Threatened with eviction. Advice pls

[Arcadian]

My elderly father, who has been an allotment holder for many years, received the following letter recently:

"Dear Mr ....
Following a recent site inspection. it has come to my attention that you have installed a fence on the boundary hedge line of ..... Rd and the allotments., thereby opening up this land onto the rear of your allotment. I must inform you that the fence structure that is installed is not permitted [1] and is currently unsecured causing a health and safety hazard to members of the public using the footpath. On my site visit today the fence had fallen down and was obstructing the footpath[2]. It is also noted that you are using this area of land immediately at the rear of the fence for storing a vehicle trailer. You have no right of access from the land off .... Road onto the allotments [3] and you are requested to move the trailer and fence within 14 days of this letter. Failure to do so will result in the tenancy agreement for this plot being terminated as this contravenes your tenancy agreement."[4]

[1] My father did erect a fence some 5 years ago - with permission from the Council Allotment Officer. The fence was erected along the line of, and to replace, a natural hedge that had been cleared by the council. The absence of any boundary led to the allotments being used as a 'rat-run' by nearby residents, vandalism, fly tipping and dog's mess being left on the allotments. My father only erected the fence himself after the council refused to do anything about it, and with their permission. The permission was verbal, but I am confident that the person concerned would supply written confirmation of the fact if asked.
[2] The fence was recently pulled down by vandals (again!) and my father has not yet had the opportunity to mend it, owing to the recent bad weather. He is happy to do so. The fence is some 10 feet from the public footpath and is not causing an obstruction
[3] It is incorrect that there is no access to the allotments from .... Road. Indeed that is the only access point. A trailer is necessary because the council provide no amenities on the site whatsoever. No secure boundary or gate, no water, sheds or formal vehicular access anywhere. Just the bare earth. In fact the site is next to a housing development, and was used by the developers to dump their rubble. So a trailer is essential to remove the tons of stones from the plot, and to bring water, manure compost, etc to the site in order to cultivate it properly.
[4]There is NOTHING in his tenancy agreement that says he cannot keep a trailer. The letter does not mention which article of the agreement he is alleged to have contravened.

This letter comes in the context of several similar such threatening letters to other allotment holders. It seems the council is using bully-boy tactics against existing allotment holders as a substitute for abiding by their statutory obligation to provide additional 'sufficient' allotments for the growing population. (There is currently a 2-year+ waiting list).

I have received informal legal advice that the letter is 'nonsense', 'unreasonable' and that it can be safely 'ignored'.  I was advised that the council must seek a possession order under S.146 of the Law of Property Act 1925 show proper cause and lawful authority. Any such action should be vigorously defended.

I am uneasy about advising my father to ignore the letter. He is understandably most distressed and worried. I propose to seek a meeting with the council to clarify the situation, but I would be most grateful for any help and advice from the good people here.

Thanks in advance..

Arcadian

[Arcadian]

[miniroots]

This sounds like very bad management on the part of the council -   It could be that a new person has come in charge of inspections etc. and they are, shall we say "finding their feet"!  To put it kindly.

I recommend getting in touch with the National Society of Allotment and Leisure Gardeners, they have a legal team who have intervened in many cases of allotment sites being targeted inappropriately by councils - I don't know if they would insist on your father becoming a member, but it's not expensive, and his site may already have group membership which would allow him to use their services.

I think you're right not to ignore it - and if the site is being targeted as you think it could worth everyone getting together and going through the NSALG jointly.

The council may well back off very quickly.

Hope this helps

Sophie

[Old bird]

Reading a bit between the lines - it sounds to me as if they are not liking the fact that the trailer is left?parked there. Has there always been an access there or is it a "developed access" by which I mean did your father make the access for his trailer etc. 

i can see where you are coming from re the fence - but you do say that it has been vandalised and so is possibly causing potential insurance claims on the pathway behind?  And if it were "mended" would they have noticed - probably not.

I would try to speak to whoever it is wrote the notice/letter.  They have to put their letters containing the correct "legal jargon" as if they didn't it may cause problems when and if they did have to evict a tenant.

I don't think it is as bad a situation - as it originally sounded.  I reckon it is a case of talking to the right people etc. 

