Allotment gardeners are fighting for the future of their gardens. They made an appeal to the government
Allotment gardeners emphasize that the interest in plots is huge, and their supply is very limited. Local governments often do not have the ability to acquire land for new gardens or the tools to restore those that were once closed down.
The rest of the text below the video
Read also: Donald Trump weakened the dollar, Davos does not help. Red on the stock exchanges
Allotment gardeners are afraid of the disappearance of RODs. They have two ideas
In a letter addressed to the Ministry of Energy and Tourism, the Polish Allotment Gardeners Association presented: two main proposals for changes. The first one concerns transfer of state land to municipalities for the purpose of establishing RODs, in a similar way as is currently done in the case of areas for social housing. As allotment gardeners point out:
“Its (the first solution – editor's note) goal is to give local governments access to real estate that will be used to establish new RODs or recreate liquidated gardens. According to the experience of PZD, despite the enormous public interest in acquiring a plot, there are no free plots left in most gardens.”
Read also: The European Parliament suspends the conclusion of the agreement with the USA
The second solution is to regulate the legal loophole related to fees for perpetual usufruct of ROD land. Currently, allotment holders who want to take over land for perpetual usufruct must pay the same rates as commercial entities – even though they do not conduct commercial activities. The lack of special regulations means that allotment gardens are treated as business areas.
Fewer plots, more liquidation. Such changes are proposed by PZD
PZD emphasizes that Without legal changes, the process of liquidation of allotment gardens will continue. Although the ROD Act contains provisions stating the need to recreate gardens, municipalities often waive this obligation, citing the lack of land. The result is a systematic reduction in the pool of plots available to Polish families – communities that particularly value outdoor activities and growing their own vegetables and fruit.
The proposals submitted to the Ministry of Development included:
- Free transfer of land from the Agricultural Property Resource of the State Treasury to municipalities for the purposes of recreating or establishing new RODs.
- Introduction of a special fee rate for perpetual usufruct dedicated to RODin the amount of 0.1 percent. land value – instead of the current rates applied to commercial entities.
- Establishing the right of priority (pre-emption) for the commune in favor of ROD areas in the case of sale of perpetual usufruct, with a symbolic fee of 1%. land value.
The Polish Allotment Gardeners Association emphasizes that now is the time to change course, before the situation of allotment gardeners and the availability of gardens in Poland deteriorate even further. Allotment gardeners hope that their proposals will be taken into account in the work on the project prepared by the Ministry of Development and Technology, which will help secure the future of family allotment gardens in Poland.
