Feeling bullied off my plot

[hamamelis]

If it was me, I'd probably go and dig him a pond. At home, for preference. But then, I am a little prone to get confrontational about these things...

It does seem a very odd and awkward situation, that the council are sending the letters, and that's who you're paying the rent to, but they don't appear to have any actual control over the site. Still, as your agreement is with the council, and they officially still are in control, I can't see how a committee could get to override your existing contract.

For what it's worth, I would consider contacting the council about the illness issue, as I was recently in a bit of a similar situation, after getting a herniated disc last year- I got a notice to rectify the plot, at which point I couldn't stand up, forget dig, and the plot was a bit of a state (not had it long, back issues for most of the first summer). They've actually been very understanding- I didn't have to give any proof or details of my illness, and they gave me a very limited list of things they wanted me to do (at least cut the grass, basically) then I got to skip the spring inspection, as I still wasn't allowed to dig post surgery. All councils are different on this, admittedly. Worth a try anyway.

Try that first, and treat the &*@# who's spraying and planting stuff on your plot as a separate issue. A hands-on council officer could be worth talking to about it, but it doesn't sound like yours is.

My rotten neighbour also sprayed a swathe across my organic plot last year, so I can sympathise. While she is a mad old bat, she doesn't 'help' run the site, so I can only imagine how much worse that makes it.

Hope you get it all sorted soon, and don't let it drive you away!

[RedThorn]

yesterday is too late to get down there!

Zazen as usual cut's to the quick with a solution, go with that and as you've some holders down there you get on well with, ask them to go with you.

Really best you get there pronto.

Protracted illness's knock one's confidence and make all confrontations feel insurmountable (talking from more than one experience here), really it's best to not let the lethargy and the apathy to take hold, it'll keep at you (again speaking from experience ). The best for your own sake is to go have a look and keep in mind how much you love your lottie.

[Paulottie]

The site is council run. There is an umbrella organisation/federation that we've recently become a member of.....
Our allotment committee of three people (chairman, vice and treasurer) is newly formed (a couple of months) and very inexperienced. They haven't yet formed the rest of the committee from 'ordinary members'- thats not due to happen until sept.

Is it possible that they can over-rule the tenancy agreement with the council, even while it is still a council managed site?
... it took about three months of absence before this person got stuck into my plot! .............
I don't fancy my chances with the 'committee of three' as they are all good friends! One helped spray the weedkiller (I was reliably informed by another plot holder who watched it happen, and told them off for it, but they carried on)

Blimey...where to start.

1. stay calm
2. go there yourself...now... as all have said

Now let's talk politics and legallity for a sec.

You need a committee to join an org
Was there an election?/When?
Did you/were you invited to vote?
There are rules and AGM's and process with committees
If this goes badly..you will have your chance
Their (witnessed) behaviour doesn't look to democratic.

on the other hand...

I'd be pi&&ed off if you let your plot seed everywhere
You need to talk and declare your intention...you cannot hide. Don't loose your temper
Don't get to hung up on the glyphoste issue. Just stake your plot and carry on.

so 'Keep calm and carry on' then.

[Two_Sheds]

Would really appreciate some thoughts on this.

Oh

This could all have been prevented if you'd sent a letter to the committee telling them of your illness

[veggiechicken]

If the letter gives you 28 days to start cultivating, get down there and do something to show willing. You will lose your plot if you do nothing. You may not like your neighbour but you can't avoid him for ever. Take a friend for support and help and show your face. If no one has seen you down there for a while, and doesn't know about your health problems, its understandable that they think you may have given up.
The rights and wrongs of what your neighbour may have done is a separate issue. First, you have to decide whether you want your allotment or not. If you do, get down there and face up to it.

[Feral007]

Yes, it could have been avoided by a letter. But it can still be mitigated by a letter or phone call as well. I personally email my council as letter take too long and I'd rather have a few minutes to think before I have to reply to anything they might come up with.

My advice is the same as everyone else's.
You need to go down with a friend.
You need to take pen and paper.
I'd also take the stakes, and chicken wire of zaz's.
I would stake up the boundary - being very careful not to be even half a cm over the boundary.

