Membership Position
There are 954 plots on 37 sites in Bolton of which 823 are on the 26 sites with a Society and / or Secretary
There are 954 plots on 37 sites in Bolton of which 823 are on the 26 sites with a Society and / or Secretary
Site Plots Paid-up Abas members
Sapling
Road 61 40
Clammerclough
12 10
Harpers
Lane 83 70
Florence
Avenue 50 50
Smedley
Avenue 28 28
Cemetery
Road 26 4
Moss Lea 44 33
Rawlyn
Road 40 40
Shepherd
Cross St 61 44
Tonge
Moor Rd 54 29
Tonge
Fold 37 32
Haslam
Park 23 13
Dealey Rd 25 22
Settle
Street 42 30
Ainsdale
Rd 49 31
Lever
Park (Horwich) 31 25
TOTAL 671 501
0n 16 sites
Mr Alan Hull
Given
that the NSALG’s Regional Mentor, Mr Alan Hull was in attendance the Chair
invited him to address the meeting.
Mr Hull stated that the National
is concerned that 17 of the 37 sites in Bolton are temporary sites and that
these should (as a matter of urgency) be re-designated by the Council as
Statutory sites, as at present they are in danger of being re-designated as potential
housing development land as the Council seeks to meet Government targets. It was pointed out that 10 of the 17
sites have only 34 plots between them and none has more than 7. Abas has informed the Council that it
wishes to discuss this matter and will raise it with Malcolm Russell but would
advise that individual sites should (if they so desire) pursue their case for
statutory site status through their ward councillors.
Mr Hull stated that the figures
for membership quoted on the Abas blog-site did not accord with the figures on
the NAS database, and should thus be corrected. We would point out that the
figures on the Abas database refer to Abas members, while the NAS
database refers to National society members – although there is an overlap
between the two groups they are not identical and there is no reason why these
figures should be the same. Abas has
asked for further details as to what is held on the National’s database.
Mr Hull stated that an item on
the Abas blog-site referring to payments to Site Secretaries and Site Societies
was also incorrect and should be corrected. Mr Hull stated that the information
in the item came from a report of the North West Allotment Officers Forum. Mr
Hull pointed out that our (i.e. Bolton Council’s) Allotments Officer did not
attend this Forum. It was pointed out from the floor that Bolton does not have
an Allotments Officer. Mr Hull stated that we used to have a very fine one in
Alan Crook who had served us well for many years. Mr Hull went on to say that
the figures quoted related to ‘Allotment Managers’. He then defined ‘Allotment
Managers’ which in the opinion of those present was an exact description of the
role of Site Secretaries in Bolton both before and after the introduction of
OMAs. The actual article from which the
figures were taken appeared on page 52 of Issue 3 2014 of Allotment and Leisure
Gradener. The article does not use the term ‘Allotment Manager’ but uses the
term Site Rep(resentative). Members may read that article for themselves to
decide whether the interpretation on the Abas blog-site is incorrect.
The meeting then continued.
Minutes of Last Meeting and Matters Arising
The
Minutes of the last meeting have been posted on the Association’s blog-site http://www.abas2014.blogspot.co.uk
The
majority of issues from the last meeting were taken to Abas’ meeting with Malcolm
Russell on 15.09 and will be reported on later.
A ‘Blue
Fin’ Insurance form had been obtained on behalf of Smedley Avenue site and this
was passed over.
The
National had been asked to clarify whether societies need to provide lists of
members with names and addresses. No reply has been received to date..
Mr Hull
confirmed that the National do indeed (for insurance purposes) need this
information. He also asked for details as to who had been contacted at the
National and the Assistant Secretary has since provided these.
Report Back on NWCAA Meeting
Committee
members had intended to attend the NWCAA Meeting to be held in Morecambe on 12/10/2014.
However, this meeting was cancelled by the NWCAA as insufficient Executive
Officers were available
Recent High Court Judgement
There has
been a recent High Court Case which may have interesting implications for sites
considering self-management whether as part of a ‘federation-style’ scheme or
as independent sites
Geoff Hamer
(Longworth Rd., Egerton) kindly agreed to update the meeting.
Our current understanding is that the judge in the
case ruled that as the agreement setting rents is between Allotment
ASSOCIATIONS and the Council rather than between the Council and individual
plot-holders it is NOT an ‘Allotment Agreement’ within the meaning of the acts,
it is a commercial or business agreement and thus subject to normal commercial
rules on setting rents rather than subject to Reigate and Banstead style rules.
This is obviously a serious point that needs addressing IF sites are to
approach self-management.
Meeting with Council (MR) 15.09.2014 – REPORT BACK
Matters of Information
Backlog of works on Sites
MR
reported that (unlike other areas of work) the Allotments section has not
maintained its central register of requests for work on allotment sites, nor is
there a central record of contracts let or a system of progress checking on
contractors in place. He is remedying this discrepancy as a matter of urgency.
