BREAK-INS AND VANDALISM

We are getting more reports of break-ins and vandalism on Sites.

We've had reports in the last week or so of break-ins at Settle Street and at Dealey Rd.

At Dealey Rd there was also vandalism of some sheds.

Looks like the thieving season is on us again

Abas Meeting 14.03.2016

Minutes of the Monthly Abas meeting held on 14/03/2016 at Astley Bridge Cricket Club

The abas vision statement

Abas exists to achieve fair treatment for all plot-holders on allotments sites within the Bolton Borough boundaries. It seeks to achieve this through effective representation of plot-holders and societies to the Council and the provision of support to individuals and societies.

AGM 2015

Minutes of the AGM 2015

The minutes of the 2015 AGM having been placed on the association’s blogsite at www.abas2014.blogspot.co.uk prior to Christmas 2015, and no matters having been raised by members, the Committee proposed that the minutes be accepted as a true and accurate record.

This motion was proposed by Lennard Nuttall (Rawlyn Rd.) and seconded by Brian Southwood (Rawlyn Rd.)

The matters arising from the minutes were covered by items in the meeting’s agenda

Report back from Progress Meeting with Bolton Council on 24/02/2016

Abas were given ssight of a new copy of the Council’s site refresher monitor – showing numbers of vacancies etc.

The Council’s current “savings review” is nearing completion. The status quo will apply on allotments, we will still be in a balanced budget situation.

The Council has invited abas to consult with members as to the priority areas for any funds which may become available

A discussion was subsequently held in which the following priorities were identified:

1.      Assistance in installing composting toilets (or other facilities) at those sites without toilet facilities

2.      Fencing to secure sites

3.      Assistance in acquiring and installing security cameras and lights

4.      Expansion of the Self-help scheme with a more proactive role by the Council in organising materials etc.

5.      Access to plant e.g. a mini-digger or even a JCB – many sits have work for such equipment

It was recognised that in most cases sites will have to secure grant funding for these initiatives though the Council could assist with e.g. planning applications, support for bids etc.

Other points

Notions that Horwich Town Council might take on a more active role in managing sites in Horwich seem to have been shelved.  Lever Park Avenue remains however a possible site for expansion if funds could be introduced from somewhere.

Longworth Rd, Horwich is now an OMA site, and is the only OMA site not currently in abas membership.

Local Councillors are taking an interest in matters at Longworth Rd., Egerton. They are hoping to convene / facilitate a site meeting to discuss concerns raised with them. MR has agreed to attend such a meeting.

A number of individuals have contacted the Council stating that turning off the water supply discriminates against poultry keepers. The Council believe that the risks of damage to the piping if the water is left on during winter is too great to allow extension of the season.

They argue that tenants are aware of the situation when they opt to keep poultry.

The Abas Concerns Matrix

The Association maintains a Record of issues which member societies request that we raise with the Council on their behalf. We also record the results of representations etc.

We are reliant on member authorities both informing us of issues that need to be tackled and also updating us on progress (or the lack of it)

A number of site specific issues were raised on 24/02/2016 and the responses have been communicated to the societies involved

General Issues raised at the Meeting
(Matters common to more than one site)

The Council cannot provide site secretaries with tenants’ lists containing names and contact details (Data Protection) – abas would advise all societies to keep a record of names and addresses of all society members – providing this info should be a condition of membership) – such a record is a condition for all those insured through the NAS

The Council cannot provide site secretaries with lists of those who haven’t paid their rent and who thus may be liable to Notice to Quit.

There have been delays in the transmission of payments data from Finance to Allotments which has delayed the Vacancy Process

Secretaries are reminded that they should not take action to re-let plots until they receive information from the Council that the plot is free to re-let (unless the tenant has signed a termination / amendment form) (OMA sites only)

The Allotments Section is currently preparing and circulating up to date waiting lists and these are being circulated to OMA secretaries as they become available. Part of this process may include cross-checking Council records against those held by secretaries.

