We are writing to you with regard to the recent situation which has arisen concerning our plot at the Weald allotment site.
You phoned us on Friday 25th February 2011 to explain that there had been a mistake and the plot which was given to us on the 30th October 2010 actually still belonged to someone else. We would like to address the following:
1) contradictory and incomplete information being given to us,
2) what we are being asked to give up,
3) what has been offered to us as compensation,
4) what we would be willing to accept as compensation
5) our general feelings and unhappiness about the situation
1) We have been given all sorts of different information regarding the whole situation, and it raises the question ‘what really is going on?’ As you can imagine, when faced with all different details and sides to the story, we have no idea what is going on and it just seems to create a wall of mistrust between us and you/the council. We are very reasonable and trusting people, and do not have any grudge per se against the council. However, in light of the situation regarding our allotment, we feel like we have been messed around and have the impression that we are being ‘asked to leave quietly’. Whilst we appreciate that you have been friendly and diplomatic, and have apologised, it is frustrating for us to have been given so much conflicting information.
The following points illustrate what we are talking about:
· The previous/current tenant of our plot was apparently in hospital for a long period with a serious illness. If this is true then why has his co-worker, Jacqueline, not visited the plot in over 4 months?
· With regard to the above point, you said that tenants often leave their plots over winter. Even if this is true, wouldn’t someone at least visit their plot at some point during the period of October through to March, which is half a year?
· The previous/current tenant apparently wrote the wrong number down on the form he filled out to say which plot he was willing to give up- if this is the case, then why isn’t one of the four half plots he apparently has/had empty? (We were told by our neighbour that he also used to have the two half plots next door but these are now occupied by her and her sister).
· We were told by a site rep on 5th March that the previous/current tenant had 5 letters sent to him concerning the plot(s). If this is the case, why is he even allowed back on the plots?
· We were told that the previous/current tenant has had solicitors involved, but we were only told that on 5th March.
2) We feel that what we are being asked to give up is not matched by what we are being offered as a recompense.
We were given the plot 293/2 on 30th October 2010, which is when we signed the contract, and we paid one year’s rent for this plot in December 2010. We preceded to spend four months preparing the plot (to meet the requirement of 50% cultivation after three months), which involved a lot of physical, and mental, determination; we not only worked on our plot but also helped our neighbour on 293/1 who has mobility issues.
The plot was not in the worst state possible, but it was nonetheless requiring a lot of attention: the shed was extremely messy and it took two days to tidy it and sort all the items inside it, the back area was full of conifers and other mess, which needed to be sorted and disposed of, the path had to be taken up and replaced as it did not run down the middle of the plots (this took many hours), we had to dig up a fruit tree and replant it as it was right in the middle of where the new path was, the fencing needed redoing, we had to dig lots of the land to make nine new beds, and so on.
We have spent many hours over the four months working hard to get our allotment ready for the spring, and we have also become quite attached to the land, in the way anyone would feel when they have invested a lot of time somewhere.
We were told that anything on the plot when we take it over is ours. There is a shed on plot 293/2 as well as lots of tools and bits inside. There are also lots of bricks, water containers, slabs, fencing etc. Since we are on a low income, this was great to have not only a shed, but tools too and it meant we could crack on and get things moving quickly. How can it be fair to tell us in October “All of these things are yours” to have it all taken away again 5 months later? We could have thrown away much of it since it is all old and rusty (and we are sure a lot of people would have done that), but we are resourceful people and had managed to put almost all of it to good use, including sharing it all with our neighbour who inherited an emptier shed.
3) What we have been offered by way of compensation is the following:
· Another plot, any one that we like out of the available ones shown to us. There are currently two
· Either a year or two years free rent; one year according to you and one or two years according to the site reps, depending on how much work is needed on the plot
· Our new plot will be tidied up and possibly rotivated (though this was not confirmed the second time I (Steph) spoke to you).
Whilst we appreciate this offer we do not feel that it is just compensation.
4) What we would like is some gesture from Brighton and Hove Council which acknowledges what we have talked about above. For example, you could give us the money for a new shed, some tools and some wood to rebuild the beds we have spent 4 months constructing. Effectively giving us around £30 (the cost of rent) and tidying up the new plot does not compensate for our loss. Moreover, in the last three weeks we should have been doing things like chitting potatoes and buying seeds, working more on our plot etc, but instead we are having the stress of not knowing when we can put all that into action and are having to spend time and energy writing to you and deciding what we should do.
As an added note, we were surprised that you did not offer to come and meet us at the allotments yourself, along with the site reps. We would have felt better about the situation had you come in person to discuss everything. Finally, it is amazing to us that although you did apologise on the phone about the situation in general, no-one has actually said “We are so sorry, it is our fault”. Why is it that are you blaming it on the site reps and the site reps are blaming it on you? It would be nice from our point of view if someone stood up and said “It is our fault”.
We hope to resolve the situation as quickly as possible, as I’m certain you do and we look forward to hearing from you. Barry is a member of the Green Party and has links with our local councilor, Alex Phillips. We are sure that she would be interested in our case, so we will contact her immediately if we do not feel you are taking this situation seriously.
Yours sincerely,
**************
GO US!!! x
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