Topic: unworked plots

[macmac]

My lottie mate doris has just joined our commitee (we're self managed).Despite there being standard letters about unworked plots they don't seem to follow through with some sort of action resulting in a few plots hardly worked.How to other sites deal with this problem?Given the high demand for plots we think these plots should be re let. >:(

[davyw1]

That comes down to what is in your rules IE 75% of the plot MUST be cultivated or all plots must be cultivated to a high standard.
Every year when paying the rent you receive a copy of the rules and you must sign to say you have received and will abide by them.
Any new plot holders are given one years probation if the plots are not up to standard they are off.

[macmac]

Thanks Davyw1 We have rules it just seems they are not enforced.Two plots haven't grown a single thing for two years,grass and weeds are almost waist high.They get a letter -dig a square metre-disappear ::) ::).The commitee  seems reluctant to follow through. ???

[Mr Smith]

We have three unworked plots on our allotments but last weekend for the first time I saw one of the plot holders having a go, I'm just wondering if the council have started to crack the whip, :)

[kt.]

On our site we contact them via phone first to see why the plot is uncultivated or in disarray.  The council may take photos of these plots prior to sending a written warning stating the plotholder has 28 days to rectify the problems.  After such time, if there is no progress they are given 28 days notice to remove all belongings then the plot is  reallocated.

[Jeanbean]

I sympathise with you Mac Mac. I have had my plot since January and almost every inch has been dug over and is planted. We have several plots on our site that for what ever reason, have been left to go wild. Some have absolutely nothing growing on them and the tenant has not been seen in over a year. Our site manager is aware of the situation but all he as to say is that he is keeping his eye on it. Several of us have said we would like extra plots and are willing to clear the overgrown ones. These people have not paid their fees-due 1st April- so we feel he has room to reclaim the unworked plots. No such luck. Until a few weeks ago there was no committee- just the site manager and his wife. Out of nowhere, we all received a newsletter informing us of new committee members. I thought that as association members we would all be given the chance to propose and second committee members but it seems have have been done without any consultation of the rest of the plot owners ( one person was put on the committee without his knowledge). These sort of situations are so frustrating especially as we have no idea of how to try and make the site manager take control of the situation. The manager says that the Council are clamping down on unworked plots and as we have offered a way to improve the site, we thought he would have snapped up the offer. Suppose we shall have to be patient and see if the Council do intervene, especially with the unpaid fee plots.

[Robert_Brenchley]

Who's appointed the committee, then, and on what basis were they picked? I'd be up in arms if anyone tried that on my site!

[Jeanbean]

Quite honestly Robert we do not know. :-[ Have tried to ask the site manager but he said that although there was a 'gathering' of several plotholder- mainly the new committee- there was not a meeting called  :-\. Am I right in thinking that if there is any meting on a site then all plotholders should be made aware of the time and date in order that they might attend? I have emailed the Council to ask if they know when our AGM is due but I have been referred back to the site manager and his wife. When I asked him he said they had been trying to organise one for several months but the treasurer was too busy with his job. As they are volunteers it is hard to be insistant. I think we are not too popular as we keep on about the overgrown plots and that we would clear one asap.

[macmac]

Reading all these postings it seems our problem is one shared by many >:(Unless you live in beautiful yorkshire (i'm nostalgic i was born there :) lucky you ktlawson)
It seems the rules are there, the procedures are there, but the will to follow them through is not >:(
Iknow the commitee are volunteers and perhaps they don't like confrontation but they could always appoint a "firing squad" erm sorry should have said evicton squad.I'd be happy to do it  >:(

[PurpleHeather]

We now have this under controll.

Firstly, we contact the plot holder, by phone, letter or email to say that we have not seen them for some time and ask if there is a problem.

At one time the person who was composing the letters wrote a nasty one drawing attention to rule number (whatever) and gave them 28 days to put the plot in order.

Usually these were ignored but often we got replies. Like:-

'My child has been in intensive care for a month. What sort of people are you that think an allotment is more important than my child.'

The friendly approach always gets a response. Usually we can resolve the matter at that point because by listening to them we can advise them with what ever problems they have, even offer help. Even if it is, "If you do not have time, perhaps having an allotment is not for you"

But we do get arguments:-

Other plots are worse than mine was most common at first.

Answer:- You are not the only plotholder who has been contacted.

Argue..What have they said?

Answer:- Other plotholders problems, like yours are treated in confidence.

