Site Audits, Breaches of Rules and Complaints – Thomson Terrace Allotments CIC

Site Audits

To comply with the terms of our Public Liability Insurance, the Committee is obliged to conduct an annual health and safety audit of the site. Any structure or other issue considered hazardous by the Committee must be dealt with, repaired or removed by the Plot Holder a reasonable designated time upon receipt of written notification by the Committee

Audits of your plot(s)

The Management Committee and/or OCC will conduct two audits of your plot and any related structures throughout the year (usually March and August) and one mini-audit during the summer. These inspections serve to verify that your plot adheres to the TTACIC Rules and Health & Safety set forth by TTACIC and the landlord, OCC.

If you are working your plot well and within our rules, you will not receive any communication from us after the audit has taken place.
If there are any issues with your plot, we will write to you. The intention is to remind plot-holders about certain rules and/or alert members to any specific problem and ask for it to be rectified within a specified time. If there are serious and/or ongoing issues, the ultimate sanction is loss of membership. In most cases, however, matters are resolved.

Breach of Rules

The Field Secretary is empowered to give a verbal warning if, in his/her opinion, a plot-holder breaches any rules. The Secretary must be notified immediately if such a warning has been given. The Secretary will then inform the rest of the Committee.

Breach of Rules Notices

First Notice of Breach of Rules Where there has been a breach of any of the rules set including the result of Committee Audits, members may be sent a written notice by the Committee asking them to remedy the breach(es) within a reasonable time limit. Note that reasonable time depends on the nature of the breach and may vary between 14 days and 2 months or immediately if there is a clear Health and Safety risk to others.
Second / Final Notice of Breach of Rules If the breach is not remedied within the reasonable time limit or the member does not reply to the notice, then the Committee may terminate the Membership and License to Occupy the plot subscription on the issue of a 14-day final notice delivered either by email, nailed to their plot structure or to their registered address itemising the breach and what they must do to rectify it. If a member’s written notice relates to their having excessive materials on their plot and if these are not cleared, the Committee reserves the right to organise clearance itself and reclaim the costs from the member.
End of Final Notice Period Failure by a plot-holder to rectify a breach after the end of the 14-day notice will result in forfeiture of their License to Occupy plot(s) and Membership Subscriptions.

Complaints

If members are unhappy with the site, the Committee or another member, the Committee will deal with complaints. It will only investigate complaints made in writing to the Secretary. Any person against whom a complaint has been made will be made aware of the problem and has the right to respond in writing or put their case to the Committee in person. All complaints must be referred to the Committee before any outside body is approached.