[AlanC]

right Ive been in contact over the last few days with my local council about a small piece of waste ground at the back of my house which i would like to use to grow veg, the land is unused and is not any use for any commercial propose as it is sourounded by houses 

in short Ive been told no........IF the reason had been a sensible one i would of accepted that and left it
but Ive been told by some stupid woman that i cant use it as it is not parts of my garden (i think i already know) and if i want to grow any thing i should do it in my garden.  

as you can imagine I'm not a happy bunny

so what I'm needing help with is where can i go next. ill need to go over her head, i know that but how high i was thinking of going to my local councilor but don't know if they will be any use

any ideas or thoughts on this would be great
and ill try and keep you updated if i manage to get anywhere in them mean time
 

[JulieS]

I would contact your Local Councillor.  He/she should be able to put you in touch with the correct person to make the decision.

In my previous contact with Councils I've always found the first person I speak to is usually a 'no' man/woman....Once you get through to the right people they are usually more helpful.

Good luck....Do let us know how you get on.   

[Wizard]

Hello Alan and all the work H F W is putting into Land share Its a shame all these folk (Council Idiots) don't pull the same way Is it council owned ? Did she consult the relevant tomb? She is fire proof she thinks.Councils are shedding labour like mad have you nominated her for a change of employment?

[sheila]

Just go ahead and dig and plant it. What can they do? use it for long enough and it will become yours.

[Roxy]

A few people have tried that on a local council estate near us, and had to put in planning to "extend the curtailage of their garden"  you cannot cultivate land outwith your "curtailage".  They all got refused.  Those that did go ahead, got an enforcement order.  Personally, I could not see the problem, but I suppose the council may see it that if one did it, everyone else would follow suit, and things could get difficult.

Did you offer to rent the land from the council?  I think you would need change of use, to make it into a garden area,  and then probably planning to actually use as a garden.  Maybe they are worried you would try and claim the land as your own, maybe build on it or something?

[WinslowPorker]

Is this the Parish council you have been talking to? if so go to the district council, and if all else fails write to your local MP, it just seems a terrible waste of land

[AlanC]

hi guys and thanks for all the replys im not a great deal further than yesterday. but i am going to meat my local counciler next thursday and i have spoken to a few local comunity groups  that i know have had dealing with land issues b4 and they say i have a good fight on my hands as the area i live in is quite run down and my makeing use of deralict land could be viewed as comunity development

Hello Alan and all the work H F W is putting into Land share Its a shame all these folk (Council Idiots) don't pull the same way Is it council owned ? Did she consult the relevant tomb? She is fire proof she thinks.Councils are shedding labour like mad have you nominated her for a change of employment?

wizard im not sure who she contacted. the land is definetley council owned and not sure what you mean by tomb

Is this the Parish council you have been talking to? if so go to the district council, and if all else fails write to your local MP, it just seems a terrible waste of land

dont think we have parish councils in scotland its north lanarkshire council houseing department i have been dealing with im not sure if this is the correct department but hopefully my counciler will point me in the right direction

thanks again for all the replys if any one else has any ideas id love to hear them

thanks
Alan

[Roxy]

Fingers crossed you are successful.  Really, they should be grateful for people like you, willing to take on derelict and unused bits of land.  Stops them having to deal with stuff like flytipping on it, and becoming an eyesore, surely?  Maybe they would prefer than option though, sometimes they work in funny ways the councils!!

[Cobra]

With out seeming to wee on the fire so to speak. Although I understand your thoughts and intentions in making an unused peace of land productive. Your probably gonna have to concider the bigger picture; as well as cut backs the council are selling every bloody council tenant farm off, stuffing the chances for starting up in the industry to young farmers.
I'm not entirely surprised their shy of letting someone use their land etc, once they agree to access or lease their tied to it in some ways, they probably wouldn't have enough staff to cope with the paper work it would generate. 

As for contact it doesn't matter how high you go, no law says don't start at the top, if you want stuff sorting grab the nuts of the top monkey and work your way down.

Are you asking if they would sell it to you? or trying to rent it?

Also don't take this the wrong way, as in you on the cage for your own good, not meant like that, just think how they will think and slowly slowly Catch that monkey: The council may concider a use of land like allotment or shared usage with the surrounding houses, in which it benefits the community rather than an option that benefits one person?; the n of course depend how big a bit of land you looking at: just a thought 

[doganjo]

Does anyone know how you can fairly easily find out who owns a particular piece of land?

[Wizard]

I don't believe there is Annie love.Not from the dealings I have had with them

[doganjo]

Somewhere in teh back of my mind I vaguely remember my son-in-law mentioning a website where you could find out who owned a piece of land.

[Wizard]

If I wanted to know I would try the Land Registry Agency first.Then the Local Council.If its in the country or village ask in the pub of some of the locals They know every thing and more besides

[AlanC]

With out seeming to wee on the fire so to speak. Although I understand your thoughts and intentions in making an unused peace of land productive. Your probably gonna have to concider the bigger picture; as well as cut backs the council are selling every bloody council tenant farm off, stuffing the chances for starting up in the industry to young farmers.
I'm not entirely surprised their shy of letting someone use their land etc, once they agree to access or lease their tied to it in some ways, they probably wouldn't have enough staff to cope with the paper work it would generate. 

As for contact it doesn't matter how high you go, no law says don't start at the top, if you want stuff sorting grab the nuts of the top monkey and work your way down.

Are you asking if they would sell it to you? or trying to rent it?

Also don't take this the wrong way, as in you on the cage for your own good, not meant like that, just think how they will think and slowly slowly Catch that monkey: The council may concider a use of land like allotment or shared usage with the surrounding houses, in which it benefits the community rather than an option that benefits one person?; the n of course depend how big a bit of land you looking at: just a thought 

hi cobra thanks for the input
as far as the cut backs preventing me from getting the use of the land I was actually hoping that this would go in my  favour as this bit of land is surrounded by council houses and needs to be maintained on a regular basis that cost would disappear if i was to get the use of the land . I also understand the legality of them letting me use the land. What did give me a bit of hope was that other councils have given use of land for this propose before on what grounds I don’t know but I am researching it. I know that a community or group request hold more stand than a individual one but in my opinion the the land if  split  between all the houses involved wouldn’t leave much  room  for each person to do a great deal. But I have got a few ideas on how I can put it forward so that it comes across better and doesn’t look like im just out for me

Again tanks to every one for there input because there some things that I might not of thought of and things that might be put forward in a different way
Alan

[doganjo]

Depends on the size, but a community area of some sort would go down well I think. Swings or a chute for little kids maybe