My brand new allotment has been double alloted.

The local council gave me the plot in Feb. and my family and others have
worked very hard to get the plot into shape for sowing.
We have worked hard and have sown hard, sometimes to exhaustion.

We went up there this morning to see a plough turning in our hard work.

The council says that it is uncultivated and needs urgent attention
therefore the plot has been re allocated.

The plot is 10m by 30m and we had about a quarter of that seeded or
planted in order to concentrate on the other sq/m later as we can.

A council official was called and visited and she said it was
uncultivated and is now alloted to Mr.xxx.

After further investigation it has been found that this plot was reserved
for a school to teach rural science!!!

The local council have alloted me a new one as I was obviously the
tennnant.

This year for me now is f***ed with all my expectations of a harvest gone
from there, but I still have my home garden.

It really is heartbreaking.

PtePike

Sorry to hear about this.

Try for some compensation from the council - eg some plants of things that are now too late to grow from seed, and at very least reimbursement for the cost of wasted seed, fertiliser etc.

Have a look at your council's complaints procedure, and there is a Council Ombudsman as last resort if you've gone through the Council's complaints system.

Meanwhile, especially if you're down south with a longer growing season, you've still time to sow some things, eg mange-tout peas, runner beans, and all the quick crops like lettuce. And you're in great time for all the Japanese veg, which need to be sown after the longest day else they tend to bolt, and things like swiss chard.

And ask around your fellow allotmenteers - they may have the odd spare plant that they'd be happy to give you.

"PtePike" wrote ...
My brand new allotment has been double alloted.

The local council gave me the plot in Feb. and my family and others have
worked very hard to get the plot into shape for sowing.
We have worked hard and have sown hard, sometimes to exhaustion.

We went up there this morning to see a plough turning in our hard work.

The council says that it is uncultivated and needs urgent attention
therefore the plot has been re allocated.

The plot is 10m by 30m and we had about a quarter of that seeded or
planted in order to concentrate on the other sq/m later as we can.

A council official was called and visited and she said it was
uncultivated and is now alloted to Mr.xxx.

After further investigation it has been found that this plot was reserved
for a school to teach rural science!!!

The local council have alloted me a new one as I was obviously the
tennnant.

This year for me now is f***ed with all my expectations of a harvest gone
from there, but I still have my home garden.

It really is heartbreaking.


They must give you notice of a bad inspection and time to rectify the
problems, check the small print. Someone at the Council, an employee, mucked
up and needs a good kicking from on high. Complain to the Leader of the
Council and your own Ward Councillor, you can find their contact details on
the Council web site. (probably .. the Council name.gov.uk).
That is disgusting and I would be spitting bullets if it happened to me, it
was bad enough when we were moved off our last plot to make way for a Park
after years of improving the soil etc. Get the cost of everything they have
destroyed refunded at least and your new plot cleared and dug, it's the very
least they can do to compensate you all.

--
Regards
Bob Hobden
W.of London. UK

Bob Hobden wrote:
"PtePike" wrote ...
My brand new allotment has been double alloted.

The local council gave me the plot in Feb. and my family and others
have worked very hard to get the plot into shape for sowing.
We have worked hard and have sown hard, sometimes to exhaustion.

We went up there this morning to see a plough turning in our hard
work. The council says that it is uncultivated and needs urgent attention
therefore the plot has been re allocated.

The plot is 10m by 30m and we had about a quarter of that seeded or
planted in order to concentrate on the other sq/m later as we can.

A council official was called and visited and she said it was
uncultivated and is now alloted to Mr.xxx.

After further investigation it has been found that this plot was
reserved for a school to teach rural science!!!

The local council have alloted me a new one as I was obviously the
tennnant.

This year for me now is f***ed with all my expectations of a harvest
gone from there, but I still have my home garden.

It really is heartbreaking.


They must give you notice of a bad inspection and time to rectify the
problems, check the small print. Someone at the Council, an employee,
mucked up and needs a good kicking from on high. Complain to the
Leader of the Council and your own Ward Councillor, you can find
their contact details on the Council web site. (probably .. the
Council name.gov.uk). That is disgusting and I would be spitting bullets
if it happened to
me, it was bad enough when we were moved off our last plot to make
way for a Park after years of improving the soil etc. Get the cost of
everything they have destroyed refunded at least and your new plot
cleared and dug, it's the very least they can do to compensate you
all.

