Old Park Farm Garden Holders Association

Our second community work day will be held next Sunday 20th May from 10am onwards.  There is plenty of work to do maintaining the gardens and its hoped that as many of you as possible will turn up to help and give us a few hours of your time.

Well here is hoping the rainy cold weather has gone for good and we are heading towards a long warm summer. Obviously the water is back on now so please keep your eyes open for leaks and drips.  Big thanks to Steve Yorke and Steve Williams for fixing a leak that occured when the water was switched on.  Please remember to disconnect all hoses and double check you have turned the taps off.  Please see the water policy for further details. Also we still have some compost for sale please contact the Steves or me  if you want some, we will order more when stocks are depleted.  Prices at the moment are as last year.

Thank you to those who turned up for the first community work day and thank you too to those who apologised for not being available and to those who have since taken on individual responsibility for areas of our land. I would like to remind you all that you are all responsible for the area directly outside your allotment.  Leading from that with reference to the councils intent to put direct let site rents up I have been in touch with the council and have been invited to meet with them to look at how our rent will be set in the future and finalising our new lease which maybe used as a blueprint for other associations or direct let sites that may choose to become associations or CIC’s.  It is more than likely that any future rent charged or charges we are asked to pay the council will be dependant on the quality of our site and how it is managed both administratively and environmentally. It is therefore important that we get used to looking after it ourselves….and i mean here all of us not just a few of us.  The next community day is Sunday 20th May.  The front boundary needs to be cut and weeded and there may be work to be done on the community hut as we look towards turning it into a more user friendly room.

We have been asking for over 18 months now for barbed wire to be removed from gates and fences.  This has come from the council inspections not us as a committee.  This is the last ask. Those who have not removed barbed wire within the next couple of weeks will get a written request with a formal warning for non compliance.

There is a lot happening politically at the moment so we are asking for a couple of things, your support and co-operation and your vigilance either by following the web site or reading the notice board.  Part of this is the requirement that we comply with the new Data Protection laws which basically require us to get permission to contact you and by what means.  We also need a Privacy statement and a policy I am waiting for confirmation from the council to see if they are doing anything on an inclusive basis or not but basically we will be contacting you within the next couple of weeks about your preferences. You will after that be asked to give communication preferences when the rent bills come out in late August this will then be a yearly exercise.   It is vitally important that you cooperate with any communication you receive.

Part of work done to comply with the councils management policy was writing a complaints policy but there is a long standing convention via the constitution and which is still in force is that complaints should be put into writing and given to the Chairman, Secretary or Treasurer, so they can be answered fairly.  It is extremely disappointing and personally upsetting to be told  by the allotment officer of the council that one of our tenants has complained about us to the City Council and to their MP without formally complaining to us first in writing.  Although we have the full backing and confidence of the council I am not allowed to know exactly what that complaint is and have not therefore been given the opportunity to answer those complaints.  Many hours of voluntary work are put in by a few of us to protect and run these gardens for the benefit of all.

From a personal point of view, due to the political climate over the last 5 years it has taken far more of my time  than I envisaged being secretary of these allotments and having been in touch with the council over rents this last month, it is going to get even more complicated.

If anyone else therefore has a  legitimate question on what is happening or why we are doing something please just ask. The AGM  gives people the chance to raise concerns or ask for information and you are always invited to it and asked if you wish to submit an agenda item.  It has a set date on the 3rd Sunday in March yet only a very small number of you, the tenants attended this year.  You are annually invited to become committee members and can be co-opted onto the committee at anytime during the rest of the year.  So for us to learn that someone complains about us for being non constitutional (non specific) without following procedure or even attending that meeting is very disappointing to say the least.

If anyone thinks they would like to become a member of the committee or indeed take on my role as Secretary feel free to join us.

Jackie

As you may be aware it was decided at the recent AGM that we needed to organise community work days to deal with issues of maintenance around the allotments which affect all of us. The first of what will be a monthly event will be held on Sunday 15th April commencing at 10am. On this occasion it is hoped that we will be able to carry out road maintenance, grass cutting, external hedge cutting and perhaps some building maintenance to the community hut. If you can attend and assist in any of these tasks your help will be much appreciated. If the weather is inclement, i.e. its raining, the work day will be postponed to the following Sunday. Please check the web site for confirmation before setting out. Steve Yorke.

MINUTES OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING ON 18TH MARCH 2018

DRAFT VERSION

Present: Steve Yorke, Steve Medcalf, Jackie Medcalf, Steve Porter, Adam Wheat, Jane Bowden, Adrian Robbins, Robin Roberts, Paul Barron, Kay Barron, Ronnie Gayle, Mary Corbett and Sara Davies

Apologies: Steve Williams, Mark Robinson, Tom Hutchinson, Peter Grove and Kay Graham.

