Winchester City Council orders resident to remove plant pots

Winchester City Council has written to Lynda Vincent, of King Alfred Place, Hyde, instructing her to remove all her garden ornaments from the communal garden of the flats.

Ms Vincent was told she is only allowed to keep one plant pot “no larger than 40cm in diameter” even though other residents don’t use the garden and other shared council areas nearby have more than one pot per resident.

Ms Vincent, who’s lived at the flat for almost two years, said she thinks the council has been “biased” in their “solitary” notices to just her and not the other residents.

Lynda's items in the communal garden (Image: Newsquest)

Ms Vincent, 67, said: “This biased treatment has disturbed any therapeutic use and has damaged tenants, friends, family and children’s recreational use of the communal area here.

“I have had nothing but hassle since moving in. Nobody looked after the garden before I moved in, I keep it clean and most of the neighbours have commented on how they enjoy the improvements I have made.

The wind chime (Image: Newsquest)

“I’m an outdoors person and it’s nice because I can unwind in the communal area but I can’t now. Other people across the district have like 15 plant pots, so why me? They said I had to get rid of everything, right down to the wind chime. I’m being victimised.”

Ms Vincent was told to remove her personal items from the garden in August, after which she got rid of her water butt, and has since been reminded that any unpermitted items will be removed and she may incur a recharge.

Items listed to be removed include garden ornaments on the raised bed, garden ornaments on a stoned area, free-standing units with plant pots and ornaments, items attached to walls and plant pots.

A Winchester City Council spokesman said: "In communal properties with shared gardens, we do try and ensure that the garden areas remain available to everyone and anyone who wants to use them so no single property has greater use of the space than others.

"In this case, the flats' shared garden is very small and we want to ensure that it is accessible to all. For the reason of fairness, stored items or structures need prior permission, as is the case for any shared garden. We do exercise discretion and it is dependent on the space available so that any addition is not disproportionate to the space or could limit safe and inclusive access for other residents. 

"We’re currently looking into making some improvements to the gardens to encourage all residents to use them and we’ll work with everyone living there to make the most out of the outside space for all to enjoy."