The Judgement in the 1981 Court Case Harwood v Borough of Reigate and Banstead heard in the Chancery Division of the High Court before Mr Vivian Price QC is of immense importance to allotment holders north and south of the border.
In that judgement, it was held that it was unlawful for local authorities to discriminate against allotment holders by applying higher increases against them for the use of their allotments as compared with the increases applied against the users of other council owned recreational facilities and that by doing so resulted in an unfair and excessive charge being imposed upon the allotment holders.
A rather poor copy of the original judgement in which some words are illegible can be seen here
Sub - note. Although there is different Allotments legislation in England from that in Scotland, the issue was not determined on the basis of the allotments legislation but on the issue of discrimination.
The decision of an English court is never binding upon a Scottish court. However, in cases where no Scottish authority exists, the Scottish Courts have made use of English case law as precedent. There is no reason to expect different treatment if the matter were to be tested in the Scottish Courts