Winshill
Allotments & Gardens Association
Minutes
of the AGM of the Winshill Allotments and Gardens Association held
Monday 25th November 2019 at 7pm at Winshill Methodist Church, High
Bank Road, Winshill.
1. Present
Many
plot holders attended this meeting
2. Apologies
Apologies
received from 5 members
3. Minutes
of last Committee Meeting
The
Chairman welcomed everyone and stressed that the AGM is for all
members to get as much out of as possible and so encouraged the
attendees to ask questions. The minutes of the AGM dated 20th
November 2018 were read and accepted as a true record of that meeting
by the members present and signed by the chairman. Proposed and
seconded by Val Powell and Terry Marsden.
4. Chairmans
Report
The
Chairman said what a privilege it has been to be the chair of the
society for the 3rd year running. The Chairman then welcomed the new
members to the allotments.
It
has been a good year, building on the strong foundations set by
previous committees over the previous years. There is a real sense
of momentum and community building within the allotment community
now. The working parties have been a great success and lots of work
has been done.
The
Chairman thanked the Allotment Secretary for all her work and also
the Treasurer for all the hours he has spent on the allotment this
year and how he works tirelessly to save us money where he can.
Thanks
also to the Social Secretary for her lovely cakes and refreshments
throughout the year, to Lynette and Rob for their support on the
committee and the allotments and to Terry for the same plus the work
he’s done to get grant money for new raised beds.
Finally,
the Chairman said a big thank you to Val for her work on the seed
catalogue and to Gordon for his work on the Educational sessions
which were a big hit with the plot holders.
The
Chairman then presented Len Gadsby with a special retirement gift as
Len is leaving the allotments after many years of service to the
committee and to the allotments. We all wish him well for the
future.
5. Secretaries
Report
The
Secretary added her thanks to everyone for helping to make the
allotment year so positive.
The
shop opened in April and we endeavoured to open it every Saturday
through
the
season. The Treasurer will talk through the financials, but the
Secretary thanked every
one
who took the time to man the shop and for those allotment holders who
frequented it.
If
anyone has any ideas of any other products they would like to see for
sale in the shop, please let the committee know.
This
year we ran 4 very successful educational sessions. Many thanks were
given to Gordon Powell for running these sessions. The committee are
thinking about running further sessions next year and looking at how
to make them more interactive.
The
committee apologised for the lack of a summer picnic this year, but
on both occasions, the weather got the better of us. Let’s hope we
have better luck next year.
Monthly
plot inspections were held from March through to October. There have
been a number of plot holders that needed to be pushed along with
their plots. A number of ‘amber’ letters asking for plot holders
to improve their sites were also sent out. We’ve had a few newbies
who have been ‘no shows’ once they have signed up for a plot, so
this is an issue for us. New plot holders are vetted as much as
possible but occasionally we get let down. A document has been
produced to send to people enquiring about an allotment plot spelling
out the time, commitment, money and effort it takes. It is hope this
will help people make sensible decisions before committing to a plot.
The
committee has decided to make a number of smaller plots, measuring
about a third of a plot, available. Plot 10 is the first of these
and we are trying to point potential new plot holders towards the
smaller plots to make sure they are able to give the necessary
commitment before taking on a larger site.
6.
Allocation Secretary Report
Through
this year we have had the following plot changes:-
15
new plots were rented out this year
9
resignations were received
Of
the 9 resignations - 4 were from new plot holders - so nearly a
quarter of all new plot holders didn’t last the season. 1 through
ill health, one was a complete ‘no show’, two due to work
commitments.
We
currently have 8 plots available.
7. Treasurers
Report
Total
income for the year of £5,325 was 18% less than FY 2017/2018. This
was driven by a £700 fall in grant income, £300 drop in misc.
income and a fall of £800 in key deposits. Rental income increased
by £500 as a result of the increased service charge implemented in
2019.
Total
expenditure for the year of £4,573 was down by 56% compared with FY
2017/2018. The significant areas of decrease was £670 for new
security keys for the front gate and £5,400 for the new shop shed
and building costs incurred last year. 2019 saw what could be
described as a normal year of expenditure with no capital spend or
major repairs incurred.
Minimal
investment of £552 was made in equipment for the year.
In
line with the commitment the Treasurer made at the last AGM, at year
end we hold increased cash and bank balances of £4,555.
