Please help. I am retired, have physical health issues, and Higher Functioning Autism. My allotment was my peace—my only hobby. Now I am anxious before I even reach my plot.

I have previously helped the committee fitted a new roof on the toilet block, installed new sinks, repaired leaks—all free, because I believe in kindness. Now the committee is trying to push me out.

I tried a 92-year-old ex-paratrooper, going blind and struggling with his plot, asked for my help. The committee told me to stop. A site manager later confessed: "If you help him, we can't get his plot back."

I have comforted elderly tenants reduced to tears by this committee. I have held space for disabled plot holders too afraid to speak up. Now I am the target.

I gave Southend Council witness statements, a petition signed by 75% of tenants, photos, emails, and evidence of constitutional breaches. They interviewed no witnesses. They took the committee's word over ours. They said my evidence was "insufficient."

I don't want conflict. I want to grow my vegetables in peace. But I cannot sit idly by while vulnerable people are bullied out of their plots and the council that should protect them looks away.

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My Story

I am retired. I have physical health issues. I have Higher Functioning Autism.

My allotment at Rochford Road was my sanctuary. It was the only place where I could manage my health, find calm, and do something I love—growing organic food with my own hands. For years, it was my peace.

When I first became a tenant, I gave back to the community. I fitted a new roof on the toilet block. I installed new sinks. I repaired leaks. I helped with maintenance—all free of charge. I did it because I believe in kindness and community.

I always helped other plot holders whenever I could. That's just who I am.

For a long time, I ignored the problems at the site. I dismissed them as gossip. I told myself people were overreacting. I wanted peace, not conflict.

Then I helped a 92-year-old ex-paratrooper who was going blind.

He was struggling to manage his plot. I offered to help. One day, while I was working on his plot alone, a committee member came over and told me to stop. I was puzzled. Then another plot holder approached me with a message: "I've been asked to tell you not to help him." Then came an email—"Refrain from helping him."

I thought perhaps he was giving up his plot. But at a bonfire event days later, the site manager apologised to me. He said: "If you help him, we can't get his plot back."

I realised what was happening. The committee was deliberately isolating a 92-year-old blind veteran so his plot would fall into malcultivation. They wanted to push him out. They forbade anyone from helping him—not because of any rule, but because they wanted his plot.

I kept quiet at first. I didn't want conflict. But I wrote to Southend Council. Surely they would care that a committee was manipulating vulnerable people out of their plots? Surely they would see that for some tenants, this hobby is the only thing that gets them out of bed in the morning?

The council did nothing.

The committee then asked me to rally other plot holders to draft a letter—so they could oust another tenant they didn't like. On another occasion, they issued a malcultivation notice to a plot holder recovering from back surgery. His plots were untidy because he physically couldn't tend them. They didn't care.

I have now witnessed countless similar situations. The pattern is always the same:

· If the committee likes you, rules are overlooked.
· If they don't like you, they will use malcultivation notices, harassment, and isolation to push you out.
· If you try to help someone they are targeting, you become a target yourself.

I became a target.

Since I stood up for others, I have endured:

· Verbal abuse shouted at me on my own plot
· Threats and intimidation
· Harassment designed to make me give up
· False accusations—including a committee member lying that my neighbours had complained about me

I have spent countless hours comforting other plot holders who have been reduced to tears by this committee. Elderly tenants. Disabled tenants. People who just wanted to grow vegetables in peace. They come to me upset, anxious, too afraid to speak up themselves.

Now I am anxious too.

The moment I pull into the car park at Rochford Road, my stomach clenches. The peace I once had is gone. The council and the committee have drained the life out of my only hobby. I am on edge before I even reach my plot.

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What I Gave the Council

I provided Southend Council with:

· Written witness statements from multiple plot holders
· A petition signed by 75% of tenants on the site
· Photos and emails documenting the abuse
· A detailed breakdown of constitutional breaches by the committee

The council's response?

They said the evidence was "insufficient." They said they couldn't take a side. They interviewed no witnesses. They didn't speak to a single victim. They took the committee's word over the evidence of 75% of tenants.

Now they are promising future rule changes. But this isn't about rules. It's about accountability. If the council won't enforce the rules that already exist—won't investigate bullying, won't interview witnesses, won't protect vulnerable tenants—then what will changing the rules achieve?

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Who I Am

I am one of the vulnerable tenants the council has failed.

I have Higher Functioning Autism. I have physical health issues. I am retired. I gave my time and labour freely to improve this site. I helped a 92-year-old veteran because it was the right thing to do.

For doing that, I was targeted. For reporting it, I was ignored.

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What I Am Asking For

I am asking Southend Council to:

· Conduct a proper investigation that interviews all plot holders who provided evidence
· Address the constitutional breaches I identified
· Provide a written apology for the specific incident where a committee member shouted at me and lied about me

I don't want special treatment. I want the council to do what it should have done in the first place—to look at the facts, apply the rules it already has, and ensure that vulnerable tenants are not bullied out of their plots while those responsible face no consequences.

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If you believe that local authorities should protect vulnerable residents—not shield those who abuse their power—please sign this petition.

I want to put this behind me and tend my plot in peace. But I cannot sit idly by while this continues.

Please help.