The water supply to the Site has been restored. The Site has a single supply for its stand pipes and tanks, its toilets and the kitchen in the John Gray Centre.
Merton Council's published aim for its allotments is to turn off the supply every autumn and turn it on again "in the spring". Merton imposes on idverde a contractual duty to take responsibility for management of water at the Site including turning the water off and on to coincide with the growing season and to prevent freezing and burst pipes.
The intention is to protect the exposed parts of the system from the possible effects of icy weather. In practice, this means no water, flushing toilets or kitchen facilities after October until the supply is restored.
CPAGA's Management Committee knows that people visiting the Site throughout the year value the availability of flushing toilets. The Committee has explored, through idverde, whether, with the help of volunteers, water can be available during some periods over Winter when the risks from icy weather are remote. However, it appears that is not possible unless those volunteers bear themselves all of the financial consequences if ever the system were damaged.
One matter discussed at the CPAGA-Merton meeting of 31 January 2024 was the problem of the management of non-green waste at the Site. Committee Members have, once again, brought the current and growing problem to the attention of the Allotment Administrator and Merton's Waste Enforcement team. The source of the waste is unknown but is suspected to be from both plot holders and non-plot holders. The origin of some of the waste is clearly outside of the Site.
Committee Members had identified that idverde's published contractual obligation was expressed in these terms: "The Contractor shall clear waste bays on allotments sites in Merton on a bi-monthly basis.", without any qualification about the content of the waste bays. However, idverde has asked that the waste bays not be used for non-green waste - notwithstanding that Merton's signs at the Site state: "Please place all rubbish - green and non-green waste - in the Rubbish Bay opposite."
Previous attempts by the Committee to report the non-green waste as fly tipping failed, as Merton removed those reports as soon as they were posted, without explanation. The Parks Team understood that Merton would not accept reports of fly tipping at allotment sites. However, Merton's Senior Enforcement and Inspection Officer (Interim) has now confirmed that an officer has been asked to investigate the non-green waste that can be attributed to a specific address outside of the Site.
There also appeared to be problems of communication. Plot holders new to the Site, seeking to clear existing non-green waste from their plots, reported that they had been told by the Allotment Administrator to dump the non-green waste elsewhere on the Site. This would have been appropriate only if idverde had made arrangements to clear the non-green waste soon afterwards.
One matter discussed at the CPAGA-Merton meeting on 31 January 2024 was the experiment with combination locks at the two pedestrian gates to the Site. From the perspective of the Committee, the experiment was a failure as the locks were difficult for some to use - in particular, for people with eyesight problems or at dusk. There had been reports of people without a torch being trapped in the Site as dusk had fallen. The lock at the North gate had been damaged soon after its introduction, losing the button on the slider. Further, in practice, some people left the locks on their combination.
The lock at the South gate is now broken. A member of the Comittee has brought that to the attention of the Allotment Administrator, who has said that she has made arrangements for the broken lock to be replaced with an equivalent.
