Report of the Allotment AGM Held on 1St November 2017

Report of the Allotment AGM held on 1st November 2017.

PRESENT

Dr R BibbCllr C Poole

Mr C Butlin (Chairman)Ms D Rose

Mr R ColemanMr S Scott

Ms S GrantMs S Townsley

Mr & Mrs LongMs C Vellon-Allcock

Ms M Pate

Mrs B Snape – Clerk to the Council

The Chairman thanked and welcomed everyone to the meeting.

1APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Apologies for absence were received from Mr N Rush and Mr S White.

2ELECTION OF COMMITTEE

The following were elected to form the committee:

Mr C Butlin, Mr R Coleman, Mr N Rush, Ms D Rose, Mr S Scott and Ms S Townsley.

Cllr C Poole (Town Council representative).

Dr R Bibb chose to step down due to work commitments. He was thanked for his contribution as a committee member over the years.

3ELECTION OF CHAIRMAN

Mr C Butlin was re-elected as Chairman.

4ELECTION OF VICE CHAIRMAN

Mr N Rush was elected to the position of Vice Chairman.

5CHAIRMAN’S REPORT

The Chairman covered the following in his verbal report:

Upkeep of plots A majority of plots are well maintained, although a few were getting out of hand, most of which now have new tenants, who appear to be very keen and are tending their plots.

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There has been a huge workload to maintain redundant plots, for this reason, he indicated that he will no longer be applying Round-up or strimming them. If anyone wishes to volunteer to take over this duty, they are welcome to.

The letter from the Town Council needs to be made clear that the onus is on the tenant to co-operate.

Upkeep of site The working weekend proved to be a great success and was well attended. The skip was not filled up as quick, in fact, it took six weeks before it was full.

Thanks were offered to various tenants for their contributions over the weekend. Terry Oldfield & Mick Clarke for barrowing the aggregate and filling in the holes along the driveway. Sue Grant for de-littering the site.

The installation of the troughs has proved to be a winner. The water will be turned off this weekend. The hedge will require cutting (flail) over the winter period

Brown Bins A request is to be made for another 12 bins, if possible.

Some tree pruning works are also required. Reference was made to the community orchard and the amount of fruit it has produced this year. Margaret Pate agreed to make some enquires via Loughborough University for some advice on tree pruning.

Site security Problems being encountered with the current padlocking system were highlighted. The inconvenience of them being constantly repaired, which is understandable due to the amount of wear and tear they receive. A contactless or key pad system is being investigated.

The gap in the hedge of a property in Cambridge Street will be repaired by CBC, once a new tenant is allocated to the property.

During the year a few sheds had received damage to their doors, although the contents remained undisturbed – it was suggested that coach bolts be installed.

Site improvements The delivery of horse manure to the site has been greatly received.

During the winter period a slabbed area under the taps is to be constructed.

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Any other business During the year, the Chairman’s plot had suffered as a result of spending too much time maintaining the site, therefore, he will no longer be maintaining rogue plots or preparing plots for new tenants.

The Chairman will arrange for a training session on the equipment at the beginning of the next growing season. He will also continue to maintain the equipment and organise working weekends.

Somebody else will need to take on the responsibility for the locks and purchasing of petrol.

To conclude the Chairman thanked Mick Griffin, Mick Clarke, Margaret Pate, Sally Townsley, the Committee and Town Council staff.

Cllr C Poole thanked the Chairman for all of his dedicated hard work.

6TENANTS

An updated list of tenants had been circulated to the meeting.

The idea of having a buddy watering rota was suggested.

A suggestion was made to maybe hold a daytime meeting rather than evenings.

7STATEMENT OF ACCOUNTS

The account statement appeared to be very healthy.

8ANY OTHER BUSINESS

It was agreed to take up Nathan Rush’s offer of setting up a closed group for the allotment site.

9DATE OF NEXT MEETING

Wednesday 7th February 2018 at 7 p.m.