CONSTRUCTION OF AREA FOR USE BY PEOPLEWITH RESTRICTED MOBILITY

AT HAZEL GROVE ALLOTMENTS

Why did we want to create this area? Well, some of our plotholders had had to give up their plots when they were no longer able to bend down and cultivate their conventional plot. Moreover, we also realised there are people in the wider community who would benefit from being able to grow some of their own food and be part of our allotment community, with all the health benefits – both physical and social – that brings.

Where was the best place on the site for this area? Our site has two main entrances: one at Chester Rd and the other at School St. We are lucky in having the use of a car park in front of the School St gate and of having a concreted hard-standing area inside this gate. When a plot became available adjacent to this concreted area, Kieran McDonagh from Disability Stockport visited our allotments, approved the area and gave us invaluable advice as to what would be needed. We also have a Portaloo adjacent to this plot, accessed from the concrete hard-standing – more about loos at the end of this report.

How big is the area? 16 ft × 28 ft, approx. 50 sq yds (approx. 5 × 3 m = 15m)

What did we want to provide? We decided to provide two trugs so people in wheelchairs/mobility scooters could manoeuvre their chairs under the trugs rather than just alongside. In addition, two brick-built raised beds would be constructed for the use of people who had problems bending.

This area had to be fully accessible for wheelchairs, people with crutches, etc., flat and with no trip hazards.

Who did the work? One of our plotholders, Peter Whitehead, a retired builder, took on the whole task of planning through to completion with the help of his team of fellow plotholders. This meant there were no labour costs.

What materials did we need? Peter drew up the following list of materials and obtained a costing from Jewson’s:• Concrete Paving flag BSS B50, Natural: 600 × 600 × 50mm — 84• Sharp Concreting Sand: Single Trip Large Bulk Bag — 3• MOT-Type 1 Sub-Base: Single Trip Large Bulk Bag — 3• Building Sand: Single Trip Large Bulk Bag — 1• Limestone, 20mm: Single Trip Large Bulk Bag — 1• BLUE CIRCLE Cement: 25kg bag — 10• Dense Concrete Block Solid: 7.0N; 440 × 215 × 140mm — 110• Mortar Plasticiser: 5 litres — 1• 100 Series Diamond Blade: 300 × 20mm (to cut blocks & flags) — 1Total cost at 30/4/2014 = £930.58 (incl. VAT)

How did we fund it? We applied to the Stepping Hill Area Flexibility Fund for a grant, and they very kindly and generously awarded us a grant for the £930 requested. In addition, we were given £250 from the Stockport Allotment Budget to purchase two wooden trugs (from Wyevale Garden Centre, Marple – these were in their sale at a greatly reduced price!).

What size are the raised beds and trugs? All numbers are rounded off

• Raised beds — external (l×w×h): 9 ft × 4 ft × 32 ins (~2.7 × 1.2 × 0.8 m)— internal (l×w×h): 8 ft × 3 ft × 32 ins (~2.4 × 9.2 × 0.8 m)— ledge at top of bed = ~6 ins (140 mm), i.e. thickness of the cement blocks• Trugs (l×w×h): 6 ft × 30 ins × 32 ins (~1.8 × 0.78 × 0.8 m)

How was the area constructed? The position and footprint area for both brick-built raised beds was measured and pegged.

A 3 ft (~92 cm) space was left between each raised bed, 4 ft (~1.2 m) at the other three sides and 4 ft between the one next to the first trug (to allow wheelchair/ mobility scooter manoeuvrability, ‘test-driven’ and therefore adequate spacing established before construction began).

So water didn’t collect and pool over the finished area, a 3 ins (~7.5 cm) gradient was allowed over the 16 ft (~4.8 m) width of the area.

• Excavation The whole site was excavated to a depth of 18 ins (~46 cm), by manpower alone. The soil was kept to fill the raised beds and trugs. (Fig. 1)

• Layer 1 Reclaimed bricks were broken up and used as hardcore, to a depth of 12 ins (~30 cm). These were ‘reclaimed’ from skips, with some rubble saved from work a couple of plotholders were having done at home. (Fig. 2)

Apart from the area for under the raised beds, construction continued thus:• Layer 2 A 3ins (~75 cm) layer of MOT-Type 1 was laid over the area (MOT stands for Ministry of Transport standard for road, etc. construction; and is a 2- to ‘0’-inch limestone ‘hardcore’). (Fig. 3 and see Fig. 5)

• Layer 3 Limestone blinding. This layer provides a flat covering and seal for the previous two layers – it fills in any air pockets left in layers 1 and 2. (Figs 4 and 5)

• Raised beds’ construction The 6 ins (140 mm) solid concrete blocks were laid and built up on the perimeter of the marked-out area reserved for the raised beds, using 4 parts grit sand : 1 part cement. Since there‘s no electricity on site, we were kindly lent a generator from the Brookdale Centre, Bramhall, to power a cement mixer. (Fig. 6)

• Paving flags: These were bedded on 4 parts grit sand : 1 part cement, and pointed with the same mix. (Fig. 7)

FINALLY! (Fig. 8)• Raised beds These were filled to a depth of 2 ft (~0.6 m) with brick rubble to allow for drainage, before being filled to the top with some of the soil saved from the excavation.

Since the tops of the raised beds have quite sharp edges, a loose short length of UPVC external window ledge (approx. 3 ft [0.92 m]) fits nicely along the top of each bed - this can simply be moved along to protect the plotholders’ arms.

• Trugs One of our former plotholders in his mobility scooter checked there was indeed enough space to manoeuvre between the two trugs and the adjacent raised brick-built raised bed. They were then filled with soil left over from the excavation.

• Table Another plotholder, Barry Taylor (a retired joiner/carpenter; aren’t we lucky to have so many talented people on our site?), is in the process of making a long, narrow table from recycled wood so people have somewhere to put their seeds, plants, etc.

• Loo: We are now looking into replacing the Portaloo with a composting loo with disabled access.

• Total cost: Building Materials £930.58 + Trugs £250 = £1180.58!

If you would like any advice on constructing a similar area on your site, please don’t hesitate to contact Peter Whitehead on 07931 268944

Figures

Fig. 1 Excavating the site

Fig. 2 Layer 1 - Brick hardcore. Area pegged and marked to indicate position of the brick raised beds

Fig. 3 Layer 2 — Limestone hardcore Fig. 4 Layer 3 — Limestone blinding

Fig. 5 Layers 2 & 3 (Bottom right shows layer 1 and part covered with layer 2)

Fig. 6 Construction of brick-built raised bed

Fig. 7 Laying paving flush with the concrete hard-standing (also shows wood spacers)

Fig. 8 Finished area showing the two brick-built raised beds and the two trugs. The table (and chairs) will stand along the left-hand side of the area,

with sufficient room between it and the raised beds to manoeuvre a wheelchair/mobility scooter.