Now if there is cultivation on your plot then you have already fulfilled the council's requirements.
They didn't say it had to be done by you?
I'd prob take a bottle of wine for the b*gger (and two glasses in case he said he didn't do it to help, so you and your friend can enjoy a drink at the lottie together)

You need to plan what you are going to do and when.
Check when the lot was sprayed. In fact, make a point of asking the neighbour who did it if he's there.
There's only like a 2 week (I think haven't checked lately) hold off for animals on glyphosate so after that time you could reasonably grow things on it. (I'll talk organic separately)

Really. If you have attended the site.
If you have a plan.
If there is things to be seen that have been done.
and
If your boundaries have been laid out

then it should all be fine.

As for organic.
Twould be lovely. Was hopiing for it here. But now I'm out spraying as there is just too much to manage that way.
I'm sad - but I have to face facts.

As someone else mentioned (and you know I'm with them on this one all the way esp if you've been ill)
Do the no dig garden (lasagne).
You put down your cardboard over the weedspray.
You put down hay and compost in layers (lasagne) over it. And you plant into the top layer.
It is so easy for those of us who have digging issues, whether physical issues, or crap earth issues.
That would give you an instant garden - over the top of the spray - but not IN the spray.

In your letter to the council in reply to the directive I would say:

I cannot apologise enough for not letting you know of my health issues which have stopped me from being able to attend to my lot in the last few...........
On taking over the lot I found: list what was there when you took over. Be factual.
This is what I did initially.
This is where I was at when I became ill.
It has come to my attention that in my absence someone has 1) planted out.... (check first)
And sprayed the rest (altho I was planning on organic produce until my problem)
This is my plan for the next 6 months.
I hope this will set your mind at rest that I will be continuing to bring the site weeds under control as well as starting the planting which I am very excited about.

You do need a plan. You do need photos. And you prob need a backup for the neighbour if he gets stroppy.

Just keep in mind he is your neighbour, and if he is going to be on the committee you might want to put your hand up to be a general committee member just so you can put a spoke in their wheel if you feel they are running off half cocked.

[Two_Sheds]

the more i think about it, the more annoyed i am that my organic plot is no longer organic. Thats vandalism in my book.

Would you have known about the weedkiller if you hadn't got the letter? I'm wondering (in a kind way) if it's given you the incentive you needed to get down there and get going again ?

The label "organic" doesn't matter unless you're selling your produce. Presumably you buy supermarket food? Well, that's all been sprayed, and several times. (I'm organic by preference, but not zealous about it. The slugs and rose blackspot cause me to err in my ways).

I'm just saying, don't focus on what you can't change (the weedkiller) and do focus your efforts on the healing (of yourself and your plot).

Today is a new day.
Get thee down thy plot, with a hoe in your hand and a smile on your face

[SarzWix]

I think you've had some great advice from everyone, so I won't add too much to it... Just to say that even organic systems are often started with glyphosate clearance. One treatment ought not to build up in the soil in any way and other than that, the main risk to human health seems to come during spraying, so in effect the person doing the spraying has done you a bit of a favour - they took the risks and you get the benefit

Best of luck to you, gird you loins and reclaim your plot! x

[RedThorn]

Bump

Any update?

[alldigging]

Any update?

If you've not been down to the plot to see what's been done and make a start then you should get on with that first.

3 months absense without any contact is horrendously long at peak growing season. The weeds will have been causing a nuisance for other plot holders.

If you have an allotment then it is really important to keep going to it - or get a friend to help you out in the meantime if you are really ill.

We've got rid of two people from our site because they let their plot become a nuisance to other plotholders?

Unfair?
No. Not to the people on the waiting list. Not to other plot holders who had been mowing (yes mowing one plot) to keep the weeds down, and finally we got to strim the grass weeds off the other not long ago.

I gave up my previous plot when I'd not been able to do anything for 3 months. I knew that I wasn't going to be able to do anything in time for the next growing season and I knew how unfair that was to everyone else on the site to have an untidy unkept plot. Even though I knew I might never get another plot I went and gave my keys up. I was very sad to do so.

