I am a Committee Member and we have recently been approached by a member to request that his son be placed on the Waiting List for a plot - the lad is currently 12 years old (nearly 13) - I think he is a very competent young lad who currently helps his father with his plot and also helps another neighbour with his plot - he has been growing things for a number of years and looks after, breeds and sells his own chickens too - he is a very enterprising young man who would like to have his own plot to look after. We currently have a fairly long waiting list and it could be quite a number of years before he is even offered a waiting list. The problem is that we had a vote on it and it was agreed on a 5 to 1 vote (2 Committee Members were missing - the Chairman didn't vote - we have a total of 9) that he be put on the list but since then the Chairman and another Committee Member who were against it have written to the Council to complain about it. I wont bore you with the details but we do have problems within the Committee and everything is a bit of a chore.
What I am really asking for is what do you think - I believe that young people who wish to have allotments should be encouraged - do you have any youngsters with plots? Obviously his father would be acting as his guardian and signing the agreement and overseeing him etc. Would love to hear your views.
I think it's a good idea to give youngsters the responsibility if they have proven themselves & it appears he has. Perhaps anyone with a child who might be interested in an allotment should put their names down at birth ;D. Now that would cause a stir ;) ;D
MY son is 12 and helps with mine and wants to take it over from me "when I am too old".......if he lives that long - cheeky bu@@er!!!
My son was 13 when he and my OH went on the waiting list. He got a plot and my husband signed the agreement but our Committee were very supportive of it. He was well known to them though and had been helping out on the Open Days for years. He took on a very overgrown plot and struggled to knock it into shape and eventually gave it up a year later, but he still comes and helps me on mine and says he would like to take mine over when I give up...over my dead body (literally!)
Hello Jillye.
I believe we need to encourage youngsters. However I would have some concerns given that he is already committed to breeding chickens and in a couple of years he will need to further concentrate on his school work he may find a conflict of interest. Having said that I would have voted in favour.
I hope the Council bat the complaint straight back as the committee have made a democratic decision - if they don't you have to question whether there is a need for a committee.
Regards
Bluecar
The first point is if you do not have an age limit on people putting their names down in your rules the council may have it in theirs if not then its acceptable.
Any good chairman would have a copy of and know the rules by which you are governed, and should of been able to advise the committee if the proposal could be put forward or not.
As you are a council site self run by your committee i would say the council will not be intrested.
I think that some one should explain to the chairman and the other committee person that the vote was democratic and regardless of there views the majority of the votes carries the motion and it stands as recorded in the minutes of the meeting and should not be changed other than a proposal of a rule of an age limit being introduced at an AGM and voted on by the members.
A few years ago we had a young lad 14, the plot was in his mums name (perhaps an option in this case) he kept a splendid plot.Like mentioned in a previous post ,school work took over . However he had a couple of years and left the plot in a good state for the next person so all in all a good situation.
Anything that encourages young folk to get their veggies from the soil and not a plastic bag gets my vote.
Allotments don't have to be a lifetime commitment. :)
My son is 8 and loves working on my allotment and he asks every year if he can have his own plot. I would allow him to go on the waiting list and have already anticipated putting him on the list in 4-5 years time due to our long waiting times.
Anyone of us could face the situation in next year or so that we could not do our plots..for one reason or other. So looking 'forward' saying..other things may come and prevent this young man doing it is for my opinion wrong approach.
What does it matter if the person cultivating the land is 14 or 94..as long as it is done...we cannot have age discrimination either way.
Well one obvious issue is when someone is considered legally competent to sign the forms.... IIRC legal competency varies within the law depending on what it covers... Unwashed might know this stuff, I don't :D
Quote from: chriscross1966 on May 11, 2012, 01:16:20
Well one obvious issue is when someone is considered legally competent to sign the forms.... IIRC legal competency varies within the law depending on what it covers... Unwashed might know this stuff, I don't :D
The legalities will be the the set back of this young lad getting an allotment Durham CC and a few other counties that i know of have a rule that you must be of 18 years of age to get an allotment so there must be something in law regarding this, but there is nothing to say at what age you can apply for one
Any person wanting to do volentry work must be over 16 any one under that age must be accumpanied by an adult.
These groups will have done their homework regarding the law on what a young person is allowed to do to cover their backs from any liability or breaking of any laws.
We only allow one plot per household.
We have a couple of young allotmenteers who share a plot but I can honestly say the parents do a great deal of the work.
I wish that was the case on our site Grawrc. We are very grateful to have a half plot but some families have a his & hers full plot & 1 man has been given the other half of his plot but 'looks after' his sons miles away.
I took both my daughters from an early age to our allotment
the eldest is now 15 and only comes up to eat the fruit in the summer
the youngest at 10 really got into it and ended up with her own 5 rod
plot which is registered in my name as a responsible adult and
managed to win our local allotment association's young growers award
last year. She does everything from digging to hoeing the plot herself.
if the council decides not to allow it will it not be a case of age discrimination
something they are very keen to avoid been seen to do in local papers and the like.
I suspect that the allotmenteer actually has a contract with the council/government who legally own the land. To be able to do so, do they not insist you have to be eighteen?
My 4 , 6 and 8 year old grandsons love my allotment and I really hope one day they too will want one. We should encourage them surely its better then having them sat in parks drinking. Admittedly they need an adult as a guarantor but lets be honest some of these youngsters are more responsible than some adults. Let them put their names down at 12 and perhaps have a plot at 16 with parents permission. It's the children who are really interested but have parents who couldn't care a less that its a shame for.
Right have now jumped off soap box!!!
X Chas
You have to be a rate payer in Blackpool.
My pal got his plot at 14, became sec at 16..completely revamped the ( sorry for itself) site after raising thousands of pounds,breathed new life into the committee and generally improved everything for everyone's benefit. obviously he is an exceptional young chap but goes to prove everyone deserves a chance, go for it,if you can
He'd probably have to be 18 to have a plot in his own name for legal reasons - I don't see why his parents couldn't sign for him before that - but if you have a long waiting list it's reasonable to let people join it earlier. You made a democratic decision, in any case, and I think the people trying to overturn it are out of order.
What a fantastic idea... even if he has to wait till 18 if the law says so but in a parents name till then would be good.