Allotment foul-play plants seeds of destruction for volunteers

Community gardeners have downed tools after allegations of “foul play” and repeated breakins at their allotments.

The volunteers said they are giving up a community allotment in Brechin after sheds at the Drumachlie Park site were raided for a second time.

The group had been hoping to transform the allotments, where they have been growing fruit and vegetables for local use since 2014, into a community orchard.

The latest break-in, which saw thieves make off with a strimmer and power tools after forcing their way into sheds, has proven the final straw for the hard-working group.

Backer Jocky Mclean said the group have been left “sickened”.

He said: “We have been plagued by thefts and foul play. We will now remove items and walk away.”

He said the sheds had been broken into last year, when “high-value” items such as a rotavator and tools were taken.

He said: “We were away to get ready to turn it into an orchard to let the community have something different.”

The project is separate from the Brechin Community Garden, which works from a second allotment site nearby.

Jill Scott, chairman of Brechin Community Council, has worked at Drumachlie Park since work began in 2014.

She said the allotment had produced 10 boxes of fruit and veg, which were given away free to people in the community.

“It was pretty amazing. We set out the boxes and it was work around food poverty, because veg is expensive.

“It’s a massive amount of work and we have struggled for volunteers. Between that and these latest break ins, we’re done. We’re walking away.”