If they do nothing within a week after the friendly contact a letter giving them 28 days to attend to the plot is sent.

We rarely get it going further but if so,we then send a letter by registered post to tell them that we are terminating their tenancy and we state that they have 14 days to remove personal belongings or we will do so and they will be responsible for any cost.

We also give first time plot holders the first year on 'probation' we tell them that if they do not meet our standards then we will not renew the following year. We do contact them though as mentioned to check if there are problems. Then send an official letter.

It is important to get things through the next AGM to put into the rules certain specifications..

Example.

The plot shall be kept manured and in a good state of cultivation, weeds must be kept under control so that runners and seeds do not invade other plots.

The plot holder shall be responsible for the removal from the allotment at the termination of their agreement any goods or buildings whether or not subject to hire purchase or rental agreements.
Any item left on the allotment 14 days after the tenancy has terminated will be disposed of in a manner the Association's committee thinks fit and the costs of such disposal will be recovered from the allotment holder.

We charge every one £20 as a refundable deposit and tell them that they have to apply for it to be refunded when they terminate their agreement. Any costs like weed killer needed to clear the site to make it acceptable to the next plot holder is deducted from that deposit. It is made clear when they sign up.

We put the £20 from every one on deposit and we get the interest. It is all agreed at the AGM. So there is no argument.

Once some one left and we did not know where they had gone ( we knew they had retired to Spain but they did not give us an address) so we could not refund them, That meant we had £20 we could not spend nor refund. Realising that this could happen again and we could end up with money we could neither spend nor refund we had it written into the rules that plot holders have to reclaim their deposit within six months or it will be considered a donation to the association. Since then there have been several people who have not renewed' just ignored the renewal letter and the reminder. Their plots have been re-let and the association has gratefully accepted their donation of the unclaimed deposit.

You need a strong secretary to do the follow up procedures and it does take time. Firstly, with the deposit some existing plot holders were difficult to get the £20 deposit from but because we got it into the rules at the AGM that if they did not pay it then we would return their rent and re-let their plots. They all paid up and have been quick to tell us when they feel that another plot holder is not looking after their plot.

In time we have got a site with decent plots. Mostly there are just problems with new members now. People simply do not realise the work an allotment needs nor how time consuming they are. In the year of their rental a neglected allotment can cause misery to others and it becomes embarrassing when there are 70+ people on a waiting list, visiting the site asking if this or that plot is being used.

We have halved large plots and let these out to newbies. Often people who would have failed with a large one find these manageable. Just as often half the plot is worked well, the other half is still too much for the other newbie and we let the good one have first option of taking the full plot. Yes we do occasionally get two halves working well but then we give them both a choice of taking on a full plot when one is available. More often, we get both halves not to our (now high) standards and have to terminate both in the first year.

Another thing we do is have a 'Best plot' competition and get a local dignitary (your local mayor will do it free if you book them soon enough) to judge the plots.

We spent just give a certificate and a plaque which the plot holder keeps for a year and has to have their own name engraved on it.

To start with we had several categories.

Best New Allotment holder (We had 15 new plot holders that year)
Best Couple's Allotment
Best Family Allotment
Best Established Allotment
Best Garden (that is a plot which people use as a garden) we have several of these where a patch of lawn is used  for barbies and the plot holder has flowers and vegetables.) These people have terraced houses or flats without a garden and can utilise the allotment because they can not afford to move to the sort of house which could provide them with the sort of garden they want to enjoy.

We have introduced other ideas like which children could get involved with like

The best scarecrow

We also ask every one who has a plot to get to the 'prize day' when the local dignitary calls to supply us with samples of products made from the allotment.

Prizes 'Certificates' can be awarded for

Best Jam
Best Wine
Best cake made from part of the produce (carrot cake, Beetroot muffins, courgette cake, strawberry trifle)

It introduced a community spirit and at the end of the event a bar-by can be started up. It only needs, hot dogs, sausages, burgers and something veggie for non meat eaters.

Again, you need some one prepared to ask every one on site. Person to person is the best way. People like to be asked.

There are several allotment holders who adore having the allotment as an escape and do not want to mix much. Often these people are keen to have what they do judged and you get the impression that they want recognition for what they do. One afternoon a year, they seem to be happy to be there and be judged.

If there is some one on your site with the sort of organisational skills needed it certainly helps.


Hope that gives you some ideas you can use to fit your own circumstances.