My sympathies to the PtePike, this must be very upsetting indeed. But this
is what you get from communist central planning. Once somebody is "alotting"
you anything, it's not yours, it's somebody else's. You just have permission
to use it, and it can be taken away at any time as we see here.

If the State didn't "give away" "free" allotments, there would no doubt be
some market for similar small plots of cultivable land from private
rentiers, or for purchase. Then people would have a proper rental agreement,
and stuff like this couldn't happen. But "free" (that is, paid for by other
people) always drives out good, sadly.


Ian

"Ian B" wrote ...

My sympathies to the PtePike, this must be very upsetting indeed. But this
is what you get from communist central planning. Once somebody is
"alotting" you anything, it's not yours, it's somebody else's. You just
have permission to use it, and it can be taken away at any time as we see
here.

If the State didn't "give away" "free" allotments, there would no doubt be
some market for similar small plots of cultivable land from private
rentiers, or for purchase. Then people would have a proper rental
agreement, and stuff like this couldn't happen. But "free" (that is, paid
for by other people) always drives out good, sadly.

Free, FREE! What are you talking about? We pay £9.50 a sq Rod p.a here,
that's £95.00 p.a for a normal allotment.
Because money changes hand we do have "proper" rental agreements and the
original poster needs to look at theirs and see how the Council are supposed
to deal with uncultivated/untidy plots, normally they have to give a warning
first and then a re-inspection at a later date. No warning appears to have
been given in this case so the poster has a very good case for causing
trouble for an idiot of a jobsworth employed by the Council and getting some
form of compensation.
If it's not in the rental agreement then either ask the allotment rep on
your site or phone the Council and ask what the "laid down" procedure is.

--
Regards
Bob Hobden
W.of London. UK

"Bob Hobden" wrote in
:



"Ian B" wrote ...

My sympathies to the PtePike, this must be very upsetting indeed. But
this is what you get from communist central planning. Once somebody
is "alotting" you anything, it's not yours, it's somebody else's. You
just have permission to use it, and it can be taken away at any time
as we see here.

If the State didn't "give away" "free" allotments, there would no
doubt be some market for similar small plots of cultivable land from
private rentiers, or for purchase. Then people would have a proper
rental agreement, and stuff like this couldn't happen. But "free"
(that is, paid for by other people) always drives out good, sadly.

Free, FREE! What are you talking about? We pay £9.50 a sq Rod p.a
here, that's £95.00 p.a for a normal allotment.
Because money changes hand we do have "proper" rental agreements and
the original poster needs to look at theirs and see how the Council
are supposed to deal with uncultivated/untidy plots, normally they
have to give a warning first and then a re-inspection at a later date.
No warning appears to have been given in this case so the poster has a
very good case for causing trouble for an idiot of a jobsworth
employed by the Council and getting some form of compensation.
If it's not in the rental agreement then either ask the allotment rep
on your site or phone the Council and ask what the "laid down"
procedure is.


Bob please do not raise to political garbage. You and I know how much we
pay for our plots.

I have had a response from my local MP and it sounds as if the local
council have made a mess of things regarding my tennency.(will let you know
when I know)

Regards
PtePike

On Mon, 14 Jun 2010 18:47:26 GMT, PtePike wrote:

"Bob Hobden" wrote in
:



"Ian B" wrote ...

My sympathies to the PtePike, this must be very upsetting indeed. But
this is what you get from communist central planning. Once somebody
is "alotting" you anything, it's not yours, it's somebody else's. You
just have permission to use it, and it can be taken away at any time
as we see here.

If the State didn't "give away" "free" allotments, there would no
doubt be some market for similar small plots of cultivable land from
private rentiers, or for purchase. Then people would have a proper
rental agreement, and stuff like this couldn't happen. But "free"
(that is, paid for by other people) always drives out good, sadly.

Free, FREE! What are you talking about? We pay £9.50 a sq Rod p.a
here, that's £95.00 p.a for a normal allotment.
Because money changes hand we do have "proper" rental agreements and
the original poster needs to look at theirs and see how the Council
are supposed to deal with uncultivated/untidy plots, normally they
have to give a warning first and then a re-inspection at a later date.
No warning appears to have been given in this case so the poster has a
very good case for causing trouble for an idiot of a jobsworth
employed by the Council and getting some form of compensation.
If it's not in the rental agreement then either ask the allotment rep
on your site or phone the Council and ask what the "laid down"
procedure is.


