ABAS Meeting – 10th September at
Astley Bridge Cricket Club
Present: 21 representatives from 11
sites
Apologies from: Audrey Woods (Haslam
Park)MINUTES OF THE AUGUST MEETING
The Minutes having been posted on the Association Blog-site and there being no objections or requested alterations the minutes were adopted as correct?
MATTERS ARISING
Road Planings – “Allotments” will
accept requests for supplies of road planings which will be used by Societies
as part of self-help schemes. Abas still expects to receive details of proposed
schemes which require road planings or Council work which we will aggregate
into a list to be supplied to “Allotments” for Autumn / Spring work (to date we
have received one proposal from Tonge Fold) Roll-Out of OMAs
We have been informed that (with the exception of one site) Allotments now regard the Revised (April 2018) OMA document as operational. Secretaries should note (if they have not already done so) that Revised Guidelines on Poultry and Structures were issue in May 2018.
Site Visits
by the Head of Service may be requested where societies feel this would be
advantageous
Hatfield RoadFollowing the visit by Jeff and Terry, “Allotments” served 5 BoT2 notices and a further 9 plots were identified as untenanted. Allotments asked Community Payback to carry out work on the untenanted sites but CP felt the job was too big for them. Jeff will be carrying out the follow-up inspections on the BoT2 plots on or about 17th September. Abas has to consider the resource implications of carrying out further work of this nature on behalf of the Council.
Monthly Reports and BoTs
(From examining the Revised OMA document in the light of recent events)
(From examining the Revised OMA document in the light of recent events)
Potential
Breaches of Tenancy
The Society
to conduct a regular (no more often than monthly but it may be less frequent)
inspection of the site between March and September (to be undertaken by a
minimum of 2 members of the Site Society Committee) and to identify any issues
of non-compliance with the terms & conditions of tenancy visible without
entering onto the plot. In the first instance, if practicable, the Society will
advise the tenant of the breach and request that the matter is addressed within
21 days. This is a BoT1. This notification should be
recorded on the monthly inspection report. It is apparent that Allotments
expect any plot found in an unsatisfactory condition to be recorded on the
monthly inspection report. Where a BoT1 cannot be used - some wording such as
“as this tenant is not a member of the society we have no means of contact” or
“this tenant has not honoured previous informal arrangements” – for repeat
offenders might be used. Inspection teams may wish to take photographs as
evidence.
If at the
subsequent monthly inspection of the site the outstanding breach of tenancy has
not been addressed then the Society will take photographs to demonstrate the
breach and advise the Council so that it may consider issuing a formal
Improvement Notice for breach of tenancy. The Council will advise the Society
when an improvement notice has been issued.
This is BoT2 and the period of grace given is 14
days – which may be extended IF the tenant asks for extra time. Note that the
period of grace / improvement period starts from the date that the Council
sends the BoT2 – the Council SHOULD inform the society of that date. Similarly
the Council SHOULD inform the society of any extension given. Note that if you
have requested a BoT2, we would advise the Society to conduct its routine inspections
regardless as to whether the Council has informed you that a BoT2 has been
sent. By constantly monitoring the condition of the plot, and reporting its
condition and asking about the progress of the BoT2 in the Monthly Report, the
Society can try to keep the mal-cultivation case “live”.
If the
breach of tenancy has not been addressed at the time of the next regular
inspection (following the end of the improvement period)
then the Society will take photographs to demonstrate the continued breach and
advise the Council so that it may consider issuing a Notice of Re-entry and
terminate the tenancy as appropriate. The Council will advise the Society when
a Notice of Re-entry has been issued and subsequently completed. This is BoT3. – the timetable is entirely in the Council’s
hands and the Society is dependent on the Council carrying out the procedure
and retaking possession, after which they will advise the Society that the plot
may be re-let. As previously, during the period from the Society requesting
the BoT3 until the Council informs the Secretary that the BoT3 has been served
and the plot is available to re-let, the Society should continue to monitor the
condition of the plot and report (with photograph) on its condition in the
Monthly Report and should ask each month as to the progress of the BoT3.
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.
NWCAA –
Email to membersThe (former Committee members of the North West Counties Allotment Association sent out the email below to (a number of) local allotment societies
Dear members,
Earlier this year the officers of the NW Counties Allotment Society took a decision to resign following issues with the National Allotment Society and its management team which could not be resolved, in fact they choose not to seek a resolution before or during the National AGM with the North West County Officers, so we felt we had no alternative to resign from the National.
