Newbury Town Council are trying to ban the use of sprinklers on their allotment sites and it raises a few issues about rules in general. My thoughts:
1. Write rules carefully. The rule the Council are trying to introduce says "The Tenant will not use any water sprinkler system at any time at the allotments". If the intention was to ban the use of stand-alone sprinklers on mains-connected hose pipes then that's exactly what the rule must say, because as it's phrased this rule means you can't even put a roes on a watering can, and that makes it an example of what the OFT call unreasonable ancillary obligations and restrictions because it goes beyond protecting any real interest of the landlord. Consequently the rule is unfair, and unfair terms are unenforceable, and not just against the unreasonable restrictions, an unfair terms isn't enforceable in any situation.
2. Introduce legitimately. The landlord can't just make up rules. Rules are only enforceable if they're in the tenancy agreement, though the agreement can also incorporate a separate set of rules if it does so clearly. But unless the agreement says specifically how and why a rule might be changed the only way to add or change a rule is to terminate the agreement and offer the allotmenteer a new one under new terms. It takes at least a year's notice to terminate an agreement, and it has to end on the last day of the yearly tenancy. A term in the agreement that says something like "the landlord can change these rules" is unenforceable because as a tenant you have no idea what new rules the landlord might want to make.
3. Protect a legitimate interest. Can a landlord really ban sheds, or children, or trees. Can the landlord evict you if you don't lock the main gate? It's a fundamental truth of allotmenteering that there's always someone who wants to tell other people what to do. Some rules are clearly legitimate like the one about weeds, but others are not so easily protecting a legitimate interest of the landlord, and if it isn't then it's unenforceable. Rules that allow things with permission are very likely to be unfair unless they spell out exactly the criteria for that permission being refused, and if they do that then there's no legitimate reason to humiliate the allotmenteer by making her ask for permission. Take greenhouse. "No greenhouses without permission" is not fair because you have no idea what the criteria are for refusal. "No greenhouses without permission, which will not be witheld unreasonably" is just as unfair because you still don't know what criteria the Council are using to refuse you permission. "No greenhouses without permission, and we'll give you permission for one per plot if it isn't bigger than 12' x 30'" is probably still unfair because the council can hardly evict someone for putting up a greenhouse without permission if there was no legitimate reason for refusing permission. So why humiliate the allotmenteer? And the fair version? "No more than one greenhouse per plot, and no bigger than 12' x 30'".
4. Be proportionate. My Council manages six sites, and only one site is using water at an excessive rate. My own sites uses water at 60p per pole, and that's pretty frugal. The one site with high consumption has a history of leaks and usage this year has doubled. Banning hose pipe sprinklers across all six sites isn't proportionate doesn't address any real problem.
5. Be beyond reproach. Maybe a sprinkler ban will shave 5p per pole of my site's water consumption, and that'll save £20, but for that inconvenience it's reasonable that allotmenteers will sniff around the Council's own finances and see if there's anything they could be saving. Like £400 each year for the Town Hall water chiller.
6. Consult. It's Newbury Town Council policy not to consult with its allotmenteers, but that creates alienation. Councils run an allotment service, and it's not possible to do that without understanding what the service consumer wants. Running an allotment service as a dictatorship might seem like fun but the friction and resentment that creates will come back and bite you.
