Manchester Drive Allotment Society

 Many thanks for all the hard work of those who helped yesterday clear the rubbish by the north boundary, which can now be taken off site. If you left a grey jacket by the fence, it is now in the MDAS Shop to reclaim.

Before a grab lorry comes to take away the rubbish along the north boundary we need to separate out metal, plastics etc and get them into manageable piles close to the fence. Can you spare an hour or so this Saturday 22^nd October between 10.00 & 12.00am to lend a hand? In the next few weeks we shall be marking out a track parallel to the north boundary that will then give access to the new allotments to be formed along that boundary. But first things first – the rubbish clearance. So PLEASE HELP IF YOU CAN.

 A reminder – the MDAS AGM is 7.30 this evening at The Stables, Chalkwell Park Drive (almost opposite Leigh Superbowl in Leigh Road). Please come if able.

It’s now agreed with the Council to continue the present fence work to the end of our north boundary. So the digger is returning this Saturday from about 8.00am onwards to clear the rest of the fence line. And the fence installers will bat on with their work next week. So, we would like some people to be on hand to help clear all the rubbish. I don’t think it will be as bad as the first section and probably 2 or 3 people helping at any one time would be adequate. Wind permitting over the weekend, we hope also to burn the piles of wood etc we made previously.

A reminder that this coming weekend (24th-25th Sept) and that of 5th-6th November are the agreed weekends for bonfires of dry material .  

If planning to have one, please observe the normal procedures:

The Leigh site’s gate is being replaced tomorrow with a security gate which will not be accessible for their plot-holders till probably Sunday. So they will be accessing their site during this time via our Manchester Drive gate. Their padlock will be fixed to ours on the gate and that means that when you relock our gate please make sure our padlock goes through their lock so that everyone can continue to have access . We hope the fence work at Randolph Close will restart on Saturday with completion of the first section by the end of next week.

I’ve been told that some of the new fence (60 metres) will be delivered to the Randolph Close entrance in the late morning / lunchtime on Tuesday 13th. Nothing more specific I’m afraid. We do need some help with the unloading – not sure yet whether it will have to go into the Council’s building or our own (in which case the lorry will be diverted to Manchester Drive). If you are able to help, we shall be meeting at the Randolph Close entrance -  I shall be there from 11.00 but any time after that would be ok. Hope to see some of you there.

Many thanks to everyone who helped today clear the fence line. The contractors started yesterday, which I wasn’t expecting and have progressed a long way up the Randolph Close boundary. It’s looking good! I think they will be continuing on Monday although nothing is certain in life. Help on Monday is no longer needed as the contractors are loading up and transporting the fence panels themselves. Thanks to those who offered.

Following feedback from members and discussions with the Council, I’m pleased to say that we have agreed with Leigh Town Council the fencing work at the top of the site. MDAS has offered a grant to the Council of up to £5,000 for the fence and the Council is paying for its installation. The work may have to be done in 2 stages with the first stage completing the Randolph Close boundary and 50 metres along the north boundary. The second stage would be the remaining 100metres of the north boundary taking it up as far as our boundary with the Leigh site.