Dear Sir
Are Livin playing foot loose and fancy free with the residents of Aycliffe? It would appear that they give no quarter and take little notice of the townspeople. Last year we all suffered from the debacle of their grass cutting contract being transferred to a 3rd party. Some areas of the town did not have their grassed areas cut until well into May and June. We now have a situation where they have systematically allowed garage blocks to become run-down by not undertaking routine maintenance and not re-letting after garages become vacant. The garage blocks have then been subject to applications for planning permission for demolition and building of small clusters of housing. To add insult to injury, Livin are also seeking to develop adjacent green open spaces for in-fill housing. The green open spaces in the town are what makes Aycliffe unique and the envy of people residing outside the area of our town. Once they are gone, they are gone forever and safe play and recreation areas are lost.
We now learn that Livin are turfing allotment holders off their plots, giving two months’ notice. I’m very uncomfortable with this practice and quote the following: Allotments Act 1950 “Paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of section one of the M1Allotments Act, 1922 (which specifies, as the only kind of notice to quit that may be given by a landlord in respect of land let on a tenancy for use by the tenant as an allotment garden or let to a local authority or association for the purpose of being sublet for such use, a six months’ or longer notice expiring on or before the sixth day of April or on or after the twentyninth day of September in any year) shall have effect with the substitution, for the reference to six months, of a reference to twelve month.“ and “the tenant shall, notwithstanding any agreement to the contrary, be entitled, on quitting the land or that part thereof, as the case may be, to recover from the landlord compensation for the disturbance”.
I’m no expert in these matters, but it would appear that the said allotment holders should be due twelve months’ notice to quit and significant compensation for costs incurred in developing their allotment plots. The icing on the cake, is the new policy Livin have introduced in respect of fly tipping, where reported cases on their land will be cleared within 40 working days. I have to say, I have immense pride in the town and strongly believe that having to wait eight weeks for a registered social landlord to remove unsightly household items such as sofas, fridges and washing machines, is wholly unacceptable. On this point however, I have to say, the practice of dumping them in the first place is equally unacceptable.
Councillor Jed Hillary
