Local Council does not supply plots!

[splatcat]

Hi I put my name down this morning with the borough council for a plot, 5 years waiting list...!

i have my name down with the neighbouring town council, i am number 4 on the list, but they are telling me that everytime someone joins the list from the actual town area, they go above me because they dont have to give someone out of the district a plot....

i contacted my own district council, to be told they dont supply allotments, yet the other guys told me every parish has a duty to supply an allotment site..

advice please (if it make sense!)

[Mintygreen]

My local council has only 2 sites in the whole borough, however there are a further 12 sites that are privately run and to get my plot i had to find the respective associations details and contact them directly to get on each individual list!! Hope this helps!!!

You are correct in thinking that Local Authorities have an obligation to provide a certian amount of land for the use of allotments, but most of the laws regarding this are fairly old and some even stand from WW2, when lots of communal or public land was appropriated for growing uses!!

[Bigmallly]

If you scroll down this link, there are 3 links to your area, I don't know if it is of any use to you.

A to Z - List of Services : Cumbria County Council

[northepaul]

7+ years waiting list down here!
Plus because of the council cutbacks now the allotments are going to self-manage themselves...so where does that leave the people on the waiting lists?

[Dottie]

Fleet (Hart council) which is very close by, has no allotments and loads of people wanting one. About 6 months ago I believe they were looking into a "Garden Share" scheme, with the idea that folk who wanted to grow their own, would pay a fee and keep an old folks garden tidy, while they used an area to grow stuff. I don't know if it took off or how successful it was, but I wouldn't have being keen unless there were clear guidelines, as it would be very easy for the house owner to view the sharer as a constant unpaid skivvy. Plus that hour of sowing or whatever you planned to do, could be changed because they want the lawn cut or whatever.

At the time when I spoke to the project planner, she seem to think that this was a good thing for the would be grower, hence why they also thought of charging them. So rather than the council thinking they were lacking and had allowed all spare land to be built on in Fleet, they also thought they were offering a good alternative and needed to be paid for it.

[Mi Jardín]

I had sort of the same thing, I saw an advert in the local newsletter saying there were plots available in the next village so I emailed them. Because there were plots available and no waiting list I could have one, but I was told that if there had been a list, I wouldn't be able to have one! My village does have plots, but only 4!

[splatcat]

Theres only one private site here, with 4 plots on.. i have my name down on all lists now so its just waiting...

My friend who will be alloting with me, has put her name down too, and she lives in the actual parish, so she hopefully should come up before me.

[Potstubsdustbins]

Nottm where I live has several large allotment sites within the city boundries. Though I have no interest in one my self 'to idle'. What does surprise me is how many seem vacant and totally over grown when I know there is a waiting list.


Colin

[zazen999]

Now, what would happen if we got a campaign up and running, took photos of every plot that was overgrown and the details of the council/committee that ran it and had a website specifically designed to do this? We could then have something visible to take action to sort out these overgrown unused plots and try and get the waiting list down....

*wonders if we could do it through faceache?

[Potstubsdustbins]

I have been smooching around a little since my last post. Nottm City council proudly boast they have 3200 or so lotties for lease but do to great demand there is a waiting list of up to a year.

I then went on google maps to get an overhead view of the lotties I knew of these are centered around the Western Blvd area. The ones that boader Wilkinson St all seem well tended and there is car parking and so on.
There are two sites that boarder Aspley Lane. From the air it is plain that well over 50% are not in use and some are so over grown it would take a very determined person to bring them back into use. The first requirement would be a chain saw to remove the trees.

Surely something can be done about this terrible waste or maybe the council are just waiting for the situation to get so bad that they can sell the land for development.

Colin

[VirginVegGrower]

Aren't they obligated to provide allotments for rent if six council tax paying persons within the area request it?
Need to write six individual letters, posted together by recorded delivery and also hand delivered to the council offices with two independent witnesses present.

[Norm]

http://www.parliament.uk/briefingpap...snsc-00887.pdf

Where the population of a district or parish, according to the last published census, is under 10,000, the council's duty is limited to the provision of allotment gardens [Allotments Act 1950 s9(a)].
Where the population is 10,000 or upwards, the council's obligation is limited to
the provision of allotment gardens not exceeding one-eighth of an acre [Allotments Act 1950 s9(b)].
23(1) If the council of any borough, urban district, or parish are of opinion that there is
a demand for allotments...in the borough, urban district, or parish...the council shall provide a sufficient number of allotments, and shall let such allotments to
persons...resident in the borough, district, or parish, and desiring to take the same
23(2) On a representation in writing to the council of any borough, urban district, or
parish, by any six registered parliamentary electors or [persons who are liable to pay
an amount in respect of council tax] resident in the borough, urban district or parish,
that the circumstances of the borough, urban district or parish are such that it is the
duty of the council to take proceedings under this Part of this Act therein, the council
shall take such representation into consideration.

What they're saying is, they can please themselves. It's the "take such representation into consideration" bit which means they can keep the applications under consideration for ever!