Held at Astley Bridge Cricket Club, on 13th November
2017 starting 8.00 p.m.
Present: 30 representatives from 18 sites Plus Mr Malcolm Russell (Head of Neighbourhood Services, Bolton MBC)
Minutes of the 2016 AGM
The Minutes
having been posted on the Association Blog-site for the appropriate period and
there being no objections the minutes were adopted as correct.
Matters Arising
GMSF – The Chair has continued to liaise
with other GM societies (through the Salford Federation)
There are
no other outstanding matters from the 2016 AGM
TREASURER’S REPORT
SOURCES AND APPLICATIONS OF FUNDS
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1/11/2016 to 31/10/2017
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INCOME
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Grant from University of Bolton
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£500.00
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Members' Donations
|
£130.00
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Show Entry Fees
|
£20.80
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Donation from J Gibson
|
£34.40
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Prize Monies Unused
|
£56.00
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Subs 2016 (belated)
|
£129.00
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||
members' Subs 2017
|
£260.00
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Raffles
|
£20.00
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Bank Interest
|
£0.21
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TOTAL INCOME
|
£1,150.41
|
£1,150.41
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EXPENDITURE
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Computer Security
|
£60.00
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NVS Membership plus Medal
|
£28.10
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Printing & Stationery
|
£67.50
|
||
Mileage Costs (Competitions
Judging)
|
£34.40
|
||
Show Judges Fee
|
£25.00
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||
Prize Monies for Show
|
£258.00
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||
Room Hire
|
£75.00
|
||
Catering For Guests (Show)
|
£30.00
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||
Event Insurance
|
£104.00
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||
Engraving Trophies
|
£28.00
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||
Presentation Flowers
|
£20.00
|
||
TOTAL EXPENDITURE
|
£730.00
|
£730.00
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NETT INCOME
|
£420.41
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BANK BALANCE 7/11/2016
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(current and Reserve)
|
£2,195.44
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BANK BALANCES 13/11/2017
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Current
|
£714.29
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Reserve
|
£1,901.56
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||
£2,615.85
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NETT CHANGE IN FUNDS
|
£420.41
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ABAS Membership
A number
of societies have not yet paid their annual subscriptions to the Association.
Of these
the majority had expressed their intention to pay their subs at this AGM or in
the near future once their own AGMs have taken place. We will therefore review
membership at the March 20178 meeting.
We intend
to actively campaign to get more sites (especially non-OMA sites) to join the
Association
Secretary’s Report and Report on the Progress
Meetings with the Council
During the
year we have tried when asked by member societies to raise their concerns and
get clarifications of their queries.
A full
Report on the Progress Meetings held with the Council and on related matters
such as the updating of the OMA documents was given (in written form) to all
Society Representatives present.
Copies of
that Report and the Annual Accounts were subsequently emailed to any societies
not represented.
A number of key points were made.
It is
important to remember that:
Abas is
not the Landlord (or Manager) of the Allotments Sites – plot-holders are
tenants of the local authority, their relationship with the Authority is
governed by their Tenancy Agreements.
Abas’ comments
and advice on matters relating to policy and management are made in good faith
and on the best information available to us at the time, (whenever possible
after full consultation with the Council’s appointed officers) but they are
exactly that comments and advice (unless we state clearly that we are simply
repeating the precise interpretation issued by the Council)
As
situations change we may revise our advice to reflect new information.
Bolton
Allotments Competition 2017 – organised by Abas, prizes sponsored by J Maher
Ltd.
Bolton
Onion Leek and Vegetable Show 2017 – organised by Abas, with financial support
from the University of Bolton
Liaison with NWCAA
The Chair
reported on the last NWCAA Forum on 30/10/2017
Issues
covered had been:
·
Concerns over Bullying have been referred to
NAS HO· Widespread complaints of Councils “not keeping promises”
· NAS still investigating blanket insurance scheme for all NAS members
· NVS as an organisation
The Chair
reported that Mr Brian Southworth was retiring from Rawlyn Road Allotments
after 45 years on the plots. Mr Southworth has been a firm and valued supporter
of Abas since its relaunch in 2014. We all wish Mr Southworth a long and happy
retirement.
There was
a general discussion on relevant matters
Points to
note are:
·
Secretaries should only consider submitting
Monthly Reports during the winter months if they feel there is a need to do so.
·
MR has advised that Breach of Tenancy requests
(essentially mal-cultivation) will not be actioned during the period November
to March.
The
following were (re)elected
Chair Jeff Gibson
Secretary Dave JacksonTreasurer Terry Farrell
Committee Members – Carole
Deplitch, Phil Warren, Alan Key, Teresa Morris
Next Meeting
Our next
Meeting will be in March 2018
