Minutes from April meeting

Moss Lea Allotment Society

Minutes of the Committee Meeting held on

Tuesday 28th April 2015, 8pm at Astley Bridge Cricket Club

Present

Steve Barlow, Steve Cowell, Steve Watson, Andy Warburton, Gwen Kinloch, Phil Almond, Ray Hardcastle, Steve Richardson, Lesley Cryer, Pauline Oliver

1. Apologies

Joe Tarkowski.

2. Minutes of the Previous Meeting

Minutes of the last meeting held were accepted as an accurate record.

3. Matters Arising

There were no matters arising from the previous minutes.

4. Secretary's Report

Steve reported on the last ABAS meeting, which included a talk on growing show onions. The next meeting will include a talk on showing all kinds of vegetables and is open to all members. The start time of the ABAS meetings has been put back to 8pm. There is also due to be a talk from the police about improving security on allotment sites. All plot holders can come along to ABAS meetings.

The introduction of combination lock across Bolton allotment sites has not met with great success and many sites have gone back to the old lock as the combination locks were found to be fiddly. In light of this it was decided that Moss Lea would continue with the existing lock.

ABAS have stressed that any problems with liaison with the Council should be communicated to them and they will provide the liaison with Malcolm Russell at the Council.

On 10th May 1pm at Harper Lane allotments there is going to be a free drama performance, more details will be posted on the Moss Lea website (a Google search for "Moss Lea Allotments Bolton" finds the site easily).

Steve reported that two plots do not seem to have seen any activity recently. One of these had recently been to stage 3 of the eviction procedure, so the process is likely to start at this stage. The other one will start at stage one if no cultivation takes place. Plotholders are reminded that plots should be kept in cultivated state as a condition of tenancy.

Most membership fees have been paid.

There has been no further progress with the Council re a decision on allowing greenhouses on plots.

5. Site Maintenance and Repairs

As the skip could not be booked for 25th April it will now be on site on 2nd May and will be picked up later in that week after the Bank Holiday.

The cold frame area has been cleared and three spaces are available. Anyone who wants a space should let Steve Barlow know and they will be allocated on a first come first served basis. The other existing cold frames are thought to be in use, anyone who is using these should make themselves known to Steve Barlow. More spaces could be made on the area lower down, behind the greenhouses.

A new bin has been constructed in the composting area and the existing bins covered. Plotholders are reminded to only put compostable material in the bins.

Flagging is underway in front of the amenity hut and the roof is to be put on the garage. This work will take a few weeks, as time allows.

The broken panes in the greenhouse have been reported to the Council, but there has been no response yet. The damage was done by a plastic table during high winds. Everyone should be mindful of this and ensure that items are secured to prevent them from being blown around the site in windy weather.

6. Annual Show and Competitions

All classes in the show are to remain the same as last year.

Details of competitions and shows will be posted on the Moss Lea website.

8. Any Other Business

Phil Almond brought along a card which had been passed on by Tommy, the show judge, thanking him for the donation of half of his judging fee to Marie Curie. He had received similar thanks from Shelter, the recipient of the other half of his fee.

9. Date of Next Meeting

Tuesday 26th May 2015, 8pm at Astley Bridge Cricket Club.