The Hard work done in this region over the past few years including the great work that Andrea has done seems to be just ignored and not even recognised by the National Allotment Society, despite the largest growing region, the greatest number of meetings, communications, web site, emails etc. the NAS seems to have shown little respect for this hard work only lip service.
May we also remind you that the region will now longer have the fantastic services of the mentor as Alan has also resigned from the mentor post.
We had asked that the NAS to contact each member several months ago but it appears this still has not been done and emails are still coming to the North West so therefore this weekend we decided to contact you to advise you we are no Longer Part of the NW nor the NAS and if you need support or help you contact your regional rep or the NAS direct https://www.nsalg.org.uk/
You will have noticed over the last few months there has been no newsletters or meetings and this is not something we have taken lightly and clearly the NAS doesn’t have an interest in the North West as they have even contact you as members despite assurances in June they would.
We are extremely sorry that the outcome has come this way but we feel we are unable to continue to work with the National allotment Society as an organisation as we don't consider it the best for the membership going forward.
Please note that both our web site and email address are now closed and there will be no further correspondence from either the email or website address.
We thank you for your commitment, value support and dedication over the years & We wish you well in whatever you decide going forward
Happy Gardening
NWCAA – Regional Rep’s Response to an email
from abas
Hello Dave,
There has
been a disagreement between some members of the NWCAA management committee and
the NSALG Management Committee over the funding of the Southport Show
display.
The
"Blackpool Group" wanted more money than was allowed under the
present rules- they wanted the money up front- the National Management
team suggested that there was enough funds in the NWest to cover the
display and any excess would be paid for by National on receiving accounts and
receipts.
Andy
Percival did not like this and resigned, as did Derek Cooper the treasurer.
Alan
Hull who has not been well also resigned over this and other reasons.
The
Southport Show Display could have gone ahead under the new financial
arrangement, in my opinion, it may have been smaller but Andy
Percival cancelled it.
That,
I think is the matter, in a nutshell. A more correct financial breakdown can be
got from Dave Morris, who was National treasurer at the time.
Meanwhile,
an e-mail from "Blackpool" has been sent out to all sites (?),
stating what it says.
I am
calling a meeting at Crumsall Model Allotments on 21st Oct to discuss this and
other things. I have not resigned and I am continuing to follow up case
work across the area.
I
attach a letter and invitation for your members to come to Crumpsall and
express their views.
Please
circulate the letter to all your members and they can decide what they are
going to do.
NWCAA – Action Meeting
FROM
REGIONAL REPYou may have received an e-mail from Blackpool stating that the officers of the NWCAA had resigned.
This is only partially correct. The NWCAA rep has not resigned and I am still in post,
Any questions you have may still be sent to me, and I will answer them.
A meeting has been called for Sunday October 21st beginning at 1 p.m.
Crumpsall and Cheetham Model Allotments,
Hazelbottom Rd,
Cheetham,
Manchester,
M8 0GQ
Please confirm with me on nw.nsalg@yahoo.co.uk for numbers attending.
Agenda:
Apologies-Committee Reports-
NW reps report-
Constitutional Issues-
Election of new committee:- chair, secretary, treasurer, website manager.
Next meeting.
NWCAA – abas comments
1. Based on
our (Bolton's) experience the resignation of the "Blackpool Group" –
will have little effect – though the previous resignation of the Regional
Secretary (Andrea) was a major blow to communications generally. (What were the circumstances of Andrea’s resignation and what
happened to the contacts network she had created? – question for Oct 21st?))
2.
Interventions by the past Regional Mentor (Alan Hull) have generally produced
negative reactions from Bolton site secretaries etc.
3. The
National does not seem to have taken the situation arising in the North-West
seriously or acted with any urgency – we question whether they have a
functioning database of member contacts
4. We
reserve judgement on the role of the Regional Rep - would
we (Bolton) have learned about this "Crumpsall" meeting if the
Secretary hadn't emailed him – but then maybe he too has received no mailing
list from either National or Blackpool?
NWCAA – looking ahead
What kind of
NWCAA will emerge from the Crumpsall Meeting ?Who will be on the Committee etc.?
How are communications / relations between the NAS, the Regional Level and NW societies and federations to be (re?) established and put on a constructive basis?
What support will the National be giving (financial and otherwise) to the "new" NWCAA? (What is the current financial position of the NWCAA – question to D Morris “then” National Treasurer?)
Can we assume John Irwin continues as Regional Rep? Is the Regional Rep the NSALG’s representative to us (NW societies) or our Representative to the NSALG?
