Minutes 09/06/2014

MINUTES – ABAS MEETING 09/06/2014

ASTLEY BRIDGE CRICKET CLUB

Attendance: 25 delegates from 11 sites

 The Chair opened the meeting by welcoming everyone

The Minutes of the last meeting were passed by the meeting

Matters Arising from the last meeting

The CVS bid has been submitted

 

Matters Arising in the Interim between Meetings

The following matters had been raised by members and discussed with the Council.

• Inclusion of Forward plans in the OMA – see blog-site
• Jurisdiction of Societies over non-members under the OMA – see blog-site
• Dealing with aggressive and abusive tenants

o   The Council have stated that abusive behaviour towards Society officers and other tenants will be treated as a breach of tenancy and dealt with as such. If problems arise societies should collect evidence and submit this to Malcolm Russell.

• Permission for events under OMAs

o   Societies should submit a calendar of events together with details of their insurance provision to the Council as part of the OMA

• Creating a Welcome Booklet

o   Some sites wish to create welcome booklet for new tenants – ABAS has obtained copies of useful documents from the North-West Counties Allotments Association. Societies can access these by emailing boltonallotments2014@yahoo.co.uk

 

Progress on OMAs

·         Harpers Lane have completed their OMA

·         Florence Avenue are currently completing their OMA

·         9 other sites are at various stages of the process

·         One site (Lowndes Street) has decided not to pursue an OMA

 

Competition

Terry Farrell reported that eight sites have entered with a total of twenty plots for judging overall. The first round of judging will be completed on Tuesday 10^th June. The judges were very pleased with the standard of the plots seen so far. The final round of judging starts July 14^th.

 

It was suggested form the floor that the presentation of prizes should take place at Harpers Lane Open Day (August 10^th) and that the Mayor should be approached to present the prizes.

 

Any Other Business

• Sapling Rd enquired as to the position of structures left on plots when they become vacant. The Assistant Secretary promised to follow this up with the Council and post the results on the blog-site.
• Haslam Park and Dealey Rd. need help in forming a constituted society. ABAS will provide assistance as asked. (Terry Farrell has offered to visit and attend a site meeting.
• Cemetery RD Farnworth reported that reinstatement work following repairs to the cemetery retaining wall has not been carried out as agreed. In particular repairs have not been made to fencing and some plots have been left unusable. Terry Farrell and Jeff Gibson will visit and report back to ABAS.
• The meeting was informed that CVS (The Hub) is hosting a workshop on the 9^th July on ‘How to find the right grant” – details via the CVS website

Meeting Closed

Date and Venue of next meeting: 8.00 p.m. 14^th July at Astley Bridge CC

 

 

Structures on Transferred Plots

At the last ABAS meeting, the question was raised as to what was the correct procedure when a plot became vacant and there was a structure on it – e.g. a shed, a greenhouse or a chicken run.

We’ve discussed this with the Council and our current interpretation of the situation is as follows:-

Where the outgoing tenant is available then the Site Society should attempt to broker a settlement between the outgoing tenant and the incoming tenant – this settlement may or may not include payment. If this can be achieved then the incoming tenant then takes over the structure. The Site Secretary should ensure that there is a signed document in which the outgoing tenant gives up any title to the structure. There have been a number of cases reported in the national journal of tenants returning to a site after having left and trying to reclaim a structure - usually a metal framed greenhouse which is readily transportable.

If the incoming tenant does not wish to take over the structure then it is the outgoing tenant’s responsibility to remove it within three weeks of terminating their tenancy. If the structure is in reasonable condition and could be transferred from its existing position onto another plot then the site society may acquire ownership of the structure (in agreement with the outgoing tenant) and take responsibility for its transfer within 3 weeks (again payment may or may not be involved). Again the outgoing tenant should relinquish any claim to the structure in writing.

These are the two most desired outcomes – note that both require the Site Society to contact and gain the agreement of the outgoing tenant.

The Tenancy Regulations state that if the structure is not transferred to the incoming tenant or otherwise removed from the plot the Council will remove it and recharge any costs incurred to the outgoing tenant. In practice this rarely happens and the structure is simply left on the plot.

In this case:-

a)      If there is no gap in tenancy of the plot, the ownership of the structure, and/or the responsibility for its removal, effectively transfers to the incoming tenant. – but note our previous comment about former tenants returning(outside a reasonable period)  to try to reclaim structures.- here at least one society has had strong and effective support from the Council  when resisting such claims on behalf of the new tenant

b)      If there is a gap in tenancy then the structure becomes the property of the council until such time as the plot is re-let (and thus cannot be resold or given away by the Site Society as has been the previous practice of some Secretaries). Once a new tenant has taken on the plot a) above applies.

 

In effect an unwanted structure / ownerless structure is a form of waste.

 

The Council’s stance that they will not remove redundant structures extends to waste on vacated plots in general. The only waste they will remove is hazardous waste (the prime example of which is asbestos).

 

In other circumstances the incoming tenant takes on the plot “as seen” – the Council will not be clearing plots, providing top soil or any of the other tasks which TV programmes seem to suggest get done for new allotment holders.

It is always open to Societies to organise volunteer groups to clear abandoned plots (whether by designating them as community plots or not). However you should ensure that any society doing this either has Volunteer Insurance or gets the members of any working party to sign a suitable disclaimer form. This option is probably most applicable to Societies with OMAs.

 

The Council has in the past suggested that this might be an area for co-operation with bodies such as Community Payback.