Eddie Shah at the Wiltshire
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AS A FORMER media tycoon Eddie Shah knows a thing or two about entrepreneurial opportunities, especially when it comes making the most of the credit crunch. His latest scheme is to lease off land from beside one of his golf courses to grow vegetables.
Shah, who launched Today newspaper in 1986, has offered to donate land for free at his Wiltshire Hotel, Golf and Country Club to aspiring allotment owners — provided they let him keep more than half the food they grow to use in the club's restaurant.
He has pledged two acres to keen gardeners adjoining course in Vastern, Wootton Bassett, with rent as long as they supply him with 60 per cent of the fruit and vegetables they grow.
“This is a win-win situation," said Shah, a keen golfer who has invested millions into golf projects. “We spend £40,000 on vegetables for our restaurants, so if we used this land for allotments they could provide me with some of the food, save money and I could provide them with the land for free.
"It's an old fashioned barter agreement. We're keen to have gardening and allotment associations get involved to get it off the ground.
He added: “It's good marketing for us and produces allotments for people who want them but aren’t able to have them.”
For further information visit
www.the-wiltshire.co.uk .
Tell us on the forum: As a passionate golfer, do you have time for gardening and growing fruit and vegetables? Or are you a gardener with a passion for golf. Have you turned your garden into a shrine to golf with holes for putting and chipping and overgrown areas disguised as deep rough?
