Allotment Finder is a free, community driven service that provides you with up-to-date information about allotment gardens in your area.

More information is available at: http://allotmentfinder.org/

submitted 28 Apr '11, 22:23

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Just removed all the spam that's accumulated in the wiki

(29 Apr '11, 03:51) tim mcnamara

Initially want to pilot this in a few different cities, e.g.:

  • manchester.allotmentfinder.org
  • stockholm.allotmentfinder.org
  • berlin.allotmentfinder.org

In first instance need some basic way of (i) collecting/cleaning up data, (ii) displaying data.

link

solved 28 Apr '11, 22:49

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Hi Tim,

Just a quick question: How do you define allotment? As far as I know, people are entitled to allotments in UK - but I'm not so sure if this is the case in Germany (I don't think so). So is this concerned with allotments in the UK sense or simply empty space to grab?

Thanks a lot,

Guo

link

solved 01 May '11, 22:20

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Some background info that might be useful

As a point of information, I got in touch with Jonathan and Pim recently after coming across their website and slides. I have long been thinking (having managed the waiting list on a Manchester allotment site and serving on their committee for nearly ten years) that the Council could run various things more clearly, efficiently and openly. My site is run by the Manchester City Council, but their website offers little info: link.

Equally, AMAS, the Association of Manchester Allotment Societies, has a website containing some basic info, but unfortunately most of it is out of date: link.

In discussion with Jonathan, I have agreed to jumpstart the project, starting with Manchester as a pilot study. Jonathan and Pim had originally produced a list of data to collect, to which I have added a number of additional items:

Original list of data to collect:

  • Name, address and postcode of allotment garden or association
  • Postcode and geo-coordinates (lat, lon)
  • Telephone number and website
  • Plain text description
  • Do plots have house or shed? (Y/N)
  • Total number of plots
  • Number of free plots (at a given date)
  • Number of people on waiting list (at a given date)
  • Number of allotments changing owner in last year
  • Average waiting time (estimated)

Given the current economic and political climate, I think it would be incredibly valuable (in a UK context at least) to add the following to your list:

  • Current rent
  • Rent for next three years
  • Does the rent include water rates?
  • If not, how much is charged for water per year?
  • Is the site Council run?

Some of this data is quite easy to find on various websites and through reading Council documents. However, waiting list info, info about rent and water rates will have to come from the Council's allotment officer. They may not be terribly forthcoming with this as things are still very much up in the air.

link

solved 02 May '11, 16:05

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Waiting List data

Aside from the great idea of the Allotment Finder, I had been doing some work on how to upgrade the current waiting list systems many Councils run, essentially the manual collection of bits of paper with info that then get sent on the Council. Ideally annual checks take place to update info and to see if people are still interested, but this is very time consuming and usually comes down to allotment the committees themselves, with the secretary doing all the info chasing.

The idea is to add a system to the Allotment Finder that allows those interested in getting a plot to create an electronic profile that they then manage themselves. An email can be sent to this profile automatically to let people know they need to update their information.

Councils currently have extremely long waiting lists already (for example, the East Manchester Council of Tameside has gone from 250 on the waiting list in early 2009, to 500 at the end of 2010 - with no vacant plots anywhere in Tameside). So creating this online system would require (if Councils agree) the one off inputting of this data, which they could do themselves (or with help). All new people create their own profile. Once the system is in place data from the Allotment Finder and the Waiting List are linked, so that the number of people on the waiting list updates itself (when new people sign up or when the waiting list goes down when a plot is allocated).

Most of the other data is pretty static and as most Councils are now making decisions for the rent rates for the next three years, there is very little to update once the Allotment Finder + Waiting List are up and running.

link

solved 02 May '11, 16:18

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Update on the Pilot Study

To keep things as simple as possible (and feasible) for now, I think it is best to initially concentrate on a couple of Greater Manchester Councils to begin with, before trying to tackle them all.

As Tameside Council has recently made quite a number of changes to the management of allotments in Tameside and has also put up the rent considerably I thought I'd start with them. In their recent documentation they actively highlight the waiting list issue (see Key Decision Notice: link).

If we can get one council on board and get all the data, we'd have enough to build a prototype, see how it can be improved and so on and then contact further councils. I have written a letter for Tameside that that simply outlines the idea, highlighting that we cannot guarantee anything:

'As we are still at an exploratory stage, I cannot guarantee that Open Knowledge Foundation will develop this tool. However, identifying a sufficient need and applicability at a local level will greatly help to drive this project forward. Your help would thus be invaluable and I look forward to hearing your response.'

I have started building a spreadsheet of data for Tameside Council, which is compiled from a number of different documents I found online (website: link, Key Decision Notice: link; FOIA request, link) . We could do with some help. I just thought that if they like the sound of the project, obtaining the data should be more straightforward. Mick O'Brien is the Allotment Officer, in charge of the waiting list data. This should be easy enough to get hold of if the council supports the project.

Following on from Tameside I think Trafford would be a good bet, but let see what happens with the first one! Trafford website: link Trafford open data allotments (just names and locations): link

link

solved 02 May '11, 16:30

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Website update

If you're all happy with this, it might be a good idea to update the Allotment Finder website, include my involvement and highlight the Manchester pilot study. This up to date info will also be helpful for those Manchester allotment officers I am currently contacting. Currently the most recent info is from 2009.

Happy to do the update.

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solved 02 May '11, 16:33

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Margaret Campbell's Freedom of Information Act Requests

Clearly one Margaret Campbell has been very busy requesting allotment waiting list information from across the country: link

Is there any way of scraping this data easily and doing something useful with it?

The requests all ask for the following information (which is all useful for the Allotment Finder):

As of January 2011, please could you tell me:

1) How many allotment sites are there in X for which X Borough Council has access to waiting list data?

2) What is the total number of plots on these sites?

3) What is the total number of people on waiting lists for these sites?

4) Are any of these waiting lists closed to further applications?

5) How many new council allotment sites were brought into use in 2010? Please give: a) number of new sites b) names of new sites c) total area of new land in hectares d) total number of new plots

UPDATE

I have found some further info on Margaret's requests: link

The full database of the Councils that responded can be downloaded here.

The full report ('Allotment Waiting Lists in England 2010') can be downloaded here.

link

solved 02 May '11, 17:54

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edited 02 May '11, 18:28

Latest from The Independent: The end of the good life Government paves way for sale of country's 300,000 allotments as plot-holders revolt over plan to scrap historic right to council land. Link

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solved 02 May '11, 19:12

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A further neat thing we might want to consider adding to the tool is a simple form that people signing up to the waiting list can automatically get sent to their allotment manager/council rep stating that they would like the council to create further allotment sites. Now that the Allotment Act is 'safe' this might be a powerful thing to use. I would need to read the specific details of the act and the new government plans on it, but my feeling is that most people would like to let their council know that they'd welcome more sites, but find it hard to get a 'campaign' going. This would be a really simple thing to do.

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solved 09 May '11, 17:45

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Asked: 28 Apr '11, 22:23

Seen: 1,320 times

Last updated: 09 May '11, 17:45

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