I hope your father does keep his plot etc.  I am sure that he meant no harm - it is probably just a case of someone who doesn't understand the situation - and with careful explanation could be - sorted quite simply!

Good luck with it anyway!

Old Bird

[Arcadian]

Thank you both for you replies.

@Miniroots: I think you're right that this person is new to the job. Re: NSALG - actually it was them that I spoke to. The advice was brief and informal but pretty strong that this letter has no basis in law. Our local Assoc. isn't a member of NSALG (i'll propose it to the secretary) and unfortunately they wont accept membership while a dispute is ongoing (Hopefully we can forestall this incident before it escalates into a full legal dispute!), but it is a good idea to join for the future.

@ Old Bird: You are correct that the access is a 'developed access'. My father's plot is a corner plot of the allotment site (bordering a residential property and the road/pavement). There used to be a natural hedge (actually just masses of brambles) that nevertheless provided a modicum of protection between the road/pavement and the site. Some years ago the council cleared this, leaving a large (15') opening onto the road, and exposing the site to repeated trespass, theft, vandalism and drug-taking, dog-fouling, fly-tipping etc.

After the council failed to do anything despite repeated requests, my father received permission to erect a neat picket fence there. He made one small section of it removable (invisible to the casual observer) so that he could manually wheel his trailer onto his allotment periodically to remove the rubble that had been left there by developers. He does leave his trailer there sometimes, but it is invisible, on the 'dead' area to the side of his plot by the boundary fence, and not encroaching on other plots or the street/pavement.

It is essential for people to have some sort of vehicular access to the site (to get rotovators etc to an fro), but at present there is no formal access whatsoever. There is no question of us trying to 'develop' the access into full vehicular access for ourselves or others,  - simply to be allowed to wheel the trailer on and off the site from the adjoining road occasionally, as and when needed.

In fact there is barely any proper fencing around 3 sides of the site - and what there is, is constantly being vandalised, and which my old man (86 and still going strong) takes upon himself to fix every time at his own expense, with no help or support from the council.

Bearing in mind that there is no provision in his agreement that mentions anything about being not allowed to keep equipment - including a small trailer - on the site, I'm wondering if we would be on strong grounds to keep it there and disregard the request to remove it, as advised by NSALG.

Obviously I don't want to get all legal, and I would hope that the matter can be resolved amicably, but I suspect that may not be possible. Equally, I want to ensure that my father is aware of his rights and is not threatened into doing something that he is not obliged to do.

There was a mention elsewhere on this forum of site security. Someone mentioned that the local authorities have a statutory duty under the Crime & Disorder Act 1998 to prevent crime/disorder and are responsible for implementing strategies to do so.

So what I am thinking is that the council's failure to properly secure the site could be seen as a potential breach of this statutory duty. There have already been numerous incidents or crime and disorder at the site, that have been reported to the police and council (they even had a PCSO patrol the area and stakeout!). Instead of asking my father to remove the fence, and threatening my father with eviction for not doing so, they should instead be thanking him for doing what the council should have done. I am of a mind to take a strong line with the council (in the event that amicable negotiation fails)

Any thoughts?

[Old bird]

Well at a stretch you could call the trailer - a large wheelbarrow used for delivering manure compost rotovators.  I think it would help your case if it was parked up somewhere else for a short time so that it wasn't "permanently" there!

You will probably find that someone else has "moaned" about him keeping his trailer there.  I would think that if you helped him but back a fence of sorts (similar to what was there before but without the brambles) that the status quo could be reached again and nothing more should be said.

I don't have vehicular access to my plot but do understand that it certainly is "extremely useful".

As you say it would be a shame at his age to be "evicted"

I would try talking to the guy who wrote the letter explaining what your Dad has done to improve the fencing/security etc.  I would think that if it was explained in a calm way - they would give way!  I wish you luck!

O B

[Unwashed]

The NSALG advice is spot on.  For the council to be granted a possession order by the County Court they would need to have served notice under S.146 specifying what clause of the tenancy agreement had been breached, and they haven't done that very convincingly.

Don't waste any time.  Ask them to explain:

Dear Council Officer
  I am not aware of anything in my tenancy agreement to prevent me from erecting a fence on my allotment or keeping the trailer on my allotment that I use to cart dung.  I would be obliged if you would explain how you believe otherwise.

Let us know how they respond.