Who will be the new Regional Mentor?
Once we have
some answers to the above, we can debate whether in the long term we (as
societies and as individuals) see an advantage in remaining members of / being
affiliated to a) the NWCAA and b) the NSALG / NAS?
GM SPATIAL PLAN
No new
developmentsThe revised plan (due June 2018) has now been delayed (due to a need to revise the area population projections). It will now appear in October and will be followed by 12 weeks consultation
We are in contact with the Salford Federation about Salford City’s reported attitude to including allotment provision in planning / development consents.
APSE REPORT – KEY POINTS
The
Association for Public Sector Excellence conducts an annual survey of the
Allotment Service across 140 local authorities. A copy of their recent report
has been supplied to us. If members wish to have a copy of the full report
please email the Secretary and we’ll send you one
Highlights
COSTS –
there is a wide variation in costs, but typically an allotment now costs in
excess of £70.00 per annum
SIZE – The
most common size of a plot is now 200-249 sq metres, this is a fall from the
2017 figure of 249-299 sq metres
WAITING
LISTS – 75% of Councils have waiting lists of 100-400, 8% have waiting lists of
>1,000. Bolton’s waiting list is 623
TIME TO TAKE
ACTION ON MAL-CULTVATION – 39% take 1 month, 44% take 3 months, 11% take 6
months, 5% take 9 months and 1% take a year or more (Question
– what is action? What is measured?)
BUDGETS –
some debate about the meaning of these figures BUT
Councils
report spending under 4 headings, average spending being
Operations -
£29,760 (we believe this is the figure BMBC quote to us)
Development
- £28,364 (Do BMBC spend anything on “Development” and
if so how much and on what?)Staff - £35,440 (BMBC do not supply us with any data relating to staff costs)
Other - £6.127 (BMBC do not supply any data on this heading)
What budgets
cover:-
89 %
Perimeter Fencing Walls87% Paths/Roads
87% Water Bills
28% Promotion Social/Schools
28% Provision Huts/Maintenance
27% Electricity Bills
Facilities
Provided
93%
Fencing86% Mains water
61% Composting
42% Lock Up store/Shed
36% Community Rooms
30% Washing Facilities
29% Toilets
28% Special Needs
29% Live Stock
59% of Ground Maintenance was carried out by Operations Contracts
Allotment Provision
36% of
Councils reported their intention to increase the number of allotments
available (Bolton would appear to fall into the 66% who
have no such intention). We understand that Bolton would only consider a new
allotment scheme if it came with a long-term management plan which ensured no
call on Council Funding or Resources.
Of these
78.38%
intend to examine direct provision by the Council70.27% intend to examine provision by developers/builders as part of housing / planning policy
32.47% intend to examine provision through Community Groups supported by the Council
13.51% intend to examine provision through other Council Departments
5.41% intend to examine other methods
Management of Sites
28% were managed
by a Council officer [4% down on 2017]7% stated that Allotment Sites were managed by Committees (Self-Managed)
65% of Respondents Stated that they have a mix of Council/Site Committee/Associations Managing Allotments which was an increase of 5% on 2017 and 9% increase from 2016
On Local Authority Allotment Strategies
49% stated they had one
51 % stated that they did not have one (we believe that Bolton are one of the 51%)
37% stated that they were planning to develop one
60% stated that they recognised the Well Being and Value of Allotments
56% of Local Authorities have Friends/Forum Groups
66% include allotments in their Local Plans
APSE Concluded that
The
increasing demand for building land and the lack of plots for new allotment
holders is causing concern amongst allotment holders as is the reductions in
council budgets which is having an impact on the ability to maintain such
sites.
In light of
these pressures, many allotment sites are now moving to self-management models,
often with the continuing support of the local authority.
In this way
allotment holders can not only ensure what finance is available is used to meet
the known needs of the site, but they are also able to apply for funding which
is not available to local authorities.
This
allowance by local authorities for allotment holders to manage their own sites
should not be seen as them negating their responsibilities.
Abas comment: There is a danger with ill-considered
self-management initiatives that allotment provision may therefore become
totally dependent on grant-funding and / or higher rents.
THE AGM
In
preparation for both the AGM and the continuing operation of Abas in the future
we are inviting you to think about nominations for two groups
The ABAS Executive Committee – The Officers
(Chair, Secretary and Treasurer) plus 3-4 other Committee members
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
INSURANCE
Contact
details for JLF (who have taken over the Bluefin Allotment Insurance Scheme)
have now been posted on the abas blogsite at http://abas2014.blogspot.co.uk
WHAT’S ON IN 2018?
