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AGM MINUTES

Minutes of the Annual General Meeting

Of the Association of Bolton Allotment Societies

Held on November 12^th 2018

At Astley Bridge Cricket Club

Present: 27 members representing 14 sites

Apologies: Malcolm Russell, Head of Neighbourhood Services, Bolton MBC and Cllr Susan Howarth, Bolton MBC

MINUTES OF THE AGM 2017

The minutes of the AGM 2017 having been posted on the Association’s blog-site http://abas2014.blogspot.co.uk for an appropriate period, and there being no unresolved matters arising, the meeting voted that those minutes now be accepted as a complete and correct record.

THE TREASURER’S REPORT

STATEMENT OF ACCOUNTS 2017/18
INCOME
Total In Bank as of 12/11/2017						£2,615.85
Belated Subs 2017						£139.00
Show Entry Fees						£35.80
Donations						£126.70
Duchy of Lancaster Grant						£250.00
Cash in Hamd paid in						£14.30
Members Subs 2018						£202.00
Bank Interest						£0.88
					TOTAL	£3,384.53
EXPENSES
Laminating Pouches and Printing Aids						£61.40
Computer Anti-Virus Software						£60.00
NVS Subs and Medal						£28.10
Individual Membership NAS (Secretary)						£24.00
Printing						£158.40
Priniting Inks						£36.00
Prize Money / Judges' Fees						£278.00
Room Hire						£75.00
Refreshments						£20.00
Engraving Trophies						£27.50
Flowers for Show Secretary						£20.00
Event Insurance						£106.00
					TOTAL:	£894.40
INCOME LESS EXPENSES						£2,490.13
CURRENT ACCOUNT						£587.69
BUSINESS RESERVE ACCOUNT						£1,902.44
					TOTAL	£2,490.13
Representing a nett outflow of funds of						£125.72

The meeting voted to accept the accounts as a true and accurate record.

ABAS MEMBERSHIP REVIEW

Abas has membership in 17 sites in Bolton

Prior to the AGM 10 sites had paid their membership subscriptions, others had indicated that they would pay at the AGM (ad did so).

According to the last Council Monitor (Feb/ March 2018), there were 15 OMA sites in Bolton (plus 2 more “pending”) – at present 13 of these sites (plus both pending sites) are Abas members. There are 2 sites which are not members.

OMA sites cover some 68% of the individual plots in Bolton, Abas members (OMA and non-OMA) cover some 70%.

ABAS EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES

In 2018, Abas again organised the Borough-Wide Allotments Competitions, (The Fairhurst, Greenhalgh and New Tenant Trophies plus the Rosebowl for “Best Site”.) A full record of the results of these competitions is available on the blog-site.
Thanks are due to Jeff Gibson, Terry Farrell, George Wild and Richard Hayes for undertaking the judging.

The meeting voted that Abas should again run these competitions in 2019.

In August, Abas organised the Annual Vegetable, Onion and Leek Show. A full record of the results of the show is available on the blog-site.

Thanks are due to Margaret Farrell and the “Show Team” for their efforts in planning and running the Show.

The Treasurer stated that due to personal circumstances the current Show Team could not undertake to run the Show in 2019, and that unless others were willing to come forward there would not be a Show next year. In the event Audrey Woods (Secretary, Haslam Park) offered to take over Mrs Farrell’s role as Show Secretary and work with the remaining Show team to organise the 2019 Show.

OMAs

As previously noted, some 68% of plots in the Borough are now covered by OMAs.

There continue to be problems relating to communications between OMA Secretaries and the Allotments Section, and there are still issues about the registration of tenancies and the enactment of Breach of Tenancy Requests.

Abas is reconsidering the way in which it collects and uses information from its members on the performance of the Allotments Section and hopes that it will have a new system ready for the resumption of the BoT system in March / April 2019. The Committee would like to thank Stewart Draper (Shepherds Cross Street) who has offered to develop an IT based system over the coming winter months.

It was noted that the Allotments Section “are not expecting Monthly Reports over the winter period” (October to March) and will not be actioning any BoT request in this period. Abas has advised Secretaries to submit Monthly Reports during this period if there are any continuing issues remaining unresolved. We understand that any unresolved mal-cultivation issues can be restarted with a BoT2 request in a March or April Monthly Report (with accompanying photos). It is also felt that where a BoT2 or BoT3 request has been submitted and no response received before the next Monthly Report this must be highlighted in the monthly reportr and the request renewed (unless the matter has been resolved).

