This is a potentially nasty item for all UK Allotment enthusiasts including of course we Guildford Allotmenteers.

Not too much media attention paid to this but in essence Central Government have asked all Local Governments (eg GBC) to review Red Tape and Admin burdens with a view to reducing liabilities and cutting costs.

WBDRA as well as many Council Tax payers would support reduction in admin overheads & unnecessary spending especially if it reduces our Council Tax burden without detriment to the services we pay for.

But on the review of local Gov't Burdens agenda is the provision of Allotments.

Whoever drew this up seems blissfully unaware of the legislation governing provision of Allotments and the statutory duty on all local authorites to do so.

So it could easily have come about that Councils not keen on Allotment provision could have used this bonfire of regulations and burdens as an opportunity to free themselves of their statutory duties simply because those legal obligations are not stated in the review document.

Fortunately the National Society of Allotment & Leisure Gardeners (NSALG)  picked up on this and has led a campaign alerting all its members and other supporting organisations to this review exercise and has worked hard to ensure the Statutory Obligation message is firmly impressed and recorded in the Review Documents.

WBDRA has accordingly responded and made its views known.

A brief summary press article culled from the Sunday Express appears in our Library section entitled "Allotment Burdens"