Please tell us of any events that you are
planning or that you think will be of interest to plot-holders
October 14th
Local Produce Market at Harpers Lane Allotments
OUTSTANDING ISSUES
So far as we
know the principal outstanding issues from the previous meeting have been
covered in previous sections. Please make sure we are informed as to issues
that you feel need raising and resolving
ANY OTHER BUSINESS
It was
reported that the Council had suggested that all new tenants be supplied with a
starter pack which sets down the site rules, mal-cultivation processes,
structure approvals etc. There is a
question as to who should produce this pack and who will pay for it?The Head of Neighbourhood Services has responded - Unfortunately I think this is a mix-up. The new OMA pack includes the information about structures and poultry and, as previously, refers to those being part of the new tenant’s pack, something we send to new tenants on non OMA sites. There is no suggestion that OMA sites should be providing a ‘pack’.
It was
reported that the Council has issued revised guidelines on structures approvals
and that tenants are now to be permitted to erect a boundary (presumably with a
gate) around their plot provided such a fence is less than 4 feet in height. Members felt that there was a
previous prohibition on plot boundary fences and the secretary was asked to check whether the change was “official”.
The Head of Neighbourhood Services has responded - Fencing has always been described as a structure and tenants were
required to seek permission in the old days. We’ve now included it in the
description as we have had a few enquiries.
It was
reported that the Council has stated that the access path running on the LH
side of a plot (when standing on the site road / path looking up the plot) is
for the sole use that plot-holder. Further that the plot-holder has no right to
use the RH path which is the LH path of his / her neighbour. It was felt that
this is a contravention of the established convention that access paths are for
shared use. (Although some sites have defined LH / RH rules for path
maintenance responsibilities.) Secretary
to check Council statement.
The Head of Neighbourhood Services has responded – Interested to hear the views on the access paths and I
agree that is what you would expect in most cases, where tenants can get on
amicably. However, the plot boundary either has to be up the middle of the path
or within one plot or another. In the case of the situation at ******* the
arrangement wasn’t working and the changes made by a previous tenant haven’t
helped. We had to take a view on that case so we did.
There was a
discussion of on-site conflict and bullying. The case of one site secretary who
had had their greenhouse trashed following a disagreement with a tenant was
raised. In this case communications errors by Council staff were felt to have
been a major cause of the incident. The
Secretary will contact the Head of Neighbourhood Services to raise the creation
and enforcement of anti-bullying policies.
The Head of Neighbourhood Services has responded – I don’t think I was aware of the problem at ********.
But ***** has requested a meeting on the back of the new OMA). I think the
existing rules could be used but it might be worth us working up a joint
statement on the interpretation and a process for reporting. Happy to hear Abas thoughts on that.
The question
of Bonfires was raised. Whether or
not to hold a November Bonfire is a question for individual allotment societies
dependent on their local circumstances, insurance provision and the layout of
their site. Following the meeting the information below has been provided by Shepherd’s Cross Street Allotments Society who
have successfully held a Bonfire in recent years.
A couple of
people approached me after the meeting last night to ask who we used to insure
our bonfire event last year. We used the following: https://www.events-insurance.co.uk/
The premium
was £60 for £1,000,000 cover, I can’t speak to how they are as an insurer as we
haven’t had cause to claim.
We
usually submit a risk assessment to the council sometime around August and they
typically get back to us with an answer within a fortnight. The key
points we address are:
- Attendance count (we say 50-60)
- Fire site radius (we say 3m)
- Fire radius (we say 1.2 starting, 2.1 finishing)
- Fuel (we say clean wood and cardboard stored at a distance from the fire site)
- Fire control methods (extinguishers, water etc)
- First aid facilities
- Emergency vehicle access
- Marshall head count
The recent
spate of shed break-ins that has
affected Rawlyn Rd., Harpers Lane and Shepherds Cross St. was raised. The
Secretary undertook to contact the Bolton News to try to raise recognition of
the problems allotment sites have with such incidents. An email was sent to the News Desk on 11/09/2018 and an article appeared
on 14/9/2018.
It was
suggested that there might be a confidentiality problem for some sites in
sharing their monthly reports with abas. The
Secretary has been asked to design and circulate a form which can be used
as an alternative through which Societies can inform Abas as to how many BoT2,
BoT3 requests are made each month and the result.
MEETINGS SCHEDULE
The
following meetings are planned
Monday 8th
October
Monday 12th
November (THE AGM)
The minutes of all Abas 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
