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I understand the drive to increase rents: Council's are embarrassed about the amount of tax-payers' money they spend on their allotment service, and rents of around £5 -£10 per pole make allotments ludicrously cheap if you're a middle-class hobbyist with two and a half poles - less than the price of the sunday newspaper, or a meal for two, and a tenth the cost of a cheap gym membership.
If this proposed increase is to go ahead then maybe they could set up a quarterly payment plan so it doesn't hit people in my position to hard.
Why are they embarassed about subsidising allotments any more than subsidising libraries or swimming pools or leisure centres or any other non-essentail service.
Birmingham have already stated that their water bill is 4x the cost of the rent. There are a lot of people out there struggling to pay their council tax bills.
Birmingham have already stated that their water bill is 4x the cost of the rent.
Quote from: Growing4twins on August 11, 2010, 00:26:40If this proposed increase is to go ahead then maybe they could set up a quarterly payment plan so it doesn't hit people in my position to hard.That is your right. S.10(2) Allotments Act 1950. Council's can't make you pay it all in one go and they should make quarterly the default option. If they don't offer a quarterly option just pay it quarterly anyway, and if the council kick off remind them of the above.Quote from: weequinie on August 10, 2010, 23:36:02Why are they embarassed about subsidising allotments any more than subsidising libraries or swimming pools or leisure centres or any other non-essentail service.Ooo thanks for pointing that out to me unwashed. That would come in very handy. Many a times ive had a spare £10 & i wished it could be used to pay for the rent but then sumthing else always crops up!!Quote from: Trevor_D on August 11, 2010, 13:25:21Our water bill for 2009 was £447. (Metered, not estimated - for about 85 plots of varying sizes.)This year's is bound to be higher! We've just paid the bill (estimated) for the first half-year, but as I'm not Treasurer I don't have the amount to hand. (They will then come and give us an accurate reading in October, when we turn the water off for the winter.)Maybe this could be the solution to the water? Maybe all allotments should be on a water metre so they know just how much the water is costing them??
Our water bill for 2009 was £447. (Metered, not estimated - for about 85 plots of varying sizes.)This year's is bound to be higher! We've just paid the bill (estimated) for the first half-year, but as I'm not Treasurer I don't have the amount to hand. (They will then come and give us an accurate reading in October, when we turn the water off for the winter.)
Maybe this could be the solution to the water? Maybe all allotments should be on a water metre so they know just how much the water is costing them??
Double that for the full year, that's £13 per plot, which is what I pay for my 10 rod plots water.
Quote from: Chrispy on August 11, 2010, 15:49:02Double that for the full year, that's £13 per plot, which is what I pay for my 10 rod plots water.I'm hopeless at maths, but the figure of £717.93 is for only 4 months. Would it be £2153 for a full year? Does that work out at almost £20 per plot?
Does that work out at almost £20 per plot?
Currently, the water bill for allotments is approx 4 x higher than rent collected and is currenty heavily subsidised by council tax payers.