Strimming isn't cultivation. So get and plant. Show you really want your allotment and that you are well enough to do it.

[akashicdevi]

Now let's talk politics and legallity for a sec.

You need a committee to join an org
Was there an election?/When?
Did you/were you invited to vote?
There are rules and AGM's and process with committees
If this goes badly..you will have your chance
Their (witnessed) behaviour doesn't look to democratic.

on the other hand...

I'd be pi&&ed off if you let your plot seed everywhere
You need to talk and declare your intention...you cannot hide. Don't loose your temper
Don't get to hung up on the glyphoste issue. Just stake your plot and carry on.

so 'Keep calm and carry on' then.

Hi
Thank you everyone for your replies. Just a quick update- will upload photos later (once i've worked out how to do it) I'm trying to speak to the council allotments officer- she wasn't at work yesterday so about to get back on hold again!

My plot wasn't left to get completely wild- i'd covered over all the areas that I had cleared and were cultivated last year so they would stay nice and weedfree for me. (and everyone else) and witnesses have told me that those covers had stayed in place. (I had them pegged down as well as loads of bricks to hold it there)
There was one patch that had particularly bad bindweed so i'd covered that over the Winter to weaken it/ hoping to kill it. That cover also stayed down. (I have to stress, the plot when i took it on was 10ft high in brambles and bindweed- TOTALLY covered- i'd hit a head-sized lump of bramble root every one foot!!! I had cleared at least two thirds. The rest was due to get sorted out this Spring, but then I got ill. The previous site secretary had warned me when i took it on what a huge undertaking it would be, and advised me to take it in stages, which is what i was doing. She was very happy with my progress. I had a suspicion that people had bets on whether i would quit in the first year, because i kept having people come up to me saying they admired my determination!

The only section uncovered was around the greenhouse. I had fruit bushes and raspberry canes, and some perennial herbs, and some bare soil- that bit did get wooly, i admit. However, the plot at the top of my plot its been rented to a no-shower for the last two years- (its waist high in nettles) i get their weeds creeping across to me, so i can imagine that the nettles would have come across quite happily at that end.
But that isn't the only non-shower on site- Its soooo sad, two thirds of the site are now overgrown-plots that were well cultivated last year. They haven't even been covered like mine was. I presume its partly down to the weather, and partly down to the atmosphere that I have been told has gone steadily downhill while i was away.
:-( I barely recognised the place!

So, my plot was definitely not the worst, yet I'm the only person who got a letter!!!!

I have a very serious complaint to make to the council. He has totally taken over the bottom half of my plot. (wait til you see the pics!!!) He's also removed the drainage gully- filled it in... and moved the path from his side to my side, 3 feet away from where it should be!! I'm at the bottom of a hill and its now completely waterlogged! I can't right now do anything to it, as its just sodden. There's going to be a pond there shortly the way its going.

My fruit bushes and herbs have all been hacked down and poisoned. I had about 25 raspberry canes, 3 honeyberry bushes and a pile of herbs... all destroyed! I'm utterly devastated.
Game on, its war!

Oh, as for the legal committee stuff... it appears that they had a meeting in April and voted in three people. (i didn't see the email telling me, because i hadn't been checking my emails, but i didn't get anything in the post, and i would have thought important meetings should be notified by post?)
Those three people then took it upon themselves to undemocratically pick two other people for the other posts (they weren't voted in). They have as yet not formed the quorum of 9 ordinary committee members. (and as an aside, i had actually volunteered to be on the committee before i got ill.)

[alldigging]

So, my plot was definitely not the worst, yet I'm the only person who got a letter!!!!

I have a very serious complaint to make to the council. He has totally taken over the bottom half of my plot. (wait til you see the pics!!!) He's also removed the drainage gully- filled it in... and moved the path from his side to my side, 3 feet away from where it should be!! I'm at the bottom of a hill and its now completely waterlogged! I can't right now do anything to it, as its just sodden. There's going to be a pond there shortly the way its going.

