Minutes of the Committee Meeting held on Tuesday 30th June 2015

Moss Lea Allotment Society

Minutes of the Committee Meeting held on

Tuesday 30th June 2015, 8pm at Astley Bridge Cricket Club

Present

Steve Barlow, Steve Cowell, Steve Watson, Andy Warburton, Gwen Kinloch, Phil Almond, Steve Richardson,  Barry Ashton

 1. Apologies

Joe Tarkowski, Ray Hardcastle.

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 that Ken Worsley had passed away and that the Society had sent a card and donation for the RSPB to his wife. The cheque also included a donation from Tommy Halliday, the show judge who knew Ken well from his time on the site.

The last ABAS meeting included feedback from a meeting with Malcolm Russell from Bolton Council regarding the problems with communication with the Council. It appears that dissatisfaction with communication and feedback from the council is widespread throughout the borough's allotment associations. Cutbacks and staff illness have impacted on the resources the council has been able to provide. The Council will now respond within two weeks of receiving monthly returns and if no response given this can be taken up via ABAS.

A new Operational Management Agreement is to be put in place which will bring in some significant changes, but should make administration easier. ‘Breaches  of tenancy’ will be more clearly defined and there will only be two stages leading to termination of the tenancy. There will be no community plots, however there will be a probationary period for new plot holders.  Tenancy agreements will be signed at the end of the probationary period ( period length to be agreed by allotment associations). This means the vacant half of the community plot at Moss Lea will now be a normal plot. There will be no shared plots except joint tenancies and buddies can only be for two years, after which a joint tenancy will be required. These measures are designed to prevent queue jumping on the waiting list.

The available greenhouse space has been taken  by Joe Tarkowski and Steve has two more names of people who want greenhouse space : Dave London and Herby Millar. When available, spaces will be issued in order of who has been on site the longest. Anyone who wants to be put on the waiting list should let Steve Barlow know.

Ken Worsley's plot will become vacant from the end of the season, in the meantime his wife will harvest the crops. Plot 5a is vacant and potential plot holder is due to see it. One other name is on the waiting list.

5. Site Maintenance and Repairs

The council have agreed to replace the broken greenhouse panels and the job is being chased up by the Allotment Team.

Paving slabs have been laid in front of the amenity hut.

A mulching mower and a tea urn have both been purchased.

The roof of the garage is still to be fitted, it is planned to be completed before the show.

The toilets require signage on the doors.

Since the last meeting there have been some thefts from the site. Access was over the fence on the Moss Lea side of the site and some ladders, a wheelbarrow and plastic chairs were stolen. The theft was reported to the police.

A decision on allowing greenhouses on plots is still awaited. As it would require a change to legal tenancies council members rather than officers will have to take the decision.

The Secretary has asked the Council to review the erection of compost bins by the holder of Plot 27 across what has previously been regarded as communal and open land. It has been referred to the Council as the plot holder maintains permission was granted  by the previous Allotment Officer.

There were several comments about dog mess on the site. Plot holders are reminded that dogs should be kept on leads and mess should be cleaned up. Some may be due to members of the public with dogs coming onto the site. Signage is to be put up to make it clear that there is no path through the allotments.

There have also been some reports of cars driving along the allotment track at an unsafe speed. Plot holders are reminded to drive slowly around the track especially as children may be on site.

6. Annual Show

The Moss Lea show will be on 22nd August. Tommy Haliday has kindly agreed to do  the judging.

The catering worked well last year and we request that where possible Society members provide cakes, especially home-baked, scones, biscuits and other provisions etc – but not sandwiches – with a label so customers can see what it is…a well-stocked catering table last year helped us financially.. so please have a thought about what you could bring on the day…

We have a new tea urn to speed up delivery of cups of tea etc which was a bit slow last year at times. There will be a rota of members to staff the kitchen and serve the customers – please speak to Steve Barlow if you can help here.

Steve Richardson provided a sample of tickets for the event and an initial print run of 500 was agreed.

The ticket price to the show was discussed and it was agreed to increase the entry fee to 30p, from last year's 25p. It is hoped that each plot holder will take at least 10 tickets to sell or pass on to family and friends. Each ticket has the chance to win a prize. There are also raffle tickets available on the day.

Contributions, volunteers and entries for the show are required. A sheet of guidance and hints for new comers to showing is to be produced.

8. Any Other Business

The Astley Bridge Festival is on 11th and 12th July. Steve Barlow proposed making contact with the organisers so that we can be part of this community event .  This was agreed : contact has now been made but it is really too late for us to be involved for this year but for next year we would like to be involved in the planning from the early stages. We discussed the possibility of some kind of Open Day Event perhaps with some catering, plant sales etc.

9. Date of Next Meeting

Tuesday 28^th July 8pm at Astley Bridge Cricket Club. If you can help with the Show please come along.