(A
number of issues relating to individual sites were discussed and the results of
the discussions passed back to member sites –some actions have already been
taken but others need chasing)
MR
reiterated that issues affecting Health and Safety will be given priority in
actioning any work
Any
society carrying out work on its own behalf must have adequate insurance and
(unless specific volunteer insurance is in place) get all participants to sign
a disclaimer form (but please see later
discussions)
It was proposed at the meeting on 15.09 that a register of self-help projects be created (to be maintained by
Abas). Effectively societies would submit projects to this register which could
then provide a basis by which any ‘self-help’ resources that may become
available during the year may be allocated by MR.
On
13.10 - there was general support within Abas for this
proposal, however, it was pointed out and reinforced by the Regional Mentor
that any volunteers carrying out such projects must be covered by either
‘volunteer’ or ‘employee’ insurance taken out by the Site Society organising
the project. It was advised that the normal Public Liability cover was not
sufficient. It was estimated that obtaining such cover (e.g. through an
addition to the standard insurance package available through ‘Shield’) would
cost around £40 per annum. The funding of such extra insurance costs needs to
be addressed.
It was felt by some Abas members that the former
system (introduced by Alan Crook) whereby volunteers signed a disclaimer form
was probably not defensible in law.
Mr Hull gave a short talk about insurance. The
Treasurer later provided a spare insurance form for Moss Lea.
Clarifications on OMAs – points from the meeting on 15.09
To be
eligible for an OMA a site must have:
·
A functioning society, with a secretary, a committee
and a constitution
·
A majority (or at the least a significant proportion)
of plot-holders who are members of that society
·
Have held a site meeting at which a majority of
members have voted for an OMA
·
Have appropriate insurance (this applies only to those
societies which intend to hold events to undertake maintenance work, but is
advised by the National for all societies)
It was
recognised that the current systems of reporting etc. are in their early stage
and will require tweaking and simplification over time.
A Stage 1
‘notice’ need not be a written document, it may be a telephone call or a face
to face conversation (provided a record is kept of what was said by whom and
when)
A Society
Secretary should only re-let a plot IF
He / she has written evidence from the plot-holder
that they are vacating the plot OR
The Council has provided evidence that a notice of
re-entry has been served and that plot re-possessed
The Council’s procedure for non-payment will be
tightened from this year – there will be a 40-day period for the payment of
rents. Late payments will be accepted for a further 30 days after which
societies will be informed and the plot re-let
It was
clarified that if structures, materials etc. are left on a plot by a previous
tenant and not removed within three weeks of the termination of the tenancy
then they become part of the plot and as such the property and responsibility
of the new tenant
The
Council is to amend the letter offering a new tenant a plot so that there is a
time limit on their acceptance (i.e. a date by which the signed Tenancy
Agreement must be returned). If the agreement is not returned within the time
period the offer lapses and the plot becomes available for re-letting.
Monthly
Inspections may be suspended by Societies during periods when nothing is
happening (if however there are stage 2 and 3 notices issued then these should
be followed up)
The is no
standard definition of ‘inadequate cultivation’ – the Council prefers the term
‘actively managed’ – which roughly means that over say a 2-year period all
parts of a plot must have been used.
When a
prospective tenant ‘volunteers’ to work on a “Community Plot” they are not
taken off the waiting list, they retain their position and when they reach the
top should be offered a plot of their own (which may involve them taking
over all or part of the community plot)
Non-OMA sites
The
Council’s stated position is that current resources preclude a comprehensive programme for the management of non-OMA sites. Site Visits will have
to be prioritised and this means that follow-up actions such as the issue of
Breach of Tenancy notices, re-letting of plots etc. may take considerable time.
At
present the Council feels OMAs are the only option available to sites which
want to improve / accelerate these processes
Abas
feels that this is not a satisfactory position for those sites who cannot or do
not wish to take on an OMA and that there is a need to address the issue of
smaller sites in particular.
Matters for Consultation
The Council asked the Abas team to take back a number
of proposals to the Abas meeting of 13.10 .Those proposals are listed below
together with the meeting’s response.
It is proposed by the Council that the creation of new joint tenancies be limited to
the addition of partners and close family members.
There was general support for this proposal. However
the Council was requested to include some procedure whereby if two friends had
been jointly working a plot for a prolonged period, and the Site Society could
provide evidence of that joint working, the Council would allow the creation of
a joint tenancy as a special case. It was agreed that the possible new rules
relating to ‘buddies’ might also meet this need.
It is proposed by the Council that after two years as a registered buddy on a plot
and having been on the waiting list for that period a buddy would acquire
succession rights. It is further proposed by Abas that at that point the
Council should consider creating a joint tenancy for the specific plot in question.
