[Lee1978]

How many plot inspections does your site have and when are they?

The reason i ask for is that i complained this year as there are several plots that are in a  disgusting state despite the committe carrying out 1 inspection. They have agreed to have 3 next year in May, July and September, i personally think that there should be 4 inspections and one earlier in the year as it will give any newcomers a chance to get started.

What are your thoughts please?

Thanks in advance
Lee

[digalotty]

personaly i dont think any allotment should need inspections as the commitee should be on site regular enough to let people know if they are slipping behind ,  thats what happens on our plot.

[mumofstig]

Our inspections are every 3 months, if you include the one in summer which also judges the best plot.

[Nige2Plots]

Our inspections are every 3 months, if you include the one in summer which also judges the best plot.

Ditto...............except the best plot award which is done by another sites committee members.

[Lee1978]

Thanks for the replies.Ii do think inspections are important as they root out those individuals who fail to keep their plot tidy (we have several plot holders who seem to get away with murder). Given the high demand for allotments at present i am sure people on the waiting list would be annoyed to see an unkept plot.

[Nikkithefoot]

On a friends site they have inspections the last Sunday of every month, and if things aren't up to scratch then you get a letter, a second one follows a month later if there is no improvement and no explanation as to the problem (ie illness etc). The third letter is termination of the plot and at month 4 it is passed to the next person on the waiting list.
Mitigating circumstances are taken into account such as illness or temp disability such as broken leg, but the bottom line is if you don't speak to the committee you risk losing your plot.

On my site they have just started inspections, and are still agreeing the time intervals for improvement.

[Lee1978]

On a friends site they have inspections the last Sunday of every month, and if things aren't up to scratch then you get a letter, a second one follows a month later if there is no improvement and no explanation as to the problem (ie illness etc). The third letter is termination of the plot and at month 4 it is passed to the next person on the waiting list.
Mitigating circumstances are taken into account such as illness or temp disability such as broken leg, but the bottom line is if you don't speak to the committee you risk losing your plot.

On my site they have just started inspections, and are still agreeing the time intervals for improvement.

We have a similar sort of policy laid out where it's 3 strikes and your out but the trouble is it has not been put into practice I know of a few local sites that inspect every month and i like the idea but it will sicken people eventually, it's a tough one.

[mumofstig]

monthly is very hard, you only need a fortnight's holiday and some bad weather and you would be badly behind with the weeding

[Nikkithefoot]

monthly is very hard, you only need a fortnight's holiday and some bad weather and you would be badly behind with the weeding

I agree, it sounds harsher than it actually is. Those that do the inspections can see that the plot is generally worked and providing you are growing things 'normal' weeds are ignored for the purposes of the letters.
Those that will get the 'sort yourself out' letters are the ones that will have the dishevelled plots with nothing growing and lots of big weeds. In reality I think it is probably month 3 before you get the 'sort yourself out' type letter.

[Nige2Plots]

monthly is very hard, you only need a fortnight's holiday and some bad weather and you would be badly behind with the weeding

I agree, it sounds harsher than it actually is. Those that do the inspections can see that the plot is generally worked and providing you are growing things 'normal' weeds are ignored for the purposes of the letters.
Those that will get the 'sort yourself out' letters are the ones that will have the dishevelled plots with nothing growing and lots of big weeds. In reality I think it is probably month 3 before you get the 'sort yourself out' type letter.

Those who do the plot inspections are not monsters you know. We are quite human and we are not allowed to inspect our own Plot(s)

[Yorkie]

We don't have set inspection intervals - with over 150 plots, a full site walk takes well over 2 hours.  Neither do we have specific number of letters before being booted off (sometimes I wish we did, though another local site has letter 1 - then letter 2 only a fortnight later - then termination a fortnight later again  , far too regimented)

[Lee1978]

We don't have set inspection intervals - with over 150 plots, a full site walk takes well over 2 hours.  Neither do we have specific number of letters before being booted off (sometimes I wish we did, though another local site has letter 1 - then letter 2 only a fortnight later - then termination a fortnight later again  , far too regimented)

150 allotments is a lot to inspect, we have 38 on our site and the committee have decided to have all 6 of them do the inspections, which in my opinion is over excessive (3 would be ample). We did devise set criteria that we use to judge how a garden fairs up on inspection because everyone's definition of "cultivating your plot" if different.

[digalotty]

i feel the same as yorkie on this, fair warning and fair judgement should be enough.   if people are just doing enough for inspectios then do they realy want to be there

[Paul Plots]

We have three site inspections a year but on our large site there's often at least one committee member about.

Anyone needing a "bit of advice" is given a few words of encouragement and perhaps a verbal warning if it is considered necessary.

Warning letters can be issued at any time not just as a result of an inspection. A second letter is sent if there is no improvement after a fortnight or if no reason given for a problem plot. After that a third letter goes out giving two weeks for improvement or eviction.

It is rare that someone needs to receive the final letter.... by then they have either sorted out the problem or vanished! 

As well as untidy plots attracting attention, more recently, plots that are unproductive or have too larger an area set aside for picnics / lawns or simply masses of bare earth in the middle of the growing season also receive warnings.

[mumofstig]

We have one plot this year where the bloke turned up mid may, rotovated the plot, planted it up with plug plants, and he's not been seen since............not even to harvest. Needless to say it is full of weeds!
I hope that new people get the chance to clear it before April/May.......such a waste of good digging time otherwise