Thursday 6 November 2008

DIG HADFIELD - A New Grass Roots Organisation Has Germinated Which Plots To Sow The Seeds Of Change

Following a post on this blog by AR which you can read here there has been a steady trickle of e-mails to the site from local residents expressing interest in the subject. Consequently, the issue of lack of allotments in the area and in Hadfield specifically was discussed at the October meeting of TAHRA.

A decision followed to contact everyone who had expressed an interest, to discuss the subject, with a view setting up a local group that would campaign for allotment allocation in Hadfield. An inaugural meeting was held at the New Lamp, Bankbottom, Hadfield on Tuesday 28th October.

It was attended by around a dozen people, half of whom wanted an allotment and three of whom had already applied or given up trying. The meeting decided that they did indeed wish to set up an autonomous group that would press the council to discharge its duty to provide much needed
allotment land.

The first action of the group was to produce posters that have now been distributed to shops throughout Hadfield, asking anyone who wants a plot or who already has their name down for one, to contact them either through this site at tinhadra@aol.com or by phoning 866240. The idea is to try and establish just how many people there are wanting plots and to inform them about future meetings and/or activities that the group initiates.

The next planned meeting of Dig Hadfield is scheduled for Tuesday 25th November at the New Lamp, Bankbottom, Hadfield at 7.30pm although this is subject to confirmation nearer the time.
By way of an update, I can confirm that Dig Hadfield are now truly autonomous, as their very own blog has now been set up only today and can be found by clicking here. For reference, you can now contact them directly at dighadfield@gmail.com although we will still be happy to forward mail to them. We also have a permanent link to the site that you can find on the blue panel to the right hand side of this blog.

Co-incidentally and unbeknown to Dig Hadfield at the time of their inaugural meeting, another group led by Mark Alix has been created, entitled Glossop Action For Allotments (GAFA) who share the same aims. They will be presenting a petition to the Council in the morning (Friday 7th November), outside the Chinley offices of High Peak Borough Council, at 10am .
We wish the group maximum success tomorrow and Mark has said he intends to attend the next Dig Hadfield meeting, so the movement to move earth seems to have well and truly taken root.

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