PROJECTS WITH THE COUNCIL

Abas has two ongoing projects
1.       The development of a “Secretary’s Handover Checklist” for new Society Secretaries and Committee Members – work on the production of this is stalled due to a lack of time and resources at Abas. Work will resume when resources are available
2.       The development of an on-site Bullying, Conflict and Social Behaviour Policy which will replace the ineffective clause in the current Tenancy Agreement – this development is awaiting the production of a Guidance Document by the NAS which is promised for November 2018.

The Secretary drew members attention to an article in the current issue of “Allotment and Leisure Gardener” from Chris Barker, the Vice Chair of the NAS’ London Region. Mr Barker addresses a problem that has arisen at some self-managed sites where the Committee has been “infiltrated” by representatives of land developers who then impose draconian rules and restrictions on plot-holders with the ultimate aim of driving them from the site so that it may be re-classified as development land. The Secretary pointed out there are no self-managed sites in Bolton and so far as we are aware no plans to create any.

NAS AND NWCAA

Jeff and Terry attended a meeting at Crumpsall convened by the NAS Regional Rep – John Irwin – on October 21st

It would appear that a skeleton committee for the NWCAA is being formed and that a meeting at Crumpsall in the New Year (February 10^th) to which NAS representatives have been invited will give a better indication of the way forward

Jeff and Terry will continue to represent us at these meetings

GM SPATIAL PLAN

There continue to be delays in the production of a GM Spatial Plan.
These revolve around arguments on population forecasts (and thus the estimates of housing need) and on the government’s formulae for calculating that need

In the meantime it has been argued that the absence of a 5 year plan for Bolton has meant that a number of developers have been able to win appeals for housing developments which had been turned down by our local planners. There have also been arguments about the nature of housing developments being permitted (both on sites and on the type of housing). Abas does not wish to become involved in these arguments which have now become the basis for party political dispute.

Abas is however concerned about Bolton Planners’ reported reluctance to include allotment provision in development permissions. Abas continues to work closely with the Salford Federation where such inclusion is proposed.

No threats to allotment sites have as yet been identified (other than to a small site currently leased by BMBC from Peel Holdings)

MATTERS RAISED BY MEMBER SOCIETIES

Site Security – following recent incidents of arson, thefts and vandalism at their site, a member society had requested that we address questions of site security.
Issues included:

1.       What is the Police’s responsibility?

A number of those present had had problems reporting incidents via the 101 number – waits of 30 minutes plus were reported. It was suggested that contact could be made either by using the Area Team numbers given on the GMP website or by using the “Live Chat” facility on that website.

There is a general feeling that given the limited budget and resources currently available to GMP we cannot expect allotment crime to be a priority for them.

In at least one recent instance the Police have commented that the Council could make a difference by improving site security (fencing).

2.       What is the Council’s responsibility?

The Council has stated that criminal incidents are a police matter.

They have also stated that there are no resources to improve site security e.g. fencing etc.

Abas repeats its advice to Societies to maintain lobbying pressure on their local Ward Councillors to get the Allotment Budget reinstated to a more useful level.

3.       What is the Society’s responsibility?

Strictly speaking the OMA does not impose any responsibilities relating to site security on Societies. However societies usually try to impose rules such as ensuring that gates are locked at all times. Societies may take on responsibility for communal facilities (shop, meeting room etc.) and may take out insurance on such facilities and their contents. Some Societies may wish to take other measures e.g. CCTV or improved lighting but this is at their own discretion and using their own (or grant) funds.

4.       What is the individual plot-holder’s responsibility?

Simple things like ensuring that they lock the gates etc.

Abas advises plot-holders against keeping anything of value in sheds, greenhouses etc. Such structures are exceedingly vulnerable.

When an incident occurs the “victim” should report the incident to GMP and obtain a crime number. On some sites it is the practice to inform the site secretary of all crime numbers received.

Individual security on sheds etc. is up to the individual tenant, in practice a range of locks and alarms are employed.

What can we (as an allotment community) do?
It has been argued that if all incidents are reported to GMP then when this reaches a critical number the Police will be “forced” to take some action. Doubt has been expressed as to how the data is actually collated by GMP so that this critical mass is recognised and what action they might take even if it is. Lack of perceived action, coupled with the issues surrounding the 101 number, acts as a discouragement to plot-holders who then “don’t see the point” in reporting incidents, thus creating a vicious spiral of inactivity.

