Allotment services

  1. Summary

    Our privacy notice explains what personal information is collected, what it is used for and who it is provided to. The notice also describes why the Council requires your data, and the legal basis on which it does this.

    This privacy notice relates to the Council’s Allotment functions. It provides additional information that specifically relates to this particular service and should be read together with our general privacy notice, which provides more detail on the questions below. Read our general privacy notice

  2. What personal information does this service use?

    This service uses personal information, such as:

    • name
    • address
    • telephone number
    • email address
    • date of birth – to support concession allocation
    • information about your use of our services, such as tenancy, schedule of charges, use of plots.
    •  

    This service also uses the following special category personal information:

    Health information, such as disability, to provide the most appropriate plot for access, apply a rent concession and charge the correct rent.

  3. What is your personal information used for?

    The Council uses your personal data for the following reasons:

    To comply with our public and statutory functions to provide an allotment service. We use your contact details to notify you of available allotments and to arrange plot viewings. If you choose to take on a plot, your information is used to draw up a tenancy agreement. We then use your information for contractual and billing purposes, as well as for communications relating to the allotment service.

    This includes using your information to:

    • maintain and administer the Allotments service database and supporting systems;
    • maintain our accounts and financial records; process relevant financial transactions; and follow up outstanding plot rental payments;
    • identify you when you contact us and when we contact you;
    • contact you in the event of a problem with your tenancy/plot or notify you of changes to your plot or agreement e.g. repairs, maintenance;
    • send out allotment service information, including tenancy renewal or rent uplift information;
    • investigate and respond to enquiries related to allotments;
    • investigate complaints, such as property damage, anti social behavior or other concerns;
    • monitor complaints, comments and other feedback;
    • support research (where your information will be anonymised).
    •  

    If your tenancy has been terminated due to breaches of the Allotment Rules, we may keep your information on the tenant exclusion list for up to three years following the termination of your tenancy.

  4. What is the lawful basis we are relying on?

    We collect and use this information under :

    Article 6(1)(b) UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR)- For the performance of a contract

    Article 6(1)(e ) UK GDPR- Where it is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of local authority functions under the Allotment Act 1908 as modified under the Allotment Act 1950

    Article 6(1)(d) UK GDPR - In an emergency situation where it is necessary to protect the vital interests of any individual.

    In some circumstances, we might rely on your consent under Article 6(1)(a) UK GDPR for marketing purposes including when you wish to take part in allotment related competitions or publicity. You can withdraw your consent at any time by letting us know.

    We use information about your health/disability for reasons of substantial public interest in accordance with Article 9 (2)(g) UK GDPR and Schedule 1 Part 2, as part of our statutory functions to provide a suitable plot based on access, and identify or keep under review equality of opportunity or treatment.

  5. Where has the personal information come from?

    The majority of the personal information that we hold has been provided by you in your application for an allotment (via the waiting list and information you have included when completing a tenancy agreement).

    Information about you may come from other departments of the Council, for example from our Finance teams in relation to rent payments.

    We may also receive information about you from external organisations /voluntary societies who support the functions of the Allotment service, for example local allotment societies, funding bodies, community growing organisations.

  6. Who will we share your personal information with?

    Your personal data is shared securely with the following organisations or services where it is both necessary and appropriate to do so.

    We may be required to share your personal data with Council’s internal departments where it is necessary to do so as part of the Allotment service functions. For example;

    • Our Finance teams to facilitate the invoicing and collection of allotment rent payments; or
    • the Council’s wider Parks and Leisure services, Environmental Health, Trading Standards or other services in relation to maintenance or environmental matters - such as bonfires, noise, pest control and waste disposal.
    •  

    We share your personal data with the following external organisations where it is necessary as part of our operations relating to allotment sites or your tenancy of an allotment site:

    • When adding your details to our waiting list and/or signing a tenancy agreement with us, the information you provide will be transferred to a database (“Colony”) which is managed by Kogitas MCPC;
    • Relevant Allotment Society volunteers as they assist in the running of our sites, including arranging plot-viewings for prospective tenants; inspecting plots; issuing notices. Where you have provided special category information, such as information about your health or disability, we may share the information with relevant voluntary Allotment Societies to help ensure a suitable plot is allocated based on your needs, for example access requirements;
    • Your information may be shared with other external government and enforcement agencies, for example Highway Services or the Environment Agency, if we need to report flooding or other issues at an allotment site;
    • Exceptionally, we may need to share information about you with the law enforcement agencies such as the police if we need to report theft, criminal damage or if we suspect that an allotment is used for unlawful purposes;
    • We may share your information with animal welfare organisations if required.
    •  

  7. How long will we keep your information?

    Our retention schedule sets out how long we keep personal information for.

  8. Your personal information and your rights

    You can read about what rights you have regarding the personal information used for this service on our website

  9. Contacting us about your data and updates

    If you have any questions or concerns about how the Council uses your personal information, please contact the Council’s Data Protection Officer.

    Complaints or queries

    If you have any concerns about the way the we use your personal information, we would ask you to come to us first for help. You do however have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office:

    • 0303 123 1113 (local rate)
    • casework@ico.org.uk
    • Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.

Was this page helpful?

Fields marked * cannot be left blank

Feedback submitted to us on this form is monitored but you won’t receive a reply. In an emergency, visit our emergency contact details page. Please don't include any personal or financial information, for example your National Insurance or credit card numbers.