Don't give up. Most just want to get there and be left alone to grow. But they also want to be best but you need to use the fact that no one wants to be the worst.

[BAK]

very impressive Purpleheather.

[beckydore]

I went down to the site yesterday and some of my great neighbours have strimmed 3 of the empty half plots. Hopefully this will make a big difference to people looking to take on a plot (and give me incentive to tidy mine up more / reduce the seeds blown onto mine).
Becky

[Unwashed]

The tenancy agreement has to say specifically what level of cultivation is required, and how falling below that level will be a breach of the agreement that could end the tenancy.

It needs to say it in plain English too.

The landlord will need to serve a notice under Section 146 Law of Property 1925 which must say exactly what condition of the agreement is being broken.  The notice must give the tenant reasonable time to the put the matter right.

The Landlord will need to serve the notice fairly promptly, because if the tenant can show that the council has previously not been bothered about a breach of the rule then the council can lose its right to enforce it.

Mostly the tenant will leave without much fuss if they've had the warning letters and not done enough to fend off the eviction notice, but if the tenant refuses to go the landlord needs to apply to the county court for a possession order.  The tenant gets a chance to tell the judge how evicting her would not be legal or equitable, and if the landlord doesn't have the clear right under the tenancy agreement, or if it failed to follow due process, or if the landlord has behaved unfairly or unreasonably then the judge will refuse to issue the order.

If the landlord tries to evict the tenant by moving their gear that's likely criminal damage and possibly conspiracy to trespass, and if the landlord tries to grab their site key or bar their entry to site that's likely assault.  Writing another letter after the final notice of eviction is likely to be harassment.  Eviction itself is a civil matter and the police have no interest in that, but criminal damage, conspiracy to trespass, assault and harassment are all criminal offences.

[macmac]

Blimey unwashed and there was me thinking we were just growing veg :o :o :o

[thifasmom]

Blimey unwashed and there was me thinking we were just growing veg :o :o :o

 ;D

[Squash64]

Excellent reply PurpleHeather - I've saved it for future reference. 

[Unwashed]

Blimey unwashed and there was me thinking we were just growing veg :o :o :o

Isn't this a thread about evicting tenants?

[djbrenton]

Allotment tenancies are governed by the various Allotment Acts rather than the 1925 Law of Property. This has been established in law in numerous cases. As regards clarity regarding what is deemed cultivation, case law applies which has set the level at 51%. Citing the various elements of the law with which Councils have to comply with commercial or domicilary tenancies is irrelevant to allotments as they have their own Acts. The only other consideration is natural justice.

That is why it is important to ensure adequate safeguards against arbitrary eviction are in the tenancy agreement.

http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=31724.0

[Unwashed]

Allotment tenancies are governed by the various Allotment Acts rather than the 1925 Law of Property. This has been established in law in numerous cases. As regards clarity regarding what is deemed cultivation, case law applies which has set the level at 51%. Citing the various elements of the law with which Councils have to comply with commercial or domicilary tenancies is irrelevant to allotments as they have their own Acts. The only other consideration is natural justice.

That is why it is important to ensure adequate safeguards against arbitrary eviction are in the tenancy agreement.

http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=31724.0

S.146 Law of Property 1925 applies to the forfeiture of any lease, and that includes an allotment tenancy - see The Law of Allotments 5th edition by Paul Clayden, p54 Power of re-entry.  Can you cite a case that refutes that?

Note that the Allotments Acts don't necessarily apply to all council allotments sites, only sites that were acquired by the council specifically for allotments, and not to sites established on land that the council already owned.

The thread you reference is discussing termination, not forfeiture, and they're not the same thing.  It's an uncomfortable truth that, providing the tenancy agreement was drafted competantly, the landlord always has the right to terminate the tenancy, subject to notice, without any reason - though you might well challenge their decision on public law grounds.

Are you saying that there is a case that establishes that 51% of an allotment should be cultivated?  Can you cite it?

[Mrs Soup]

what purpleheather said......

we do this too, generally known as RUE on our site:

Reminder
Ultimatum
Eviction

Sometimes you do get excuses, but there comes a time when enough is enough.

As we are a smallish site (47 plots) and have now got all of them being worked the system self polices. All newbies are advised of the "use it or lose it" policy when they take on the plot.

I think you'll find that you can call and Extraordinary General Meeting if you're unhappy with the committee and force a change, but you may have to be prepared to stand yourself. Can you spare an hour or so a week?