Agbrigg & Belle Vue Community Association

The Annual General Meeting was held on Tuesday 5th October 2004 at the Agbrigg & Belle Vue Community Centre at 5.30 pm, at which David Parkin, the society chairman delivered the following message.

“People often wonder why we bother with allotments.The cabbages get caterpillars, courtesy of those lovely white butterflies, white fly erupt in clouds as you brush by your rows of carefully tended veg. If the sawfly caterpillars don’t get your gooseberries then the mildew is bound to. Outdoor tomatoes looking good – they were, until the blight hit them! The weeds grow much faster than the plants and take a few days off and you wonder if you’ll ever catch up.Add to this, vandals who put your greenhouse glass through for the hell of it, arsonists who will burn your much loved shed to the ground, thieves who will dig up your entire potato crop, just why do we bother?We bother, because there is real joy to be found in harvesting a crop you raised from seed. There is beauty to be seen in the red curves of a ripe tomato. Time is meaningless when you are digging and listening to birdsong.You become aware of the rhythms of the seasons when your hands are in the earth. Great camaraderie is found among fellow allotmenteers. We bother because growing food is one of the most creative and fulfilling achievements we undertake.This year the tide has begun to turn for our allotments. Funding is coming for regeneration despite delay after delay. New allotment holders are asking for plots every week. Neighbourhood Action has helped us with plot clearance and we can now offer new gardeners a reasonably clear plot instead of a jungle of brambles and rubbish. We have a new Wakefield Allotments Together Network, which aims to get a better deal for all allotment holders in terms of funding, information and assistance. Here’s to a brighter future!”