Two new notices have appeared on the site noticeboard:
So it appears there will be eight inspections this summer. As the first notice makes clear, this is at the behest of FEDEGA (Edinburgh and District Allotments and Gardens Association. Every Edinburgh allotment holder pays an annual subscription of £2:50. In return FEDAGA runs the annual vegetable and flower show. They also propose more inspections and came up with a scheme for "ramping up" the allotment rents to £100 per annum.
Who's side are the committee on? It's like the AA arguing for more speed traps and higher road tax!!!
I will be withdrawing my subscription next year. Although that may be hard as the Council collect it together with the rental. Spot the connection?
Tangled bureaucracy You have them. Fun Times. :)
ReplyDeleteOooh, that's harsh. And £100 per year, that's wicked, we only pay £17.50 and that was with a 50p rise, which some objected to! Sounds like they have got you by the proverbial short and curlies.
ReplyDeleteCrikey sometimes the world goes inspection mad. I thought our rents were bad but yours tops ours.
ReplyDeleteHow do they define cultivated? Are you allowed paths or are they non cultivated areas? Is a compost area cultivated or not?
ReplyDeleteIt seems to me our Council are trying to get around the waiting list by only offering half plots to new tenants. Why stop there - what about tiny two metre square plots say then they could get rid of the waiting list at a stroke. I reckon only about 50% of new tenants stick it long term. The idea of fresh vegetables from the allotment is a wonderful ideal unfortunately it can't be achieved with a couple of visits a year and some hard work!
This is certainly something tough to live up to...especially with the strange weather we are having this year. It will be interesting to find out if people will actually get chucked off. After all if long term plot holders can't live up to these standards how on earth do they expect new people to mange it???
ReplyDeleteWow..that's an awful lot of inspecting and also a very high expectation. I wonder how well new people would fair with that sort of criteria if people who have had a lot of allotment experience struggle...especially with the current weather situation.
ReplyDeleteSounds like your Federation are trying to justify their existence. Ours have just taken our towns sites self managed, with lower Fed subscription and currently no cultivation rules.
ReplyDeleteGoodness me - that's a bit over the top isn't it. As there is a waiting list of so many how many do they think they will be getting rid of - and by putting the rent up so high I expect they think that will get rid of a few more. Bureaucracy gone mad!
ReplyDeleteFascists.
ReplyDeleteI keep praying that the current allotment craze will die down. It's been an unmitigated disaster for allotmenteers – as demand goes up, so have rents and prices. This nonsense is another symptom.
I enjoyed it when I was one of only 10 blokes on a huge, overgrown allotment site. Nobody fucked with us, or threatened us, or inspected us, or rebuked us. Plus you could have a crafty pee in the brambles if you got caught short.
•Wistful sigh*
Mal,you need to get a grip... What other hobby would cost £2 per week? It's not unreasonable to ask plot holders to keep their plots cultivated, especially with such a large waiting list. Cultivation includes weeding bare earth (ie not allowing your weeds and their seeds to annoy your neighbours). If a full plot is too much for someone to manage then the Council will gladly re let half to one of the desperate 2,600. The Inspection (and Termination) Procedures were introduced in 2009 and allow for a monthly inspection of all sites.
ReplyDeleteUse it or lose it (and yes plot holders are being evicted). Take a look around other sites (I know Lady Road is not typical being so well managed) and you'll see absenteeism on a sizeable scale, very galling for all of those who've been waiting years for a plot :( And good luck with withholding your FEDAGA fees from your rent.
PS It is unlikely the Allotment Officer will get around inspecting all of the plots on all of the sites in the South in one day (around 350 plots altogether) which is probably the reason for the second date in some months.
ReplyDeleteThanks everyone for reassuring me that I am not going mad!
ReplyDeleteAnon - When did the current allotment holders become responsible for the Council failing to meet their statutory responsibility to provide allotments to meet the demand? There has been a several year waiting list for decades. Now they are cynically manipulating the supply demand equation by
1. Bumping up the rent
2. Introducing new requirements (like the 75% rule and multiple inspections)
3. Halving plots at every occasion
The shame on FEDEGA is that they have failed to stand up for their (fee paying)members and give the appearance of being in the Council's pocket.
Yes, we were rather taken aback at the tempo of inspections when we saw the notice at our site. We did wonder how the Allotments Officer could get round the sites set for each day. There'll be a big increase in letters to plotholders telling them to improve their plot - let's hope they're being sent out electronically where possible and not using up several branches of a tree.
ReplyDeleteHave all the people on the waiting list been informed of the cultivation requirements & rent prices they will have to abide by if they get a plot? If they were I bet it would cut the list down somewhat. Sounds like more money in the council coffers with no thought towards genuine gardeners to me. Your inspections & rent prices are well out of order.
ReplyDeletethanks. That looks quite retro.
ReplyDelete