DID YOU KNOW YOU ONLY NEED A SMALL GROUP OF PEOPLE TO GO TO THEIR LOCAL COUNCIL AND REQUEST AN ALLOTMENT AND THE COUNCIL HAVE TO BY LAW PROVIDE ONE.

Setting up an Allotment Association and what's in it for you?

Councils need to be kept informed as to what is happening on your site, for example you may have many neglected plots and wish to see them given to people on the waiting list, or have a problem with rubbish or vandalism.  Sitting down at a Association meeting with your fellow plot holders helps to bring any problems to the surface.  Associations can be self managed (with Council approval) or jointly run, either way they can be nothing but beneficial to all.

As an Association you are able to secure funding from certain organisations to help towards projects or improvements to your site.  In order to secure any funding that might be available to you a minimum of ten members are needed to form an Association. One of the first steps is to elect yourselves a committee i.e. Chairperson, Secretary, treasurer etc, and also decide on a Constitution (find advice on constitutions here) this will be required by most organisations that provide funding.

By charging a small fee to join your Association you will be able to open a bank account,  into which any funds can be paid.  Associations joining fee can include membership to the SWCAA (South West Counties Allotment Association).  This money can then be "ploughed" back into your site where its needed the most e.g. restoring pathways, clearing plots, communal composting areas and maybe even setting up a site shop for swapping seeds/plants etc

Some of these procedures can seem a bit daunting if you don't know where to start please feel free to contact us we are here to help. 

We are not able to provide assistance with legal issues (e.g. site disposal threats), disputes between councils and plotholders, or internal disputes directly but we can put you in touch with organisations and people who can help you. A company that is worth a look at is Environmental Rights charity who have helped many campaigning groups and associations.

Information on Tenancy Agreements, Constitutions and funding etc is available through the links at the top right of this page, you will find these useful when setting up your Association

 

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