This Committee met on the 21st inst.
It consisted of Councillors, Parks Management, allotments Site Representatives who had proposed themselves, the Secretary of Cardiff Allotments Holders Association (CAHA), and others.
Principal points discussed were:
- The problems caused by the long delays in properly implementing the Orkastrate management software and hardware:
- Associations not having up-to-date waiting lists, and running out of applicants for vacant plots.
- Associations not knowing whether the tenancy of a plot has been formally and conclusively ended, and therefore whether they have authority to let it, and the length of time before this is known.
- The waste of volunteer effort in clearing plots only for the above delays to cause them to become overgrown again.
- The failure of the Council to follow through the Plot Inspection process within the prescribed time, meaning that plots remain neglected and volunteers have to repeat the work.
- The disconnect between Allotments and the Council’s billing department meaning that many tenants have not received bills for over two years now.
- Delays in repairing expensive water leaks or even in addressing them at all.
- A lack of accountability.
- Long delays in receiving replies to emails, if at all.
The webcast recording can be found here. It’s two-and-a-half hours long, but a lot of insight can be gained by having the patience to watch it. (In the opinion of the author, the elephant in the room is never mentioned.)
PPA Website Team
