Flooded Brandon allotments saved twice by waste contractor
Allotments in Brandon that suffered twice from flooding since December have benefited from a delivery by Suffolk County Council contractors using the county’s green waste.
The Brandon allotments are on land gifted to the people of the town and put to use with a newly renovated sports centre, football fields, a Bowls Green and fish ponds.
The allotment site, which was once a Neolithic settlement and has around 50 plots now, is adjacent to the Little Ouse River and in December exceptionally high rainfall together with the need to manage the river levels caused the first deluge.
Allen Coulson, secretary of Brandon Allotments Association, said: "The allotments were inundated with water over the Christmas period, flooding of the river was over a foot of water.
"That is just one of the 'benefits' of a riverside location. Normally our water level is fairly close to the surface of the plots - but now with the works on the Staunch and the current river management, about half of each plot is saturated and is no use for growing. We appealed for an amount of compost / soil improver to both improve the nutrient value of the soil and bulk out / dry out some of the saturated areas.”
Up stepped FCC Environment, who are contracted to manage Suffolk’s Recycling Centres on behalf of Suffolk County Council, who delivered 10 tonnes of compost to the Brandon Allotment Association.
But it did not stop there, in April the land flooded once again but FCC were on hand with another 10 tonnes to help the cause.
Sarah-Jane Clarke, FCC Environment’s information and education manager for Suffolk, said: "We were happy to help the Brandon Allotments. Places like these are a way for communities to come together and in this time of lockdown, have been good for people’s mental health and well-being. I am glad we were able to help, not once but twice, after the floods."
The allotment association has been delighted with the assistance of the waste contractors as it has allowed for planting to start again in conditioned soil.
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