Old Park Farm Garden Holders Association

This message is to inform members of the Association that Wendy and Ralph recently stepped down from the Committee creating two vacancies, and to ask for volunteers to join the Committee.

On behalf of the Association, I would like to thank both Wendy and Ralph for all the work that they have done for the Association while they have been on the Committee. Their contribution has been genuinely appreciated and will be missed.

We only have 7 Committee members now. I would like to have 9 Committee members – the Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer and 6 other members of the Association. We need at least 5 Committee members to attend each Committee meetings to make decisions, and having 9 people on the Committee means that everyone does not need to attend every meeting. It also means that the views of more Members can be represented at the Committee and better decisions are made.

I would welcome interest from any new, or longstanding, member of the Association who would like to join the Committee. Please contact myself, or another member of the Committee if you are interested. We hold Committee meetings roughly every month and they last for 1-2 hours. The role of a Committee member has been posted on the website – I have copied the main points below:

1. Attend Committee meetings regularly.
2. Provide input to discussions, including information, ideas and views of their own and other tenants helping to make decisions and communicate those to non Committee members. 
3. Where appropriate, keep discussions confidential, but explain agreed decisions as minuted.
4. Represent non Committee members by raising their issues, concerns and ideas  
5. Provide practical support to the Committee, e.g. undertaking delegated tasks such as interviewing potential tenants, participating in plot assessments, working parties, attending external meetings, drafting documents etc.
6. Provide a positive example to other tenants through their behaviour, following Policies and Procedures and the management of their plots.

The Association cannot function without an effective Committee, and the Committee will work better with a full set of 9 Committee members. If the Association does not run itself to the satisfaction of the Council, the Association will lose its independence, and the site may be directly managed by the council. Amoung other things, if the council run our site, rents are likely to increase significantly – this could mean an increase to the annual rent of £100 or more per plot.

It does not seem to be in anyone’s interest for the site to be directly managed by the council and having 9 people on the Committee is one thing we can do to prevent that happening. I look forward to hearing from a couple of people who are willing to volunteer to join the Committee.

Best regards and happy gardening

Dave