The meeting was in agreement with
both aspects of this proposal
It is proposed by the Council to simplify the regulations relating to the erection
of structures (sheds, greenhouses, poly-tunnels, fruit cages, cold frames and
chicken houses and runs) on plots. In future so long as the 2 ft rule is
maintained then up to 20% of any plot can be covered by structures (regardless
of the individual size of any structure)
While many in the room would accept this change,
there were significant elements of dissension, and the proposal needs further
discussion.
A number wonder why the current (simple and well
known) system need be changed
.
There was a request to include a caveat relating to
the case where a Society has voted at a General Meeting to impose local
conditions (e.g. a maximum size of e.g. a greenhouse) and where an application
breached this agreement, would the Society be correct if it then refused that
application. If so would this only apply to society members or to all
plot-holders?
We were also asked what is the position where a
plot-holder has ignored the current procedures and put up a structure which
breaches current regulations – what action should a Society (Secretary) take?
The Committee opinion was that such an action is a Breach of Tenancy and should
be reported to the Council in the normal way.
It is proposed by the Council that on NON-STOCK plots, the number of hens that may
be kept be set between a minimum of 3 birds and a maximum of 7 birds. As
previously no cockerels may be kept.
It was made clear (on several occasions) that this is not to
be applied retrospectively and there will be no demands to cull existing
flocks. This applies to new (i.e. future) poultry keepers.
The proposal gained general support but a substantial minority
felt that the maximum limit was too low. The Regional Mentor commented that a
figure of between 6 and 8 birds was common in the North-West. Others proposed a
maximum of 12 birds to allow for ‘wastage’.
There was also a query as to whether the regulations needed
to address the question of the density at which birds were kept i.e. the number
of birds in relation to the size of house and size of run.
It was felt that further discussion was needed on this
proposal.
Future Matters
Abas will
continue to press for payments to site societies operating OMAs and performing
management functions.
Abas will
enter into discussions with the Council to establish the desirability /
feasibility of setting up a group insurance scheme (operated by the Council)
which will (appropriately) cover ALL allotments sites. It is hoped that this
may considerably reduce the costs incurred by Site Societies.
At the
start of this discussion Mr Hull made a short presentation about insurance
requirements.
In the discussion it was argued that the Council would need to clarify exactly
what the scheme would cover and that the following areas should be examined:
- Society
Public Liability – covering the society and its activities against claims
by the public
- Members’
Public Liability – covering individual society members against claims by
the public
- Events
Insurance –covering any events that the Society organised
- Volunteers
/ Employees Insurance – covering anyone carrying out ‘work’ for the
society
- Trusted
Persons Insurance – covering the actions of committees and trustees
Some sites might also be interested in:-
- Buildings
Insurance – for communal amenity huts etc.
- Equipment
Insurance – for equipment owned by the Society
- Product and
Stock Insurance – covering those societies which operate a members’ store
/ shop
It was stressed that each society must have a copy
of its own policy setting what is and is not covered.
On
a broader level, it was felt that Societies currently operating OMAs should
confine their activities to administrative tasks relating to waiting lists,
re-letting of plots, site inspections, approving structures etc. and not
undertake ‘maintenance’ work until they have examined their insurance position
and satisfied themselves that their provision is adequate.(in particular they
should examine ‘volunteer’ / employee insurance)
Programme of Talks
It was
agreed to have a programme of talks in 2015 and the Treasurer requested that
ideas be submitted for the topics to be covered. At present suggestions
include:- Fundraising, Vegetable Growing and Showing, Dahlias (Grey Mare
Society) and Beekeeping.
Allotments Competitions 2015
Abas
intends to run the Borough-wide competitions (which will again be open to All
plot-holders on Council sites within the Borough) in 2015. Entry Forms will be
sent to all sites (with contact details) in March. Judging will take place in
June and July
Leek and Onion Show
Abas will
re-introduce the Leek and Onion Show on 27th September 2015 (tbc)
At
present there are 10 class sponsors at £10 per class. Any sites / societies or
individuals willing to sponsor the show would be most welcome.
Any Other Business?
Abas was
asked to publicise the following events
19th
October – Car Boot sale at Harpers Lane Allotments Site
26th
October Apple Day at Ainsdale Rd. Community Allotments
The
Comitttee has been asked by Clammerclough Allotments Site to contact the
Council on its behalf. Plot 5 at Clammerclough is vacant and in a very bad
condition. They have an applicant willing to take this plot on (but are not an
OMA site).
Date and Venue of the AGM / Nominations Procedures
The AGM
will be at Astley Bridge Cricket Club on 17/11/2014 (7.30 for 8.00 p.m)
Issue for
the agenda should also be submitted through that channel.
Close of Meeting
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