I HAVE every sympathy with Hilary Moxon at Little Knavesmire allotments and agree entirely with her fears (The Press, May 12).

I know another allotment gardener from York allotments who is as equally in the dark. She is not the only one who is not very happy about the way the situation is being handled.

To have an unelected group of people form a charitable body with unelected trustees to manage the York allotments with all the legal undertakings and responsibilities for these public assets is preposterous.

These are public assets that are being dealt with; if I lived in York as a tax payer I would be up in arms too.

I am extremely sceptical of any external body or charitable organisations taking on such a task.

Why councils continue to explore ways of off-loading the management of their allotment stock when it is their legal responsibility to provide and manage that allotment stock, as stated by the law of the land, is beyond me.

With good, sensible, proper management allotments can be managed at next to no cost to the council and yet can offer so many benefits to its communities and environment.

There is so much advice available from the National Allotment Society on various management structures that there is no excuse to hastily dump their responsibilities.

Phil Gomersall, Chairman, Yorkshire Allotment Gardens Federation, Leeds