Allotments No 3 - Quality of the "Tenancy" (Update 1 - 2 December 2011)

As I see it an Agreement to let an allotment and the undertaking to cultivate is a contractual arrangement between the owner of the ground, eg parish council, and the occupier, eg local resident - there may be an intermediary, such as a allotment society, that will be the "tenant".  [Please note: What follows does not necessarily reflect any requirements of the Acts and secondary legislation which govern allotments practice. Also, it may not be comprehensive enough to suit particular circumstances.] 

On the face of it the terms and conditions are usually quite simple, and may be in:

1. the individual Agreement between the ground owner and the occupier; or 
2. the Constitution of the Allotment Society. [Please see a later post(yet to be posted)]. 

They will usually cover such matters as:

• the duration of the agreement in time - it is likely to be for at least a year, ie it reflects the year's a) ground preparation,  b) growing season; c) harvesting period; and  d) the ground's recovery;
• quality of gardening or husbandary, in terms of  a)  keeping the soil in "good heart" with manure; b) condition and state of the balks and cultivated areas;
• the payment of rent for the allotment or land (in aggregate), being annual, quarterly or whatever, etc;
• a service charge for any incidentals, such as a) water charges, b)  petrol for mowers and strimmers (held by the allotment holders as a group),  c) one off repairs,   d) insurances, if any, and e) secretarial consummables, eg postage, notices etc ; 
• a sinking or renewals fund for replacements of  a) boundary markers such as fences and gates,  b) water delivery systems; c) mowers and strimmers and the like, 
• rules and conditions about the likes of  a) tidiness of the plot, balks, and boundary markers, b) control of weeds, c) control of children on the site, d) control of dogs and other pets on site, e) lighting of bonfires;
• procedure for consents for sizes, positioning, etc of the likes of a) sheds, b)  glass houses, c) compost bins
• procedure for notice by the occupier of an intention to give up possession, eg three months; 
• procedure for notice to quit, in the event of an occupier's infringement of the terms and conditions of the agreement or a misdemeanour;
• a complaints procedure, covering a) complaint to named officer of the society/ ground owner; b) further complaint to an independent third party.

If the allotment society (tenant of say, the parish council wants to seek a grant from a charity or other local authority (district council, say) they will normally find that an application form will need to be accompanied by a copy of the constitution. Also, some grant awarding bodies may require sight of the following:

• a copy of the society's equality or equal opportunities policy; and,
• a copy of the society's health and safety policy.