Reporting

The Council had not been expecting Monthly Reports to be submitted during the winter period and had not allocated staff time to deal with them.

The Allotments section is still very short-staffed and is especially vulnerable to staff sickness and absence. The section is also involved in dealing with the aftermath of the January floods.

The section would still prefer all communications to be through Monthly Reports as there is no capacity to provide a guaranteed, timely response to emails.

The Council would not anticipate any requests (outwith emergencies) for actions on Breach of Tenancies or mal-cultivation before the April Monthly Reports.

Abas membership

Abas membership remains as stated at the 2015 AGM

The Treasurer confirmed that all existing members have paid 2016 subscriptions.

The Committee will be launching a second drive to increase membership. The Council however has not so far been able to distribute any membership materials to individual tenants on our behalf.

The Selling of Produce

The following draft policy statement has been received:

The Council is keen to support Societies both in terms of the sustainable management of sites and the potential role that sites/societies could play in the local community around food growing, health and wider social benefits. On that basis the Council, as landlord, will permit the sale of surplus produce on allotment sites subject to the following criteria

·        Sales are of SURPLUS produce

·        Sales must be COLLECTIVE and proceeds must go to the Site Society not to individuals

·        Sales must be ON-SITE and there must be NO OFF-SITE advertising

(some sales at off-site venues e.g. church fetes would be acceptable)

·        Societies should not create any purpose built structure for the purpose of selling produce

·        Sales should be of ‘in season’ produce grown on the site, no produce can be brought from another source

·        There should be no sale of processed produce UNLESS the Society goes through registration as a Food business and Food Hygiene Testing Inspection etc. with the relevant regulatory departments

·        The Site Society should notify the Council by e-mail (allotments@bolton.gov.uk)  that they propose to sell surplus produce / food sales at least 2 weeks prior to sales commencing

The Council reserves the right to require a Society to cease sales if the Society is not following the above criteria OR if other relevant issues are brought to the Council’s attention.

The Committee would make the following observations:

There are no limits as to the period during which sales may be held nor to the number of occasions on which sales may be held.

Whilst there would be no objections to say offering tea and coffee from the site hut during ‘open site’ sales any extension into cakes etc. or a full café style operation would constitute creating a food business.

The question of cake stalls etc. on Open Days was not clarified, we suspect if they’re one-offs then common sense will prevail, if they become a regular feature then they might attract attention.

On the question of notifying the Council it was later clarified that our understanding is that a single notification setting out a number of dates / events would be acceptable.

Allotment Watch

Following the NWCAA meeting held at Bolton on 24/01/2016 the notion of establishing an Allotments Watch system across Bolton was raised.

There seem no available resources and little enthusiasm for this within the ‘management’ ranks at GMP. Like all public services they are dealing with cut-backs and we are a low priority.

However, PCSO Sandra Furnival at Middlebrook is trying to collate allotment crime data across the Division(s) and keeping us informed.

It would be a great help if societies informed abas of any crimes on sites so that we can inform Sandra.

Again, the advice is report ALL crimes to the Police and give a FULL valuation of any property stolen or damage done.

Important

The meeting was informed by Alun Morris (Sec. Florence Avenue) that he had recently got GMP to accept a single report on behalf of a number of victims of break-ins. Because he was able to provide details of each individual crime (including the victim’s name, address, approx. age etc.) the call handler gave separate crime numbers of each break-in. This emphasises the importance of Secretary’s having full information about tenants / members.

Allotment Competitions

Entry Forms for the Fairhurst, Greenhalgh, New Tenants and Rosebowl Competitions are now available from Terry, 0786 393 3064

It’s important to get copies of the scoring criteria

Closing date for entries is 16^th May 2016

Judging will be w/c 06/06 (1^st round) and w/c 18/07 (2^nd round)

Prizes will be presented at the Veg Show on 20/08/2016

Abas Onion, Leek and Vegetable Show

The expanded Bolton Vegetable Show will take place at Trinity Methodist Church on 20^th August 2016.

