MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FISHERIES. ALLOTMENTS ACT, 1925. SUPPLEMENT ΤΟ THE MEMORANDUM SETTING OUT THE PROVISIONS OF THE ALLOTMENTS ACT, 1922, SHOWING THE ALTERATIONS MADE BY THE ACT OF 1925. THE ALLOTMENTS ACT, 1925. (Supplement to the Memorandum setting out the provisions of the Allotments Act, 1922.) The passing of the Allotments Act, 1925, necessitates certain modifications in the memorandum setting out the provisions of the Allotments Act, 1922. The nature and extent of the alterations are indicated hereunder, the figures in ordinary type being the numbers of the paragraphs in the memorandum and the italicised figures being the relative sections of the new Act. Par. 7 (b). The minimum period of notice required is extended to three months if the land is required for any purpose other than agriculture, sport or recreation, and to six months if the land is required for sport or recreation. In the last mentioned case the notice must expire on or before the 6th April or on or after the 29th September. (Section 6.) Par. 12. The tenant of an allotment garden on land occupied by a Council under section 10 of the Act of 1922 is now entitled to compensation under subsection (4) of that section, notwithstanding any agreement to the contrary, if the rent payable under his contract of tenancy exceeds 3d. per pole, unless in the case of tenancies current on 7th August, 1925, at a rent in excess of 3d. per pole, the Council before 7th November, 1925, give notice in writing to the tenant that the rent as from the last preceding date for payment is reduced to 3d. per pole or less. (Section 7.) Par. 19. (Table: item 5 (a)). This is modified as shown in the preceding paragraph. Par. 26. This paragraph must be read subject to the foregoing modifications of paragraph 12. Par. 28. The period of ten days (lines 8 and 13) is extended to 21 days. (Section 9.) Par. 29. The obligation to set up an Allotments Committee, unless exemption is granted by the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries after consultation with the Minister of Health, is extended to councils of boroughs and urban districts with a population of less than 10,000, if the total number of allotments provided by the council exceeds 400. The proportion of nonelected members of Allotments Committees is slightly modified, and in future is to be as near as may be one-third of the total and in no case less than two. These provisions are to come into operation on the 1st November, 1925. (Section 12.) Par. 34. The council of any borough or urban district may take proceedings under the provisions of the Allotments Acts if, in the opinion of the council, the expenses referred to in section 16 of the Act of 1922 may reasonably be expected, after the proceedings are taken, to exceed the receipts of the council under those provisions by no greater amount than would be produced by a rate of one penny in the pound. (Section 4.) Par. 35. Approved societies providing land for allotments may, by notice to the Rating Authority, claim to be assessed for rating purposes as if they were the occupiers and the Rating Authority no longer has any discretion in the matter. (Section 11.) Where land is brought into use for allotments for the first time after 7th August, 1925, the assessment for rating purposes is not to be increased during the first three years of such user, and where such land was previously included with other land in one assessment an equitable apportionment is to be made on the basis of acreage or otherwise. (Section 10.) The remaining sections of the Act of 1925 embody entirely new provisions : Section 2 enables the Public Works Loan Commissioners to advance money to approved societies for the purpose of purchasing land to be let in allotments. Advances are not to exceed twothirds of the value of the land proposed to be purchased, and are conditional on the Society providing not less than one-third in a manner approved by the Commissioners. The maximum period for repayment is thirty-five years. Section 3 provides for consideration to be given to the reservation of land for allotments in connection with town planning schemes, and for consultation in regard thereto between the town-planning authority and any borough or urban district council affected by the scheme. Every such council is required to take into consideration from time to time, and at least once a year, the question whether any and if so what lands within the area of the scheme are needed for allotments whether reserved for the purpose or not, and ought to be acquired under and in accordance with the Allotments Acts. Section 5 authorises councils of boroughs and urban districts to acquire land for allotments in advance of actual requirements, provided that the Minister of Health is satisfied, after consultation with the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, that there is a reasonable expectation that the land will eventually be required for allotments. Section 8 restrains local authorities from selling, appropriating, using or disposing of land purchased for allotments for any other purpose without the consent of the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries after consultation with the Minister of Health. Such consent is not to be given unless the Minister is satisfied that adequate provision will be made for allotment holders displaced by the action of the local authority or that such provision is unnecessary or not reasonably practicable, and where such consent is obtained the sanction of the county council under section thirty-two of the Small Holdings and Allotments Act, 1908, shall not be required. Section 13 requires local authorities purchasing or leasing land under the Allotments Acts to record the purchase price or rent to be paid for the land and the amount at which it is assessed for rating purposes at the date of its acquisition, and the particulars so recorded are to be included by the local authority in their annual report to the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries under section 59 of the Small Holdings and Allotments Act, 1908. Note. The rate of interest on loans to local authorities out of the Local Loans Fund for the purposes of the Allotments Acts is now 4 per cent. Copies of the Allotments Act, 1925 (3d.), the Allotments Act, 1922 (6d.), this Memorandum (1d.) and the Memorandum setting out the provisions of the Act of 1922 (6d.) can be obtained as indicated below, the price in each case being exclusive of postage. To be purchased directly from H.M. Stationery Office at the following addresses: Adastral House, Kingsway, London, W.C.2; 28, Abingdon Street, London, S.W.1; York Street, Manchester; 1, St. Andrew's Crescent, Cardiff; or 120, George Street, Edinburgh; or through any Bookseller. |