It was suggested that Abas invite GMP to send an officer to a future meeting to advise on site and plot security. It was pointed out that abas has done this in the past. We have had one such presentation (there was also a presentation at a NWCAA Meeting held in Bolton) but our last request was turned down “due to lack of resources”. Abas will try again after March (ideally getting a presentation before the Summer School Holidays),

Other practical measures included:

Fitting Motion Sensitive Lights at Strategic Points on the site.
Advising Tenants to use “van locks” rather than padlocks on sheds.

CCTV has been suggested by GMP to some sites. The Council has recently pointed out that there are rules to be obeyed and restrictions on the use of CCTV and the information it collects in locations where the general public may be realistically regarded as having access. It was also pointed out that there are additional issues where those being filmed may be minors. Abas will try to clarify what the Council’s advice and concerns are.

It was also pointed out that security devices themselves may become targets for vandals and thieves and need to be made secure.

It was also pointed out that although a secure lock may discourage an opportunistic thief, such provision might also suggest that the contents are worth stealing and / or lead to greater damage to the structure by the offenders (“if you’ve got a lock, they go in through the roof!”)

A general feeling would seem to be that there is little chance of the situation improving and that we should expect further problems at the next school holidays.

It was however pointed out that the nature of offences has changed in recent years, we no longer have the major raids when thousands of £ss worth of equipment was taken for communal stores etc. (Mainly because no one has that level of equipment any more or if they have it is kept off site.

OTHER ISSUES FROM THE FLOOR?

The question was asked as to what effect the additional water usage over the past summer might have on the Allotment Service. The Secretary replied that the Head of Neighbourhood Services has expressed concern about the size of water bills that the Council can expect. He is concerned that this will have an adverse effect on the section’s ability to do any minor works such as the projects involving road planings etc.

THE ELECTION OF OFFICERS AND COMMITTEE

The Following were re-elected unopposed

Chair – Jeff Gibson
Secretary –David Jackson
Treasurer – Terry Farrell

The following were elected as Committee Members

Peter Chapman (Settle St.), Eric Golding (Florence Avenue) and Paul Longworth (Harpers Lane)

The Committee wish to express their thanks to Alan Kay (Smedley Avenue) and Carole Deplitch who have retired from the Committee, for their contribution over the past years.

The Chair then expressed the Association’s thanks to the Secretary (Dave Jackson) and the Treasurer (Terry Farrell) for their work over the past year. It should be recorded that the Chair (Jeff Gibson) has also made a significant contribution this year (as in previous years).

The meeting was then closed

The next Abas Members’ Meeting will be on Monday 11th March 2019

AGM Minutes will be posted on the blog-site http://abas2014.blogspot.co.uk

OCTOBER 2018 MINUTES

Minutes of the Meeting of Abas Monday 8^th October 2018 at Astley Bridge Cricket Club

The meeting commenced at 8.00 p.m.

PRESENT: 21 representatives from 12 sites

Apologies: Dorothy Kay (Tonge Fold), Carol Barlow (Sapling Road), Kiye Simister (Harpers Lane)

MINUTES OF THE SEPTEMBER MEETING 

The Minutes having been posted on the Association Blog-site and there being no corrections anyone wished to make, the meeting moved to adopt the minutes as correct.

MATTERS ARISING 

Road Planings – Abas has passed to the Council three requests for the supply of Road Planings (Harpers Lane, Shepherd’s Cross Street, Tonge Fold). We understand that a further request has been received by Allotments from Florence Avenue. Allotments have said thye is waiting for the water bills to come in so that they knows how much remains in the budget for schemes using these planings

Hatfield Road

Hatfield Rd is a non-OMA site and not a member of Abas. It has (on paper) 27 plots
Following a site visit by Terry and Jeff – the Council issued 5 BoT2s and a further 9 “neglected” plots were subsequently identified as “untenanted”.
Allotments tried to get Community Payback (CP) to take over the task of clearing the 9 untenanted plots, but CP felt the task was “too big for them”
Terry and Jeff did a second survey following the expiry of the BoT2 “improvement period”. They reported progress to the Allotments section – 
No further involvement by Abas is anticipated

Non-OMA sites in general

“Allotments” have again stated that they do not have the resources to respond to request for information etc. from non-OMA sites on a regular basis.
There was a suggestion that Abas becomes a central collection point for all such requests which we could then aggregate and send to them in a format rather like the Monthly Reports submitted by Site Secretaries on OMA sites. Whilst we are willing to help individual sites on an ad-hoc basis, we are reluctant to take on this role for two main reasons:
1) we don’t have the resources either
2) we would be reliant on Allotments providing the answers to non-OMA sites issues in a prompt and acceptable manner, and thus we feel there is a danger of Abas becoming a football getting kicked by both sides.