Bob please do not raise to political garbage. You and I know how much we
pay for our plots.

I have had a response from my local MP and it sounds as if the local
council have made a mess of things regarding my tennency.(will let you know
when I know)

I'm very sorry for you Pike. That sounds a terrible experience after
all the work you have put in. Don't let them get away with it!

PtePike wrote:
A council official was called and visited and she said it was
uncultivated and is now alloted to Mr.xxx.

Nick is our allotment rep, and he says they can't do that without giving you
fair warning - which is 3 notices to quit (of which I believe 1 has to be an
actual letter of intent).

He's gone all squeeky and upset on your behalf now!

PtePike wrote:
My brand new allotment has been double alloted.

You may find this useful if you haven't looked at it already

http://www.opsi.gov.uk/RevisedStatut...0051_en_1#l1g1

Bob Hobden wrote:
"Ian B" wrote ...

My sympathies to the PtePike, this must be very upsetting indeed.
But this is what you get from communist central planning. Once
somebody is "alotting" you anything, it's not yours, it's somebody
else's. You just have permission to use it, and it can be taken away
at any time as we see here.

If the State didn't "give away" "free" allotments, there would no
doubt be some market for similar small plots of cultivable land from
private rentiers, or for purchase. Then people would have a proper
rental agreement, and stuff like this couldn't happen. But "free"
(that is, paid for by other people) always drives out good, sadly.

Free, FREE! What are you talking about? We pay £9.50 a sq Rod p.a
here, that's £95.00 p.a for a normal allotment.
Because money changes hand we do have "proper" rental agreements and
the original poster needs to look at theirs and see how the Council
are supposed to deal with uncultivated/untidy plots, normally they
have to give a warning first and then a re-inspection at a later
date. No warning appears to have been given in this case so the
poster has a very good case for causing trouble for an idiot of a
jobsworth employed by the Council and getting some form of
compensation. If it's not in the rental agreement then either ask the
allotment rep
on your site or phone the Council and ask what the "laid down"
procedure is.

Apologies; thinking in economic terms as I was, "free" and "subsidised" are
the same thing; that is the State is transferring value from one place to
another. But yes, I should have been more exact.

The point stands regardless, this is land "alloted", hence the name, by the
State; that's why there's a waiting list and council bureaucrats etc to deal
with; as with any other state provision, you get what you're given, or can
beg, cajole, etc, out of those bureaucrats. That's why people sometimes post
here thrilled that the Council has finally allotted them an allotment of
land. Remember when you had to wait a year and a half to get a telephone?
Same thing.

I answered this politically because it's a political issue; events like the
one described occur because of the nature of the (State) beast. Otherwise
it's like complaining about the NHS but considering discussion of its
nationalised nature too political.

Anyway, as I said PtePike has all my sympathy. It must indeed have been an
utterly heartbreaking sight.


Ian

"Ian B" wrote
Apologies; thinking in economic terms as I was, "free" and "subsidised"
are the same thing; that is the State is transferring value from one place
to another. But yes, I should have been more exact.

The point stands regardless, this is land "alloted", hence the name, by
the State; that's why there's a waiting list and council bureaucrats etc
to deal with; as with any other state provision, you get what you're
given, or can beg, cajole, etc, out of those bureaucrats. That's why
people sometimes post here thrilled that the Council has finally allotted
them an allotment of land. Remember when you had to wait a year and a half
to get a telephone? Same thing.

I answered this politically because it's a political issue; events like
the one described occur because of the nature of the (State) beast.
Otherwise it's like complaining about the NHS but considering discussion
of its nationalised nature too political.

Anyway, as I said PtePike has all my sympathy. It must indeed have been an
utterly heartbreaking sight.

Glad you cleared that up, however I think you are making this too Political
in that the State does not get involved in allotments except when there is a
serious problem, like a Council that wants change of use for the site and
it's Statutory Allotment Land, or the Gov't wish to change the guidelines
Councils have to follow.
Normally it's purely a very local thing between gardeners and their local
Council officer/s that deal with allotments, the State, as you put it, knows
nothing about who has what.
I might add that there are allotment sites that are non-council owned.

--
Regards
Bob Hobden
W.of London. UK

wrote in
:

PtePike wrote:
My brand new allotment has been double alloted.

