[Liam Clarke]

Hi everyone!
I'm asking this on behalf of my in-laws, they got a really run down allotment at the back end of last summer, there were huge piles of fly tipping in it, tyres, asbestos fridges etc. We all chipped in and cut the grass down to a manageable size and made a start on things. Then winter hit and then another lockdown...about 16 days ago my father in law received a letter warning that the allotment wasn't upto standards even though they have put up a shed and fences, removed some of the rubbish but not all yet, and made a substantial cultivation area. Due to working full time they have still not removed all the rubbish as they are struggling to find someone to remove the tyres and asbestos. Today they got a letter saying they have 7 days to vacate the allotment even tho they have done more work on it since getting the first letter, the phone number attatched to the letter never gets answered to query this.
Does anyone have any advice as what if anything they could do about this as they don't want to give it up and considering the state it was in when they got it they have made it a lot better.

Thanks.

[New shoot]

Is it a council run allotment or a private one?

Our council are not great at answering phones either at the moment as a lot of them are working from home.  They will however have a customer care policy that says they should answer the phone.  This is a link to a page from our council’s website, but yours should have something similar if you click the Contact Us link at the base of their home page. 

https://www.reading.gov.uk/council/contact-us/

Scroll down a bit and it has a make a complaint on-line link highlighted in blue.  If you use this, they will respond with an automated response, but should also pass it on quickly to the department you need to speak to.

Second thing is that a lot of standard letters are getting sent because people are not in the office to press buttons.  We are getting final demand notices every month for rent money on the business premises we rent from our council even though it goes out by standing order and has done for years.  Any queries are dealt with by a ‘oh just ignore those’ 

Get an email off to them as soon as you can, with pictures of progress made if possible.   If there is asbestos, they should remove that for you in any case and probably the tyres as well.  You need to read the tenancy agreement for that, but ask anyway and explain why it is still there.   It may take more than 7 days to get a reply, but it does not mean your in-laws have lost it for good.  Register your appeal within that period and keep in touch with the council over it.

Good luck with it all 

[Liam Clarke]

It's council run. I've composed an email for my father in law to send to them. Hopefully they will take the issues I've mentioned into consideration. Thanks for the advice!

[Christine]

If it comes to asbestos the landlord, whether council or private, should be told to get it moved. Our council moves asbestos at their own cost.

[The bunny]

Hello   I feel sorry for you. It breaks my heart that people treat agricultural land in this way. You hired a plot to grow on and not a rubbish tip. I would advise anyone who takes over a plot to photograph it before any work starts.  This is what would happen if you were taking the tenancy on a home. No one would expect to move into a hoarders mess and be told clear this up or else.... The council here are clearly not keeping watch on the allotments, what is dumped and by whom.  If this is the case there will be other examples of disrespect  on plots.  Equal mismanagement of plots by tenant and council.