There will be 25 classes this year (schedules will be available)

Last year abas members (societies and individuals) sponsored all classes (@£10.00 per class), we need sponsorship again this year if we are to provide the prizes. Could anyone interested please contact Terry.

We’re hoping for an increased entry this year both in terms of the number of entries and the number of participating sites.

Grant Applications

The Committee applied to the Big Bolton Fund (run by Bolton CVS) for funds to run both the Allotment Competitions and the Vegetable Show.

The CVS has provided a partial grant (£620.00) but felt unable to provide monies that would be used for prizes.

This has left a deficit in our budget of around £465.00

We are actively seeking other funding and sponsorship.

There was  suggestion that we again approach Asda Community Fund which we shall do.

The “Allotted” Exhibition

We are supporting a group of local artists and writers who are staging an exhibition at neo:gallery27 in the Market Place from 30^th June to 31^st July 2016.

The broad theme of the exhibition is around allotments, wildlife, food growing etc. It will feature paintings, prints, installations, 3-D work, textiles, photography, stained glass and there will also be a written record featuring interviews with plot-holders and others plus both fiction and non-fiction writing on allotment-related subjects.

Abas will be allocated an area within the gallery where we will promote allotment gardening in general but more importantly all the events that our member societies are holding over the summer (so make sue you let us know what you’re planning and when)

External Affairs

Abas hosted the NWCAA Quarterly Forum at Hollywood Rd Social Club on 24/01/2016. The central theme was “Allotment Crime” and a presentation was given by officers of GMP. The minutes of that meeting are available on the NWCAA website.

It was clear at that meeting that there are tensions both within the NWCAA and between some elements of the NWCAA and the NAS.  Some within NWCAA proposed a motion for the NWCAA AGM for leaving NAS and forming their own organisation. Should this proposal become fact Abas would need to take a position.

The meeting noted that Andrea Hallissey (Secretary NWCAA) has announced her impending retirement from the post (she is relocating to the North-East). The meeting felt she would be hard act to replace.

The meeting also expressed concern that a break-away would remove our access to support from Liz Bunting and Di Appleyard at NAS.

The general feeling in the meeting was that whilst member societies support the National there would be little enthusiasm for joining a regional break-away.

National Vegetable Society

As members of Abas you are also members of the National Vegetable Society.

The Committee would encourage you to visit the NVS website and to examine their list of publications many of which deal with questions on which you have suggested we have talks.

If you wish to access the members-only areas please contact Terry or Jeff for the membership number

Compost Donations

Viridor – GM Waste are running a scheme whereby community gardens and allotments societies can receive a free delivery (1 pallet -  60x40L bags) of Revive compost / soil conditioner

The contact in the first instance is JBolger@viridor-laing.co.uk who can provide an application form

Future Programme

Current suggestions for our future programme include:

Organising a further talk by John Woods FNVS

Organising a trip to the Harrogate Autumn Show

Both these suggestions attracted support from members. Terry will follow them up.

We shall also hold the monthly meetings here at ABCC (8.00 p.m. every second Monday in the month)

AOB

The next meeting will be here at ABCC on 11^th April 2016

URGENT

We have had an alert from the Police that once again allotments are being targeted

Apparently there have been a number of break-ins at the Astley Bridge sites 

We've also heard that a number of stone flags were stolen from Sapling Rd. Allotments

So please keep your eyes open

NWCAA Forum in Bolton

If you are part of a Bolton Site Society please let abas - boltonallotments2014@yahoo.co.uk know so we can arrange the catering properly

AGM November 9th 2015 Minutes

Abas AGM
9^th November 2015

Astley Bridge Cricket Club – Bolton

The meeting convened at 8.00 p.m.

