Self managed good or bad

[picman]

Seems there is a push by councils to get allotment committees to take on a self managed role , at first glance it seems a reasonable idea, but the devil will be in the detail, and the willingness of committee to take it on. I am no longer on the committee but would appreciate some feedback.

[picman]

[Paulh]

Avoid. There is the hassle of dealing with plot holders who think that one visit a year to their plot to pick blackberries is cultivation and the cost of getting overgrown hedges (and trees) pruned. That is my jaded. jaundiced view!

[Allotmenteer25]

The problem is having to deal with plot holders that take the role of allotment police and eliminate people that they don't like .

[sparrow]

Our site has been self-managed for well over 15 years. I was on the Committee for 5 of those.

Being self-managed has a lot of advantages - we set our own rents and they are some of the lowest in the area - about half the rate for the Council-run sites in our borough. We have built up a sinking fund for maintenance/reserves and this means issues with hedges/paths/communal areas etc can be dealt with quickly. We run a lot of social & training events through the year and have land set aside for communal use - an orchard, bbq areas and a small wooded area on land that wouldn't work for a plot. We manage deliveries of manure and woodchip for plotholders and have annual work parties to keep the site looking good. On average a third of the plotholders turn out for these, the others bung an extra tenner in the kitty, which all goes towards maintenance if we have to get contractors in. We have clear rules and contracts with tenants and 3 site inspections/year to make sure that people aren't overstepping or neglecting their plots. Committee members are elected each year, with maximum terms to make sure people can't stay in post forever.

There are disadvantages - you have to be strong enough to manage people who are difficult and tactful to try and stop quarrels from escalating. The clear sets of rules in the contracts is invaluable for this. It also takes having enough people to spread the (considerable) work around. We have 7 people on our committee, which means each person just has one thing to look after. Our council is overstretched and it can take a long while to get a response from them about things that are out of our remit, such as a water bill or boundary issues with the neighbours that we can't sort ourselves.

However, in the main it has been really positive. We don't have vacant plots, we have a healthy waiting list and we have a strong community that helps each other.