Time For A Moan

15th Jun 2017 by Dogbury

Following a couple of recent incidents might I remind everyone of the following.

All of the committee members of the association are volunteers.  None are paid and all work, of which there is plenty, is carried out by some of them purely on a goodwill basis.

This work takes many forms from administration of the gardens as a whole including the following:

  • Rent collection, management and delivery of bills, chasing up of late payers.
  • Management of tenants details.
  • Banking of cash, money management and account keeping.
  • Seeking, interviewing then hiring and firing of garden holders.
  • Dispute management.
  • Ordering, taking delivery of and storage of supplies.
  • Selling of and accounting for supplies.
  • On and off site meetings with council officials.
  • Organising gardeners to comply with changing council standards.
  • Organising social events.
  • Running social events.
  • Organising deliveries of chippings.
  • Organising deliveries and removal of skips.
  • Organising communal areas / storage of recyclable materials.
  • Removal of dangerous materials from site such as asbestos.

This is just a sample of the many administrative​ tasks required and does not take into account the recent lengthy work to renegotiate the ​current lease which remains ongoing since 2007.   This has entailed the establishment of company status for the gardens and the need for policies to be established complying with company law.

All of this of course does not touch on the physical maintenance of the gardens and grounds such as

  • Hedge trimming.
  • Grass cutting.
  • Gate and fence mending.
  • Plumbing excavation and repairs.
  • Road maintenance.
  • Pallet collection storage and distribution.
  • Collection of dangerous materials.
  • Tree maintenance and removal.
  • Until recently communal fires now stopped because of garden holder abuse.

This is not a definitive list.

All of this work is done free and gratis and done for the garden membership as a whole with no expectation of thanks.  Could we therefore ask those of you who wrongly think that this is done for our own personal reward to think again.  We are not your employees and  we too have our own gardens to maintain in addition to all of the above.

A little thoughtfulness before presumptions are made about our roles would be appreciated along with the occasional provision of some of your time to help with the upkeep of the estate.  The gardens are a community and just as much your responsibility as that of the committee.

Posted in Notices, Services |

Compost Delivery

5th Jun 2017 by Dogbury

We have 120 bags of compost / grow bags coming on Wednesday 7th June between 11.30am and 12.30.  A few extra pairs of hands would be appreciated if you are planning to be on the allotments on Wednesday. – Jackie

Posted in Sales |

Trailer For Sale

19th Apr 2017 by Dogbury

Chris Skinner on allotments 23 and 24 situated on the main area after the crossroads on the left has the following for sale to anyone interested.

DAXARA TRAILER,   3ft  OR (900 mm ) WIDE APPROX  3ft  8in  OR 1100mm LONG  APPROX .   THIS IS A TIPPER TRAILER , AND YOU CAN TAKE OFF THE BACK TAIL GATE. IT HAS A COVER, BUT THE ELASTIC BANDING HAS SLIGHTLY STRETCHED. TO BUY THIS NEW IT WOULD COST OVER £200. I AM LOOKING FOR A PRICE OF AROUND £75 . GRAB YOURSELF A BARGAIN. CONTACT CHRIS ON 07480633272  OR SEE ME IN MY ALLOTMENT MOST DAYS. THANK YOU.

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Pedestrian Gate

10th Apr 2017 by Dogbury

For the information of all allotment holders on the main site.  The pedestrian gate fitted alongside the new main gates has been fitted with a new lock, utilising your main gate key, and can now be used where vehicular access is not required.  The pathway inside the gate has been laid with concrete to make access safer also.  Please be aware of the scaffold pole set into the new concrete to hold back one of the main gates when in use.  As with the main gates do not leave the pedestrian gate unlocked when unattended.

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Communal Bonfires And Recycling Bay

10th Apr 2017 by Dogbury

We offered to put on communal bonfires to help individuals get rid of non or hard to compost materials. Disappointingly even after the notice put out on March 20th the day after the AGM, when this was discussed, some still thought that it was appropriate to put plastics, carpets, a table, sheets of metal, insulating material and wheelbarrow loads of soil, brick debris and vegetable matter on the pile to be burned.

This is not appropriate!  Some of the rubbish put on the fires lately are health hazards to the person firing the bonfire, never mind the potential environmental damage.

Until further notice there will be no communal bonfire on the main car park. So do not put waste matter there anticipating someone else will get rid of it.