OMA Roll-Out

We understand that the revised OMA Agreement (post April 2018) is now in force at all OMA sites save one.

Paths on Allotments

It was clarified that statements as to which paths should be used for access and who had responsibility for the maintenance of individual paths applied only to one case at one site and thus the item was withdrawn.

Bullying

The question of bullying (or more precisely on-site conflict) has been raised.
It is felt that the current clauses in the Tenancy Agreements need clarifying and strengthening
MR has suggested that he can work with Abas to establish a clearer policy on dealing with issues.

We are looking at the following situations:

·         “Bullying” / “Harassment” of plot-holders (individually or in groups) by Secretaries and Committees
·         “Bullying” / “Harassment” / “Intimidation” of Secretaries and Committees by Plot-holders (individually or in groups)
·         “Bullying” / “Harassment” / “Intimidation” of a plot-holders or group of plot-holders by another individual plot-holder or group of plot-holders

Abas has contacted the NAS and we have been told that they hope to publish a new extended “Code of Conduct” on these issues in November this year. If they do this could form the basis for discussions with the Council

THE NAS

During the process of the Secretary asking the NAS about a Bullying / Conflict Policy the NAS made two comments:-
1. That Abas had not responded to their questionnaire to “Federations” – this was not surprising since we never received one – they not having updated our contact address “for some years”
2. That only 6 of the 17 “associations / societies” in membership of Abas are recorded as being members of the NAS

In respect of 1) the Secretary has since received, completed and returned a questionnaire to NAS HQ.

We think 2) reflects past NAS / NWCAA concerns about Federations providing “NAS services / benefits” to non-NAS members “on the cheap”

NWCAA

Terry and Jeff will attend the Regional Meeting in Crumpsall on October 21st which has been called by the Regional Rep to discuss the future of the NWCAA

ABAS MEMBERSHIP

2018/2019 Membership Subscriptions are now due. These should (where possible) be paid to the Treasurer at or before the AGM in November. We recognise that some societies may not be able to meet this timetable and would therefore request that subscriptions be paid at or before the March 2019 Meeting of Abas.

REPORTING ON COUNCIL PERFORMANCE ON BOT NOTICES

If Abas is to try to hold the Council to account on its performance in processing BoT Notices etc. then Abas needs hard data. The only way we can get hard data is from our member societies
We have asked societies to copy us in on their Monthly Reports (but this doesn’t seem to be working), we have received so far 4 Monthly Reports plus two apologies for delay
We are now going to try to develop a form which Societies can use to provide us with the data we need.
These forms should be in use from April 2019
These forms will need processing and this will be a further call on our resources (with implications for matters to be raised later).

THE HANDOVER PACK

Abas has agreed with Allotments that we will try to develop (for the start of the 2019 “season”) a checklist for retiring / succeeding secretaries and treasurers as to what (minimum) information should be handed over when one succeeds the other. It is our hope that we can achieve this during the winter break and that some (if not all) current secretaries will help by proof-reading etc. the first drafts

GM SPATIAL PLAN

It looks as if the revised plan (due June 2018) will be further delayed (beyond October 2018) due to lower than expected area population projections and (yet to be published) changes to the government formulae for calculating housing need. 

We have been in contact with the Salford Federation about the report that Salford City had granted planning permission to a development provided an area was set aside for allotments. The Salford Federation have checked with their Council and the facts are true as is the fact that although the development is in Salford the land offered for allotments is in Bolton. As previously reported it is alleged that Bolton are resisting this.

THE AGM

In preparation for both the AGM and the continuing operation of Abas in the future the Committee invited members to think about nominations for two groups
The ABAS Executive Committee – The Officers (Chair, Secretary and Treasurer) plus 3-4 other Committee members.
As matters stand it looks as if Abas will have to elect a new Secretary for the 2019 season.
There is an argument that the Secretary’s role has grown too large for one volunteer and that we could / should look at structures which would share out the Secretary’s role between one or more office holders.
The “Shadow Committee” – membership of the Shadow Committee has two functions a) a familiarisation role with the implied intention that members will move into the Officers roles in the future and b) long term thinking and planning about Abas, allotments and relations with Bolton MBC

We hope that members will give consideration to putting forward nominations at the AGM for these roles for the 2019 season.

WHAT’S ON IN 2018?

