Southern allotments is a great allotment site where everyone is welcome and we want to ensure that it remains that way. Our membership is diverse and we celebrate what makes us all different.
The volunteers who make up the current committee work very hard to ensure that the site is kept tidy, it is safe and the Society provides useful services and information.
We do this with a limited budget and by committing hundreds of voluntary hours each month. Not forgetting those plot holders who regularly contribute to work days and events, we all play our part in ensuring that everyone enjoys their time spent at Southern.
While the experience of most plot holders at Southern allotments is positive, there have been occasions where aggressive behaviour exhibited by some plot holders and their visitors has been directed towards other plot holders & committee members.
This creates an atmosphere where people feel threatened and unsafe and stop coming to the site. This type of behaviour is not acceptable and will not be tolerated
In response to these behaviour challenges, the Society has now adopted a zero tolerance approach in relation to any abuse whatsoever that is directed towards another plot holder, a committee member or site guest.
If you need to report an incident or make a formal complaint, Southern Allotments Society will apply the following process:
- If you are in any immediate danger, please contact the police on 999
- If you can, put your complaint in writing using the contact form on the AGM & Committee page here, stating clearly what the complaint is and providing as much detail as possible.
If you need assistance to do this, please approach a member of the committee to advise you further. When outlining your complaint, please keep to the facts and provide dates, times and location information where possible. The committee cannot accept complaints made verbally unless documented at the time or corroborated. Gossip or hearsay will not be accepted as a valid complaint and in turn, may result in a complaint against the complainant. - A member of the Southern Allotments committee will contact you and invite you to a meeting where there will be at least two committee members present to discuss and document your complaint. If you wish to bring another person along to support you, please let the committee know before any meeting or the meeting may be declined.
After the meeting, your complaint will be reviewed and the Committee’s assessment of it will be sent to you in writing. - If it is thought to be necessary or desirable, the committee will then write to the other party, outlining your complaint and inviting the other party to respond in writing. Depending on the type of complaint made, the other party will be informed who has made the complaint.
- The committee will then discuss possible resolutions to the complaint and will share these with both parties with the aim of trying to reach a resolution.
- Both parties will then have an opportunity to agree on the proposed resolution and confirm acceptance of this in writing to the committee.
- If no resolution can be reached, the complaint will then be referred to the GMCA Allotments team for final resolution. If the complaint is serious and the complainee contravenes the site rules set out by MCC (Manchester City Council), the complainee may be evicted from the site according to the guidance provided by MCC.