Topic: Cultivation definition

[digmore]

  Does anyone have a clear definitive definition of what is good cultivation of an allotment ?

Digmore.

[pumkinlover]

Does anyone have a clear definitive definition of what is good cultivation of an allotment ?

Digmore.

No just a made up one.  Interesting to see if anyone has one.

[davyw1]

Its not an easy thing to define one persons idea of good cultivation is not the same as some others, I think the below link gives you very good guidelines on most aspects of running allotments

http://ari.farmgarden.org.uk/documents/Other_ARI_factsheets/managingnoncultivation2011.pdf

[Unwashed]

Does anyone have a clear definitive definition of what is good cultivation of an allotment ?

Digmore.

Can you give a bit more background to the question digmore?

To my mind good cultivation of an allotment doesn't mean very much specifically. It would mean the allotment is productive and isn't overrun with weeds, but it doesn't mean very much more than that.  If the phrase is taken from a condition of tenancy then it probably has to be given the meaning that the man-in-the-street would take it to mean (Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999), which is no more than saying the allotment is expected to be productive.  It would be pushing the words too far to suggest they meant the plot had to be a show piece with very little weed and every inch of soil dug, because that's just not how a typical allotment is cultivated - your typical allotment is actually rather scruffy, but it yields good crops, and that is the measure of the cultivation of an allotment - it is after all first and foremost a place for the labouring poor to grow flowers fruit and veg for their family.

If it's a council landlord then the council has only limited scope for making rules, and if the rule is outside the scope of Section 28 of the Small Holdings and Allotments Act 1908 then the council has exceeded its power and the rule is unenforceable.  A council can makes rules to govern the conditions under which the plot is to be cultivated, but it's not clear that this actually allows the council to stipulate the standard of cultivation as such as the power is more concerned with regulating the letting of allotments and for preventing undue preference in the letting, and things like that.  I know councils like to make endless rules about locking the gate and keeping your dog on its lead, but they're probably exceeding their power in doing so, it's just no one has ever challenged it.

If you want a legal definition of the words then you'd need to find some case law where the construction of those words was at issue, and I can't see that there has been such a case.

[digmore]

Thankyou everybody.

Digmore.

[antipodes]

Surely subjective, but I would imagine a vague definition is that the majority of the plot actually contains crops - what is sometimes hard to understand is that as everyone gardens differently, the appearance is not always the same. A potato patch full of dead plants looks unsightly but the crop is just waiting to be harvested. A hastily dug over, slightly weedy patch may just be resting until its next crop goes in. The test I guess is in mid-June - at that time, about 80% of the plot is surely full of productive items? A plot that is almost empty in January however is probably no cause for concern.
As for items on the plot, it depends what they are - rusty wheelbarrows, broken pots etc are probably...rubbish. But bin bags could be full of compositing weeds, wood could be a raised bed waiting to be built etc.

I guess it is a matter of good judgement. My plot is quite messy but generally reasonably productive.

[Unwashed]

Digmore, if you're trying to write an allotment tenancy agreement from scratch then you're re-inventing the wheel.  I can't help thinking that you'd be better starting from an established tenancy agreement.  I'm pretty sure there's one in the Paul Clayden book "Law of Allotments" 5th Edition (and if you haven't got a copy then buy one now).  Here's a rather old on-line copy - see page 136 for the model rules. 

The standard condition that

He shall keep the allotment garden clean and in good state of cultivation and fertility and in good condition

is short and sweet and does the job.  I've seen some agreements stretch to many pages like they're writing an instruction manual for the space shuttle - it's an allotment, there's not much that really needs to be said. 

To be compliant with the unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 clause 8. would also require you to include those terms with the tenancy agreement so the tenant knew what she was agreeing to, and clause 9. isn't possible now because you can't bind a consumer to observe and perform stuff that the landlord makes up on the fly.  Clause 6. also needs to specify what a shed can and can't be rather than leaving it to the landlord to decide capriciously because that's unfair.

The copy is old so the 1950 Act hadn't been passed when it was published.  The landlord must now allow the tenant to keep hens and rabbits, and site their coops runs and hutches anywhere on the plot.  The minimum period of notice to quit si also 12 months.

Note also that councils do not have the power to make arbitrary rules, because Section 28 of the Small Holdings and Allotments Act 1908 only gives the council power to make rules for regulating the letting of allotments, and for preventing any undue preference in the letting thereof, such as rules to define the persons eligible to be tenants of allotments, the notices to be given for the letting thereof, the size of the allotments, the conditions under which they are to be cultivated, and the rent to be paid for them.  Councils have tended to include a host of petty-mindedness under "conditions under which they are to be cultivated" such as rules about keeping dogs on leads and locking site gates, but councils don't have the power to do this.

[gavinjconway]

We have the same wording in our tenancy agreements..

*Clause 2 ( iii )
To keep the allotment garden clean, free from weeds, and well manured and otherwise maintain it in a good state of cultivation and fertility, and good condition and to keep any pathway or cart track included therein or abutting thereon (or in the case of any pathway or cart track abutting on the allotment garden and any other allotment garden or gardens the half - width thereof ) reasonably free from weeds.


General USAGE GUIDELINES OF PLOTS

As you are all aware, there is a large shortage of available plots throughout the Borough, and also the country in general. There is also a considerable encouragement from the Government and some local authorities towards ‘Grow Your Own’ schemes. It is with this in mind that we ask you to use your allotment plot to its full value and usage which should be 90%. This includes a reasonable and sensible allowance for sheds, greenhouses and working/recreational areas. The growing areas should be used for the cultivation of vegetables, flowers and fruit, with a maximum allowance for hens of 25% of this area. The plots should be kept tidy and free from weeds in accordance with the Tenancy Agreement Clause 2 ( iii )* as above.