Monday 1 September 2014

Guidance on Monthly Inspections

We have received the following advice from the Allotments team for societies carrying out monthly inspections under OMAs.

1. There is a clause in the 'new' tenancy agreements that states that the Council or its agents will not enter on to a plot for the purposes of inspection without giving at least 24 hours notice in writing.

The Council therefore advise that when inspecting plots Society Committees should stay on the site road or access paths and not go onto individual plots. Abas think that where the inspection requires it - e.g. when a complaint has been made by a neighbour about a plot-holder storing waste on a plot - the Society reps can take photos from an adjoining plot (with that plot-holder's permission / consent).

2. If a Society has issued a Stage 1 notice to a plot-holder and on reinspection after four weeks they are unsure as to whether to move to a Stage 2 (official Council notice) they may extend the Stage 1 notice (even to the extent of putting a plot under 'continuous monitoring'). This might be particularly useful with tenants who have a history of doing the minimum to stave off an offical notice and who then let thei plot relapse into its previous state, as it means any subsequent lowering of standards can directly trigger a Stage 2 without the issue of a new Satge 1.