Hi all newbie here
My problem is I've been kicked off my plot - I had it last year and planted quite a bit a lot fed the rabbits but we had loads of runner and broad beans. Anyway, a friend who was helping me let me down this year so I have not done anything over there but my boyfriend has said that he will help me so we went to assess the plot about 2 months ago, not too bad no where near as overgrown as i thought just grass mainly but the fence is rubbish and needs to be replaced. We went over on Sat pm to do some work and to our amazement someone else has been using my plot! My rent is paid up until Sept, i have had no notification of this and still have tools in the shed. I did catch the Sec on Tues eve he said its cos i haven't done anything this year - apparently he pinned a notice to my shed about 2 months ago and cos i didn't contact him they gave it to someone else 3 weeks after.
Can anyone give me some advice on where i stand? Can they do this? The Sec offered my 1 month rent back, when i said I'm not interested he said that he might be able to find another plot for me but it would be an overgrown one!
I'd appreciate any help on this
thanks
Kaytzie
If you haven't worked your plot at all this year and you didn't contact the secretary/committee to explain why you're probably in breach of your tenancy agreement so they probably can evict you. Therre are too many people on waiting lists who are desperate for a plot to allow plots to fall into neglect. Sorry, but that's how it is. In your shoes, I'd gratefully accept the overgrown plot.
Hello Katyzie.Welcome to A4A.
Does it tell you in the contract you signed the details of your tenancy.?
I have not heard of people being kicked off via the shed before.
Would have thought you should have had something in the post.
Hope you get it sorted. :)
A lot will depend on who you rent the plot from. And what your agreement contains. If its council then you would have had notification in writting to your home address. What I would be asking, as you had paid till September and there are unused plots why wasn't this person given one of those plots. The sec had no way of knowing if you were ill ect. And pinning a notice to the shed seems a very unsatisfactory way of dealing with the situation. The best people to get on side is the Allotment Association.
Were it only so easy to turf off people, who aren't doing the business... hope you get some satisfaction... if the have overgrown plots why weren't the new people offered those! :-\
thanks for the replies
to answer some of the comments - it is Council allotments, i'm totally niave about allotments, i didn't sign anything, nor did I have any info, I didn't even have a reciept when i paid.
Naive again i thought the plot was mine for the duration of the rent, i have wanted to do the allotment and had kept on at the person who said theyd help me and my boys but he let us down. I have had no letters from anyone. The Sec drinks regularly with a guy who lives opposite me if he was any way intent on contacting me he could have mentioned it to him. I know i have not done anything but the person who was supposed to help me was supposed to teach me too and was the reason i took it on and ok things havent gone to plan but i don't feel that i've been treated very fairly
thanks for the supporting ones
Kaytzie
A lot of people find it hard to get an allotment and neglected plots can cause a lot of ill feeling.If you are keen I would accept the offer of another plot and get stuck in.You can learn via books and lots of info on this site for everybody.
Good luck ;D
It seems like a very unfair way to remove you from your plot
BUT have you done any thing at all with it this year ???
if not is there a reason why you have not (are u disabled or have u been ill)
if u have been ill did you inform the committee
you say that the friend who was helping you last year let you down
but if you have not done any thing at all maby the having an allotment is not right for you
I don't want to sound mean but if you can't cope with an allotment then you should not have one
as there are many people who are sitting on waiting lists while other people have plot sat there, have paid there rent and think that that that is enough and maby there will do a bit next year
sorry if this post sounds critical but please think do you really want an allotment or are you just angry at the way the one you have neglected has been taken away
if you do want one I wish you all the best at getting a new one or yours back and getting your tools back (weather you have an allotment or not you should get your tools back)
With no contract or receipt of rent I would not hold out much hope of getting that plot back. With what you have said, relying on others to help you quite a bit has been the downfall here. You should of made more of an effort on your part to show more willing I'm afraid.
Without illness, dire family emergency - I would side with the secretary. I believe not going because your friends let you down is not a fair excuse. As previously mentioned - plots are in demand now. If I was allocating and was aware of one not being used for a year I would be looking to re-let too.
Quote from: Kaytzie on August 07, 2008, 22:03:09
he said that he might be able to find another plot for me but it would be an overgrown one!
If this were me and I really wanted an allotment - I would of learnt my lesson the hard way. Eat a piece of humble pie and take the overgrown plot. Do not rely on others to assist as allotments are not for everyone. Alternatively: what about just taking on a half plot?
