Old Park Farm Garden Holders Association

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

OLD PARK FARM ALLOTMENTS COMMUNIT INTEREST COMPANY

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING HELD ON SUNDAY 3rd APRIL 2016

PLEASE NOTE THESE MINUTES ARE A DRAFT UNTIL APPROVED AT THE NEXT AGM.

Present: Steve Yorke: Steve and Jackie Medcalf: Ronnie Gayle: Shaun Taylor: Chris Skinner: Guy Askadsky: Dave Kirkham: Peter Groves: Kay Graham: Robin Roberts: Paul Barron: Jane Bowden: Paul Sanders: Charles Dewa.

Apologies:  Steve Williams. Perveen Hussain.

The meeting was opened by the Chairman, Steve Yorke, who welcomed those in attendance at the first AGM as a Community Interest Company.

The secretary Jackie Medcalf then read out the minutes from the AGM held on 15^th march 2015.

Matters arising: The Health and Gardening research project results should be available by end of April, those taking part will be contacted.

Main Gate.  A new gate had been ordered and would be fitted as soon as possible.

The minutes were proposed and seconded by Kay Graham and Ronnie Gayle as being an accurate account of the proceedings.

Chairman’s report:

Steve thanked in particular Steve Williams Peter and Kay for their huge contribution in sorting out the sheds and property that had been on Reg Elmer’s gardens. Thanks also to other committee members and gardeners who had helped unload the compost and contributed to the care of the communal areas.

The chairman asked that gardeners respected the recycling bin as agin we had people who were not respecting it properly and leaving rubbish, which then had to be cleared by others.

Treasurers report.

As Steve Williams was away the chairman read out the figures. We had a balance at that time of £5915 the rent bill and water bills were still to come out of that. We would not need to put up the water charges this year. It was important we kept some surplus for any emergency repairs. Steve gave a description of how the rent is worked out by the council and explained the rebate system.  Our rent is currently 10 pence per sq mtr and we are still were not sure how much the rise would be this coming year, but, as agreed last year there would be the full  rise in the October bill. The committee had decided to give an ex-gratia payment to Steve Williams for his brilliant efforts to offset some of the losses from getting rid of the rubbish from the derelict gardens by sales and to acknowledge the amount of time he had spent doing this.

Steve Williams had asked that he wished to round up the rent bills to the nearest whole pound as the amount of small change received made the banking process onerous.

This was carried by a unanimous show of hands show of hands.

Thought should also be given to moving the AGM to October.

Secretary report.

Jackie gave an overview of the progress made since the last agm and that we were now officially Old Park farm allotments Community Interest Company. This meant that we did not now need trustees to hold the lease from the council. However at the moment we still had not got an up to date lease due to the council not altering the trustees and amending the lease several years ago. The Council were happy with our new status and that there would be negotiations this year to find a new lease that suited both parties and to take on a management agreement which would give us back all of rent monies.  Jackie went on to talk about again the huge amount of work taken to clear the derelict gardens by a few people, these had been the worst of several gardens recently vacated. Jackie spent some time addressing the meeting about the need for us all to be more aware about the materials stored on the gardens as illustrated by the chemicals and paint on show that still needed to be got rid of. It was not fair on those that had to clear gardens nor on the association when the gardens had been left in such a state that a new tenant could not take over and just garden the plot. People were storing things that should not be on the gardens, not taking responsibility for their actions and not taking responsibility for our environment. Domestic rubbish should not be left on site for others to clear. The new proposed lease and clarification of the rules of lease to new tenants were hopefully a step in the right direction. A new constitution would be needed and that would also include a section on caring for the environment.  Jackie had every right, and would use it to check what people had on their gardens.

There had also been a feeling within the committee that not enough tenants were prepared to roll up their sleeves and help when needed. So we were looking at ways to enable a work group to be formed when a particular job needed doing, especially in times when something had occurred e.g storms.  One suggestion was an appeal on the web site and on the gates, which had worked for the delivery of the compost. Everybody has a responsibility to keep the area around their gardens neat and tidy.

Steve yorke mentioned that we 5/6 trees that needed attention especially where overhanging boundary fences, this was the sort of work the committee had to undertake.

(PB) asked a question about where to put rubbish.

We could not have a collective bin as emptying it when then be a problem in itself. If a tenant could not remove it themselves then it should be left on the individual garden and deposited in a skip when provided. A particular problem should be reported and advice sort.

Asbestos should be put near to Steve Yorke’s garden for council collection.

ST requested a skip later in the annex.

Election of Committee.

