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Kenny, The Sheriffs comments have given me the key that has allowed me at long last to understand totally what the law means and the effect it has on a local authorities powers. As I mentioned above, a local authority has the power to grant leases of land. In the normal case that would mean a Council would have to enter into negotiations with each and every allotment holder about every term in every contract and on every occasion there was to be a review of rent etc. There are over 400 plots in Aberdeen so as you can imagine, there would be a huge amount of work involved. To avoid that volume of work, up here, local authorities may instead make regulations which are binding on all allotment holders but if they do, the regulations have to be confirmed at government level after publication and full public consultation.
I was able to demonstrate that Aberdeen Council have made regulations. Their plots are administered using Conditions of let letters. The word condition is synonymous with the word rule. One of the Conditions even contains the words "and this rule". So if the local authority accepts that one of its conditions are rules, all the conditions are rules. The Conditions of let letters may equally have been entitled Rules of let letters. A regulation is defined as a rule made and maintained by an authority. The rules were made by our council which is the local authority for this area. The rules are regulations. Absolutely undeniably regulations.
Our legislations says that if regulations are made and not confirmed at government level they shall be of no force.
That remains at the core of my defence.
I was able to demonstrate that Aberdeen Council have made regulations. Their plots are administered using Conditions of let letters. The word condition is synonymous with the word rule. One of the Conditions even contains the words "and this rule". So if the local authority accepts that one of its conditions are rules, all the conditions are rules. The Conditions of let letters may equally have been entitled Rules of let letters. A regulation is defined as a rule made and maintained by an authority. The rules were made by our council which is the local authority for this area. The rules are regulations. Absolutely undeniably regulations.
Our legislations says that if regulations are made and not confirmed at government level they shall be of no force.
That remains at the core of my defence.
I agree with your core argument Frank, I almost posted to say, "Well done, you've cracked it" when you said that they had admitted the unfair legislation thing. But there is of course that old chestnut beloved of newspapers and public opinion - anyone's opinion - when an unpopular decision is arrived at: "Won/lost on a technicality". Your core argument may be correct; what you now need to do (in my utterly unqualified opinion !
) is marshal all your guns against whatever technicalities the opposition may use to win on a minor point, e.g. the objections the sheriff was making. Think of it rather as, it's not enough to have the winning carrot/tattie/shallot on the plate: you need to have a whole plateful of identical standard winners. Any imperfections and you may lose a vital point, in which instance the procedural legislation may say all other points are moot, to win on this point means...
(Where's the disgusted eye-rolling emoticon when you need it ?)
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