Last weekend was marked by the number
of phone calls I received from residents asking to be added to the
petition to Sefton MBC requesting more allotment provision in Formby. I
am led to understand that once a sufficient number of people make a
request the local authority is obliged to respond and that the
minimum number required is six. I now have that number of volunteers,
and of course there is the current waiting list, which in any case is
above 70. This increase in demand is not confined to Formby,
nationally there is a renewed interest in allotments, for instance
Channel 4 following a series of programmes about food recently
published the following advice on their web site,
'Under the
1908 Small Holdings and Allotments Act', s 23(2), where there is
demand, it is the duty of the local authority to provide residents,
registered on the electoral roll, with allotment space. The Act even
gives local authorities the power to compulsorily acquire land for
allotments, if they don't have sufficient already.'
There are
also other issues regarding the provision and management of Allotment
sites in local District Council areas. According to 'Local Council
Administration, Seventh Edition', which guides the activities of
Parish Councils,
'In England district councils have allotment
functions only in non-parochial places, consequently where a parish
is constituted by an order and land in it is held by a district
council as or for allotments, the land automatically passes to the
parish council....'(29.3) and later in the same guidance the author
notes,
'District councils which in England are not allotments
authorities may hire land compulsory for leasing to a local council
for the purposes of allotments......' (29.6).
The importance
of these last two extracts cannot be over-emphasised, on my reading
once Formby Parish Council came into being Sefton MBC should have
entered into some sort of agreement with the Parish Council
recognising the change in local governance and the responsibility for
the allotments should have reverted to the Parish Council and funds
collected by Sefton in Council Tax transferred to the Parish Council
to manage. Given the very recent news in local newspapers about the
transfer of services out of Sefton MBC's hands, I think the Parish
Council should take immediate steps to clarify their legal rights on
behalf of the residents.
When I submit the petition I will seek the views of Sefton MBC's legal services on these matters.
