Allotment users chat about best methods of growing their vegetables RMG03
ONE of the North’s most heavily fortified police barracks has been given a new“green” lease of life by a local cross-community group.
Once fortified with mortar proof concrete walls and an arrray of security lighting and surveillance equipment, the site of the former PSNI station in Newtownbutler has been transformed over the past couple of years into allotments.
Now locals in the area are being urged to explore flex their green fingers and take up one of what have been called “the most secure allotments in the country” as they are located behind the 12ft wall of the barracks, which was bought by Fermanagh and Omagh District Council in 2012 for £60,000.
Cllr Thomas O’Reilly, chairman of Newtownbutler Together who are responsible for the cross-community project, said there are 15 allotments in total on the 1.35 acre site and while the project had proved very popular since it began two years ago, there were currently a number of vacant plots.
Thomas O’Reilly (Chairman of Fermanagh and Omagh District Council) pulls some beetroot at the Newtownbutler allotments RMG04
“I originally got the Council to buy the barracks, and the Council bought it with a view to delivering small business units. They put in for funding, but didn’t get it, and it was lying there doing nothing,” he said.
Cllr O’Reilly said there had been allotments in the area before, but they had been “too far out of town” so he and fellow other members of Newtownbutler Together set about exploring the idea of creating a green space on what, at that time, was simply rubble.
“There is a mixture of people who use, mostly as kitchen gardens to them to their own vegetables, all men interestingly, so we would appeal to women to take up an allotment,” said Cllr O’Reilly. The chairman of Fermanagh and Omagh District Council added allotments were helped assist with healthy living, providing a great source of fresh and tasty food.
“There’s a lovely picnic table and its a great place for families,” he continued. “Both primary schools here have their own allotments to teach children about where their food comes from, so it would be a nice thing for families to take one up as a project.”
It is only £20 per year to rent an allotment. Anyone who is interesting should contact Newtownbutler Together or call Cllr O’Reilly on 07855767739.
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