[Neil]

From what I have seen near me, HBC give allotments to new tenants in a disgusting state. A friend of mine took one on recently ish. The ground is so bad, full of rubble, broken glass and who knows what else that he said he will only be able to grow anything in raised beds.

It was given to him with a massive area covered in brambles he did not want and an old collapsed greenhouse with the glass left dumped in a big pile with other rubble.

I think that a new tenant should be asked if they want anything remaining on the land like sheds, greenhouse etc when they take it on. Everything else should be cleared by HBC and left in a state that the allotment can be used.

In my opinion it is not only unacceptable but its down right wrong that HBC lease an allotment to a new tenant who then has to spend months clearing the rubbish left behind by the previous tenant because HBC did not manage the previous tenant correctly.

The land is not the tenants, its Hyndburns and it should be kept in a clean and tidy manner. If an allotment is covered in litter, rubble and broken glass, basically not in an acceptable condition, then the tenant should be instructed to sort it out. If they don't within a reasonable time then the tenancy should be terminated and the land cleared by HBC and let to a new tenant.

I should have taken pictures and posted them of my mates when he received it from Hyndburn at first, you would not have believed the state they handed it over to him in.