[emmy1978]

There is no question of us trying to 'develop' the access into full vehicular access for ourselves or others - simply to be allowed to wheel the trailer on and off the site from the adjoining road occasionally, as and when needed.

Sometimes, I think, where the hell are we living? How is this not ok?
Try telling a French guy he's not allowed to pootle onto the plot with his trailer because the council said so.  :(

Any thoughts?

Yes. Councils are tossers. And this is a cheap paperwork clearing exercise. Get the waiting list down by evicting current tenants who have been left to it for years.  >:(

There are some really knowledgeable peeps on here (Unwashed!) I hope you get the advice and support you need. Keep us posted. I swear me and Jeannine are gonna have to get on that bus! Power to the People.

[1066]

Arcadian - sorry to hear of your dad's problems with the council. I'm no expert on the legal side of things so can't really help there, but have you thought about contacting your Councillor, they can be a good start in things like this?

Wish you and your dad success

[Columbus]

Hi Arcadian,

Its always useful to take photos as supporting evidence of vandalism, current state of plot, also take  pics of drug paraphernalia, dog mess etc

I have a chain link fence running the whole length of my number one plot to prevent casual browsing.  :P

Best of luck, Col

[Arcadian]

Update:

This morning my father and I had a meeting with the Gauleiter for Allotments. It quickly became clear that the meeting was intended to be an ambush, and we were confronted with photographs of the offending trailer on my father's allotment. She had obviously been snooping, camera in hand, (no doubt with the full force of grim RIPA legislation to back her). None of which changed the fact that all the photos showed was the trailer on his allotment, which he is perfectly entitled to do. She was unable to point to any clause in the agreement which had in fact been breeched.

Further probing revealed the 'real' issue - that my father had allegedly been 'trespassing on private land' by occasionally wheeling his little trailer over a narrow ransom strip (all of 5' wide) between the road and the allotment.  Of course she couldn't prove this (and she was unable to appreciate the fact that photos of the trailer on the allotment does not constitute proof of how it got there). In any event, if it was an issue at all, it was an issue that the council themselves helped to create by closing off the original and legal access further up the road.

I must say I was quite shocked at the woman's contemptuous and officious attitude - sitting back with arms folded and sneering, while throwing 'evidence' across the table at my father, and I'm afraid I became quite sharp with her.

Fortunately, we had asked our local councillor to be present, and he had seen and heard quite enough by this point and asked her to leave the room. From that point on, we were thankfully able to make some progress. The council have agreed to properly fence off the allotments, closing the 'developed' access, but replacing it with a proper access in its original place. Until then, my father can continue to gain access as he had been doing. They will also investigate installing water at the site (as there used to be). Basically, everything we had been asking for for a long time.

So, eventually, a result!

But this little, trivial experience has left a pretty nasty taste in the mouth at how some petty officials behave, given half the chance. I suspect this might become increasingly common where allotments are concerned, so I will be filling in our application for NSALG pronto!

Many thanks for all the advice and support.
Happy gardening,

Arcadian

[grandad]

Hi Arcadion its great news and it makes a change to hear good news instead of the stories we read. I dont think that the majority of people put in charge of running the day to day duties on allotments intend to turn into monsters but something happens after a while.

[Old bird]

That is brilliant news - and you get all the plusses of the fence being a good one and the access plus the water.  So all told you have done a good job!!

I was always hopeful of the fact that speaking to the people - and what a brilliant idea of taking a councillor with you -  sounds like he sorted out the woman who was giving you grief - and you achieved loads.

Well done.

I hope your Dad enjoys many more years of gardening there!

Best wishes

Old Bird

[1066]

Result! well done you and your dad for not being bullied

Happy gardening
1066

[Digeroo]

Sounds like a good thing you took your local councillor along as a witness.  With support your father has a good outcome.  But what would have been the situation for the guy trying to sort things on his own?

[Unwashed]

That's a result, well done, and well done the sensible local councillor, you don't find many of them.

[Jeanbean]

So pleased it all turned out for the best with a few extras thrown in for good measure. Best wishes to your dad for many more years of happy lottying JB

[cornykev]

Nice result Arc, I'd would have followed the old bag home and kicked her arse every other step of the way, jumped up mare.  >:(
;D ;D ;D