We hope that you won’t need to complain about something you experience as a member of TFAS. But if you do need to raise concerns about anything we will take these seriously and deal with them properly.

You may think that someone has behaved in a way that is discriminatory, offensive or intimidating. Or you may believe that someone has broken important rules. If you tell us about your problem then we will seek to resolve it.

You have a right to complain and we will make sure you are not put at any disadvantage because you have made a complaint. We will treat your complaint as confidentially as possible.

We have a process for you to follow to make sure that every complaint is dealt with fairly and sorted out as quickly as possible.
For most complaints we will follow a 3 stage process.

Stage 1 – Your site reps
If you are unhappy about way the site is being managed, or if you have a complaint about the way you have been treated or another plotholder, please speak to your site reps or email us at tamworthfarm@gmail.com or you can give a letter to your site reps or any committee member. The names of your site reps are posted on the noticeboards on all three sites.

We hope that your site reps will be able to solve your complaint quickly with some informal discussions. If needed they will talk to you and other people on the site so they understand the problem. Your site reps may need to bring your complaint to other committee members or to the full committee for further informal discussion either on site or by email.

We aim to resolve most complaints within three weeks of being told about them. If it takes longer your site reps will explain why and tell you what will happen next.

Stage 2 – Investigation and Committee decision
If you think the site reps won’t be able to solve your problem or if you’d rather speak to someone else, please either email tamworthfarm@gmail.com or speak to any committee member. If you prefer, you can give any committee member a letter telling us about your issue.

We will email you or write to you within ten working days setting out how your complaint will be investigated. You’ll also be given the name of the person doing the investigation and how long it’s likely to take.

After the investigation, three members of the Committee will be appointed to a special sub-Committee to discuss the matter. They will write to you with their decision and the reasons for it, within ten working days of the meeting or explain why it might take longer.

If the complaint relates directly to a member of the committee, that person will not be involved in the process or present at the Committee meeting to discuss your complaint.

Stage 3 – Appeal process
If you wish to dispute the way your complaint has been dealt with or the decision the sub-Committee has made, you can make a formal appeal. You would need to do this within ten working days of receiving the decision.

If you make an appeal, the President of the Committee will convene a meeting with two other Committee members who did not sit on the original Sub-Committee. They will consider whether the process undertaken during the investigation and by the sub-Committee was carried out fairly and reasonably. They will write to you with the outcome within twenty working days.

Stage 4 – Merton Council
If you continue to be unhappy about the outcome, you can get in touch with Merton Council and ask them to review your complaint.

You will need to show that you raised the complaint with us and that we have dealt with it at the prior stages before Merton will consider the dispute.

You will also need to tell them why you are disputing our decision so that they can properly investigate the issue.

How to complain
If you are talking to your site reps, emailing us or handing over a letter please tell us the following so we can deal quickly with your concerns.

• Your site and plot number
• Your name, full postal address including postcode, email and if you are happy to do so your phone number
• Full details of your complaint – include things like
◦ the dates and times when things happened or what rules have been broken
◦ the names of any people involved (or their plot numbers) or anyone else who saw what happened
◦ a description of what rules have been broken or what happened and why it upset you
◦ it would be very helpful if you could tell us what you want to happen next to resolve your complaint and make you feel happy again.
We believe in taking a collaborative approach to problem solving and would try to get people to discuss their concerns.

Some possible outcomes from a complaint:

• a change in arrangements for some activities or actions
• an explanation about why people acted in a certain way or an apology
• an agreement to communicate or act differently in the future
• a formal warning to be sent to an allotment holder or member of the committee
• serving a notice to an allotment holder or member of the committee to quit their allotment (this would only happen for very serious complaints or for repeated breaking of the rules of a tenancy agreement)
• closing the complaint without any further action but explaining to you why the complaint has been closed

TFAS Committee