Dorset Road Allotments awarded Green Flag for 19th year!

We are delighted to recieve a Green Flag Award for the 19th year in a row!

The accreditation – the international quality mark for parks and green spaces – is testament to the hard work and dedication of the volunteers who care for the green space so that visitors and residents alike can enjoy it.

Keep Britain Tidy’s Green Flag Award Scheme Manager, Paul Todd MBE, said: “I would like to congratulate everyone involved at Dorset Road Allotments and Leisure Gardens on achieving a Green Flag Award.

 Dorset Road Allotments and Leisure Gardens is a vital green space for communities in Beckenham to socialise, enjoy nature, for children to play safely and it provides important opportunities for park users to improve their physical and mental health.

 We know that staff and volunteers work tirelessly to ensure that it maintains the high standards of the Green Flag Award, everyone involved should feel extremely proud of their achievement. 

 It is important that our free to use spaces are maintained to the Green Flag Award standard, making them accessible for all members of the community while ensuring the environment is protected.”

Dead Hedge

We have a new wildlife habitat on site that will help to reduce the amount of waste that we burn and support biodiversity.

We have created a ‘dead hedge’ along the riverbank opposite the Clubhouse.   This will replace the aging wooden fence with a new habitat.

Insects and invertebrates love rotting wood and the dead hedge will be a perfect home for them.

Insects and invertebrates are a vital part of a healthy garden. They help pollinate flowers and crops, They eat pests and are food for larger animals (such as small mammals hedgehogs and birds), They also help to recycle nutrients and improving the soil.

The fence was created by our members on Community Spruce days using stakes pollarded from a tree in the wildlife garden, together with recycled fencing wire.

Members are asked to put their woody waste on the dead hedge rather than taking it to the bonfire area.

First Community Spruce of the year: Sunday 13 March 2022 

Each month during the growing season we hold Community Spruce days to undertake site tasks ranging from planting vegetable plants for sale through to trimming hedges, repairing fences and planting wildflowers.

Our first one for 2022 will be held between 11am-1pm on Sunday 13 March.  There will be a range of tasks including seed sowing.

Our allotment site is a co-operative and each member is equally responsible for helping to maintain the site.

We also welcome members of the local community to our Community Spruce days.  They have helped with a range of tasks from planting trees and hedges to litter picking.

Refreshments will be provided.