All members of the Nailsea Allotments Association (The Association) have the right to be treated fairly and to tend their plot without experiencing harassment or bullying.
All officers of The Association and officers of Nailsea Town Council have the right to be treated politely and to undertake their roles without fear of abuse or aggression either physical, written or verbal.
If you feel that you wish to make a complaint then the procedure described in this document should be followed.
You may ask someone else to help you make your complaint and assist you through the process if you feel unable to do so by yourself. It would be helpful if you would let The Association know if this is the case.
Informal Stage
Complaints can often be resolved informally, and can be raised by speaking to one of the Site Representatives, or by contacting the Secretary.
If you wish to make a formal complaint to The Association, or The Association feels that this would be more appropriate then the formal procedure will be followed.
Stage One
- You should make your complaint as soon as possible after the event you want to complain about has happened. We will not normally consider complaints received more that 3 months after the event has happened. If there are exceptional circumstances as to why you have not been able to make your complaint within this timescale then evidence must be provided and we may still consider your complaint.
- Your complaint must be made in writing (e-mail is an acceptable form of communication) to the Secretary and must include the following information.
- Your name, postal address, telephone number, e-mail address if you have one and plot number.
- A clear and full explanation of the event(s)/issue(s) you are complaining about. You should provide as much detail as possible, including names, dates, places etc. It is important that those reviewing your complaint can understand what has happened.
- If relevant, list the dates and what happened in order. You may wish to include photographs or sketches if they are relevant to your complaint.
- Give us the names and contact details of any witnesses who are prepared to provide evidence in relation to the event.
- Explain how the event or issue is causing you a problem and tell us what you would like us to do about it.
- Once we receive your complaint, we will write to you to tell you who will consider your complaint. We will also let you know approximately when you will hear the outcome of our consideration. Complaints will be reviewed by at least three members of the current Committee.
- When we have made a decision about your complaint, we will write to you to inform you of that decision and any actions we will take.
Stage Two – Appeal
- If you are unhappy with the decision made at Stage One, you can ask us to review it.
- Requests for review must be made in writing (e-mail is an acceptable form of communication) to the Secretary within 3 weeks of you being informed of the decision.
- You must state your reasons for requesting a review.
- If you do not have anything new or material to add to your complaint then The Association may refuse your request to review the decision. If we do refuse to review the decision we will write to you and explain why.
- If we agree to review your complaint, we will write to you to tell you who will consider your complaint. We will also let you know approximately when you will hear the outcome of our consideration.
- The review will be conducted by the Chair and at least two other members of the Committee who have not previously been involved with your complaint. If there is a conflict of interest for the Chair, then another member of the Committee will be appointed in their place.
- When we have made a decision about the review, we will write to you to inform you of that decision and any actions we will take.
If you are the subject of a complaint
- If we receive a complaint against you, we will inform you of the allegations being made against you. We will also provide you with copies of evidence submitted to us.
- You have the right to submit your version of events to the review committee along with details of any witnesses who are prepared to provide evidence.
- You will be informed of the decision of the review committee along with any actions we will take.
- You have the right to appeal against the decision by following Stage Two of this procedure as detailed above.
Actions we may take
There are a number of sanctions that the Association may impose, these include:
- Verbal warning
- Written warning
- Termination of membership of The Association. You will at this point be required to provide your own Public Liability Insurance.
- Where The Association decides that the complaint constitutes a breach of the Conditions of Tenancy, we will refer the matter to Nailsea Town Council to consider termination of the Tenancy.
Nailsea Allotments Association 