[woodburner]

Mine nearly does but it's been established a while. Persoanlly I prefer rasberries, blackberries from the wild always seem to taste better than cultivated varieties.

Beans grow fast and tall, sweetcorn is another option. Of course this will possibly, (depending on orientation of the site) give her genuine cause for complaint, if it shades her plot but as she complains so much I think this would be a drop in the ocean.

[nellie.b]

I'm so pleased we don't have lottie neighbours What we do have is one moaning garage owner that complains when the kids play near his 'area'. What's he gonna say whan the compost bin goes up behind the garage?

[She'sinthegarden]

Hi Tugster
Even though I'm a newbie and still waiting for my lottie, I've dealt with people like this woman before in other situations. You've done everything you can to be pleasant and it's clear she just likes to moan. One way to stop her once and for all may be to very politely tell her that you can see she's extremely unhappy with your plot and suggest that if she's really so upset, she should make a complaint to the allotment committee. I can't imagine you wouldn't get a fair 'go' if she did complain and I find that calling cantankerous people's bluff tends to take the wind out of their sails. It may well shut her up.
It may be worth checking that she's not best buddies with the committee first, though!

[Tugster]

Thankfully there is no Allotment committee at my allotment as I am afraid she would want to head it.
I think the actions I have taken have finally put an end to her comments, to me atleast. She is now targeting the young girl at the top of my plot. The problem I have is I only have the young girls word that she is now telling her how to live, sleep and take in air!!
She tends to not say anything when I turn up, and I would never say anything to anyone about any problems unless I heard or saw anything with my own eyes and ears. I have instructed the young girl to tell her to voice any opinions direct to me as its my allotment. Though she may be a little to polite to say anything that may upset the woman.
I will wait and I am sure my time will come when polite words can be exchanged between the two of us.  

[She'sinthegarden]

Oh dear. She sounds like a nightmare. Best of luck with that one!!

[Yorkie]

If there's no allotment committee on your site, is it a council-run one then?

If so, and if the lady carries on being a right royal bully, consider having a word with your council allotments person.  There may be a clause in the tenancy about not being a nuisance to your neighbours; or at the very least the officer can have a look at your plot, give it the ok, then write to this lady pointing out it's not her role to act as policeman.

After all, if she's making your life unpleasant, the council has a duty to promote allotmenteering for all - and this includes preventing her bullying you (or the girl sharing your plot) into giving up [I know you're not intending to be put off, but the council don't have to know that].

We have one particular person on our site who is an articulate strong-minded person.  I've had a number of run-ins with her as she has a particular view of who I should allocate new plots to (i.e. her, instead of newbies on the waiting list).  Unfortunately for her, I'm very good at being stubborn when the need is there.  So she tried to use bullying and underhand methods to get someone off a plot and to take it over herself.  The allotments officer is aware of the situation, and is taking steps to protect the 'victim'.

Good luck.

[JimG]

Tugster, sounds to me as if establishing a committee might actually be a good idea.  Yes, there's always the chance that 'power' will go to someone's head and they'll try and cause problems but if they really are in a minority of one, then common sense should prevail (although common sense isn't so common).  

Ever thought of putting yourself forward or, if you're like me, do you visit the allotment to get away from committees and anything else that resembles the 'day job'?

[Yorkie]

Before setting up a committee, you'd have to establish whether the site is self-managed or not; i.e. who currently has the power / authority to issue tenancies and terminate them.

Most self-managed sites will already have a committee / association, otherwise there would be no way to do the managing.  The absence of an existing committee would suggest either it's a council site or a private site (where the owner of the land has full power).

In either of these latter two situations, simply setting up a committee wouldn't necessarily tackle the problem neighbour.  You'd need to decide the role / purpose of having a committee, e.g. it would also need to have the authority to issue and terminate tenancies.  

Our committee has no role in this, as the responsibility is with the council officer about action to be taken on individual plots.  I, as site secretary, can only make recommendations.

I must say that it makes my life a lot easier than if the committee and I had the responsibility.  Our officer has the detachment to take a wider view, ensuring consistency of approach, fairness to all, and preventing personalities taking over.  It also provides a buffer for me against disgruntled tenants.

Self-managed sites can work really well; one of our local sites runs like this, and the council doesn't have the final authority.  It's a heck of a lot of work; personality problems where they exist are of more significance; but the satisfaction of having some control balance this out.

[Tugster]

Any problems have to be delt with direct with the council. I agree that it may be of benifit to all allotment holders to have a commitee. There are a strong feeling against the plot holders that year on year pay there charges, but never touch there plots. There is at least 3 plots that are used this way. Seems daft if there are people on a waiting list but the council don't seem interested providing they get there money.

[Yorkie]

Hi Tugster,

Do your tenancies state that you must keep the plot cultivated, or must not allow weeds to grow, etc etc?  If so, then those tenants are technically in breach of their tenancies.

Is there a waiting list for your site?  The council has a statutory duty to provide enough allotments for those who want one.  You can argue that part of that duty is to manage the sites effectively - which includes booting off those people who are not gardening, in order to provide a plot for those who do want to garden.

It does strike me that a letter from a committee asking the council allotments officer what he/she is going to do about these breaches, would have more clout than a letter from an individual person.  In the meantime, if a number of other tenants on your site feel the same way, why don't you all sign a letter to the officer?

The Allotments regeration initiative website has lots of useful documents for new committees etc.  

Another thought - if you continue to get more stonewalling from your council allotments officer, why not copy in your local councillors?

[Tugster]

The council are fully aware of the situation regarding the dorment plots. The last conversation I had with the woman who deals with the allotments for the council. I was told that letters had gone out to the people that had done nothing with there plots, and the letter stated that they would lose there allotment if they either did not respond to the letter or did nothing with there plots.
After talking to seasoned plot holders regarding this. I was informed that this was done every year and still the plots lay untouched.
The last I heard there was a 3 year waiting list for a plot in Stamford.

[JudyAnn]

I feel so blessed that I can grow in my own backyard and don't have to deal with anyone concerning what I do.  Well, except the husband when he groans about something else to mow around.........!!

[Yorkie]

Tugster,  I'd give it a month from the sending of the letters, see whether any improvement has been made to the plots, then (assuming it's not satisfactory) contact the council to ask what they are doing about following up their initial letters.

Basically, if you (and / or others) feel strongly about this (and there's no reason why you shouldn't), keep on at them until you see some real response.  If a single letter is sent annually with no further action, that's clearly inadequate.  

Perhaps ask the council what its policy actually is for escalating action.  Is a time deadline for improvement stated in the initial letter?  If not, why not?  Do they actually have follow-up letters?  What does it take before one of these is sent?  

Also, ask whether they have a 'three strikes and you're out' policy, whereby a person who consistently gets low-level initial warning letters but never really gets their act together, finally gets their tenancy terminated (we don't have this policy in York but some areas do).

Perhaps offer to make an appointment with the council officer to look round the sites in person.  

If you get stonewalled, don't forget the Freedom of Information Act.  You're entitled to ask about these policies, also for details of the letters sent on these plots and responses to those letters (duly sanitised to remove people's personal details).

Feel free to PM me if you'd rather discuss this off forum.

[Tugster]

Thanks for all the advise Yorkie. The council sent the letters a few weeks ago, so I will be watching the progress or lack of. You can be assured that I will be onto the council again and again. Even if everyone else thinks its a waste of time.
Maybe I should run for allotment manager

[Tugster]

This is todays work for all to see.
Lets see who will be moaning about the stones tomorrow when I am down for the day.