Annual General Meeting of the Paignton Home Garden & Allotment Society held at the ROAB Club, New Street, Paignton on Monday 2nd October 2017

Present: Joe Wallis, Keith & Jane Parker, Alan Smith, Flis Cotton, Liz Barnes, Gary Buckingham, Pat Marriott, Kay Mason, Pat Messenger, Andrew Bibbings.

Hon Vice President Joe Wallis welcomed everyone to the meeting and thanked the committee for their work over the last year.

1.    Apologies: Jackie Green, Christine Guiver, John O’Neill, Steve Marriott, John & Margaret Webber.

2.    Minutes of last AGM held on Monday 3 October 2016 were read, proposed and seconded then signed.

3.    Correspondence:

• Letter received from Ye Olde Roundham Club to confirm that the RAOB club room would be available for meetings in 2018. The April meeting will be on 10th April 2018 and May meeting on 15th May 2018.

4.    Chairman’s Report:

• Attached in full below but to summarise:
  • The seed chop has been a success (thanks to Alan). Stocks of chicken pellets and top dressing available to buy – far cheaper than garden centres.
  • Barbecue on Oakleigh was a success – almost 30 people attended. Proposed that it should become an annual event.
  • Almost full occupancy of plots, but condition of some is of concern.
  • Finances are in good shape.
  • All suggestions from members on how to improve the Society would be welcome (please contact us or see a committee member).
  • Chairman announced his intention to step down next year.

5.    Treasurer’s Report:

• Attached below in full.
• Income:
  • Rent/membership - £3,988.00
  • Bank interest - £1.11
  • Chicken pellets/shop - £1,289.25
  • Fuel - £29.40
  • Sub-total - £5,307.76
• Expenditure:
  • Donation - £50.00
  • S W Water - £956.76
  • Stationery/postage - £54.97
  • Shop - £1,613.82
  • Subs - £1,000.04
  • Maintenance - £899.63
  • Assets - £353.69
  • Fuel (for mower/strimmer) - £50.97
  • Sub-total - £4,969.88
• Surplus for year: £337.88
• Monies in bank:
  • Current account - £151.42
  • Deposit account - £3,672.27
  • Cash in hand - £36.47
  • Total: £3,860.16
• The Hon Vice President felt that the figures for the year were good as there was a lot of stock – top dressing and chicken pellets – available for sale.
• It was proposed that the treasurer’s report be accepted and this was seconded.

6.    Motions and Proposals:

• A committee member proposed that we ‘tighten up’ our frequency of sending dirty plot letters as our sites generally look a little untidy at times, especially if it takes in excess of 3 months to remove a plotholder. The chairman confirmed that this had been discussed last year, but no notice of motion was made, so we are somewhat limited in what we can do. Other plotholders on sites in the Bay receive 2 verbal warnings and are then removed. It was agreed that warnings could not be given site by site reps, had to come from the committee or it then may be perceived to be personal. More inspections would be required to increase the frequency to 2 weeks between letters and a notice of motion also required.
• A request to tighten up on the loan of society equipment on Derrell Road in particular was made. The need to sign equipment in and out had been implemented, but this was largely ignored. Chairman reported that it was important for borrower of the strimmer to be aware of how to use it properly as it had recently been used without the harness and thus on full throttle for a long period of time. It was then returned to store without fuel or strimmer wire which is clearly unsatisfactory for the next user. The machine would burn out within a short period of time if it was used like this on occasions. It was decided that equipment would be locked up and the site reps/committee would be aware of the combination to unlock. This was a management issue and so no motion was required.

7.    2017 Election of Officers:

• The Chairman proposed to re-elect all committee members en-bloc - this was proposed and seconded
• Chairman: Keith Parker
• Vice Chairman: Alan Smith
• Secretary: Flis Cotton
• Treasurer: Jane Parker
• Web Master: Leigh Burns
• Wildlife Officer: Jacqueline Green
• Fundraising Officer: (none)
• Site Reps (3 for each site):
  • Derrell Road: Pat Messenger, Jacqueline Green, Kay Mason
  • Oakleigh: Gary Buckingham, Pat Marriott, Liz Barnes
  • Lower Penns: Phillip Moore, Christine Guiver, Andrew Bibbings

8.    Representatives on Other Organisations:

• National Vegetable Society – Joe Wallis. He agreed to report to PHGAS on NVS matters although he had not been going to recent meetings, but would be going in November. He said subscriptions to the Society would be due soon.

9.    Any Other Business:

• The PHGAS website is up to date and all recent minutes have been added.
• The loan of machinery will be discussed further.
• More notice of when a man with a van would be coming to take rubbish away would be given in future – with a notice put on the board and on the website.
• A suggestion was made to hold next year’s BBQ and show on a Sunday, rather than a Saturday. It was agreed that a Bank Holiday should be avoided if at all possible.
• All plotholders are invited to put garden or allotment news or comments on the website – please see a committee member or contact us.
• The Hon Vice President suggested that it might be good to have a guest speaker at open meetings – possibly a representative of the National Garden Society? Those present were not entirely sure if there would be sufficient interest to warrant a guest speaker. Again, please could plotholders contact us on the website or a committee member to let us know.

10.    Next Annual General Meeting:

• Monday 1st October 2018 at 7.30pm at the ROAB Club.

11.    Next Committee Meeting:

• Monday 6th November 2017 at 7.30pm at the RAOB Club.

Meeting closed at 8.20pm.

---

---

---