Kitchen Garden Forum

Our local Council has agreed to our site having 5 plots set aside for biodiversity purposes. This is accepted by the membership and reflects previous activities allowed on the site during the bad old days when nobody wanted allotment.
We have one plot that nobody disputes, and another two that are actively managed as native woodland by a really nice guy who knows what he is doing.
We also have a pond covering a fourth plot, next to which are three overgrown plots that could be let out tomorrow if we were allowed to do so. However, one of the committee membership, who considered themselves to be "in charge" (for historical reasons, although not according to our constitution), went ahead and had a management plan drawn up by our local wildlife trust, who went to a great deal of trouble to do this and clearly spent money. This encompasses the Pond and the three plots next to it, which would have some fruit trees planted on them.
The membership was never properly consulted about the management plan and certainly never voted on it. If adopted, it would leave us not with five biodiversity plots, but with 7, which is not what has been agreed. Clearly, by designating it an orchard, there could be arguments either way.
We have an AGM forthcoming in April, where this would need to be debated. But what would you do?

Afternoon Barry, i think if five plots were the decision, then five plots it should be. One person cannot take it upon themselves to go ahead with decisions like that.

I think no more action should take place until the A.G.M.

If the decision for the extra two plots wasn't made in line with your constitution then it is invalid isn't it?

The problem we have is that there is a small, but extremely vocal biodiversity minority that keeps pushing for these areas to be created. Although the majority aren't interested, we do need to come to some sort of peaceful arrangement or risk civil war breaking out.
The wildlife trust man did A LOT of work on planning out this area.
I'd feel somewhat guilty if that were all in vain.

Then in a way you have answered your own question really - looks like you will have 7 biodiversity plots. You'll have to pass the decision in retrospect.

I have personal experience of civil war on a site and it isn't pleasant but from what others have told me it's not exactly an uncommon event. If you have a vocal minority who is at odds with the majority I guess at some time it will happen even if you put it off for a while now.

one of the committee membership, who considered themselves to be "in charge" (for historical reasons, although not according to our constitution)

How is your committee elected? Is it one of those committees where nobody else can be bothered to stand so the same group of people goes through on the nod at every AGM? Does anyone have the energy to lobby a bit of support and stand against them?

I'm not an allotment holder so don't really understand the situation. You don't say how many plots there are altogether or if you have a strong waiting list. If it is a large site with a strong waiting list I feel you have to play the long game, get a sympathetic committee elected of real gardeners and get rid of the eco warrior nutters - in my view there is no place for good plots to be wild. If there is marginal land like a steep slope or a boggy area within a site fair enough but otherwise allotments are for cultivation.

This is a difficult site. For years it was run into the ground because nobody did anything to get new members in and stop the decline. One person on the committee with only environmental interests stuck around for years and became part of a new Association that was formed when new blood began pouring into the site. The main conflict we have is that the established plot holders treated the site like their own private club and were not particularly interested in seeing all the remaining plots turned back to cultivation. The four plots in question are good quality ones, but currently horribly overgrown, like the entire site was two years ago. Two of them belong to the abovementioned person, the other two have been left as they are, but could be given away a dozen times over. The biodiversity/orchard development would cover all four.

I think you'll find lots of sites have similar problems to yours Barry. Ours was let go for ages but some - not all as we are long standing holders - just didn't like things to change. They can't understand that how a fully occupied site operates has to be different from one that is semi derelict. They want to operate as they see fit and not for the general good.

My only suggestion, Barry, is to ask for an Extraordinary General Meeting on the grounds that a decision has been made to change the purpose of 2 plots and thus [a] the Association might be in breach of its commitment to the Council to grow vegetables on those plots and [b] it stands to lose revenue by not letting out those 2 extra plots. If the decision of such a meeting is to accept the new arrangements, subject to the Council's approval, then well and good. The point is that the decision will not have been made by Mr I'mincharge on his own and he will have been shown the need to conform to the rules and/or seek approval for his actions. I get the impression that you would not like the wildlife trusts's planning to be in vain, so I think such a meeting with some proper discussion ending in an approval vote will be the best outcome for you all and ther best way of avoiding acrimony between people on the allotments.

I always find it very annoying what bullies and dictators seem to be able to get away with.

It doesn't help when your council turn a blind eye - for the sake of a easy life either! Our site is council run and I sometimes (well often) think they wish allotments would just go away!

Yes, our local council is of a similar mindset. It forces all sites to self-manage. Unfortunately, often without putting any legal framework document in place outlining rights and responsibilities. The result is that some of the people who run them do exactly what they like, irrespective of what the law says! Self-managed doesn't mean that. The 1908 act allows councils to devolve management responsibility, but that, and subsequent legislation, spells out what you can and cannot do with an allotment. In this respect, many of us in this part of the world have become virtual lawyers, pointing out at AGMs and such that, while the membership might think they can vote in one thing or another, the law will often say they can't. Biodiversity plots are a case in point. Strictly speaking, with a waiting list, all plots have to be used as per the 1922 definition (grow fruit and veg for the family) and anything turned over to other activities simply has to go back. In our case, several plots are simply overgrown; try getting some people to understand that those have to be let out to people who want to grow fruit and veg and the local eco-warriors get involved. All very sad, really, and makes my life impossible.

We had a close shave - one of our councillors wanted us to be the first self managed site in our authority. If we became self managed the council promised all sorts of improved facilities including most importantly increased security. We were in preliminary talks when everything went pear shaped. Basically we wanted the council to get the site on an even keel before we considered the option which meant having to be clear of what was acceptable and not. The council promised to sort out any issues that were controversial but in so doing ended up making matters worse. This lead to the committee being subjected to abuse etc. This happened a year ago and some individuals still hold grudges.

As you can imagine self management never took off and boy are we glad it didn't!

And people do hold grudges; it doesn't matter how wrong they are or were, they hated being told that!
Similar situation with us. Our allotment site was in an awful mess and it would have cost maybe £2,000 to put it all right, but there is no allotment budget, so we had to clear it all ourselves using community service. Had the council stepped in right away and put in parameters as to what could and couldn't be done, life would have been simpler and I wouldn't have lost quite so many nights sleep!!!!