To all OMA Secretaries and others
Hello everyone and welcome to the new allotments year.
The first ABAS
meeting of 2018 will take place on Monday 12th March at 8.00 p.m. at
Astley Bridge Cricket Club. We hope as many of you as possible will be there
(or send representatives).
Before Christmas we
circulated the proposed amended OMA document. Many of you responded with
comments etc. and these were collated and presented to the Council.
On Thursday 15th February we had a meeting with
Malcolm Russell to discuss these points.He is now drawing up a further amended version of the proposed new OMA (to take effect from April 2018). We hope to have a copy of this document to circulate at the next Abas meeting.
On the question of the inclusion of time scales for council responses etc. MR is working on this. He is investigating using a batch system for dealing with Monthly Reports etc which he hopes will improve performance and reliability. More information is promised for 12/03.
MR has also requested
that secretaries examine the OMA forms pack (version May 2015 applies) and
suggest any amendments that would make matters easier – please send these
through the abas secretary.
One amendment that
will be taking place is an additional line on the tenant registration form
(which a successful probationer should now hand back to the site secretary who
then forwards it to the council) which will state “I understand that if I do
not return the Tenancy Agreement (which the Council will now send me) within
28days then I may forfeit my right to take up this tenancy.”
Tenancy Agreements will now be sent out in fluorescent
yellow A4 envelopes so they can’t be missed! Allotments staff will also inform
site secretaries as and when a tenancy agreement is sent.MR also confirmed that it is the Council’s intention to move all applications to go onto the Council’s waiting list for an allotment plot online and that applicants will be expected to apply through the website. There may be a need for a change to that website before this is done.
Please note new Data Protection legislation means that allotments
have been instructed that for the purpose of releasing waiting list information
to sites there will have to be a named / designated person at each site who
will have to sign that they will protect the integrity of that data.
Request to all (OMA)
Site Secretaries – please submit (to Allotments) a Monthly Report in March
(preferably early) which includes details of – any new vacant plots, any new
tenant registrations and any new probationers – this will enable Allotments to
ensure that the ‘Refresher Monitor’ / Site Updates are as accurate as possible.
It was also suggested
that site committees may wish to carry out a site inspection before Easter
and send a (friendly and informal) note to any plot-holders who have not as yet
recommenced work on the plots – strictly speaking this is a BoT1 but there is
no need for photographic evidence or to tell the council (unless you wish to
add a list of persons contacted to your March Monthly report).
Site Committees can then conduct a second inspection in
April which should lead to BoT2 requests in respect of any plots which are not
felt to be being adequately cultivated. BoT2s are the start of the formal
process and if ignored by plot-holders can lead to BoT3s and eventual
repossession of the plot. Allotments hope that this will avoid plots lying
neglected during the 2018 growing season.
MR also addressed the
question of people who refuse an offer of a plot. Secretaries should always
inform the Council (via the monthly report) of anyone refusing a plot and (if
the secretary feels it appropriate)., the reasons for refusal and whether the
secretary feels they should not be demoted to the back of the waiting list.
Normally anyone refusing a plot will be demoted.
The question of those
who repeatedly refuse plot offers was raised – it was felt that 3 refusals
should lead to removal from the waiting list altogether.
The question of
making contact with persons on the waiting list to make a plot offer was
raised.It was felt that an email and then a follow-up phone call and (possibly) a further email should suffice (obviously allow a reasonable gap between events)– if there is no response then note this on the Monthly Report and move on down the waiting list.
One proposal which we
shall need to discuss relates to Keys and Locks. The Council wishes to move
to a system whereby an initial stock of locks and master keys will be supplied
to each site. Responsibility for buying new locks and acquiring key copies will
pass to the Site Society (Societies will be informed as to sources of new locks
and keys.) Keys will then be issued by the site society to new tenants. New
Tenants should then pay either a deposit or a charge (to be discussed) for the
key to the Society. Charges should cover both the cost of providing a copy of
the key and a contribution towards the replacement of locks due to wear and
tear / vandalism / theft etc. The net result should be that there is no charge
on society funds. Systems similar to this are in fact in place on a number of
our sites already.
Finally there is a
proposal to have a major push towards replacing the chemical / portaloo style
toilets used each summer with permanent Composting Toilets. The mechanism
for doing this would be by each site making a bid to e.g. Awards for All for
the funds to install such a toilet. The Council would assist in completing the
documentation that is required by planning regulations and ABAS is to
investigate proposed Council assistance in identifying potential funders,
drawing up standard bid documents etc. Potentially some £9,000 could be saved
on the Allotment Budget if portaloos were eliminated plus Composting Toilets
provide an all-year-round amenity.
Other initiatives relating water saving etc. will be
investigated. Together with ideas as to how the periods toilets are available
on other sites can be extended.
