Run A Muck and Moor Green Allotments

A meeting was held at Moor Green Allotments on Monday 6th February to discuss the possibility of Run A Muck having a community compost heap here.

Run A Muck are half funded from local Neighbourhood Renewl Funds (£80,000pa) and half funded from National Lottery funds. The condition of the National Lottery Funding is that the collected compost is composted in the local area and returned to the local community at a cheap rate.

Run A Muck have operated in a number of Wards in Birmingham for several years, however they have never had a community compost heap in Moseley and Kings Heath Ward. They have three compost heaps in Birmingham: Bordesley allotments, Formans Road allotments and Burnley Lane allotments. The Council's own compost is composted at a farm in the Worcestershire countryside.

There have been longstanding complaints from allotments holders and residents about the operation of the three Run A Muck compost heaps. See http://www.martinmullaney.co.uk/run-a-muck.htm

The Formans Road compost heap has to close soon since this it is full and this is where all of Moseley and Kings Heath compost have so far been composted. The close of Formans Road heap will mean that Run A Muck will have to travel further to Bordesley Green or Washwood Heath to compost. It is important for the future running of Run A Muck in Moseley and Kings Heath that a local compost heap is found.

The site meeting on Monday was attended by myself, Jeremy Shields, Julian and Ian from Run A Muck and members of Moor Green Allotments Association.

The Moor Green Allotments Association made it clear that they did NOT want Run A Muck operating from their allotment site. In the following discussion, it was clear that there was no room for negotiation.

The conclusion of the meeting was as follows:
1) Run A Muck have to accept that they will not have a compost heap in the Moseley and Kings Heath area and have to do some serious thinking about the future direction of the Run A Muck scheme in Moseley and Kings Heath.
2) As a full back postion in case the local Run A Muck scheme collapses, I have asked the Council to move forward at speed, plans to introduce a Council run composting scheme in Moseley and Kings Heath. Run A Muck would still operate in the small roads where the Council truck can not get into.