Allotment Stuff > Allotment Movement

Danger from allotment self-management

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adamreith:
 :( But - committees can and do change rules, and when as in one instance I know of there is animosity they have targeted one person under this ruling,(not me!) and removed the requirements for discussion and appeal.

Yes - make sure you can appeal to Council and make sure any change in that muust have debated Council support . That sounds a very good idea.

Committees sometimes get entrenched and fight off member intervention - happily not in the case of the clued-up correrspondents here.

adamreith:
 ???
Just in case, a correspopndent has sent me the NSALG reply to a query on eviction of a plot holder without the need to give any reasons to justify it.  The relevant section reads:-

"It should be clear from this that where a Section 1 subsection (1) paragraph (a) Allotments Act 1922 (as amended section 1 Allotments Act 1950) Notice to quit has been validly served, as in the instant case by XYZ Allotment Association on a tenant, then :
•          No reason need be given for its service ;
•   Kindly note that since the allotment association enjoys Devolved Management, and hence all powers, rights and authorities which previously attached to the Landlord Paramount, the Town Council, it is perfectly at liberty to terminate a Tenancy pursuant to the said Section 1 (1) (a) Allotments Act 1922 ;
•   There is neither appeal against nor redress for any such Notice.
 
To put this matter into words of one syllable :  any Allotments Association which enjoys Devolved Management, has full authority, pursuant to s. 1 (1) (a) Allotments Act 1922, to terminate a Tenancy ; and Counsel’s Opinion, Clauses 5, 9 and 10 ,make it clear that no reason need be given ; and there is neither appeal against nor redress for any such Notice.
I trust the foregoing is clear enough for you ?"

THERE appears to be no statement as how to ameliorate this state of affairs and restore/maintain the plot hoder's normal human rights e.g. of confronting any accuser, and of appeal.
 
There may well be more  that the NSALG has not yet stated, and one can only go by what appears to be the case they are stating so far without prejudice to anyone concerned, and attempt to support them in making it clear. 

Does anyone know what we can do about it?  For example, can we build in a clause into Association constitutions granting a right of appeal against being evicted without any reason given?  that appeal being to the Local Council? and  entrenching that right by making it removable only by an open vote in a full Local Authority debate?

Please: any  judges or QC's with a plot reading this, can you help?

moonbeam:
We manage our own allotments and apply our own rules we evict without any notice a plotholder who is caught stealing from another members plot.
Any plot holder can have there lease terminated if there rent is not paid by the end of January as all rents are due on the 1st January each year.
Plotholders who have been members for 1 year can have there lease terminated if there allotment is not cultivated by the 1st April.
Apart from the first one stealing from another members plot those threatened with eviction have 14 days in which to put there case to the committee as to why they should not be evicted.
There has never been a case brought to the committee in the last ten years as the secretary allways speaks to the plot holder before any eviction notice is served and a compromise is in most cases allways reached.
As far as the council is concerned they are not allowed to interfere in any of our allotment business and must write to the secretary if they want to visit our allotments for any reason whatsoever.

adamreith:
 :)Fine - all these things you outline seem to be  evictions for reasons found in your rules concerning tenancy etc.  and you can only be praised.

The problem that has now arisen is the allotment movement appearing to support eviction without any of these reasons being given, or even required, from a delegated management association.  I take it  your committee does not just send round a note saying "you're off, no reasons need be stated"?

If the plots are on public land (statutory allotment land or land provided by the Council) it might not be in the gift of the Committee without  restriction: members of the public may well have something to gain from taking up matters with their councillors if they were mistreated eg denied a plot by being passed over on the waiting list, or because the applicant was a woman, or unmarried mother etc.. Of course this appeal doesn't need to happen in your well-run Field.  But it seems delegation of management from a Council to an association can never be total, since they have statutory duties and also obligatioins under general laws about discrimination against women, disabled access, and many other things, not to mention human rights legislation. 

It seems all that would be lost were we able to remove people without need to give any reasons, don't youthink? Can that be right? And if delegated management were to make this possible, should we continue with it? - the original question.

timbj:
Hi - I've just joined this forum because I am in dispute with one of these Pol Pot style Management Committees!  I am very interested in finding out more about the legality of local management arrangements for allotments.

I have worked in local government for 30 years (now retired) so I know a bit about the new constitutional requirements brought in by the Local Government Act 2000.  It seems to me that many local councils are ignoring their statutory duties in relation to allotments and make no reference to "allotments" in their Council Constitution and scheme of delegation.  My local council even say on their website that "this service (allotments) is not available from the Council" - even though they have an agreement with a Management Committee to run the allotments in their non-parished areas!

I've read several themes on this site which relate to the dangers of local management.  I am quite shocked to read of some of the experiences of plotholders around the country as a result of the arbitrary way in which these local management committees operate.  I can now add my own experience.

I wanted to put up a structure on my plot which was a combination of a vinery and a rain water harvesting system.  Basically, it was a structure with a roof but with open sides.  Knowing the Site Committee's ban on sheds and greenhouses, I asked  the Site Chairman and one of the other Committee members if this would be Ok - they saw no problems.

We started the construction.  One of the house owners in the nearby houses  objected and the matter was raised at the next meeting of the Site Committee.  By a majority, they decided against our construction.  We appealed to the "Borough Council Allotments Management Committee" via their Chairman.

I subsequently got a letter saying they had held an Appeals Committee (I wasn't notified of the meeting or allowed to be present) and they upheld the "take it down" decision.  I was not entirely surprised by the decision but the lack of natural justice and maladministration I encountered has fuelled me up!

We live in an age where democracy and freedom is under threat on a global scale.  Bullying by terrorists is abhorrent.  So is bullying by local councils and their unelected "management committees".  We must not allow this kind of "wild west" administration of councils' statutory functions to infiltrate our lives on the allotment plot!

So - a call to anyone out there with an understanding of public law and a belief in the rights of allotment plotholders.  Can anyone give any examples of where such disputes have been taken up with the Council in question and then onwards to the Local Government Ombudsman?  In particular, has anyone challenged the accuracy of a Council's Constitution and scheme of delegation?

It seems to me that, even if a council had delegated its allotment management to a group of "trustees" through a lease, the accountability for the allotment function should still be traceable through the Council's scheme of delegation.  Further, the way in which such Management Committees or Trustees operates should be to the same standard we should expect of the Council itself. They have, after all, stepped into the shoes of the local authority - just as a Housing Association might do.

Any ideas and suggestions on a plan of attack?

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