Complaints / Disputes Procedure

If a tenant/plotholder wishes to make a complaint against the Committee or another tenant or raise a dispute with the Committee he/she should follow the procedure laid out below.

Initial stage
The allotment tenant/plotholder should contact their Field Representative(s) first to see if the dispute or complaint can be resolved in an informal manner. The Field Rep will discuss the issue with the tenant and tries to resolve any outstanding issues.

Secondary stage
If the dispute/complaint cannot be resolved by discussions with the Field Reps, or if the tenant does not wish to involve the Field Rep, the tenant should email or write to the H&DAA Secretary with full details of the dispute/complaint. The Secretary will write back within 10 days to acknowledge that the letter has been received. The complaint will then be tabled for discussion at the next Committee meeting.

At the Committee meeting, it may be that further investigations into the complaint are required, in which case a committee member will be tasked with obtaining further information relating to the dispute/complaint. This may involve convening a subcommittee to discuss the issue with the complainant. The committee member or subcommittee will make recommendations  to be taken to the full committee.

Once further investigations have been completed, the Committee will make a decision based on the original complainant’s letter and on further evidence information provided during the investigation. This decision will be communicated to the complainant in the most appropriate manner (email, letter, verbally) as soon as possible after it is made.

Appeals
If the complainant is not satisfied with the decision made, he/she can appeal against it using the H&DAA Appeals procedure.

An Appeal hearing should be heard by a different group but contain at least one senior Committee member  (i.e. Chair, Vice Chair or Treasurer ) – and two other members.