Meeting of Abas at Astley Bridge
Cricket Club
8.00 p.m. on April 10th
2017
The meeting was scheduled to begin with a talk from Mr John Woods NVS.
Unfortunately
a close friend of Mr Woods had suddenly and unexpectedly passed away on the day
before and in the aftermath he completely (and understandably) forgot his
appointment with us. He has offered to come on a future occasion to give the
talk.
On behalf of
ABAS the Committee would like to apologise to those who came especially to
listen to Mr Woods. There was a large turn-out and we were all looking forward
to his talk.
After
waiting some moments we decided to begin with a Request for Help from St Thomas
of Canterbury Primary School. The School is looking for a couple of mentors /
advisors to assist a group of parents / pupils in creating a growing area on
land owned by the school. If anyone is interested they should contact Charlotte
on charlotte.riu@sky.com
MINUTES OF 13.03.2017
The minutes of the AGM having been
posted on the Association’s blog site for the required period members were
asked:-
1. Are there any points anyone wishes
to raise?
2. Can we move that the minutes be
accepted?
3. Are there any matters arising /
remaining?
It was noted that there was an omission in the record regarding a suggestion as to how to
deal with situations in which a prospective tenant repeatedly reaches the top
of the waiting list and then says they are not ready to take on a plot. They
are then placed at the bottom of the waiting list but at some sites with very
short waiting lists they then rapidly come to the top again only to repeat the
process. A favoured suggestion was that some ‘marker’ be placed on their file
so that they had to contact the Council to say they were now ready to take on a
plot before their name was submitted to the Site Secretary. Failing such a
mechanism it was argued that after three ‘refusals’ the Site Secretary should
request through the monthly report that they be removed from the waiting list.
Matters from Minutes
A copy of
the minutes had been sent to the Allotments Section, highlighting the
outstanding issues – Recurring Offenders and Failure by Allotments to inform
Site Secretaries of BoT notices etc.
As of
10/04/2017 no reply had been received
We
understand that the section had an “Allotments Day” as catch up about 7-10 days
ago, which resulted in a number of outstanding issues being dealt with.
FOLLOW-UP ON PROGRESS MEETING OF
13.03.2017
There has been no further communication from Malcolm Russell or the Allotments Section on matters arising from the Progress Meeting.
There has been no further communication from Malcolm Russell or the Allotments Section on matters arising from the Progress Meeting.
Florence
Avenue have also had no further communication regarding their car park issues.
In the
meantime we urge all member societies to study the advisory notes that came out
of that meeting on BoTs, probationers etc.
A draft
‘contract’ to be given to probationers has been drawn up by Sapling Road
Allotment Society. It is suggested that this form the basis for a form to be
used by all sites.
*************************************************************************
PROBATIONER’S FORM – to be signed by the Probationer
and the Site Secretary
I
……………………………………………………. Agree to work plot ##### at (name of site) for a period
of …. Weeks commencing ………………………. on a rent free basis.
If at the
end of the …. week trial period the plot has (in the opinion of the site
committee) been adequately prepared for growing and is in a suitable condition,
then I will be registered by Bolton Council for the tenancy of that plot.
No
structures (Sheds, Greenhouses, Poly-tunnels or anything the Committee deem to
be a structure) or any livestock, are to be erected / brought onto the plot
during the probationary period.
I understand
that if/when I receive my tenancy agreement from the Council, I will need to
ask permission from the site committee to erect any structures and that any
such structures must meet the guidelines laid down by the Council. Similarly
permission must be sought for the keeping of chickens and / or rabbits.
Signed
……………………………………………………………………
Probationary
Plot-holder
Signed
…………………………………………………………………………
Site
Secretary
******************************************************************************
It was also
agreed that the correct way to end a
successful probationary period is for the Site Secretary to complete a
Tenancy Registration Form with the successful plot-holder and then to send that
form (attached to the monthly report) to the Council. Site Secretaries were
advised to keep a copy of such documents on files.
Current Waiting Lists
The
following was repeated from the minutes of 13.03.2017
The current
waiting list stands at 483 – this is historically very high
The Council believe it is a
distortion due to
1. The new application system is very
easy to use and encourages less than committed applications
2.
The Council believe a number of people on their waiting list were offered
probationary slots during the winter – please
inform the Allotments section of anyone who has been offered such a plot on
your site
3. There also appear to be a number of
multiple applications.
4. Some people have submitted 2 or 3
applications each for a different site
5. Some related people living at the
same address have submitted individual applications for plots. The Council will
exercise sensitivity in respect of this group due to the complications arising
from extended families, houses in multiple occupation etc.
