Allotment Outrage!

In August 2003 (Hooked on allotments) we visited Joyce Silvera’s allotment at Grimesthorpe, which was lush with edible delights. But in recent months Joyce has suffered malicious attacks on her vegetables and allotment buildings.

Joyce told the Messenger, “They have broken into my green houses trashing the tomatoes. Some of the tomatoes were just ready for picking and probably weighed two pounds each, they were just smashed on the floor. The inside of my shed was trashed with all my things turned onto the floor. This person has also picked my runner beans. My allotment has been attacked four times in the last three years, but in the last month I’ve found more damage nearly every day.”

Other allotments have also been attacked with similar sorts of damage. Joyce doesn’t believe the attacks are random, but that the offender is targeting certain allotment holders.

“I don’t think it is children, it seems to be more personal than that. But if it was children perhaps the schools could bring them here to learn about gardening and food production, explaining how important it is to respect allotment sites.”

The police have been called to the site on several occasions and are now taking the matter more seriously. Joyce hopes that the Crime Reduction Officer and the New Deal Community Officer can help to prevent the attacks or catch the offender.

“The police are being very supportive and have advised me to continue calling them whenever my allotment is attacked. It’s such a shame that after all the hard work we’ve put into improving the site this is happening. Lots of new people have taken on allotments recently and the site is really active. I hope this can all be sorted out soon, because allotments are an important part of the lives of the people here.”