway Allotments Association turned up to literally ‘muck in’ and shift the mound of, well...muck.
The allotment entrance is so narrow the only way to accept deliveries of the soil improver is for it to be dumped on the pavement opposite Newton Primary School then wheel it away in barrows as quickly as possible.
And the whole exercise is organised like a military operation even down to the timing as the muck is delivered in half term to keep the chaos to a minimum.
Except the best laid plans can go awry as nobody knew a neighbour was also having a lorry load of bricks delivered at the same time which blocked the whole road for a short time.
Chair Jules Miller said: “The soil improver is from the green waste. It isn’t usually for public consumption but because we’re an allotment site, they give it us free but we have to pay for the haulage so it means community action! What we’re trying to do desperately is get it off the path.
“It’s half term, that’s the only time we get it delivered because the traffic is less and it doesn’t bother the school. It’s usually a bit tidier, it depends on the lorry driver.”
Kingsway Allotments is a self-managed site following an agreement struck between plotholders and Cheshire West and Chester Council with the process completed in May 2014.
The association has developed its own tenancy agreements along with a set of rules that all plotholders are expected to follow. Such is the demand for an allotment at the site that the waiting list is now closed to new applicants.
When the list has reduced down to a small number again, the list will be re-opened and applications invited.
For more details, visit the website .