An
annual review of finances has highlighted that the current level of
service charge continues to cover costs. There is no proposal to
increase the rentals for 2019/2020.
At
this point, there was a vote of thanks to the committee by the
members at the AGM.
7. Election
of Officers
Chairman:
John Batten offered to remain in the role. Proposed by Terry Marsden
& seconded by Gordon Powell, he was duly elected
Treasurer:
Alan Moreton offered to remain in the role. Proposed by Bob Corcott &
seconded by Julie Batten, he was duly elected.
Secretary:
Sue Hockley offered to remain in the role. Proposed by Celia Zaman &
seconded
by Len Gadsby, she was duly elected.
8. Election
of Committee Members
It
was noted that now that Len Gadsby is retiring from the allotments,
he will no longer take his place on the committee and therefore, his
family Lee and Julia will also no longer be attending. Thanks were
given to them for their input over the past few years. The remaining
committee members; Lynette Andrews, Rob Pilkington, Julie Batten,
Terry Marsden have all agreed to remain on the committee for another
year. Proposed by Val Powell, seconded by Judy Keen.
At
this point, the Chairman asked for any volunteers to join the
committee to fill specific roles, namely; Communications, Shop,
Maintenance and Equipment. Chris Richardson volunteered to review
the Web site options under Communications. Bob Corcott offered to
show potential new plot holders around and Rosemary Marsden
volunteered to support the secretary with e.mails etc.
9. Honorarium
It
was recommended to keep the honorarium at £450 for the following
year and split equally between the Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer.
Proposed by Bob Corcutt and seconded by John Stretton. Duly agreed
and carried by the meeting.
10. 1,
3, 5 Year Plans
The
Chairman presented the 1, 3 and 5 year plans to the meeting. He
stated that these plans are all aspirations as without significant
help from other plot holders, some of these things just will not
happen.
The
committee would like to see improvements to the raised beds and this
will be achieved hopefully through the allocation of grant money. A
car park extension at the entrance to the allotments was proposed to
give more parking capacity on an area that isn’t used. This year,
a complete equipment review will take place along with a service plan
for the kit we have on site.
The
committee would like to make the shop more available during the
growing season and review the products we have on offer.
There
needs to be wider and more comprehensive publicity for the available
allotments. Including a web site. Finally for year 1, we would like
to build a communal compost area.
To
achieve these things, working parties will be trialled to run
mid-week as well as weekends.
Gordon
Powell expressed his concerns that the proposed site compost bins
would be used for the wrong kind of rubbish. It must be strictly
controlled as previous attempts found that plot holders abused the
facility. He proposed one composter per plot provided by us rather
than communal facilities. His suggestion was noted by the committee.
Bob
Corcutt recommended we purchase an industrial shredder to help
overall composting. Again, his suggestion was noted by the committee
Herb
Coken asked about the plans to introduce environmentally friendly
slug pellets and suppressants. The Treasurer explained that
legislation banning blue slug pellets had been challenged by the
industry and the ban has been halted. However, we are purchasing
wildlife friendly slug pellets for the new season but it is more
expensive.
The
meeting were in agreement with these plans for year one.
By
year 3 we would like to have all the plots rented out with a waiting
list in operation, more raised beds, better road surfaces, more
robust equipment e.g. a ride on mower etc. and a new roof on the
maintenance block. Finally, we would like to achieve Winshill in
Bloom visits to the allotment site.
11.
Chickens on Site
The
Chairman introduced Peter Ambrose, Chairman of the Chicken Project.
Peter explained how the project had progressed and that 28 chickens
are now on site and are all very healthy, producing up to 170 eggs
each week during the summer months.
There
are still 5 hens that haven’t been adopted and asked members to
consider joining the club. He assured the AGM that security is good,
logs are kept and rosters are in place - all to ensure good hen
welfare.
The
Chairman thanked Peter and his team for all their hard work and for
meeting the very stringent conditions set by the allotment committee.
The
Chairman also mentioned the new Bug Hotel that is situated at the top
of the site and thanked Julie Batten for her hard work in making it
happen.
12.
AOB
A
new booklet showing a year in the life of the allotments has been
produced by Julie Batten and a copy will be placed in the shop for
people to read.
Len
Gadsby’s bees have now been moved off site due to his retirement.
The
Chairman thanked everyone for coming and duly closed the meeting.
13.
Date of next meeting
The
date & location the next AGM will be set during the course of the
year at one of the quarterly Committee Meetings.
