[debs1963]

Hi can anybody please help my dad wants a few hens on his allotment ..the council dont object but allotment association say he cant ? Thankyou

[Yorkie]

Welcome to the site 

As long as the hens are not causing a statutory nuisance (smells, vermin) then he is legally entitled to keep hens on his allotment.

This is in section 12 of the Allotments Act 1950:
Abolition of contractual restrictions on keeping hens and rabbits.
(1)Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary in any lease or tenancy or in any covenant, contract or undertaking relating to the use to be made of any land, it shall be lawful for the occupier of any land to keep, otherwise than by way of trade or business, hens or rabbits in any place on the land and to erect or place and maintain such buildings or structures on the land as reasonably necessary for that purpose:
Provided that nothing in this subsection shall authorise any hens or rabbits to be kept in such a place or in such a manner as to be prejudicial to health or a nuisance or affect the operation of any enactment.

On what grounds does the association say he can't have them, and is it a council site? - what role does the association have in deciding this?

[debs1963]

Hi and thankyou for replying..my dad isnt sure of the rules and laws it is a council site..the allotment association say it is in their rules and he cant have them and is now reluctant to get them for worry of loosing his allotment

[Yorkie]

Hmm, I guess it must be a self-managed site then?  We are a council site and the council issues the tenancies etc.  The association has no role at all in that side of things.

There's nothing stopping him asking them, in writing, for their explanation for their decision to include the ban in the rules, given that the law specifically permits this - and any tenancy cannot override the law.

So it's an enquiry rather than a challenge at this point? 

If it really is a council site then a complaint to the council that the association is making unlawful decisions on its behalf could be down the line.

[upert]

There's probably several reasons the committee don't want people to keep chickens on allotments - maybe someone just doesn't like chickens. I've kept chickens on my allotment for five years now yet last night people broke in and set a dog or something on mine and killed the lot, so they'll never be 100% safe.

[Sassy]

That's just too appalling for words. I'm so very sorry. These people are just mindless idiots and I am being polite!

[snowdrops]

That really is dreadful Upert, so very sorry for them & you, have you informed the police?

[upert]

I will inform the police but what good it will do I don't know. It's odd getting used to life without fowl; I've grown masses of veg for them which I'll have to pull or give away.

[nerdle]

I'd worry about my hens too much on an allotment.

[Sassy]

I will inform the police but what good it will do I don't know. It's odd getting used to life without fowl; I've grown masses of veg for them which I'll have to pull or give away.

Do inform the the police. It does not mean they will find the culprits of course, but it does mean they can build up a picture of what's happening in an area and may result in a greater police presence.