The chairman stated that all but 2 of the committee had all put their names forward to stand again. Paul Sanders wished to step down due to work commitments. The committee was retained with no objections.

Proposed by Kay Graham and seconded by Charles Dewa.

Jane Bowden told the meeting that being on the committee was not an onerous task and Steve Yorke asked for any volunteers.

Annual Show.

This had been a great success last September and would be held again on Saturday 3^rd September this year. Jackie stated however that the jury was out on repeating the bonfire night BBQ. Although those who attended enjoyed it that was obviously a lot of competition and the amount of organising involved for the amount of people that came was disproportionate.

AOB

No further matters were raised from the floor.

Peter and Kay were presented with gifts as a small token of our appreciation.

The Chairman closed the meeting at 11.35am.

Subsequently Paul Barron and Robin Roberts volunteered to come on the committee.

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

OLD PARK FARM ALLOTMENTS COMMUNITY INTEREST COMPANY

DRAFT :  MINUTES OF THE EXTRAORDINARY MEETING HELD ON 3rd SEPTEMBER 2016

Present: Steve & Diane Yorke, David & Becky Kirkham, Mary Corbett, Diane Gavagan, Steve Porter & Maria Bredice,  Kay Graham & Peter Groves, Tom & Sarah Hutchinson, Ian Mathews & Martin Spilsbury. Shaun Taylor, Adam Wheat, Paul & Kay Barron. John Gallagher, Ronnie Gayle. Paul Hibbs, Osmond Okungbowa. Steve & Jackie Medcalf, Steve Williams. Plus some friends and families with apologies to anyone i have missed off.

The Chairman, Steve Yorke, welcomed everyone and thanked them for their attendance at this interim meeting, stating that despite a poor start due to the early season weather the year had been good on the whole. However we have a few gardens that are not doing so well and they would be getting a letter from the secretary, Jackie, very soon.

Steve went on to then explain the concerns we have about the number of fires we are having on the allotments. There had been some complaints over the last 18 months or so from members of the public. We had experienced incidents of gardeners burning things that should not be put on bonfires and which were causing too much smoke and smells.  We were having repeated problems with people misusing communal bonfires by putting the wrong and sometimes dangerous substances on them.  The committee were suggesting that we banned the use of brazier fires and just restricted all fires to burning Sundays and that by raising this now we were seeking a consensus from those present. There was an interruption from John Gallagher who accused another gardener of causing problems with his stove fires which caused smoke and then went on to accuse Steve Williams in particular of instigating this proposal out of self interest alone. Unfortunately he chose to conduct his arguments in a disruptive manner and in a way which was totally unacceptable in a meeting. His remarks were very personal designed to cause serious offence to  Steve.  The Chairman, the Secretary and others from the floor all objected to the language and tone he used and made it clear his attitude and language were unacceptable and offensive.

The secretary subsequently suggested that the atmosphere was not conducive to a reasonable discussion and that the proposal and any decision should be postponed to the new year. The Chairman therefore postponed the discussion to the AGM in March.

Jackie then explained the problems with water being left on on after gardeners had left the allotments leaving hosepipes running. This was an ongoing problem and there had been occurrences each season. Everyone understands that people make mistakes but if it’s an action that is reoccurring then we need to do something about it. However, there is no written guidance as to what action to take and is basically left to the discretion of the secretary. The tenancy agreement has stated that hose pipes should not be left attached to the water taps and the water taps should be turned off after use and water should not be running if the gardener is not present on the garden, however there is no sanction when this occurs. Hence repeated transgressions. Jackie wanted to ensure fairness and therefore wanted a policy to deal with such incidents.

Proposal was.

1st occurrence. The gardener is informed if not already aware and a verbal warning is given. This is kept as a written record by the secretary.

2nd occurrence. The gardener is issued a written warning and a record of this is kept by the secretary.

3rd occurrence. The gardener will be written to and warned that any further occurrence that season could lead to the termination of the tenancy agreement and a fine would be imposed.

The floor was in agreement and the question of how much that fine would be was left to the floor. The amount agreed on was £30 which was accepted by the majority in attendance.

The warnings would not be carried over to another season.

The new rent bill was explained and why the bill had increased and why it would do so again next year on October 1st 2017. A decision would be made on exactly how much that would be during 2016 this would be after we had received final confirmation from the council and had taken into account where the new lease agreement is in its completion.

The meeting closed at 13.30pm and the BBQ started.

As an extra note after the meeting several complaints were made as to the attitude and language used in the meeting by JG. After a discussion between the secretary and chairman a formal warning letter was sent to JG, he did not accept this and subsequently removed himself from the gardens.