I had a phone call this morning to say that our allotment site has had unwelcome visitors. Apparently all the water taps have been stolen!
This happened before the snow arrived this morning as there were no footprints.
As we are a council owned and run site, no doubt we will be without water now for ages as it is unlikely that the council will see replacing our taps as a priority! Life is going to be difficult for those who have livestock.
Whatever next?
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Some people really are scum, aren't they? Can you not club together and get a plumber to come in to do at least one tap and then claim it back from the council?
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid that you don't know our council! They won't even ensure that the gates are kept locked. Believe it or not we have some people who refuse to lock them on principle.
ReplyDeleteThat's terrible news. Why do the minority have to spoil it for everyone else? I heard the same thing happened in Kent recently and the police are starting an Allotment Watch (like NHWatch) Not sure if this will solve the problem. I would write to the local newspaper and when your council see this they will soon do something. They hate negative publicity.
ReplyDeleteIt's difficult isn't it - if we contact the local press we could draw attention to our site by saying - look we are an easy target and make matters worse.
ReplyDeleteAs it is our rental rates are one of the highest in the country - I think but when we see what other areas have provided it makes us wonder.
Yes I didn't think about that. The allotments in Sheerness have a real problem. Some visitors come with plastic bags and help themselves! That's one of the reasons I decided not to take a plot there although they did have lots of space in 2008.
ReplyDeleteHow low do some people go, that's awful. It happens too often, there's a community farm just starting up in Salisbury and already stories in the local press of theft and vandalism. I'd love to catch them at it.
ReplyDeleteI just can't believe some people...st4eaing outrages me at the best of times...But taps off an allotment site really is stooping low...sounds like scrap metal to me. Hope it's not too long before you get some back and although it's highly unlikely \i do hope the culprit is caught!!!!!
ReplyDeleteGood grief! How many taps were there? Can't imagine they'd be worth much as scrap, so why did they do it? Just mischief?
ReplyDeletePresumably the water was off at the mains, so they didn't leave water flooding everywhere?
Damo,
ReplyDeleteWe have a few burley sorts who would love to catch them too and wouldn't hold back if they did.
Tanya - I thought scrap metal too
Nick there would be 14 or 15 taps so it would have taken a little time to collect them all. The water wasn't turned off and water running from one tap. Pressure isn't great on our site - if someone turns on a tap the pressure usually reduces for everyoneso it was just running from the first tap in the 'chain'.
According to a randomly selected website, they'd be worth about £2 / lb as scrap. So at say 1/2 lb each (maybe less?) that'd be about £15.
ReplyDeleteDesperate or stupid, or both?
I guess stupid!
ReplyDeletesome people are just awful! why would anyone do this?
ReplyDeleteon our allotments we have troughs with a ballcock-type system, so no taps. maybe something similar could be rigged up? it all costs though, eh.
sigh
Sound like a good idea but our council don't like spending money on allotments I'm afraid.
ReplyDeleteOur site is council managed