 

Item 1: Minutes of the 2014 AGM and Matters Arising

The Minutes of the 2014 AGM having been posted on the Association’s blog-site (http://www.abas2014.blogspot.co.uk) during the year, the Committee asked that the minutes be accepted. The motion was proposed by Ray Maginn (Sapling Rd.) and seconded by Carol Barlow (Sapling Rd.) and was carried unanimously.

 All Matters arising from those minutes were subsequently covered during the body of this meeting

 Item 2 -Current membership – 16 sites – based on information to hand on November 9^th 2015

SITE                 no of PLOTS    OMA?  PAID    UNPAID                                                                      

Ainsdale Rd                 49        Y                      x         

Cemetery Rd               26        N                      x         

Clammerclough          12        N                      x         

Dealey Rd.                   25        Y          x                     

Florence Avenue         52        Y          x                     

Harpers Lane               83        Y          x                     

Lever Park Avenue      31        Y          x                     

Haslam Park                23        Y                      x         

Moss Lea                     44        Y                      x         

Rawlyn Rd                   45        Y          x                     

Sapling Rd                   61        Y          x                     

Settle St                       41        Y                      x         

Shepherd Cross St        63        Y                      x         

Smedley Avenue         28        N          x                     

Tonge Fold                   38        Y          x                     

Tonge Moor Rd.           54        Y          x                                                                                 

TOTAL                          675                  417      258     

 

Non-members (1)

SITE                             no of PLOTS    Society                       

Crown Lane                             51        N/S                 

Longworth Rd Egerton            49        N/S                 

Lowndes St                              32        SOC                

Hatfield Rd                              27        N/S                 

Green Lane                              20        N/S                 

Longworth Rd Horwich         18        SOC     OMA  

SITE                             no of PLOTS    Society           

Firwood Lane                          16        ?                     

Nasmyth St                              15        N/S                 

Willows Mercantile                 11        N/S                 

Tippings Rd                             10        N/S                 

TOTAL                                      249      10 sites                       

 

Non-members (2) – smaller sites

SITE                             no of PLOTS                           

Cross St                                    7          N/S                 

Thicketford Td                         5          N/S                 

Plodder Lane                           4          N/S                 

Glebe St                                   4          N/S      B@H   

Avondale Rd                            3          N/S      B@H   

Chequerbent Gardens             3          N/S                 

Garstang Avenue                     3          N/S                 

New St                                     3          N/S      B@H   

Hall Lea Bank                          1          N/S                 

Westhoughton Central            1          N/S                 

Seymour Rd                             0          N/S                 

TOTAL                                      34        11 sites                       

 

NB B@H means that ‘ownership’ of the site has been transferred to Bolton at Home from Bolton Council

 Please Note – there was some discussion as to the accuracy of the above figures and a corrected version will be issued during the gap in meetings over the winter.

 Item 3 - Annual Accounts

INCOME                                             

CVS Grant                                            £341.17          

Members Subscriptions Received       £205.50          

Bank Interest                                       £    0.50          

Cash Transfer                                      £135.00          

Cash paid in                                        £ 23.95           

Raffle Income                                     £112.00          

Onion and Leek Show Grant               £250.00          

Other                                      

TOTAL INCOME                                   £1,068.12       

 

EXPENDITURE                        

CVS Grant-related Expenditure           £363.66                      

Leek Show grant-related Exp              £250.00                      

Secretary's Expenditure                      £108.00                      

Allotment Comp Prize Money             £130.00                      

Presentation Flowers                           £ 50.00                       

Engraving and Postage                        £ 32.48                       

NVS Subscription                                 £ 19.00                       

Printing Costs                                      £ 21.00                       

Lecture Fees                                        £ 70.00                       

Other                                                   £   0.98                                               

TOTAL EXPENDITURE                         £1,045.12                   

                                   

NETT SURPLUS                                   £     23.00       

 

 

