Topic: rent and bonfires?

[bunjy]

who decides the price of the allotment i know my mom and dad got free rent for the first year i think but i didn't it seems that eveyone has there own rules!... 2nd question some can have bonfires others can't!!! who decides this??

tracy

[Robert_Brenchley]

Whoever you rent the plot from. It can be seriously arbitrary, with rules forbidding sheds and all sorts of silly things.

[marestail murderer]

not sure bunji...........but here in sunny donny the council set our rent...........and looking at some  of the prices others pay...........at 50 quid a year for 500 sq metres plus......ive got a bargin!
in these days of social awareness...........bonfires seem to be frowned upon.......but me and the lads up at the lottie just wait till the wind is blowing towards the river.........then burn..burn......burn!
the only prob we have is if the wind changes....................then it blows towards the new housing that has been built on previously allotment land.............im sure some of the older.errrr..........long term allotmenteers............set fire to their greenest.dampest......rubbish just as the (yorkshire term here)ten bob millionaires hang their washing out..............lol

if anyone comes down to complain......we just blame the local scroats...........the excuse being that if the  people kept an eye out for us...the local yobbos wouldnt set fire to our sheds........rubbish.....ect!

[bunjy]

 ;D hahahaha..... i found out from the secretary i can have a fire at the end of september so not long to wait!!!

tracy

[Curryandchips]

Our rents are set at so much per square yard ... and there are the usual set of rules ... but the committee generally turns a blind eye to most things, as there are very few problems, just the odd member who will use his plot as a dumping ground for trade rubbish etc. I consider myself very lucky really ...

Bonfires are treated sensibly, they are necessary, so consideration is expected when lighting them. I have complained when the above cited member lit a very large and smoky fire which blew across a trading estate, and would have resulted in formal complaints from the big companies, to the detriment of all the gardeners. The committee were very quick in responding and insisting the fire was quenched.

[katynewbie]

 :-\

I pay £60 for 300sqm, thats includes soc membership, water etc. We can have a bonfire, as long as it's on November 5th!

No idea why, but the site is in the middle of a housing estate, maybe the locals object when they have their washing out?

[saddad]

We pay £10 per 300sq yds, going up to £15 in Sept... cos some meanie treasurer (ME) finally got a rent rise through the AGM.... they are going to love me when they get this years accounts... the water has cost £500+ up to July... so I'll be asking for another...

Bonfires, frowned upon before 7pm but some do it anyway out of spite... the committee people are the worst offenders!
 ::)

[missy]

 :)Interesting  but trivial fact.

It is illegal to have a bonfire if your neighbours have their washing out.

someone told me that the other day when we were talking about starnge laws.

from missy

[saddad]

So is speeding and a lot of other things but........
 ::)

[kt.]

Our site has timings for bonfires. 6-8pm summer months, and 4-6pm winter months. People in surrounding houses know this I believe so it is not so much of a problem. We have one chap directly across from the allotments who is on the Batphone to the council everytime he notices a fire slightly out of these timings. He is always complaining about something to do with the lotties though.

As for some people getting the first years rent free - I am on my third plot. I got this first year rent free for it. But that is because it had been used as a builders tipyard and a jungle that needed clearing. It took over 100hrs to get cleared of rubbish. If a plot has been left derelict, it is sometime worth offering a small incentive for someone to take it on and do the work needed.

[saddad]

Our neighbouring site has one of those neighbours!
 ::)

[miniroots]

... on the Batphone to the council ...


Love this phrase - I will be using it asap - possibly at work today...

I'll time myself how quickly I can get it into the conversation...

[electric landlady]

If in doubt about bonfires etc, check your plot tenancy agreement. Mine allows fires but restricts them to dry organic materials only to minimise smoke. If your agreement says nothing, then anything goes, legally speaking, although you'll soon lose friends if you start burning tyres etc.

Miniroots...hmmm...don't i know you from somewhere?!

[jeanaustin]

Our Council allotment rules say no bonfires on Sundays or Mondays;  in addition on our site we've introduced a recommendation that bonfires are restricted to between 1 November and 31 March and only dry material is burnt - most people comply.  We have houses on one side of our allotments and the smoke can cause annoyance to the occupants.  Even restricting bonfires, we have one householder in particular who always phones the council whenever there is a bonfire, even if its no where near their property.  The alternative would be to have waste skips but they are quite expensive.
Re a 'rent free' allowance - three years ago our field was very run down with lots of empty plots, many with rubbish on them.  Depending on the state of the plot, the person taking it on would be offered a rent free period of three or six months. We now have a full field and a waiting list and no longer need to give a rent free period to get plots taken on.

[Trixiebelle]

I love the 'Batphone to the council' phrase  ;D

When I was the Secretary of our allotments, fires were the bane of my life  ::)

The bordering house tenants said "As soon as we put our washing out, they light fires on purpose"

The allotment holders said "As soon as we light a fire, they put their washing out on purpose"

My allotments border a particularly 'vocal' house resident that Eff and Blinds if someone half a mile away lights a fire - he's obsessed with it and hates allotment holders for some reason  ::) (Probably because we rent the land that would otherwise be used for building vile red-brick houses on)

He's always throwing bricks over the hedges - my greenhouse has been trashed a couple of times and I don't even HAVE fires!

Ironically enough, in revenge for his large, grey underpants smelling of smoke one day after an allotment holder 3 miles away lit a cigar, he burnt their shed down!!!!!!

[Robert_Brenchley]

I hope he was either done for arson or well sued for that piece of childishness.

[moonbeam]

We  set the rents for our allotments at our AGM the secretary treasurer gives his recomendation of what they should be taking into account what our running costs are and how our bank balance is.Our plots are roughly 10 poles and we pay £15 for those on the pension and £18 for others we have not increased the rents for the last six years.
The council supply us and other allotments with a skip as to bonfires we allow them as long as members use there common sence and burn there rubish when the wind is blowing in a certain direction and to try and burn very early in the morning when there are not many members around.
Our skip serves 87 members and we do not allow any plant material wood paper etc to be deposited in the skip. MOONBEAM.

[manicscousers]

we punctured holes in the sides of an old galvanised bin, put it on bricks and, when the wind's in the right direction, all surplus wood etc is burned in it, usually old bits of pallets, again, no plant stuff  :) nice bit of potash  :D