council yoyo waiting lists

[green thing]

Hi all
got a email today from the council explaining why people have been moving up and down on the waiting lists
INPUT ERROR !!!

also said they will be making some more plots if funds allow
can't wait
so that will be another few years then

[pdblake]

By my best estimates for our county council lists I'll be about 130 when I get one

[green thing]

I know how you feel
there is a saying around here
you have to wait until someone dies before you get an allotment
even when they die the OH sub lets it out.

[enrich100]

The solution then is to find the widow/widower and marry them then the plots yours

[SarzWix]

The new constitution for our allotments has a clause about that, something like "in the event of the death of a plotholder, the tenancy will end at the next date that rent is due on the plot" just so that sort of thing doesn't happen...

[organic]

Sarz
What's the protocol, then, if there are crops the widow/er was relying on for food? Particularly winter greens, spuds in a clamp, leeks and so on.
What if the plot was in the name of one who dies, but their partner who worked the plot with them is left behind? Do they get to keep the plot or does the tennancy still end?

Just curious as I know "common sense" should prevail - but sometimes "letter of the law" gets implemented instead and that often gives a very different outcome.

[bubblewrap]

Allotments have become very popular over the last few years.
When I acquired my allotment in 2005 there was NO WAITING LIST(I got mine within two weeks of applying) now there are nearly as many on the waiting list as there are plots.

[organic]

True enough. I got really lucky with mine, apparently the area it is in is a wee bit behind the curve with demand.

I was 12th on the waiting list but only had to wait a few weeks as a few plots became available and some people on the list before me couldn't be contacted. I was told that if I'd asked for a plot a year earlier I could have had my pick of several and signed the contract there and then. Some of the ones a bit closer to home have a waiting list close to 8 years long at current turnover rates, and the one getting ready to double the size of the site and number of plots would still have a fairly long list after doing so.

It's a bit annoying really, as I'd been on a few waiting lists within walking distance of my house for over a year. I could be on my 2nd or 3rd growing season by now! Ah well... at least I've got a plot now, and a nice one too.

[SarzWix]

I've no idea what will happen if those circumstances should arise - the new Constitution literally just arrived on my doormat! We'll be having a discussion about the whole thing at the AGM in a couple of weeks.

The clause has been added because of some hoo-haa last year when a plotholder passed away and the widow (who'd never had anything to do with the plot) wanted to keep it and let an 'old friend' use it, who was already on the waiting list, but nowhere near the top... There were no crops on the plot as the plotholder had been ill for some time. The 'old friend' hadn't offered to do anything to help keep the plot under control during the illness, or the committee might have been a bit more amenable...

[HeyWayne]

I was expecting to see some mad council with a waiting list for yo-yo's!

Glad I didn't.

[organic]

Sarz - I can fully understand that being an issue and in that case it really doesn't seem right. It's the less clear cut things I was curious about. I dunno why, but I have a habit of seeing cases where the rules would be very unfair at times if applied "to the letter" and so tend to mention it. The reason being, rules intended for a specific case, if there's not specific exceptions made or mechanisms in place for judging it, unfair things will eventually happen.

I'd have thought having some sort of "helpers regiser" could be a good idea. Anyone who helps on the plot should be registered (even just in a file in the office, nothing mega official needed) and "be seen on the plot" or some such wording. Then if the holder dies they can be considered. Ditto something to deal with what happens with crops if someone dies pre-harvest. The helpers register does strike me as being needlessly bureaucratic though... in short, I dunno how best to avoid unfairness AND subletting or waiting-list jumping. No help really then!

Some food for thought at the AGM, maybe.

[Jeanied]

Sounds like those plots are being badly mismanaged, green thing - one good reason not to touch them with a barge pole!