Page 66 - ALG Issue 2 2019

Wales Mentor report
Swansea Allotments Holders Group
You may remember that several months ago I wrote an article about the future management of Swansea Allotments. In it I explained how the Council put a proposal forward for
the next 25 years, on how they wished the Allotments would be managed. This proposal was that management of the sites would devolve to the associations. They would each have a 25-year lease, and in exchange what rent was collected by the Allotment sites would remain with them and could be spent how members decided.
Like many local authorities, Swansea just didn’t have the money to spend
on its allotments, as from 1st April 2019 the Council budget is zero! The Council carried out an audit of all the sites to identify any major problems before putting a draft lease together, which was presented to all sites. The inspections included boundary fences and trees in the main. Very little money has been spent on maintaining our allotment sites for several years!
The Council felt that they were handing over the sites in a reasonable standard. This was questioned by many of the various site holders who requested that they would not accept the liability of devolved management until repairs were carried out. Unfortunately, this was not going
to happen as the Council was in no financial position to make any repairs.
The approach of the council was
that if management of each site was devolved and the 25-year lease was taken up, then grants could be applied for, enabling associations to sort some of the problems we would inherit from the Council. Grant applications would not be possible whilst the sites were council run.
It’s worth pointing out that after a meeting with Liz Bunting, the National Allotment Society’s Legal Operations Manager, who kindly visited Swansea to explain the implications of the lease and how to go about setting this up, many plotholders could see this as
a great opportunity to persevere and protect the allotments for us and future generations. So, as you can see, a lot is happening and going on, lots of work to do, good times ahead. I really felt with so much happening we needed to work as a team to support one another to network to find the best way around the problems that will certainly come our way. To achieve this the Swansea Allotments Holders Group was formed; it was proposed that two members be elected from each Society and we would meet once a month to discuss how we progress. My role as Wales Mentor would take any proposals and suggestions back to the Council for action and report back to the group at the next meeting. We will be working very closely with
I really felt with so much happening we needed to work as a team to support one another to network
to find the best way around the problems that will certainly come our way
the NAS through the coming months to get the best possible advice. Well that’s about all for now on this; however, I will keep you updated over the months ahead as I am sure many sites up and down the country may find this fascinating and something other allotments may wish to pursue.
66 Allotment and Leisure Gardener