Your right to an allotment
Recently in Ashford there has begun to be talk that having an allotment is a privilege. In fact, having an allotment is a right, and a right that goes back a very long time. Allotments are the last survival of rights to cultivate the land which date back to the strip fields of the Middle Ages. From the 1700s on, large landowners acted together in one village after another to consolidate their own holdings on the best land, and to consign the poor to small "allotments" on the worst land in the village. This is how the name arose; you were allotted what the rich had left over.
During the 20th Century, the allotment movement grew in strength as Britain needed to grow more food during two World Wars. Some of the allotments in Ashford date from the middle of the First World War. Allotments declined during the lazy years of the late 20th century, as more and more people ate 'ready meals' and less and less wanted to grow and cook their own food. The revival of allotments is an important part of the 21st Century movement back to real food, local produce and an understanding of the land. Allotments are also very good for the health and well-being of the community. Local councils should be proud to support and encourage allotments, but when central government is constantly putting them under financial pressure it is hardly surprising that not all councils see it like that.
With all rights come responsibilities. If you are an allotment holder, you have an obligation to stand by the conditions of your tenancy - this is a legally binding document. To deserve to keep your allotment, you must cultivate it properly, avoid causing problems to your neighbours, and act responsibly when it comes to things like not wasting (expensively metered) water. If you brak the terms of your tenancy you may well lose your allotment.
Click here to go to YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES AS A PLOTHOLDER
To learn more about your rights and the history of allotments, follow up on the links below Just click on the green words. Each will open a new website alongside this one; you won't lose your place on this page.
An article from the NATIONAL ALLOTMENT SOCIETY website
During the 20th Century, the allotment movement grew in strength as Britain needed to grow more food during two World Wars. Some of the allotments in Ashford date from the middle of the First World War. Allotments declined during the lazy years of the late 20th century, as more and more people ate 'ready meals' and less and less wanted to grow and cook their own food. The revival of allotments is an important part of the 21st Century movement back to real food, local produce and an understanding of the land. Allotments are also very good for the health and well-being of the community. Local councils should be proud to support and encourage allotments, but when central government is constantly putting them under financial pressure it is hardly surprising that not all councils see it like that.
With all rights come responsibilities. If you are an allotment holder, you have an obligation to stand by the conditions of your tenancy - this is a legally binding document. To deserve to keep your allotment, you must cultivate it properly, avoid causing problems to your neighbours, and act responsibly when it comes to things like not wasting (expensively metered) water. If you brak the terms of your tenancy you may well lose your allotment.
Click here to go to YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES AS A PLOTHOLDER
To learn more about your rights and the history of allotments, follow up on the links below Just click on the green words. Each will open a new website alongside this one; you won't lose your place on this page.
An article from the NATIONAL ALLOTMENT SOCIETY website
CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE PAGE ON ALLOTMENT LAW
on the website www. ALOTMOREALLOTMENTS.ORG.UK, a website campaigning for more allotments, which has several useful links for you.
on the website www. ALOTMOREALLOTMENTS.ORG.UK, a website campaigning for more allotments, which has several useful links for you.
Excerpt from the Smallholdings and Allotments Act 1908;
(CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE PAGE IN THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES WEBSITE)
Duty of certain councils to provide allotments.
(1)If the council of any borough, urban district, or parish are of opinion that there is a demand for allotments . . . in the borough, urban district, or parish, . . . the council shall provide a sufficient number of allotments, and shall let such allotments to persons . . . resident in the borough, district, or parish, and desiring to take the same.
(2)On a representation in writing to the council of any borough, urban district, or parish, by any six registered parliamentary electors or persons who are liable to pay an amount in respect of council tax resident in the borough, urban district, or parish, that the circumstances of the borough, urban district, or parish are such that it is the duty of the council to take proceedings under this Part of this Act therein, the council shall take such representation into consideration.
(CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE PAGE IN THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES WEBSITE)
Duty of certain councils to provide allotments.
(1)If the council of any borough, urban district, or parish are of opinion that there is a demand for allotments . . . in the borough, urban district, or parish, . . . the council shall provide a sufficient number of allotments, and shall let such allotments to persons . . . resident in the borough, district, or parish, and desiring to take the same.
(2)On a representation in writing to the council of any borough, urban district, or parish, by any six registered parliamentary electors or persons who are liable to pay an amount in respect of council tax resident in the borough, urban district, or parish, that the circumstances of the borough, urban district, or parish are such that it is the duty of the council to take proceedings under this Part of this Act therein, the council shall take such representation into consideration.
Notes to MPs on the law on allotments: March 2012
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This document is in pdf format - you may need a pdf reader like 'Adobe Acrobat' to read it. This is free, safe, and easy to download.
Use the controls on the side and bottom of the box to scroll up and down, or to make the print bigger or smaller.
