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London
London Region Report
The remaining 2018 meetings for the London Region of the NAS will take place on the following dates:
• 19th May - Workshop on ‘Governance’. ‘Governance’, not ‘Managing Allotments’ nor ‘Running an Allotment Site’. The detailed feedback from all parts of the workshop will be sent to all who attend; it might take some of you into unfamiliar territory.
• 11th August - ‘The Allotment Harvest’. Hopefully at that time of the year when the harvest is in full swing and held to mark the start of National Allotments Week, which runs from 12th August to 19th.
• 27th October - Annual General Meeting. Officers & committee members will be voted in at this meeting. Just for the
record, the current offices and committee members come from the following boroughs: Kingston, Hammersmith & Fulham, Camden, Southwark, Waltham Forest, Redbridge,
Welcome to our new members...
Higham Hill Common Allotment Association
7 Individual members
and Havering. The representation from the west of London is generally lower and nominees for the committee from the western boroughs would be especially welcome at the October meeting.
All meetings are held on Saturdays to allow those working during the week to attend. The meetings start at 11am and finish at 1pm. Notice of the meetings is given to all members about one month before they are due to be held, when all paperwork is sent out. A reminder is sent out one week before the meeting. Meetings do now include a section dealing with some of the issues that are relevant to NAS members in London and an update on the matters being considered by the Management Committee. All paid-up NAS members are very welcome to attend.
Jeff Barber
Thames Water: Billing
One item that produced a lively discussion at the last meeting of the London Region was the change in billing that Thames Water introduced in 2017. Most of London lies within the Thames Water area, but it does include significant parts of the Southern Region.
In short, the billing for all non-residential customers has been transferred to Castle Water.
Allotments are clearly non-residential customers for Thames Water, but they would not regard themselves as businesses in the sense of a company that had been set up purely or even mainly for the purposes of making profits. I believe that, at
the time of the transfer, customers were asked to send back
a form stating what category of business they were; it is this categorisation that dictates whether you are charged VAT or not. Allotments have not been charged VAT for the water they use and that should remain the case. Of course, each site should make sure that it is being charged in the correct user category - check that your activity code is correct; it should be horticulture. It is also possible that sites may need to claim a waste water abatement allowance for water not returned to the sewer. However, I have received reports that water charges on some sites have increased significantly and for no clearly stated reason. Another very obvious point is that each allotment site should read its own meter so that the water actually consumed is what is paid for.
These difficulties do seem to have been exacerbated by features that seem to be apparent in Castle Water’s location of all its customer services in-house from its customer service centre
in Perthshire, and does not use external call centres. Acquiring the large number of Thames Water’s non-residential customers also seems, according to reports received from some allotment sites in London, to have made the response to queries well
short of adequate. Castle Water’s website is www.castlewater. co.uk and the contacts shown on its website are John Reynolds / Richard Moore 01250 833101; Thames Water: Sarah Sharpe 020 3577 7188. The website also claims ‘with an excellent track record of lower prices, we know exactly how to help you get best value for your business! Our dedicated team can explain how the new open water market works – and show you how you can cut your costs. You can chat with us online now, or call us on 01250 718700.’ And contact them you might need to.
Perhaps there is one further step to take. The corporate structure of Thames Water is typically complex with Thames Water Utilities Limited being the regulated water company,
with Thames Water Utilities Holdings Limited placed above the regulated company. Eleven major institutional shareholders are identified, often related to pension funds and most having a global reach. Water is obviously a basic public need, and on the supply side we are clearly not dealing with local councils here.
If it is an issue that you feel strongly enough about you should write to your M.P. Perceptions of Thames Water’s relations with its customers have not been much helped by the truly Orwellian note struck at the time of writing this by a Thames Water spokesman labelling the entirely predictable water leaks that followed the Beast from the East as an ‘increase in demand’.
Lea Adri-Soejoko
Media coverage widely reported the murder of Lea Adri- Soejoko on 27th February 2017 at the Colindale Allotment Association site. A fellow allotment holder was charged with her murder.
The case started to be heard at the Old Bailey on January 8th 2018, but, after a five week trial, the jury could not reach
a verdict even after the judge said he would accept a majority verdict.
There will now be a re-trial later in the year, but until a verdict is reached there is still no closure for the family and friends of Lea Adri-Soejoko.
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