OPENING CASH AND BANK               £1,305.12       

NETT SURPLUS                                   £      23.00

CLOSING CASH AND BANK                £1,328.12       

 

CURRENT ACCOUNT                           £    427.25                  

BUSINESS ACCOUNT                         £    900.87                  

                                                           

 

                                   

Accounts of the Leek and Onion Show 2015

INCOME                     

Duchy Grant                            £250.00          

Donations / Sponsorship         £183.00          

Entrance Fees                          £  22.30          

Raffle                                      £  40.23          

Prize Money not used             £  22.00          

                       

TOTAL                                      £517.53          

 

EXPENDITURE            

Laminator and Pouches          £  63.98          

Abas Trophy                             £  59.95          

Prize Cards (Printing)              £  20.00          

Table Tops                               £129.60          

Prize Money                            £148.00          

Judge's Fee                              £  30.00          

Gifts to ABCC Staff                  £    8.00          

                       

TOTAL                                      £459.53          

                       

SURPLUS FROM SHOW          £  58.00          

Item 4: Election of Officers

Officers from the current year were returned unopposed

 

Hon President:             Richard Heyes (Tonge Moor)

Hon Vice-President:    George Wild (Tonge Moor)

 

Chair                           Jeff Gibson (Tonge Fold)

Secretary                     Dave Jackson (Harpers Lane)

Treasurer                     Terry Farrell (Tonge Fold)

 

Two Committee Members from the current year were re-elected Ann Craven (Settle St.) and Theresa Morris (Tonge Fold). In addition Carol Deplitch (Dealey Rd.) was elected to the Committee.

 

Item 5: Setting Subscriptions for 2016-2017

 

The 2014/15 Committee’s proposal that subscriptions for 2016-2017 should be raised to £1.00 per member was passed unanimously.

It was pointed out that the previous rate – 50p per member – had been fixed since 1981

 

Item 6: Competitions

 

The Committee proposed that Abas run the four Borough Allotment competitions (Fairhurst, Greenhalgh, New Tenant, Rosebowl) in 2016

 

The Committee proposed that Abas run an expanded Show in 2016 – this will be a Vegetable Show rather than an Onion and Leek Show.

A proposed schedule of classes had been drawn up (which is given below)

It was proposed that the Show take place on either Saturday 20^th August or Saturday 3^rd September – the proposed venue being Trinity Methodist Church. The meeting opted for Saturday 20^th of August – although some sites reserved judgement until they have fixed the dates of their own shows and Open Days.

 

Proposed Show Classes 2016

1. Best Display of Vegetables
2. Three Stump Carrots
3. Three Parsnips
4. Three Onions from Sets < 250 g
5. Three Onions from Seeds < 250g
6. Three Onions from Seed > 250g
7. Three Onions (1 < 250g, > 250g one <450g, one > 450g)
8. Two Blanched Leeks
9. Two Pot Leeks
10. Ten Shallots < 30mm
11. Ten Shallots > 30mm
12. Three Red Onions
13. Heaviest Onion
14. Four Tomatoes
15. One cucumber
16. 6 Pods of French Bans
17. 6 Pods of Runner Beans
18. 6 Pods of Peas
19. One Marrow
20. Four potatoes (White)
21. Four potatoes (Coloured)
22. Three Beetroot
23. One Cabbage
24. One Cauliflower
25. One of any other type of vegetable not listed above

 

More details of rules etc. are available

 

Item 7: Talks and Lectures

 

Members accepted that there are two audiences for Abas meetings. The first is the secretaries and committee members of the member societies – they are essentially attending a business meeting the primary topic of which is the ongoing relationship with Bolton MBC and its impact on the allotment community. They are thus interested in policy developments at the Council and how Abas can act collectively to resolve ongoing issues affecting sites (e.g. maintenance failures etc.) The second audience are the general plot-holders on allotment sites in the Borough. They are less likely to be interested in the details of individual issues (unless personally affected) but more interested in general topics of horticulture etc.