There should be little cause to burn anything through the summer months most garden produce can and should be composted.  Hedges especially privet will compost and no one should be cutting that for the next two months because of nesting birds. The recycling centre at Lenton Lane also takes green waste for free.

The recycling bay was set up to be an exchange of useful things between gardeners not a lazy person’s dumping ground. Beer cans, empty bin liners, bricks and party hats are not at all useful to the greater majority here, they are also things that may put your tenancy at risk if the owners are discovered!  Take your rubbish home don’t expect other people to get rid of it.  If the rubbish continues the bays will stop.

A small few of us have to deal with this abuse, to take the rubbish off site, to check the fires are safe and worst of all to set these fires, without benefit to themselves in fact quite the contrary.  It’s a shame that a few people are willing to abuse a service that could be a benefit to all.

If this causes individuals a problem please don’t hesitate  to contact me and come and have a chat.

A big thank you to Eddie Scothern for his generosity in offering to use his privately paid for skip to get rid of the carpets and other rubbish and helping to clear up.

Jackie Medcalf

Secreatry.

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Asbestos Removal

21st Mar 2017 by Dogbury

Very shortly we will be visited by an Asbestos removal firm, they are coming to do an assessment of our problem and give a quote for the removal of our stock pile.

If you have any asbestos pieces left on your garden will you either take it yourselves to the pile outside Steve Yorke’s garden or contact me urgently to come and have a look at it.

It is really important that we get rid of this stuff once and for all so please check your gardens as a matter of urgency and get back to me. Please pass the word around to others who may not be aware of this.

Thank you
Jackie

Posted in Events, How To, Notices, Services |

IMPORTANT NOTICE: ALLOTMENT BONFIRES

20th Mar 2017 by Dogbury

At the Annual General Meeting held on Sunday 19th March it was agreed that the only fires allowed on the allotments would be those set on burning Sundays.

The practice of small brazier fires or similar allowed to burn at any time will now cease. This is being done to reduce the risk of complaints and air pollution.

Please take your responsibilities seriously where fires are concerned. Wherever possible compost or leave waste to rot naturally in your garden, or take it off site. Before you light a fire check on wind direction, is the smoke likely to cause a problem, are there already fires causing smoke on site,  if so don’t light yours.  Once a fire is burning DO NOT add wet materials to it as this is the greatest cause of smoke generation.

Communal fires will be provided but only if people stop abusing them. Over the last 3 or 4 months we have had plastics, aerosol containers, carpet tiles, wheelbarrow loads of soil and vegetable waste, insulating material and sometime during this last week a significant amount of carpet, including some that obviously had not been used on a garden put on communal fires. This incident is particularly galling after the number of skips we have had over the last year. I am prepared to issue formal warnings of risk of loss of tenancy to anyone putting us at risk of prosecution and more importantly putting those few who set these bonfires alight in risk of injury or health problems by not following guidelines and common sense.

The committee will reserve the right to announce a change in burning sunday times if there has been consecutively bad weather on previous burning sundays.

As a timely illustration of the problems fires cause us,  after the meeting on Sunday we were informed that one of the local businesses had approached us informally concerned with the amount of ash on their property after burning day.  If the problem persists they are prepared to make a formal complaint to the Council.

So think before you burn and wherever possible dont! Do not abuse communal bonfires or the recycling areas come to that and under no circumstances do you bring rubbish onto site from home or businesses to get rid of it.

Shed stove fires are allowed but again, dry wood only please.

Jackie Medcalf
Secretary OPFACIC

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AGENDA FOR ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING SUNDAY 19th MARCH 2017

15th Mar 2017 by Dogbury

PLEASE PRINT YOUR OWN COPY OF THIS ARTICLE IF YOU REQUIRE IT FOR THE AGM

AGENDA FOR ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING SUNDAY 19th MARCH 2017

10am.  Tea and coffee available. Sign in.

10.30.  Meeting start.

Chairmans Welcome

Minutes and matters arising from AGM and EGM 2016

Reminder of now formal Water Policy

Treasurer.  

Financial report.

Secretary.

Annual Inspection new timing of and resulting actions.

Explanation of types of policies being written and why.

Sharing/ joint tenancy of allotments. Building in fairness.

Communication emails and web site.

Main Agenda Item.

Bonfires and brazier fires.

Election of Committee

Fun Day.

A.O.B and questions.

Posted in Events, Notices |

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