GM Spatial Plan
The results
from the consultation exercise are now under review by GMC, some 25,000
responses / objections were received from the general public regarding these
proposals and the response time is to be extended
ABAS ALLOTMENTS COMPETITIONS
We are again
organising the Fairhurst, Greenhalgh, New Tenant and Rosebowl Competitions.
We hope as
many sites as possible will enter plot-holders in these competitions
Judging will
be in June and July (the scoring system
is set out as part of the 13.03 minutes on the blog-site)
Entry forms
etc. available via Terry
Site
Secretaries were reminded that when entering any plot-holder into the
competitions they should ensure that the entry form gives that person’s contact
details. Also that any plot entered is clearly physically marked with its plot
number so that the judges may correctly identify it.
ABAS ONION, LEEK AND VEGETABLE SHOW
The Show will be held at Trinity
Church, Tonge Fold
The date is Saturday 12th August
The list of classes is given on the
blog-site
We need sponsorship for the various
classes - £10 per
class is suggested – the closing date for sponsorship is the June abas meeting –
please contact Terry if you or your society can sponsor a class.
PHOTOGRAPHIC EXHIBITION
It had been
suggested that we should hold a photographic competition (on an allotment
related theme) to coincide with the Onion, Leek and Vegetable Show. The idea
was that it would be displayed in the large space outside the judging hall.
We need help
if this exhibition is to be held but we have received no interest /
communication etc. about the proposed Photographic Exhibition.
Can anyone
interested please contact the association otherwise we will be forced to drop
the idea
Grant Funding
Abas has been successful in obtaining
funding to support the competitions and show from:
·
The
University Of Bolton
·
J
Maher
If approved we will seek funding for
the photo competition
WHAT’S ON?
Could
members please advise us of any events, shows or functions that you are
planning for 2017 and we’ll put them on our blog page as well as trying to get
wider publicity.
Please note that Sapling Road will be
holding their Annual Open Day on the 5th August 2017.
Also, Florence Avenue will be holding
a Summer Festival on 10th June from 12 – 4.00 p.m.
NWCAA
The
North-Western Counties Allotments Association held its AGM at Stanley Park,
Blackpool on 25th March.
NWCAA will
publish the minutes on their website- www.nwcallotmentassociation.com
NWCAA can be
contacted through the secretary (Andrea Hallissey) at nwsecandrea@gmail.com
Terry and
Jeff represented ABAS at that meeting, the key points were:
The
Competition for “Best” Allotment Site in the North-West – The Dave Cartner
Trophy – is being held again this year.
The criteria
for judging and entry forms are available via the NWCAA website – closing date
31st August 2017. Sites in the Bolton area are urged to enter.
INSURANCE – There is a suggestion that the Public
Liability Insurance held by individual sites should be raised from £5m to £10m
In the
longer term Dave Morris (NAS National Treasurer) is looking into the
feasibility of Negotiating Blanket Insurance Cover for all members of the NAS.
Members are recommended to seek
Competitive Like for Like Insurance Cover.
Sites in Bolton use a range of
insurers e.g. Shield and Bluefin. Some sites who are affiliated to bodies other
than the NAS have access to a further range of deals.
It was
reported that British Telecomm are allocating surplus / unwanted land for allotment
sites. Nearest North-West examples to date are in Preston, Macclesfield,
Frodsham and Glossop. It was also
reported at the meeting that British Rail (Railtrack?) are pursuing a similar
policy.
Grants and Funding Opportunities
The NWCAA
website gives details of potential funding from TESCO for projects such as
meeting rooms, chemical toilets, site and land improvements on the NWCAA
web-site (Blackpool Federation has secure £13k so faar with a possible £5k to
follow)
Abas believes that Societies (and abas)
need to look seriously into future fund-raising since support from the ‘Big
Bolton Fund’ / CVS has diminished and is likely to be further cut in future. In
addition many funders are refusing repeat applications within a set period.
CVS grant advisors are advising even
medium size groups to look at designating a fundraising officer or committee
and to make maximum use of e.g. the Fundraising portals that Bolton CVS and
GMCVO operate
ANY OTHER BUSINESS
It was
reported that there had been a number of incidents of vandalism on the Rawlyn
Rd and Harpers Lane sites. It was reported that following representations to
the Police, PCSOs had been regularly patrolling at Tonge Moor and that officers
had also had ‘conversations’ with youths on nearby housing estates.
There being
no further business the meeting closed at 9.15 p.m
Dates
Our next
meeting is on Monday May 15th this will
be followed by:
Monday June
12th
Monday July
10th
Monday
August 14th
Monday Sept
11th
Monday
October 9th
And the AGM
on Monday November 13th
All meetings
start at 8.00 p.m.
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