Topic: £100 per pole

[Unwashed]

As part of Newbury Town Council's on-going campaign to suppress self-management the Council have said that there are self-managed sites that charge £100 per pole.  They won't tell me which councils so I can't verify this for myself, so I wondered if you knew, because it sounds unlikely.

[a tenant] asked if Newbury Town Council had checked other councils' charges, and [the service manager] stated that we had investigated other allotments fees, adding that we had found that some self managed sites were as much as £100.00 / pole.

[SMP1704]

FOI request to get the details?

[Digeroo]

That is riduculous i can't imagine anyone paying £500 for half an allotment and certainly not £1000 for a whole one.  Not even the most expensive private schemes charge that much. 

[Unwashed]

FOI request to get the details?

They'll refuse, they have declared me to be a vexatious complainant.  I agree that my questions are inconvenient, but that's not quite the same thing.  I could appeal to the Information Commissioner of course, but that would take months.  If what they say is true then I expect someone on here will have heard of it.

[kt.]

You only have to look back on previous threads here to see what people around the country are paying for plots.  And they ain't paying them charges. :o :o

[Digeroo]

I feel that you should ask for the information.  They have stated something and should justify it.   I think in this case you have every cause to be vexed.  I feel that one of the founding principles of the FOI is that people can check that the information used for decisions is correct.

Can you not find someone else to also ask for the information as well.  What about the local press?   

[tonybloke]

Simon, you can email me with any details you may have, name of councillor who stated this, date of occurence, etc.   
I'll quite happily ask under FOI !!

[Unwashed]

Thank you Tony, e-mail sent.  Thanks everyone.

[cornykev]

Simon we all know they are talking bollox, and if they are tuning in, its still bollox.     :( :( :(

[Unwashed]

Simon we all know they are talking bollox, and if they are tuning in, its still bollox.     :( :( :(

Cheers Bro.  And yes, they tune in.  Chairman of Community Services read this thread earlier this evening.

[Duke Ellington]

I feel for you Unwashed it sounds like Newbury Council is being run by first class liars!!

[Chrispy]

That is riduculous i can't imagine anyone paying £500 for half an allotment and certainly not £1000 for a whole one.  Not even the most expensive private schemes charge that much. 

This one http://www.thegardencentregroup.co.uk/GYOPLOTS/GYOPLOTS,default,pg.html works out over £100/pole if you take the greenhouse and shed option.

Does anybody visit any of these garden centers? It would be interesting to see if anybody has actualy taken any of these on.

[:(]

These are probably the equivalent of something near £100 a pole but not council and not really selfmanaged in the normal meaning.

[markp2511]

It's possible looking at the last two posts that there are 'plots' that work out at '£100 per pole', but they are hardly comparing like for like if that is the case.  Sounds like they may be comparing the chauffeur driven limo to a bus pass to me.

[Unwashed]

Simon, you can email me with any details you may have, name of councillor who stated this, date of occurence, etc.   
I'll quite happily ask under FOI !!

Hi Tony, have those nice people at Newbury Town Council got back with any clarification yet?

[vegwise]

tenant] asked if Newbury Town Council had checked other councils' charges, and [the service manager] stated that we had investigated other allotments fees, adding that we had found that some self managed sites were as much as £100.00 / pole.

It does not say they where only council sites looked at.

Wyevale charge £10 per week with a shed and glasshouse.

£5-00 per week with no shed and glasshouse.

May be they are not liars then ?

[Unwashed]

As part of Newbury Town Council's on-going campaign to suppress self-management the Council have said that there are self-managed sites that charge £100 per pole.  They won't tell me which councils so I can't verify this for myself, so I wondered if you knew, because it sounds unlikely.

[a tenant] asked if Newbury Town Council had checked other councils' charges, and [the service manager] stated that we had investigated other allotments fees, adding that we had found that some self managed sites were as much as £100.00 / pole.

Newbury Town Council have confirmed that the self-managed sites they were talking about were 3.6 pole Wyevale plots at £10/week which work out at £144 per pole.  They also reference the New Allotment Company's site at Honnington which charges between £30 and £50 per pole, though it's not obvious why they should mention that.

Newbury Town Council have also explained Cllr Johnson's response that the average costs found were around £6 to £7 per pole.  I surveyed 20 of Newbury's neighbouring boroughs at the start of the year which found Newbury's 6.94/pole to be the most expensive in the area and suggested that the average rent was between £3 and £4 per pole.  The Council sampled Thurrock (£8.25/pole), and Enfield (£7.20/pole).

Now is it just me, or does this strike you as just the teensy-weensyist bit dishonest?  I mean Wyevale aren't actually allotments in the sense that most of us would understand it and they're certainly not self-managed in any shape or form so how is £100/pole supposed to be representative of the cost of a self-managed council sites?

And isn't it everso slightly odd to suggest that a representative measure of the going rate around Newbury is more properly found by sampling Thurrock and Enfield?  The Council say

Research of rents reported on the internet suggests a wide variety of rents, depending on a variety of factors and level of service, so a true comparable average is difficult to establish.

but I'd suggest that splitting the difference between any two sites that are more expensive than Newbury is not the most reliable methodology.  I'd even presented the Town Council with my sample data in a question to committee, though they sensored it and called it a misrepresentation.

Seriously though, how can they in all good conscience imply like this that self-management means £100 per pole and that Newbury's rent is below average.

[Squash64]

We have just had confirmation of Birmingham's rent increases which start in 2011
http://bdacallotments.webs.com/news.htm

[Digeroo]

It would seem that as suspected the figure Newbury are using are not genuinely comparable.  Certainly these expensive private schemes are way out of order.

Enfield and Thurrock would not seem to be to be comparable with Newbury which I would hardly describe as Urban.   

It is not surprising  they are so hostile when you are showing up just how they are trying to manipulate the information they provide.

What is the saying: lies d**n lies and statistics,  and now we add Newbury Statistics.

[loopyloulou]

squash64 i had the letter off brimingham rip you off sh1ty council and given i paid £24 last yr, will pay 28 this yr, then 2011 they want 40 2012 they want 60 and 2013 75.....  :o im gob smaked, think ill be loosing my plot as i just cannot afford it anymore  :'( kids were upset when i told them too and this late payment penalty buisness??? pay by 9th nov or u loose ur plot, k get it, but does the
£10 penalty apply if theyre not paid on or by the 1st oct or after the 9th nov?? cos surely they cant make u pay a late fee AND take your plot??? eh?? i think the councils cottoned on that its become popular again n want 2 put a load of ppl off making the sites half empty or worse again so they can justify reclaiming the land or at least clawing better revenues off it  >:( borrocks i say! grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
this was for us an affordable safe place to take the kids to learn about growing food get some fresh air exercise and a place to grow stuff given nothing thrives in our garden @ home and i know the increase may not be a lot by many people standards but for us its mighty painfull!!!! wha does anyone else think about the rate of increase???????????? seems 2b mighty fast 2 me....  :o