There are many members on this site who could offer loads of advice, hints and tips to guide you, certainly answer any questions you might have along the way. Get stuck in, don't be afraid to ask questions and we will help you along the way.
Our allotment secretary is getting stricter about overgrown plots now as has been said "there are lots of people on waiting lists" He asks for a letter from the Council to be sent to the allotment holder and they are given 28 days to start cultivating the plot, if not they are evicted. I'm pleased that things are tightening up for the sake of folks who do try to keep their plots in good nick. Theres nothing worse than looking at a plot that is ready to distribute its various weed seeds when the wind is blowing in your direction
i realise that this has provoked different views, but i have to say that some plots next to mine have not been touched for years and the weeds and nettles are taller than me - why have they not been kicked off? but i have. my plot was quite tidy no weeds to speak of just some grass - no wonder someone wanted my plot. If i've understood right i should have had something in writing, which i have not - i'm angry about the way it has been done and disappointed that no one seems to be bothered that the allotments are obviously not being run properly
Quote from: Kaytzie on August 08, 2008, 09:34:26
my plot was quite tidy no weeds to speak of just some grass - no wonder someone wanted my plot.
I can see why someone wanted your plot - you havent been down all year and yet there are no weeds?? Its either the most cleared soil ever or its been doused in a ton of Dow's latest weedkiller.
Yes it would appear that the correct avenue has not been taken by the authorities but surely that is easily sorted by contacting the council and speaking to them.
What I find more dissapointing is that there are so many plots at your site taken on by people who evidently have insufficient commitment to run their plots. I can see why decisive action is necessary though of course this should be in a fair manner.
My plot is fairly weed free because I put the hours in, on 2 sides of me I have plots with weeds 4 feet high. From my point of view the fact that I will soon be providing a host to their weed seeds is not fair either.
rbt
Kaytzie, this forum is full of people who care about their allotments - if you came looking for sympathy you probably came to the wrong place. By your own admission you haven't worked the plot for a year with no good reason. We've all got or had plot neighbours who neglect their plots - a bad plot affects everybody. It drags the site down, it deprives people who would care for it properly of a plot and it distributes weeds(yes, from that 'grass') to plots that are tended.
If you think the allotments are not being run properly then complain to the council. Good luck, you'll need it.
Kaytzie
I am sorry I also agree that if you haven't bothered to turn up all year then tough. The rents are generally so small that a lot of people don't value the plots and you cannot just hold a plot until you suddenly "feel like using it".
I don't know your area at all but I would consider that if anyone else is on your site that someone starts "kicking arse". What is it with people that keep allotments and don't use them!
It is because they are so "cheap" which was why I advocated a rent rise in somewhere in the London area on this site - so that at least if people pay a fair price for it they may "appreciate what they have"
I doubt that you will have the committment to maintain another allotment so would try a half plot first to see if you can manage that. But learn the lesson now and don't play around on this one!
I think if there was no written agreement the council probably did not have your address which is why they posted a note on your shed door. Probably the only way to contact you - so they did try and you couldn't be bothered getting up there so - Council has done its bit and you are maybe a little older and a whole lot wiser!
Good luck anyway!
Old Bird
I have been reading this post and I have been trying not to comment. I think OUR treament of Katyzie is not on. I think some of the comments are un-kind, un-helpful and in some instances rude. This i feel is totally out of character for this site.
Ok she may of not gone down enough / at all and, to be fair probably should of. I can understand about waiting lists although by the sounds of it no one wants the allotments on her site anyway, as she has said there are spares. So the fact that she has'nt been able to do it this year is not our place to judge, things change.
I only got my plot in March this year and I can think of many a day i would of given up if I had'nt had good friends to help me. It is difficult and unless you try these things who knows how you will manage.
I am sorry about this post but I have never heard you guys talk like this. Passions must run high on this subject.
Katyzie, I wish you all the best with your lottie experience. You now know what happens if you dont keep it NICE. Move on and show em' what ya' got !! Little at a time has really helped me.
F. :)
How frustrated you must feel.
Have you tried having a chat with the person who has taken over the plot? I'm sure they'd be most embarrassed to know they were stepping on someone elses work boots. Perhaps you could negotiate with them to get the plot back?
If you do get your plot back or another and feel that you would like another go cover the plot (or as much of it as you can) with either thick black poly or that black stuff that lets water through to kill off the weeds or at least retard their growing and just cultivate small patches.
