LODDON TOWN COUNCIL

Loddon Allotment Gardens Plot Letting Terms

The legal definition of an allotment:

An Allotment Garden must, by definition, be wholly or mainly cultivated for the production of vegetable or fruit crops for consumption by the tenant or his family, but if a particular allotment were used for trade or business purposes, it might then fall within the definition of an “agricultural holding”. (Allotments Act 1922, s22(1)

What you can expect from Loddon Town Council (LPC)

• LTC will maintain the grass in the public areas of the Loddon Allotment Gardens. If Tenants wish to, they can maintain the paths around their own plots. Holders are covered by LPC insurance whilst carrying out work on the paths.

• LTC takes responsibility for vermin control on the site. Please notify the AAO if vermin are causing a problem.

• LTC has provided a shed and grass cutter is provided for communal use. It is requested that Tenants do not store expensive items in the shed that are at risk from theft as LPC cannot accept liability for items stored within.

• LTC maintains the ditches around the perimeter of the site.

• LTC has provided and maintains a water pump. The pump is to discourage Tenants from putting themselves at risk if they choose to access water from the river.

• LTC has provided a noticeboard for the Tenants, and both LTC and the Loddon Community Allotment Society hold a key.

 

1. The Council shall let to the Tenant for him/her to hold as Tenant to the Council from year to year the Allotment numbered above in the Council’s Register of Allotments.

2. The rent is payable by 06 April each year upon receipt of an invoice from the Parish Council and entitles the Allotment Holder to use the plot until 05 April of the following year. Failure to pay the annual rent by 06 April will be considered to be a termination of the Agreement and the plot will be let to some other person.

3. The Council may not later than two months prior to the date on which the rent hereunder falls due give written notice to the Tenant that a revised rent shall be payable after that date, the amount to be stated in the notice and thereupon the revised rent shall be payable for all subsequent years subject to any further revision.

4. The said tenancy may be terminated by either party to this agreement by serving on the other not less than one months’ notice.

5. The Tenant shall reside within the boundaries of the Parishes of Loddon/Chedgrave during the continuance of the tenancy and inform the Council if they have moved, at which point one months’ notice of termination will be given.6. Loddon Parish Councils insurance covers only the public areas of the site, such as the paths. The named Tenant(s) must hold appropriate public liability insurance for their own allotment plots. This may be obtained through their membership to the Allotment Association, through their own personal home contents insurance or other such insurance which covers public liability. It is the full responsibility of the named Tenant(s) to ensure that the appropriate public liability insurance is in place for the entire duration, and without interruption, of the tenancy agreement.

7. The Tenant shall observe the following conditions during the tenancy, failure to do so will ultimately result in the Council terminating your Tenancy :

a) The Tenant shall keep the Allotment in a clean, decent and good condition and properly cultivated;

b) No nuisance or annoyance shall be caused by the Tenant to any Tenant of any other part of the Allotments nor obstruct any path set out by the Town Council for the use of Allotment Holders

c) The Tenant shall not sub-let or assign the said tenancy nor part with the possession of the land hereby agreed to be let to him/her

d) The Tenant shall not erect any building, shed or greenhouse, on the said land without the written consent of the Town Council having first been obtained. Polytunnels/covered structures are acceptable if they meet the following conditions:
 

1. Structure must not exceed 6’ 6” X 6’6”X 10’ (feet)

2. Structure must be entirely temporary

3. No glass is permitted

4. Any covering must be removed over winter

5. Only one structure per plot

 

e) Tenants may not store fuel or accelerants in the communal shed.

f) The Tenant shall permit at all reasonable times any member or officer of the Council charged by the Council with such duty to enter upon and inspect the said land;

g) The Tenant shall not cut any timber growing on the communal area of said land;

h) The Tenant shall only use pesticides and fertilisers available through retail outlets at the recommended dose. Glyphosate type fertilizers are recommended eg Roundup.

i) The Tenant is not permitted to dump any household or garden rubbish of any description at the Allotment. No chemical or other waste should be discarded on the Allotment land or in the river. Organic waste may be deposited in the Tenant’s compost bins.

j) No bonfires are permitted on the Allotments except between 1st and 31st October, and only after dusk and when any wind is blowing away from the road and local housing.

k) The Allotment holder shall be liable for and indemnify Loddon Town Council against any expense liability loss claim or proceedings arising under any statute or common law in respect of death of or personal injury to the property of any person arising out of the occupancy of the Allotment by the Allotment holder unless and only to the extent that such death or injury is due to the negligence of Loddon Town Council.

l) The Tenant shall not erect any fencing or glass structure on Allotment land.

m) The Tenant shall not plant any trees (dwarf or otherwise) on their allotment plot or the communal areas without the written consent of the Town Council having first been obtained.

n) If the Tenant has existing trees on their plot, the Council reserves the right to ask the Tenant to cut back any branches that have breached the plot, and to remove the tree/s when they vacate the plot.

o) The Tenant shall not plant within one metre of the boundary ditch.

p) Below ground level Water Butts are not permitted

8. The Council shall pay all rates, taxes, dues or other assessments which may at any time be levied or charged upon the Allotment Garden.

9. If the Tenant have been in breach of any of the foregoing provisions of this Agreement for a period of one month (or longer) the Council may re-enter upon the Allotment and the tenancy shall thereupon come to any end but without prejudice to any right of the Council to claim damages for any such breach or to recover any rent already due before the time of such
re-entry but remaining unpaid.

10. In the unfortunate circumstance of the death of a Tenant or a Tenant moving away, the tenancy of the plot may pass to an immediate family member, at the discretion of the Town Council, where it can be shown that they have been regularly involved in cultivating and maintaining the plot. The tenancy can only be inherited once.