As a result, huge amounts of dangerous waste water are discharged to the soil, which may threaten the environment. Council authorities do not know exactly how many garden plots they have in their area nor what their surface is. The Polish Association of Garden Plot Owners (PZD) which manages garden plots is beyond control as the law does not state which government administration body is obliged to supervise it.
For many years, people have been living on garden plots illegally: in 6 municipalities audited by the NIK, there were as many as a thousand people living in the area of garden plots. Some of them (148) were even registered for residency there. It stems from unclear legal regulations: some allow for registering for residency while others forbid to live on garden plots. Council authorities are not strict in this respect as they do not have funds for providing social flats. The NIK has also found out that the PZD has no complete information on how garden plots are used and on the number of persons who reside there. For instance in Szczecin, when one area with garden plots was being liquidated, it turned out that there were 18 people living there permanently.
It is not allowed to build houses larger than 25 square meters on garden plots located in cities, and larger than 35 square meters on those situated outside urban areas. This rule is not, however, complied with. Local authorities are frequently aware of illegally constructed houses as they collect property taxes on them (houses whose size is compliant with the rules are exempt from property tax). These houses are also dangerous for the environment, as they frequently do not have appropriate sewage systems.
Untended gardens also pose an ecological problem, as they often serve as illegal garbage dumps, where dangerous waste is left. Such activities are only rarely, however, dealt with by the Polish Association of Garden Plot Owners, i.e. the PZD. The PZD itself is not supervised by the public administration, as legal regulations do not state which body or office should do it. The Act on family garden plots does not set out precisely what the rights and duties of their users are. Such provisions are included in the statutes of the PZD and in regulations of individual garden plot complexes only. That is why the NIK postulates that the Act on family garden plots should be amended.
