Streetlife.com, Allotments...What else? Options

[Nothing Much]

I had a flyer the other day about the Streetlife.com.

This relates to a thread posted on rough treatment of allotmanteers by a newly recruited plots manager.
It is Norwich based.I am not a gardener, nor do I live in Norwich. But like Newbury based problems
some similarities exist. The thread caught my eye this afternoon in a quiet moment away from motormad's problem.
Some of the language used is a bit too forthright for my tender age.
But with 10 minutes to fill it might prove amusing. I wonder if the link will work.

https://www.streetlife.com/conversation/1d1enpknjvbix/

( It seems to work)
ce

[Simon Kirby]

I had a flyer the other day about the Streetlife.com.

This relates to a thread posted on rough treatment of allotmanteers by a newly recruited plots manager.
It is Norwich based.I am not a gardener, nor do I live in Norwich. But like Newbury based problems
some similarities exist. The thread caught my eye this afternoon in a quiet moment away from motormad's problem.
Some of the language used is a bit too forthright for my tender age.
But with 10 minutes to fill it might prove amusing. I wonder if the link will work.

https://www.streetlife.com/conversation/1d1enpknjvbix/

( It seems to work)
ce

Hi Christopher, thanks for posting this.

From the Norwich Evening News:

They claim that letters to gardeners this spring left them fearing for the future of their allotments, despite them believing they were being kept in order.

But Norwich City Council has defended its approach, saying it offers people flexibility and support in working their allotments and meeting the requirements of their tenancy.

Cllr Claire Stephenson, leader of the Green group on Norwich City Council, said she had spoken to residents who had been “in tears” at the letters, which were distributed after allotment inspections by council officers.

“They are not very clearly written and tell people their allotments are messy when in fact they are not. The council has been very heavy-handed in sending these letters out and people are quite upset about it,” she said.

Ms Stephenson said the standard letters had caused confusion, with some allotment-holders questioning whether it had been sent to them by mistake, and others pointing out that their allotments would have been under snow at the time of officer inspections.

I hear about this kind of thing all too often. Like the post says,

I had my allotment for 6 happy years before [an officer] took over the role and now I've had 2 official notices in six months, both unsubstantiated whilst my plot is in the best shape it's ever been in. I'm really stressed by his approach ... Most allotment holders are nice people, quietly going about their harmless hobby. We just don't deserve this.

It's a significant problem because allotmenteers seriously value their allotments, as somewhere to grow veggies yes, but also as their own private space, and they really don't want some jobsworth telling them what to do, but if they stand up for their rights they are bullied off their site. It shouldn't be possible, because you have rights, but in practice it's just not possible for an individual to assert those rights.

[Andy Capp]

It is what happens when people don't as a collective stand-up for their rights. The allotmentiers should agree a protocol with the council. The other things of course, is that is could be a case of mistaken identity, or simply people not being full with the truth. We shouldn't just assume the oppressed are innocent.

[Simon Kirby]

It is what happens when people don't as a collective stand-up for their rights. The allotmentiers should agree a protocol with the council.

That's true of course, though an abusive council will do what it can to prevent any collective gaining momentum, and as a rule people are generally only interested in putting themselves out for their own personal interests. When you have a collective, like an allotment association that will speak up for a tenant, that still depends entirely on the council choosing for itself to do the right thing, because the allotment association will never be able to mobilise its members in the way a trade union might to protect a single victimised member.

The other things of course, is that is could be a case of mistaken identity, or simply people not being full with the truth. We shouldn't just assume the oppressed are innocent.

That's always a possibility of course, but in this case Cllr Claire Stephenson, leader of the Green group on Norwich City Council, says she had spoken to residents who had been “in tears” at the letters, which were distributed after allotment inspections by council officers. "They are not very clearly written and tell people their allotments are messy when in fact they are not. The council has been very heavy-handed in sending these letters out and people are quite upset about it".

[Nothing Much]

Just wasted/spent an enjoyable half-hour viewing the Bluebell Allotments and their association website.

Quite a nice looking original layout from 1924, but with the image dating from 2013 a fair number seem
a bit too "natural",compared to the householder's gardens backing onto the site. If we don't get bullied
a lot of basic work such as weeding becomes insurmountable. I have the same from my daughter
and my attitude to household chores... Manana!
ce

[Andy Capp]

"They are not very clearly written and tell people their allotments are messy when in fact they are not. The council has been very heavy-handed in sending these letters out and people are quite upset about it".

Yes. Completely unnecessary. Why don't they just take pictures and list what the problem is? The term 'messy' is obviously subjective.

[Simon Kirby]

Yes. Completely unnecessary. Why don't they just take pictures and list what the problem is? The term 'messy' is obviously subjective.

Weeds is a perennial issue on allotments. Allotments aren't intended to be show gardens (though actually a significant number are maintained to this standard) so there will always be some weed growth. Sometimes allotmenteers will completely let the plot go and there will be knee-high growth setting seed and spreading problems to neighbours, and oftentimes people will be complaining because the site management has done nothing about it, but then on other sites allotmenteers with a casual attitude to their growing who are getting a reasonable yield from their plot will get formal warnings because the beds are just a bit ragged or unconventional. Allotmenteers mostly understand that they need to maintain their plots to a reasonable standard and are only indignant when the site management is officious or unreasonably pernickety.

Councils are empowered to make rules about the standard of cultivation of the plots they lease and the standard rule is that:

He shall keep the allotment garden clean and in good state of cultivation and fertility and in good condition

which is obviously subjective, but yet has been pretty effective at defining what's expected for more than 100 years. As it goes the Norwich City Council tenancy agreement is not as verbose or oppressive as some, but the cultivation rule is still a bit OTT:

You must keep it free from weeds and maintain every part of it in a good condition.

I can tell you that even working full-time on your plot you won't meet that standard, and that almost certainly makes the rule unenforceable.

There are a number of other problems too, such as the council saying that it has a right to inspect inside your shed whenever it wants to - that's incompatible with the fundamental right to the exclusive possession and quiet enjoyment of your plot. Councils have a rather limited power to make rules and can't just make rules about anything they like, it has to be empowered by Section 28 of the Small Holdings and Allotment Act 1908, and there is no power to make rules about inspecting sheds or keeping dogs on leads or locking gates or a host of other stuff you find in tenancy agreements, but I've known councils get very angry with allotmenteers who try and assert those kind of rights.

[Exhausted]

There are too many jobsworth's involved in allotments that make me glad that I don't have one. Too many people with too much time on their hands, making life difficult for others. I thought gardening was intended to be a stress buster, but the opposite seems to be true.

[Simon Kirby]

There are too many jobsworth's involved in allotments that make me glad that I don't have one. Too many people with too much time on their hands, making life difficult for others. I thought gardening was intended to be a stress buster, but the opposite seems to be true.

Different sites have different issues. There are plenty of allotment sites where you don't get hassled, but jobsworths can be a problem, as I suppose they can in any communal activity, it's just you're not as free to go somewhere else as you would be with say a sports or social club that went off the rails.

The allotments in Norwich do seem to be a little worse than most.

I only have personal experience of two sites. My first site in Southend was benign with a communal shed that served tea at the weekends, and it was very friendly and diverse with people doing their own thing as it pleased them. Wash Common was friendly and informal when I got my plot in the mid-nineties from the Borough Council, but under the town council it became increasingly jobsworth from the mid-noughties onwards, and the relatively benign cohort of councillors were substantially replaced in the 2007 parish council elections and that put the tin helmet on it.

But allotments at their best are wonderful places that bring out the best in people.