Alternatively, if you can't manage a plot, could you not container grow at home. If you google "African grow bags" it tells you how to make them.
I was let down my two colleagues a few years ago, just when the rent was due to be paid. Enthusiasm can wane very easily when money is concerned, however, small. I received lots of encouragement from other plotholders in the form of "just do a bit at a time babs" (we are in the midlands) but it has taken me over three years to work from one end to the other and it has been bloody hard graft. Still fighting the couch and the weeds but am pleased with the produce growing between it all. All available time between holding down 4 jobs sees this little old mad woman down there poking around.
If you can regain your enthusiasm and independence go for it and the best of luck
I was evicted from my lottie @ the end of July despite regular contact with the representative at the council. I had advised her that I was only partly cultivating my lottie this year due to the prescent of blight and club root. However, I received a letter at my home address saying that because I was only cultivating 30% of my lottie they deemed me as not working it & therefore it was being re-assigned to somebody else.
It so angered me I went down and cleared all my stuff out of my lottie shed and am now moving all my cultivation upto my own garden. I am interested to see how the new tenant will get on with my plot and how long they lost when they realise the trouble they will have.
CC
Well Kaytzie where shall I start, when you get a plot from the council you should sign two contracts one which you keep, when you first applied for a lottie surely they had your address to correspond, and you still have not given a good reason why you have not been to the lottie this year, sadly allotments have become a fashion accessory with some younger sloany types who take on a lottie and think it will dig itself, I'm not saying you are one of these people, but I and other lotties have worked bloody hard this year and I can't imagine how far we would be behind leaving for a few weeks let alone 8 to ten months, I can understand Flunkys responce, but you have to understand people like Trinity and others are fighting tooth and nail just to have half of what you have had, others have had floods destroy their allotments and others crops destroyed by contaminated manure, so feelings will run high, I also find it hard to believe that there are hardly any weeds, when I come back from my two week holiday I know I will be under siege, when I first started on my lottie my Dad and best mate helped me and it was a shock when they both stopped coming over but if you want it to work you will make the effort, take an overgrown one and put your back into it and rely on nobody but your good self, lets hope you stay on the forum and prove to the lotties on here that you are going to give it a go. Read back on some of the posts that people have posted on the problems that they have gone through and picture yourself being one of them and then someone new comes on the forum and tells everyone that they haven't bothered tending their plot this year, so you should then understand some of the replies, good luck in what ever you decide and maybe this time next year you'll still be on the forum advising someone on your experiences. ;D ;D ;D
Quote from: carrot-cruncher on August 08, 2008, 19:14:14
I am interested to see how the new tenant will get on with my plot and how long they lost when they realise the trouble they will have.
Go and tell them about it, after all it is not their fault. they were just the next on the waiting list. But if it is the chairman's brother, disregard former statement.
Crikey kaytzie, what did you expect?!! First visit of the year to your plot in June. Second visit two months later to see "what needed to be done". Quite a lot I would imagine! :o I'd imagine most plot holders reading this post wish their sites evicted people as efficiently. Do you know how annoying it is to have plot holders on your site show so little interest in their plots when most areas have lengthy waiting lists?
What did you expect to get out of your plot not planting any crops in a season? Most gardeners are harvesting the fruits of their labour now, having started their seeds off early in the year if not late last year. I wouldn't expect your successor to willingly hand their plot back to you. You will be extremely lucky to be offered any plot! If you really have to rely on someone else helping you then only take a half plot. As you say yourself you have a garden; maybe you should consider growing your vegetables at home and leave allotment plots to those who will cherish them as most of us do. ::)
Your rent being up to date is neither here nor there, the longer your plot went untended the more difficult it is for the next person to get it back to shape.If, as you say your neighbour goes drinking with the Secretary why didn't YOU get a message to him/her to explain your absence?! The onus was on you to communicate your absence. There is a strange phenomenon re untended plots on a site; really bad ones will probably be in a cluster- each plot holder thinking there are worse ones than theirs nearby thus hoping they will escape attention!
Whilst it is hard work developing a new plot, there is a massive amount of horticultural information available plus support from fora such as this one. The rest of it is down to you (not your friend!). Roll up your sleeves and get on with it... ;)
folks,dare i suggest that all points have now been made?the poor girl will be scared of coming back here!
