Garden And Gardener

Everything for the Gardener and their Garden

Security on the allotment

by Diane - April 30th, 2013.
Filed under: allotment.

If you have a shed then you need to make a decision about how secure you make it. Some people leave them unlocked and hide all their valuable tools under piles of rubbish or in secret doors.
Engraving your postcode and house number on tools might mean you stand more chance of recovering them if they do get stolen. This does rely rather on people reporting thefts though. It is always worth ringing the police and getting a crime reference number even if you don’t want to claim on insurance. It is important for crimes to be logged and then if they recover garden tools they have a list of what you’ve lost.

If you keep large items like rotavators on site then a concreted in hoop to chain it to can be the solution. Whilst they could cut the chain it’ll take longer and be more effort.

Some plotters use trail cameras to record images. There are lots of wildlife cameras suitable for hiding away on an allotment.

Your local police will also have a crime prevention officer who could visit and give advice on improving site security.
Most sites insurance will insist that the gates are kept locked all the time.
This is a good idea for security and essential if people aren’t prepared to challenge people who wonder in off the street.
Recently I watched someone walking round the site past a plot holder who just ignored them. I went and spoke to the person and gave them a tour of the site. It is better to check who people are and what they’re after rather than let people mooch about and then have tools disappear.