Page 9 - ALG Issue 3 2014

International
Polish allotment gardens have been saved!
After many months of struggle, Polish allotment gardeners have been successful in ensuring that Parliament passed a new law which ensures the existence and development of allotment gardening in Poland. This success is even greater because it is the brainchild of the gardeners themselves who prepared and submitted it to Parliament as a citizens’ draft law, supported by the signatures of more than 924,000 Polish citizens.
This is one of the first cases in our country where a citizens’ draft has been made into a law. This shows the great determination, unity and strength of the allotment community in Poland. Thanks to an enormous effort and the integration of all the forces it was possible to save almost 5,000 allotment sites for a million citizens, and also keep a strong, nationwide organisation that effectively represents and defends the gardeners’ interests. This is a remarkable feat, given the fact that even a few months ago the liquidation of allotment gardening in Poland was an authentic threat.
The new law entered into force on 19th January 2014 - two days before the deadline set by the Constitutional Court. The new law not only protects our sites but also guarantees their development. In addition, it fully adjusts the law to the Constitution. It provides the gardeners with a full freedom of association, guarantees the plurality of allotment organisations and respects the rights of the owners of the garden land. In particular, each allotment site will
be able to leave the PZD structure, set up its own association and keep the property assigned to its site, provided of course that the majority of plot holders vote to take such action. At the same time, the law guarantees all the gardeners’ rights. It especially maintains their rights to the plots and their property (e.g. infrastructure, shacks). Listed below are among the most important rights the law guarantees that the gardeners are entitled to:
• Register their plot in the land and mortgage register.
• Transfer their rights on the plot directly to another gardener.
• Ownership of
plants, buildings and equipment located on the plot.
• Exemption from taxes. • Uncomplicated
procedure concerning
the transfer of the rights to the plot in the event of death or divorce.
• Compensation and a new plot in the event of allotment garden liquidation.
• A wide judicial protection.
The achievement of such a good law is undoubtedly a huge
success of the Polish allotment gardeners and their organisation. This was only possible thanks to the unity of the whole community which together, and with great determination, fought for their fundamental rights. Together we achieved something that seemed almost impossible – we quickly prepared a draft law regulating
a complicated subject matter, collected a million signatures and struggled for months to persuade Parliament to pass the law in a difficult political environment and before the expiration of the deadline set by the Constitutional Court. This unusual accomplishment should be credited to all allotment gardeners and the PZD. An important contribution was also made by the International Office, the national associations and European gardeners, who showed their solidarity in supporting the Polish efforts to get a new law passed. This support has been extremely valuable and was particularly appreciated by the Polish gardeners, who were grateful for the help in the struggle to save the allotment gardening movement in Poland.
Eugeniusz Kondracki
President of Polish Allotment Federation
You can keep going While you keep growing
ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE
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From £2799.00
£659.99
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