Hi, Kaytzie, sorry to hear you have been kicked off your plot, but as the last reply stated prove em wrong. Put your back into it, beg or borrow a strimmer if the weeds are high and then why not dig out manageable size beds that way it does not seem so daunting.(you will still have to keep the paths cut though.
I have 15pole and 5years ago mine was like yours but I explained to our secretary that I would get half done that year and all done the next. But I was there every possible time I could be and still am. It is a commitment, my drive is that I would not want anyone to think that I was incapable.
One last thing really the only way to do it is to dig it there really are no short cuts.
Quote from: elvis2003 on August 09, 2008, 20:09:28
folks,dare i suggest that all points have now been made?the poor girl will be scared of coming back here!
here here. People just sticking thier two pennies worth in. Nothing contructive, just critiscm or so it appears.
Hi, Kaytzie, I'm going to try and be constructive and encouraging if I can. First, I think you need to decide exactly why you weren't able to visit the plot very often. Was it too far away to make frequent quick visits out of the question? (You can get a lot done even in 20 minutes or so if its regular!) I don't mean this next question unkindly, so please don't be offended, and only you will know the answer, but were you full of enthusiasm for the idea of growing your own fruit and veg, but perhaps less enthusuastic when you discovered the actual hard work and regular commitment involved? Was the plot too large, so the whole thing seemed daunting and overwhelming?
Our council has a policy of splitting all plots that become available into 1/2 plots, and the allotments manager is happy to split again into 1/4 plots if that's what someone thinks they can manage. There's even one plot that has been split again into several tiny chunks that are being well tended. I think you need to decide how much you yourself can manage without help, without it becoming a burden, then if you do get some help it will be a bonus. An allotment should be a pleasure, not a chore! There's nothing shameful in saying that you can't cope with a larger plot, and need a smaller one, and people will respect you for it. This time round, you need to make sure you are given a tenancy agreement and read it through carefully. For a cultivation suggestion, I use raised beds, as you can work on one small piece at a time and get it planted up before moving on to the next piece, and you get a real sense of achievement.
Good Luck
KK
Quote from: pg on August 08, 2008, 18:11:35
How frustrated you must feel.
Have you tried having a chat with the person who has taken over the plot? I'm sure they'd be most embarrassed to know they were stepping on someone elses work boots. Perhaps you could negotiate with them to get the plot back?
Why would they give it back to anyone? Katyzie had abandoned the plot to all intents and purposes. They certainly weren't treading on Katies' toes - she wasn't there - which is her problem - certainly not theirs!
Yes - I too apologise Katzie - criticism is too easy to give! I hope that if every you take another plot on you start with a small one and get it into good condition so then you can prove us more experienced allotmenteers wrong! Good luck when and if you take on another allotment - we will expect to hear of your heroic progress!!
Good luck!
Old Bird
;D
You say it is a Council allotment. Well I am sure you should have had a receipt for payment, a booklet with rules and regulations, and this year I have had to sign an agreement. When I got my allotment had to wait for the Council to send an eviction notice to the previous plot holder, even though he hadn't been seen for ages. Perhaps your allotments have been let out by the Council and you have different rules. I certainly think you should have been warned and it seems strange that nothing was sent to your home address. You should have got a receipt for any money paid and been aware of any rules and regs. Our Council are quite reasonable but when an allotment gets badly overgrown it should be handed back especially if people are waiting as this only seems fair. Lately we have had a lot of newcomers and some love it and their allotments put mine to shame, but some give up very quickly and if they decide it is not for them they should inform the Council after the first year so it can be given to someone else. I am pleased that our Council is not too policing and a wild area at the end of the allotment is OK but the Council do rotavate them before they are taken on and it doesn't take long for them to go back to nature. Anyway hope you get it sorted out to your satisfaction and perhaps half a plot would be better if you wish to continue. I am retired and certainly could not have coped with an allotment whilst working. Also I have a certain amount of help from my partner with a motor mower and strimmer etc. although not as often as I would wish.
thanks flunky x
I find it strange that a receipt for rent paid was not given and either the local laws of the site were not given in a booklet or shown and signed as read ..
After saying that I think that I would also presume that anyone not doing anything to a plot for a season didn't really want it ...
With the telly progs on lotties and also rising prices of food, allotments are becoming popular, waiting lists exist on some plots for the first time .,
Where committees may have turned a blind eye to a plot and thought well at least it's tenanted. they are gonna get pressure put upon em to make sure its used and grown on ...