Advice please on eviction from self-managed, council owned site

[Frankie]

Please can anyone here advise me on evictions. I have been in touch with the NAS but they are not much use frankly.

To cut a long story short, I complained in an email about my allotment committee after they spectacularly mishandled some works that had to be carried out on our site, during which my plot was entered illegally and damaged. I addressed the email to members of the committee, and council members who had also been involved in the dispute, and described the committee as dishonest and incompetent. I have evidence for both statements. I have not published my comments elsewhere, or otherwise publicised them. The committee instructed a solicitor to write to me demanding an apology and accusing me of defamation. I replied citing my evidence for my comments. Now however the committee have decided to pursue this through legal action, and they agreed at their meeting to increase plot rents in order to pay the legal fees. Well, it's up to them, I don't think they've got a case, but it's not in my view an acceptable way of using association subs.

In addition to this, the committee voted to expel me from the society. Now they cannot do this under the usual rules i.e. non-cultivation etc. It is entirely spitefully motivated as it will achieve nothing other than satisfaction for them. In their rule book it states that:

"A special general meeting may, by a vote of two thirds of the members present and entitled to vote, expel any member for conduct detrimental to the society, provided that a notice specifying the conduct for which it is intended to expel him is sent to him at his address entered in the register of members at least one calendar month prior to the date of the meeting."

There is nothing to say what evidence must be brought, what right of appeal I have, etc. But what I'm wondering is, does allotment law trump this rule book? Needless to say, I don't have funds for a solicitor. And I've no doubt they may well read this, but too bad.

Any advice/similar experience?

[Frankie]

[johhnyco15]

dont give up go to the local paper your mp your ward councilor this does seem wrong to me however cant really pass commit without out knowing both sides saying that you do have rights go to these people mentioned above and you have citizens advice please let me know how you get on

[Frankie]

Thanks johhnyco15, I am not giving up and will let you know what develops.

[Digeroo]

There have been a number of cases over the years where people have fallen out with the committee and posted on A4A.  I would say this normally does not end well.

[johhnyco15]

one of my mates says if you have legal cover on your car insurance you can use that for anything legal not sure how true that is however its worth a phone call

[Frankie]

Thanks johhnyco15, unfortunately I'm not covered through my car but there might be a possibility through work that I'm looking into. I've been in touch with two councillors so we'll see where that leads.

[woodypecks]

 This is so sad !  They must go back to the beginning of all this and remember the reason why it all started !
The poor allotmenteer who said and I quote ...   " works that had to be carried out on our site, during which my plot was entered illegally and damaged works that had to be carried out on our site, during which my plot was entered illegally and damaged "
  Well I for one would also be very upset if that happened to me ..and it sounds like he is being treated very unfairly  !
I,m so sorry for you Frankie and I hope someone on here can give you some good advice . Debs

[nodig]

..." does allotment law trump this rule book"....my experience is that the rule book will only be followed if it backs up what the committee want to do.  If the rule book doesn't allow the committee to act in a particular way, they still will and there is no regulating body to enforce compliance with the rules.  Allotment law looks strong, but who is prepared to spend £10,000 in a court of law to fight for a small plot of land.  You could try threatening them claiming damages if they take your allotment away without justification.  The small claims court would be the best route.

[nodig]

The council will say that they have no duty to get involved in the management decisions of the association, but have a letter from the Dept for Local  Government that states that councils still have a responsibility to see that associations are run in a fair and appropriate way i.e. within the rules of their constitution.

[bluecar]

Hello Frankie.

You do seem to have problems on your site - previous posts.

I am a committee member of a self managed site and as we haven't had a meeting to discuss legal action and putting the rent up to cover the costs I'm certain it's not our site.

As a committee member involved in many site improvements, which are only supported by the few but asked of by the many, I would have been concerned that a work party had caused damage to your plot, but this would have been accidental and hopefully recognised by the plot holder as accidental damage and an apology given by the committee.

To receive an email from a plot holder who had received damage, stating that the committee were dishonest and incompetent as a result of this incident, would have not been well received.

However, my advice to you is that as two thirds of the members present have to vote for you to be expelled from membership. You need to get support from as many of the members you can to ensure they attend and support your case.