October 14th Local Produce Market at Harpers Lane Allotments

ANY OTHER BUSINESS

Two items had been added to the agenda

HISTORIC MAL-CULTIVATION OFFENDERS

There had been reports that the Council has offered (to one Site Secretary) that all “Historic Mal-Cultivation Offenders” on their site, will receive a letter from the Council suggesting that they relinquish their plot as they have apparently demonstrated that they are unable to consistently maintain them to an adequate standard. (The phrase “Repeat or Persistent Offenders” is also used by some societies.

The meeting had the following concerns:

• What is the definition of an “Historic Mal-Cultivation Offender”?
• How are they to be identified and by whom?
• What happens if they refuse to quit?
• Will this new system be offered to all OMA sites?
• How does the system relate to the established BoT system?

It was reported that the Historic Mal-cultivation Offenders letters had also been offered to a second site.

There was a discussion about persons who could not cultivate their plots adequately due to a long term illness or physical condition. The Committee’s view was that where the condition was temporary such cases should be identified at the BoT1 stage of the Mal-cultivation system, some agreement should be reached and thus they should never become the subject of BoT2s or BoT3s, and thus should not appear on the “Historic Offenders Radar”. It was accepted that where such conditions persisted over a number of seasons some action might be needed. The Committee feel that Site Secretaries etc. are not (in the main) medically qualified and should not be making judgements about a plot-holder’s physical ability to work a plot. Where such matters arise they should be referred “up” to the Allotments section.

The Secretary was instructed to send the questions listed above to Allotments.

The following reply has been received from Malcolm Russell (10^th October 2018)

I don't know where this idea of historic mal-cultivation has come from. The only thing we have done is amend our BOT2 letter for those sent in September to remind those people that the rent is coming due so if they are thinking about terminating let us know. I have said this when visiting sites recently. We did this last year.

MONTHLY REPORTS

There are concerns about reports that the Allotments section has stated that it does not expect to be receiving Monthly Reports from Site Secretaries during the Winter Season (defined as October to March/April).

The following questions were raised:

• Does this mean that Allotments will not process Monthly Reports during the Winter period or respond to the requests for actions contained within them?
• Does this mean that Allotments will therefore not send out or action any BoT2 or BoT3 during this period?
• Does that mean that any BoT actions in process will lapse? And does this mean that any mal-cultivation procedures will have to be restarted by site secretaries at the BoT1 stage in March / April?
• Does that mean that any “probationers” who complete their probation period during this season cannot complete Tenancy Registration Forms and thence Tenancy Agreements etc.? Does this mean that (effectively) probation periods now run through until March 2019?

 The Secretary was instructed to send the questions listed above to Allotments.

The following reply was received from MR on 10/10/2018

We've said the same thing about winter reports for a number of years i.e we don't expect them over the winter.

We will continue to deal with terminations and new tenancies but will not issue BOT2s after the end of September. A number of these will now be identified as BOT3 in October and will be actioned accordingly. We would suggest that any sites who have other plots that have had nothing done by the March or April inspection (depending on the weather) can consider going straight to BOT2 if they want at that time.

Hope this clarifies things.

The Meeting however had decided that Site Secretaries should continue to submit Monthly Reports throughout the year. If no response is received to an item then it should be repeated in the following months Monthly Report (preferably highlighted in red or some similar manner).

A question was raised about persons with a criminal record – should they be offered allotment plots. The Committee's opinion was clear that it is no part of a Society’s responsibilities to vet the persons put forward from the waiting list by the Council, the Council determines who is a valid applicant and that is the end of it. As far as abas is aware there are no questions about Criminal Records etc. in the Council’s Application Procedure.

A member then raised the question of those on the “Sex Offenders’ List” as children often come onto the site (e.g. in school or other parties). Again the Committee’s view is that (in the case of organised groups) those responsible for those children should carry out a risk assessment before they bring the children onto the site (indeed Societies should request that they do this before granting permission for visits). It was felt that there was some confusion between the vetting of volunteers who would “work” with children and vulnerable adults and vetting the general population on the site. The former would fall within a society’s responsibility if the activity is organised by the Society, the latter doesn’t.

MEETINGS SCHEDULE

The following meetings are planned
Monday 12th November (THE AGM)

The AGM is a particularly important meeting because of the election of officers and the fact that it precedes the “long” winter break

The minutes of all meetings are posted on the blog site as soon as possible after the event, we also post any other information we feel relevant to our members’ concerns

http://abas2014.blogspot.co.uk