Local ‘banned’ from allotment he spent 30 years tending for after his mum ‘swore in car park’
A man has been “banned” from an allotment he spent 30 years tending to after complaints rose that his mother had “sworn in the car park”.
David Hamlet, 57, was shocked to turn up at Clubmoor Allotments and Community Clubhouse to find his section had been chained up.
Hamlet was given repeated warnings over the upkeep of the plot, which is on land owned by Liverpool Council but ran by a committee.
The 57-year-old insisted that he heeded the warnings and maintained a well-kept plot. He said that he even took some time off work to ensure the space was cleaned up.
However, in September, Hamlet received a letter barring him from the park. It cited alleged behaviour from his mother, including a time she supposedly swore in the car park.
The notice also said that the 57-year-old had fly-tipped on his own plot, as well as nicking trees and bushing from a different plot.
He vehemently denies the accusations. Hamlet said: “I’ve known my mother all my life and I’ve never heard her swear.
“I was trying to clear up the vacant plot next to mine to make it usable. I arrived at the site today and it’s padlocked.
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“I’ve been on here for 30 years and all I’ve done is try and make it better, I can’t see where I’ve gone wrong.”
The 57-year-old said he was given two weeks to respond, replying swiftly in four days.
However, his response proved futile, as he is still barred from returning to the land he spent three decades caring for.
“I thought I’d put a good case across, I suffer from dyslexia so I had my nephew help put a letter together.”
Hamlet, a courier driver, has battled health issues over the years. He returned to full-time work earlier this year, a reason he says led to his patch of land becoming unkempt.
He said the stress of the ban is affecting his health, with a skin condition which flares up when he is under pressure recently returning.
“It’s come back with a vengeance,” he said. “I don’t want to go back to work because of all this at the moment.”
A spokesperson for the committee told the Liverpool Echo: “If any plot holder has been told they cannot enter the site, then they will have been told this by Liverpool Council.”
The local authority also said they do not get involved with membership issues.