Good news for would be hen keepers and egg producers of the DAVENTRY ALLOTMENTS.
After a barrage of letters of complaints (from myself) to the Daventry Town Council they have decided not to charge plot holders a bond/deposit of £150. RESULT. thanks to all that supported me in this. It took 1/2 a dozen or so letters and 4 1/2 months to achieve.
Great result and also an instructive lesson to others that knowing the law and persistence does pay.
When we moved to our current home many years ago we had a problem with the road along side our land. As we were a little way out of the village the 30mph signs stopped about 400 metres from us and as we lived at the foot of a hill (hence name) traffic passed our door at great speed. Having horses we often needed to take them across the road as well as pull out of our drive.
One day we very nearly had a serious accident when a mad motorist lost control and crashed into the bank just by our house narrowly missing us and in another incident a friend of ours, a village local, was struck a glancing blow while crossing, by a driver speeding on the wrong side of the road. We decided we needed to get active.
We were told by the chairwoman of the parish council that planning law wouldn't allow an extension. We were given all sorts of fiction and half truths to discourage us as her personal agenda was to resist any attempt to extend the village boundaries. She thought extending the speed limit might be an excuse for in fill. We persisted and after several letters and knowing the law and how sensitive the council was about road accidents we succeeded after about 18 months in getting the 30 limit extended and horse warning signs erected too. Much to the surprise of the locals.
I've had some experience of such campaigns in the past and had succeeded in getting the council to add traffic roundabouts pedestrian islands and traffic light changes on a dangerous stretch of road. That took a local publicity campaign supported by local radio interviews and numerous letters badgering authorities including the police before we finally got them to action it.
If you have a good case and the energy and persistence to keep up the pressure you can succeed when local doomsters sit on their hands and say nothing can be done it just takes some determination and the wit to make an effective and incisive representation.
HF