 

It was suggested (and the suggestion will be studied by the Committee during the winter break) that talks of no more that 30-40 minutes on general topics could be scheduled at the start of the monthly meetings, after which the meeting would turn to site management matters.

 

Possible topics included:-

Advice for new plot-holders

Composting / Worm Composting

Starting with Poultry

Starting with Bees

 

How to show Vegetables (with the talks given by experienced local plot-holders e.g. Jeff and Terry rather than the more professional competitors who spoke in 2015)

 

It was also suggested that Abas organise visits by groups of Abas members to other Allotment Associations and Sites to compare Good Practice and also visits to Shows (e.g. Harrogate / Southport), Gardens and perhaps Stately Homes.

 

The Committee will consider this suggestion over the winter break.

 

Finally it was suggested that Abas and its member societies should work together to co-ordinate the advertising and promotion of their events and fund raising.

 

 

Item 8: Progress Meetings with the Council

 

The Committee reported that regular meetings had been held with the Council to address issues of concern to members..

The Council has proposed three to four meetings per annum

Other meetings can be scheduled if either side feels an urgent issue needs to be addressed

 

At the last meeting (Oct 2015) Abas raised issues on behalf of Rawlyn Rd., Moss Lea, Harpers Lane, Tonge Moor and Smedley Avenue. In general sites were satisfied with progress made but there seems an ongoing issue with work placed with contractors by the Counciil not being done and/or not being followed up by Council Officers.

 

Abas is creating a Register of the Issues which members send us – this register will be shared with the Council. Site Secretaries are asked to inform us of all outstanding issues that they report on their Monthly Reports (for OMA sites) or that they email / write to the Council about (for other sites). This updating should continue during the winter break.

Progress on items on this Register will be discussed at the monthly abas meetings

 

On-going Consultation

Since the ‘Plotties’ issue, Elected Members have become interested in the whole issue around food growing and sales.  They have expressed the view that if the sales can be shown to be benefiting the community they should be encouraged.

Areas of general agreement seem to be:

• Sales are of SURPLUS produce
• Sales must be COLLECTIVE and proceeds must go to the Site Society not to individuals.
• Sales must be ON-SITE and there must be no OFF-SITE advertising
• (Some sales at off-site venues e.g. church fete would be acceptable on a one-off basis).
• Societies should not create any purpose built structure for the purpose off selling produce
• Sales should be in season (the Council would like to set maximum occasions)
• There should be no Sales of processed produce unless the Society goes through registration and Food Hygiene Testing Inspection etc. with the relevant regulatory departments

 

The Council wishes to work with Abas on the wording of a definitive statement for the start of the Spring growing season.

 

Community Plots

 

As part of the above the term Community Plot is to be reserved solely or plots being worked by ‘communities’ or groups – in all practical respects these are the same as any other plot and subject to probation, rent, regulations etc.

 

An area for discussion over the winter is the question of SOCIETY PLOTS

These are plots where the society is the tenant. Our current interpretation of council thinking is that they must serve some community purpose (e.g. education or some social benefit) and must not be solely some kind of income generating market garden, but the position is not set.

 

ANY OTHER BUSINESS

The proposal that Abas maintain a log of break-ins on sites and share this with the NWCAA was approved. This will need Site Secretaries to keep the Abas secretary informed of break-ins and vandalism.

 

The NWCAA are organising a regional forum on allotment thefts which will be hosted by ABAS. It will be held in Bolton on January 24^th 2016. GM Police have been invited to speak.

Further details will be posted nearer the date and a calling notice will be sent to member secretaries by email.

 

 

The meeting closed at 9.50 p.m.

 

Next Year’s Meetings

 

It is proposed that next Year’s meetings will (as this year) be on the second Monday in each month. They will be held at Astley Bridge Cricket Club and will start at 8.00 p.m. The first meeting will be in March 2016.

 

Should this change all secretaries will be informed by email or letter.