Rotherham Council: 'Frustration' revealed over allotment leases

A report was presented to members of the improving places select commission, updating councillors on the progress of the transfer of the allotments to the Rotherham Allotments Alliance, a self-managed body which allows allotment owners to directly manage council-run allotments.

Andy Lee, urban green spaces manager at Rotherham Council told the meeting that the not-for-profit company, the Rotherham Allotment Alliance, had taken over the operational management of the council’s allotments from January 2020.

The body took over the responsibility of letting, promoting and maintaining the land from the council, after a number of rent increases led to the council trying to cover costs with limited resources.

Mr Lee told the meeting: “There have been a couple of outstanding issues, one of which I reported last year, which was the the lack of a full lease to the Allotment Alliance.”

Mr Lee told the meeting that legal representatives from both parties had ‘agreed to disagree’ on a number of matters.

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“They are matters that are fairly minor in nature, but they’re just stopping the the final cinches on the lease agreement,” added Mr Lee.

“There are small deviations between the legal documents, the deeds that relate to allotments and what things on the ground due to historical changes to boundaries.

“I think we as officers are as frustrated as a few of the Allotment Alliance directors are frustrated that we’re not further along with the lease but I believe things are moving in the right direction again.

“So we hope to be in a position where everything’s signed off in the next three months. In the report it says by the end of March 2022.”