You will probably seer this post as more negative than positive as may others.

Regards

Bluecar

[nodig]

Bluecar is correct, and he is obviously used to committees acting within their own rules including the 2/3 majority for eviction.  My point is there are allotment associations around that find this fuss about holding special meetings and 2/3 majorities a time consuming inconvenience.  What does Frankie do if the committee meets outside of normal process and simply sends Frankie a notice to quit?  He can tell them they are not following the rules but who can make them?  I have experience of this type of association.  The NAS by the way are useless in these situations.

[strawberry1]

I completely agree with bluecar. I am chair/secretary of our own self-managed company, houses, communal space, not allotments. The work is done by very few unpaid volunteers and the complainers are mostly those that take no part in managing, running or working for the common good. Taking part might actually pre=empt problems. The OP needs to get back to basics, instead of threatening and acting like a bully boy. No point moaning and stamping feet,  try and work on a solution that actually helps the allotment committee to move forward

[Frankie]

Thanks for all your input. Just to clarify: I turned up on my plot to find it damaged quite seriously ( plants had been removed, a mini digger brought on to dig a 3m deep hole, edging all broken, clay subsoil distributed over the entirety of the plot, plot seriously compacted with tyre tracks all over the place). I knew there was to be some work at the site, but had not expected my plot to be affected because I had specifically asked the treasurer whether it would be and he told me no (in writing). So I was cross. Trying to get the matter put right was a nightmare, because the committee then tried to claim first that it wasn't badly damaged and I should just get on with it, and second that they had had no knowledge of exactly where works would be carried out. I have ample evidence to show that they did. I lost a season's growing because it took ages to resolve after I went eventually directly to the company who had employed the contractors. So they lied to me and didn't like it when I called them out on it.

So I'm not a serial complainer. I've a genuine grievance, but there was certainly no apology from the committee, far from it. I appreciate that the committee is made up of volunteers (albeit with £3.5k honoraria) and that most people don't want to do the work, but when the chair resigned last month I offered to take on the role and was turned down because they have decided to go down the route of legal action, which has zero chance of success. So to compound my punishment for speaking up and criticising them, they voted to expel me from the society. It's not me pursuing a vendetta - I just want to be left to work my plot.

I will be meeting my councillor next week. Nodig, do you mean that you have a letter from the Dept of Local Govt? I would love to see that if so. Are you able to put it on here, or pm me? You are right by the way about the committee meeting outside of normal process. One would expect to see an agreement to take legal action against a member, and use society funds to pay for it, minuted and agreed. But there is no mention of this in any minutes.

[nodig]

Yes Frankie, it sounds like the sort of committee composed of bullies rather than good hearted and fair minded individuals.  I will try to dig out the letter, it might just help you in this situation.  Don't pay attention to the posters who always believe advise should never make a stand against or complain about committees, in their eyes it is always the individual at fault and that committees are always composed of fair minded people doing their best.

[Frankie]

Thank you nodig, much appreciated.

[nodig]

Letter from Dept of Communities and Local Government concerning any duty of the council in respect of self managed allotments.

[Frankie]

Nodig this is really helpful, thank you. I can't quite see the date - was it 2015 or 2016? Not that it matters much. It's such a cop out to refer people to the NAS if they are unsatisfied - they have told me they have a conflict of interests in my case and so cannot advise. Likewise, the Financial Conduct Authority simply say, take it to a solicitor. One wonders what the point of registration with these bodies is, if they are powerless to do anything in the face of blatant rule breaking. There doesn't seem to be anyone who represents the interests of allotment holders.

[nodig]

It was december 2015 Frankie.  The councils view will be that they discharged any duties they have in respect of allotment provision when they passed management over to your association.  A good barrister could argue that this is not the case and that they must ensure that they are run properly and within their constitution.  Statutary law protects tenants of council run allotments, but this protection does not transfer to tenants of independently run allotments, and that is why some associations treat their tenants with little respect, and their solicitors know this.  The simplest way to fight back is to threaten damages, for instance what was the value of the damage to your plot i.e. how much would you need to pay someone to rectify the damage.  Get a valuation and send in the bill.  It won't stop them evicting you, but it will give them something to think about.