My fruit bushes and herbs have all been hacked down and poisoned. I had about 25 raspberry canes, 3 honeyberry bushes and a pile of herbs... all destroyed! I'm utterly devastated.
Game on, its war!

Oh, as for the legal committee stuff... it appears that they had a meeting in April and voted in three people. (i didn't see the email telling me, because i hadn't been checking my emails, but i didn't get anything in the post, and i would have thought important meetings should be notified by post?)
Those three people then took it upon themselves to undemocratically pick two other people for the other posts (they weren't voted in). They have as yet not formed the quorum of 9 ordinary committee members. (and as an aside, i had actually volunteered to be on the committee before i got ill.)

Sending by post costs money. Think of the poor soul who has to hand deliver letters otherwise.

You need to confirm that they have your correct email address.

How do you know you're the only one who got a letter?

I would arrange a site meeting with the council person perhaps.

Have you made a start on weeds? That'll help your case if you have.

[bearded bloke]

To post pictures go to bottom right corner & click .... Go Advanced ..
In the reply box (... Your Message ..) above the text area there are task bars,second row sixth button in from right is ... Insert Image ... click & follow instructions

Hovering over the buttons gives an info box as to what each does

[akashicdevi]

Thanks for the instructions Bearded Bloke :-D

OK, first image. This is the bottom of my plot looking up the way. This end was in cultivation last year. It had been left covered with plastic so it would be bare earth under the plastic for when i got back to it.
The very very end bit, nearest the camera- i found miner bees living in it last year so i didn't want to disturb them, so i'd just made some pumpkin mounds and planted through plastic- so as to get the whole section producing food. I had strimmed and burnt the bindweed/brambles back to the ground but would have been roots in the last few feet. I am told that he rotovated the whole half, so those roots have probably been spread through the whole area that I had cleared.


Next pic- the middle section.
Thats my polytunnel. Its not been moved. The area just in front of the door had been covered with plastic also, also pegged right to the edge of the plot.
You can see to the top of my plot (Up to and including greenhouse) so you get an idea of how much of the plot was under control and covered versus uncovered.

Pic three... the upper half of the plot looking back towards the polytunnel.

Here you can see the area that had been covered- that grass is dead because of the plastic i had on it to weaken the bindweed (you can just see some bindweed coming back in the foreground) Doesn't look like the plastic had been breached for anything to start becoming a problem for anyone.

Pic 4. Thats my greenhouse with a fruit bush in front of it. If you can make out the plum tree on the right, that marks the edge of my plot. (You can see the height of the weeds in my neighbours plot in the background)
This section in the foreground USED to be my raspberry patch, which you can see is decimated.

I spoke to the council lady. She was lovely and very understanding, And I've got to say, sounded very efficient and 'on the case' so i trust her to get to the bottom of it. She confirmed that I'm still the plotholder, as i thought, there's no eviction in process. There had been no site inspection at all but a request from the site to send me a letter.
She says she's moving my issue to the top of her list of things to get dealt with as a priority. I offered her a doc's letter, (I have one already) pics etc but she doesn't need them for now.

Have to wait and see what happens. For now, I'm still only going to go down there when its raining and almost dark. I can't deal with him right now, i'll just burst into tears or scream at him and either would be horrible and complicate things. I'm just too emotional and wound up. Letting the council deal with it first, using the official route. Besides, I can't do much work there right now- the weedkiller is still doing its thing round the greenhouse, and the bit that still needs digging is utterly saturated under boot since the drainage gully has been filled in, I'd only destroy the soil structure.

[SarzWix]

Well done on getting yourself down there, I can imagine that taking some guts after what's happened. I'm really glad the council lady is taking this seriously. I hope she also can do something to stop the committee from going forward as it is, these people don't sound like they should have any sort of power handed to them

How absolutely horrible that your fruit bushes/canes have been damaged I hope that the council lady can do something about that. It's in our rules/constitution that meddling/damaging things on someone else's plot is potential for eviction, do you know if you have any rules like that?

Keep your chin up - from the looks of your photos, you haven't done anything wrong at all, in fact it looks like you've done everything right except for being able to show your face for a little while.