Reduction of Service Level Agreement from idverde

 

Dear Adam, et al

I’m writing regarding the email sent out by Jane on Wednesday to all tenants

Dear tenants

I just wanted to let you all know that as I am leaving allotments Nora Szabo has taken over as the administrator.  

Nora has no previous knowledge of allotments, so be patient with her while she settles in.  There are still 100's of emails coming in every week and it will obviously take her longer to reply.  Do not send chaser emails as that will just clog up the inbox more.

We no longer take calls for allotments so all enquiries must be emailed to slwpallotments@idverde.co.uk.  Unfortunately this was necessary due to the amount of calls coming in preventing emails and other admin work from being completed.

Nora will be posting out the annual invoice in September as they are due on 1st October.  We have changed bank accounts from Lloyds to Barclays so there will be new account information on the invoice.  If you pay by bank transfer you may need to remove the old account information before making the payment.

Don't forget to let us know if you have moved house or are not planning to renew your tenancy for another year so we can update our records before the invoices are sent.

 

Best wishes

Jane

Jane Hardy | Service Administrator - Allotments & Sports Regional Office: Cheam Park Depot, Tudor Close, Cheam, London, SM3 8QS

From an internet search

Historically at the Feb 2018 meeting it was agreed that Idverde were to be held to the London Boroughs of Suttons Customer Charter of “ Receiving a call Back, or a reply to an email within 2 days” If this is adhered too then there will be no need to send chaser emails. Note their own guidance advises calling the office and they have removed the allotment option !!!! 

It is regrettable that once again unilateral decisions are being made by a single member of the Gardening Group stakeholders. Funny that it's either the council or idverde are the only members of the team that do this!  

These meetings give allotment site representatives a chance to raise issues with idverde and Council Officers on behalf of their plot holders and look for joint solutions to any problems, and there have been many since the handover meeting to idverde in February 2018.

Together, the group work to develop new ideas to promote allotment gardening and improve the overall service provided to our allotment sites and tenants.

The removal of the telephone line from the switchboard is absolute madness, especially as idverde have not learnt from history and are once again changing the bank details for the next invoice, Tenants will need to be able ring in to sort their invoices out.

 Adam on the 8^th June you sent me an email stating “ We are very busy at the moment with park events and projects but we will look to arrange a meeting within the next few months. We will let site reps know once we have a date confirmed.”  We all understand that in the eyes of the Parks Department, that parks come before allotment holders, but you need to be reminded, we pay rent and are true stakeholders and the level of service need to be discussed and agreed with us, not just altered.  

Kind Regards

Alan Wooldridge

Mill Green Allotment Site Rep

Diary & Blog can be found at manvslug.uk

London Borough of Sutton Allotment Site Rep Hub lbs-asrh.org.uk

 

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If you know anyone who loves gardening, please share this with friends, family, allotment groups, or gardening communities so they don’t miss out.

Good luck everyone!

London Borough of Sutton Allotments Facebook Group

A new Facebook group has been set up for plot holders from the London Borough of Suttons Allotments to share photos, Tips & Tricks, Updates, Swap Items, Swap Seeds, offer ideas and help one another grow.  

Here is the link to join Sutton, Surrey Allotment Group | Facebook

Allotment Costs for 2025-2026

Costs per m2 are:

• standard charge 46p/m2
• concessions 36p/m2
• water charge 15p/m2

The cost of a standard rate 125m2 plot is £76.25.

A concessionary rate 125m2 plot is £63.25.

As of today there are 147 vacant plots and 1,216 on the waiting list.

The costs on the London Borough of Sutton web site are still the 2023-2024 cost and were never updated for 2024-2025 because the council are basically inept.  Idverde have been requesting it be updated for a year, as new tenants thought they were being overcharged during 2024-2025

Invoices run from 1st October to the 30th September the following year. 

Waiting Lists & Vacant Plots 27th September 2024

 

Updated figures from Jane our idverde allotment officer, as of 27th September 2024. The vacant allotments include those that are being given up by existing plot holders at the end of the month, and have had the good manners to let Jane know in advance that they will not be paying the rents that become due on the 1st October. 

There will be many that will never inform idverde that they don't want to continue to renting an allotment which will mean a possible delay of 3 months before the plot can be shown to someone on the top of the waiting list.  

The 2024/25 invoices are being sent out next week. The waiting list was updated today and the figures as always are a current snap shot in time. Plots are being shown and tenanted and being given up all year round, some plot holders will be  terminated over the next three months for non payment of rent. 

Currently there are 1302 people on the waiting list and 137 plots waiting to be seen by those on top of the waiting lists, and re-tenanted. 

There will be many that will not pay their invoices on receipt and will need chasing, they get one chasing reminder invoice sent via the post and if they have not paid within 28 days of the reminder being sent. They then sent a letter informing them  that they have been terminated as the plot holder. 

With some 1165  people on the waiting list plot holders cannot drag out paying for their plots as they have done in the past.

Waiting List & Vacant Plots as of the 19th July 2024

Updated figures from Jane our idverde allotment officer, following a number of no-cult notices and termination notices for unworked plots. With the amount of people we have on the waiting list unworked plots are not being tolerated as they once were, and if tenants don't take action within the 28 day from the date of the notice, they are being given termination notices.

March 2024 Waiting List & Vacant Plot Update

This is a snapshot in time based on information provided by idverde as of the second week in March 2024, and was out of date moments after the information was provided. This year a record amount of people gave up their allotments.  

Site reps & committees on Belmont, Cheam Court, Green Wrythe Lane, Roundshaw, Stanley Road, Westmead Road, & Wrights Row Allotments have plans to show all the vacant plots to people on the waiting lists that have been contacted and have shown an interest in the next couple of weeks. So hopefully by the next gardening Group meeting these allotments will be fully tenanted.

Jane is also contacting people on the waiting list for all the other allotment sites and is still finding that many people that jumped on the waiting list during the pandemic are no longer interested in having a plot, because the pandemic is over and they don't have the time or need somewhere they were allowed to visit during the pandemic anymore. 

On some sites where the site rep is ill or there isn't a site rep Jane is meeting prospective tenants and showing them the plots. 

Jane is chasing the Council for a date for the next Gardening Group meeting and for the promised information that has not been forthcoming from the London Borough of Sutton.