The Chairman: Steve Yorke opened the meeting at 10.30am by welcoming those that had attended. His remarks included mentioning the very successful show we had held in September and went on to thank the committee for the previous years work and for those non-committee members who had helped out during the year.

The Secretary: Jackie Medcalf then read out the minutes of 19th March 2017.

There were no matters arising or questions and the minutes were passed as an accurate reflection of the meeting. Steve Medcalf proposed and seconded by Robin Roberts.

In the absence of Steve Williams (Treasurer), Jackie explained that we as a committee had approved the accounting year dates to be changed from April to March to the Calendar year so to January to December. This had been done so that only one set of accounts had to be produced not two sets with one going to companies house at a different time of year from the end of March. So not only do we have to inform the City Council of how our money is spent but we also submit the accounts to Company House for scrutiny there. The bank account can only have monies withdrawn or spent via 2 signatures. Jackie had been informed that a tenant had been speculating on how monies are spent and accounted for.  Hopefully, this will clarify the situation.

The  Council had finally caught up with the rent bills so they have been paid. The ring-fenced key money held was £1550. The stock balance (compost) was £807 so the workable balance as of 31/12/17 was £5861.51.

The inspection had gone ok.  A few gardens were not hitting the 50% cultivation some of which were spoken to last year. Also the fact that we still had too much barbed wire around.

Jackie reported that basically she had know met the council’s “Policy” requirements for the new lease apart from the Waiting list as we were waiting to look at a new database from the council that should allow direct input of comings and goings.  A risk assessment had been completed for the pathways and boundaries though officially we do not need a written one.

A Health and Safety advisory notice had been written and this had been done as a shared document with the council and had there approval and input.  This was about personal safety and trying to make sure everyone was working as safely as possible and also had some realisation of what could happen if they had an accident or were taken ill. One of the main issues was banning people from bringing hazardous materials onto the site.  This document would be published on the web and on notice boards after the meeting. It would also form part of a new tenancy agreement and constitution and some point in the future.

Jackie reported that she had received an important paper from the council on Friday afternoon.  Evidently, there had been consultations with the direct sites over rent structures based on the council costs of running the service.  They were now opening this consultation up to the associations.  Basically, they are saying they cannot afford to run allotments as they do now and there will be charges for letters warning for breach of tenancy and for actual breaches of tenancy.  The rent will go up in increments to 56p per sq metre which if we were to follow that figure then our average rent would be around £240 per garden.  From what the document says our rent will be set by an unknown as yet negotiation based on occupancy, the efficiency of management and having the new lease in place.  Monies raised cannot offset rents which but if we receive 100 percent of our rent back, which is the plan then the obvious question is how can they control how we spend it or what the rent is set at.  Jackie has asked for a meeting with the council and already replied asking for the lease to be speeded up and offering to use our experiences as a model for others.

Community Payback has been on site since 2011 doing a lot of the communal work and making sure we didn’t end up with overgrown derelict allotments.  Last year we ran a charity garden which was successful, however, due to the privatisation of the scheme they can no longer commit to us on a regular basis so the charity garden has had to end.

Steve Yorke then presented the idea that we would have a communal work day on the 3rd Sunday every month, with jobs to be done published that people can volunteer for. With regard to the item above keeping a well-run site could be even more important than it is now. It was deemed a good idea and will start in April.  We are only asking for a couple of hours of your time and if enough join in it will not be every month.

Steve then explained that the council have measured the site by satellite and it shows how over the years plots have changed.  There is no compulsion for us to recharge our gardens but new tenants from October 1st will be charged the exact square meterage. If anybody wants there’s comparing we will do so but beware some rents will go up!  Please note this will not be done retrospectively and the change will start from the new rental year in October.  Jackie suggestion is that when we finally get the new lease and understand how our rent will be set in the future that then it will be an appropriate time to change all the rents over.  Please note we are only talking a few pounds either way on the annual bill !!.

Steve talked about Mares Tail which is an increasing problem, please blitz it and keep on top of it. It can be burnt, treated with a mixture of vinegar and washing up liquid, or spayed with Curtail.  If you need advice or help please ask.

Asbestos: If any more is found, there is an area outside Steve’s garden to deposit it.  Don’t dump it.  Seek help if you require it.

Metal drums have been provided for the barbed wire so it can be removed from the site.

Pallets. Our supplies of good fencing wood have dried up.  We only have a small amount left. If anyone can confirm a new supplier please contact.  They seem to be recycling them more.

The Chairman confirmed that all members of the committee are happy to stand again there were no objections from those present.  New members would be welcome as then tasks could be split down more in the future.  Also, some of the present committee will want to step down at some point.

The BBQ and Show will be held on Saturday 1st September any suggestions for activities/stalls etc will be gratefully received.

NO AOB’s although the Chairman did say that we appeared to be ahead of the game and thanked Jackie Medcalf for getting us into that position.