Grow Your Own Working Group
Minutes of meeting held on
19th November 2012 at 11 am at
Gorgie City Farm
Present: Mark Vrionides (Edinburgh and Lothians Greenspace Trust), Peter Wright (SAGS), Mike Strachan (Forestry Commission), Pat Abel (Nourish), Jason Rust (Scottish Land & Estates), Judy Wilkinson (SAGS), Morag Angus (CLAS), Emma Witney (FCFCG), David Jamieson (Edinburgh City Council)
1. Welcome and apologies: David welcomed members to the meeting. Apologies had been received from Elaine Gibb, Peter Duncan, Amanda Fox, Catriona Scriven.
2. Minutes and Matters Arising:
a) CERB
· CERB – the group confirmed its emphasis on ‘right to grow’ within its CERB submission. The discussion which followed included:
o ideas about giving priority to people without access to gardens in the allocation of allotment (the group was divided on this point);
o the idea of using the Scottish index of deprivation in allotment allocation (the group agreed with the view that allocation of allotment should reflect the need to address inequalities);
o the continued importance of reform of the public finance manual and of increasing awareness among public authorities of the possibility of more flexible use of the manual even without CERB reform.
· CERB Advisory Group – Judy Wilkinson represents GYOWG on the CERB Advisory Group. The group has now met and a total of 3 full meetings are envisaged backed by a system of subgroup discussion. The consultation responses have now been collated and analysed and will appear on the web shortly. The GYOWG submission was mentioned a couple of times during the meeting of the advisory group. Other discussion points at the meeting included: planning issues and priorities; the long allotment waiting lists and the need for LA action; the need for caution about temporary leases; a question about whether Community Councils are fit for purpose in terms of supporting the implementation of CERB.
· The CERB will be drafted and available for consultation in the summer of 2013. Before then subgroups will meet to take forward discussion and recommendations in key areas. There will be an opportunity for GYWG members to be involved in some of these. Judy will forward the link to the current consultation responses and analysis once this is available so that it can be distributed to members and put on the GYO website.
b) Membership of the Group
· Members felt that there was a need to strike a balance between including every group that might have an interest and keeping the group small enough to ensure everyone was adding value both in terms of strategic development and for their own work.
· Other groups can be invited to particular meetings (as the CSGN were May) rather than becoming permanent members.
· It was agreed that work with regional networks was important and Mark and Emma agreed to take this forward and report to the next meeting. The lack of a networking arrangement in Glasgow now that SAGE is no longer operating was seen as a particular gap. Regional networks identified included Fife Diet and Forth Environment Link. It was agreed that doing a mapping of regional networking/infrastructure organisations could be a useful starting point for future discussion. Strengthening this infrastructure could be crucial when it comes to implementing CERB.
c) Other matters arising
· APSE/COSLA discussion – David reported that Andrew Sprout from APSE has offered to set up a round table meeting for the GYOWG with APSE and COSLA and some other senior people. It was agreed that this meeting should focus on the Right to Grow and that the GYOWG delegation should consist of David Jamieson, John Hancox and Helen Pank. David will take this forward with a view to a meeting in spring 2013.
· David had also spoken to Fraser Carling from the Heads of Planning Group and it was agreed that we should attend their forthcoming conference. It was agreed that Helen Pank and either Morag Angus or Sheila Hobbs should attend on behalf of the GYOWG. The main messages we want to get across are a) the need to protect land for growing especially in an urban environment b) the need to protect land for growing in new builds c) the use of section 75 and the need to make its provisions apply to social landlords such as housing associations who are currently exempt.
· Emma to check with Peter Duncan and Amanda Fox about the current situation with regard to the postponed Ministerial visit to community gardens in Fife.
3. Guide for Landowners
· Morag gave an overview of the final draft of the Guide for Landowners which had been circulated to members in advance of the meeting along with discussion notes.
· Members gave some comments at the meeting and will make any additional comments by email by Friday 30th November.
· Issues that came up at the meeting included:
o The group felt that short briefing notes accessible through the web, backed by hands on advice and support from CLAS were a more useful way forward for community groups than a companion guide to the Guide for Landowners
o A view from SAGS that there needed to be 2 versions of the template for allotment leases rather than the current single version – Morag and Jason to examine this further and take action if required
4. Updates:
· Mike Strachan – The world jam making championships take place in Fife this year; exchange visits are planned for Romania and an orchards exchange for Northern Spain
· Pat Abel – Nourish have a new farmers apprenticeship; QMUC are starting a course on food province
· Mark Vriondes will send a newsletter for distribution to the group
· Morag Angus – the Guide for Landowners will be launched by the Minister on 23rd January at the Parliament at 2pm (with the event taking place 1.30 -4pm). Additions to the invitation list were sought from members. It was suggested that Rosanna Cunningham MSP should receive a special invitation as she was the Minister who established the GYOWG. It was suggested that a personal approach to MSPs by phone or email would encourage their attendance in addition to the invitation. It was agreed by the group to divide MSPs between members to follow up in this way.
· Judy Wilkinson – the SAGS conference will take place this year on 15th June in Dunblane.
The meeting closed at 1.30pm.