You may find this useful if you haven't looked at it already

http://www.opsi.gov.uk/RevisedStatut...kpga_19220051_
en_1#l1g1


Well we have come to a compromise this morning.
Not ideal but things dont always turn out gold.
When I was offered the allotment in Feb, acouple of days later I recieved
in the post a warning that my plot was not cultivated etc:
I rang the council and was told to ignore the letter as the inspector on
his visit did nt know I was a new tennant.So I ignored it as advised.
At the same time a school had also taken tennancy of the same plot as a
clerical error...bizarre!
We have had a meeting at the plot with the manager of alloting allotments
with his office assistant and she was so upset and apologetic with what has
happened.
The long and the short of it is that I have a new plot and the school keeps
my old one.
Today or tomorrow morning I am told that a gang of council gardeners will
plant me up (god knows what with) and a load or 2 of manure for next
season.
I have to say the only reason I backed off is because of the office lass
who made the mistake an not the official from the school who is brash and
bad mannered.
If that school "teacher" had been around in February and March to see how
much my family and friends put into that plot I think he should be ashamed.

End of..it's done now and a move on for us.

Regards
PtePike

PtePike wrote:
Well we have come to a compromise this morning.
Not ideal but things dont always turn out gold.

Glad you've come to an arrangement. You never know, the council gardeneners
may fix you up better than you were! (I know, it won't be the same as you
didn't do it with your own hands, but it makes the next year so much easier
a starting point!)

If you speak to other plotholders, you may find people with spare plants
they are willing to donate (especially when they hear of what happened) -
they tend, in general, to be a friendly bunch. If you were near me I could
give you a whole field full of spare tomatoes and potatoes.

Also! Try B+Q, we picked up 8 packets of cabbage plants for 10p a strip
this weekend! They also had mixed salad and endives. Other garden centres,
etc will be getting rid of their unsold stock at this time of year. It's a
great time to pick up bargains when you forget to sow your own or you are
hit by a late frost or other disaster!

wrote in
:

PtePike wrote:
Well we have come to a compromise this morning.
Not ideal but things dont always turn out gold.

Glad you've come to an arrangement. You never know, the council
gardeneners may fix you up better than you were! (I know, it won't be
the same as you didn't do it with your own hands, but it makes the
next year so much easier a starting point!)

If you speak to other plotholders, you may find people with spare
plants they are willing to donate (especially when they hear of what
happened) - they tend, in general, to be a friendly bunch. If you
were near me I could give you a whole field full of spare tomatoes and
potatoes.

Also! Try B+Q, we picked up 8 packets of cabbage plants for 10p a
strip this weekend! They also had mixed salad and endives. Other
garden centres, etc will be getting rid of their unsold stock at this
time of year. It's a great time to pick up bargains when you forget
to sow your own or you are hit by a late frost or other disaster!


Thank you, yes its a very exciting time when things are wholesalely cheap
and thats what we did at lunch time. Its almost pleasurable.

We grew everything from seed though, apart from potatoes, and that is the
thing I/we enjoy most....from seed to kitchen even rhubarb and alpine
strawberries.

Ironically I responded to a post a couple of days ago about sowing potatoes
late in the season, saying how a friend managed to overcome. Well sadly I
can't find any seed potatoes and they are my love.

Being positive, maybe this will give us here some breathing space to
actually plan, instead of blindly dig sow dig sow, and some more digging.

It was a long winter last year looking at seed catalogues.

Good job the garden at home is a veg garden! and we can drool over the
forthcomming harvest.

Its the kids I feel for with their little plots we gave them to experiment,
but other tennants are helping with that, and I didnt have to ask.

All in all I think a positive has come from a BIG negative, but we will see
what happens.

Thanks again
PtePike

On Tue, 15 Jun 2010 12:42:31 GMT, PtePike wrote:

We grew everything from seed though, apart from potatoes, and that is the
thing I/we enjoy most....from seed to kitchen even rhubarb and alpine
strawberries.

Ironically I responded to a post a couple of days ago about sowing potatoes
late in the season, saying how a friend managed to overcome. Well sadly I
can't find any seed potatoes and they are my love.

I don't buy seed potatoes as I only grow a few spuds in buckets or
tubs.

I just find a couple of supermarket potatoes at the beginning to chit
or sprout stage and bung them in. I often get worthwhile yields.


--
(¯`·. ®óñ© © ²°¹° .·´¯)