Minutes of the Open Meeting of the Paignton Home Garden & Allotment Society held at the RAOB Club, Paignton on Monday 7 November 2016

Present: Keith & Jane Parker, Flis Cotton, Liz Barnes, Alan Smith, Gary Buckingham, Pat Marriott, Charlie Jarvis, Philip Moore, Joe Wallis

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting.

1.    Apologies: Christine Guiver, Jacqueline Green, Tracy Clarke

2.    Minutes of the previous meeting were read and approved.

3.    Matters arising from the minutes:

• DR Bees insurance – although he has not yet seen the policy documents, the chairman has been assured that cover is in place.  He noted that the master lease requires that a copy of the insurance policy is lodged with it and he will bear this in mind.
• Green manure – there are 2kg left plus some ground cover – please see site rep, chairman or contact secretary via the Contact Us page.
• The new leases were ready to be signed and so the chairman and secretary executed these with witnesses.

4.    Correspondence:

• The Council have written to confirm that any plan by the plotholder on 3c Oakleigh to breach the boundary wall from his property to the plot would be opposed on the following grounds:
  • 1.  It will impact of the integrity and the security of the allotment property;
  • 2. He may refuse to reinstate the wall;
  • 3. It is accepted that the allotment association may (or may wish to in the future) regulate access to and from the allotments during certain times, and this gate would prohibit doing so going forwards;
  • 4. If at any time this person were to fall out with the allotment association (for instance, and is no longer given an allotment), he may still access the site as he likes and may become a nuisance.
• Secretary agreed to let plotholder know.
• Applications for the waiting list

5.    Chairman’s Report:

• BONFIRES (again). These were discussed once again and it was agreed that in the months of May to August, the earliest lighting time allowed would be 7pm. In the winter months (September to April) it was agreed that 2pm would be a reasonable time. The overriding requirement is for plotholders to be considerate of our neighbours and the wind direction at all times and never to leave the bonfire unattended.
• The chairman thanked the vice president for arranging the use of the RAOB club for committee meetings next year and he congratulated the vice president on becoming a fully recognised judge.
• The Society had acquired some anti vandal paint and the gate at Derrell Road had been painted.

6.    Vice Chairman’s Report:

• Vice chairman was shortly to place an order for seeds for the coming year
• All other matters to report had been covered in the chairman’s report.

7.    Treasurer’s Report:

• Monies in bank:
  • Current £103.75
  • Deposit £3,271.26
• Outgoings:
  • Steve Blair (cash) - Anti-vandal paint & roller - £13.48
  • SW Water - Water (Lower Penns) - £43.72
  • John - Keys for allotment shed - £20.80
• The only major outgoings remaining this year are the site insurance premium and any work that needs to be done on the retaining wall on Lower Penns just inside the gate. Hopefully, the society will finish the year with a surplus.

8.    Sites:
Derrell Road

• Letters sent to: 1, 6a, 10a, 11a, 11b, 13a, 14a, 15, 16a, 17a
• The strimmer on DR was being serviced and if the price quoted is reasonable, the chairman will arrange for it to be repaired.

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Oakleigh

• Letters sent to: 11a, 14b, 16b, 27a, 30b, 33a, 35b, 36, 37a, 37b

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Lower Penns

• Nothing to report other than the plots that were waiting to be let were unkempt
• Please could anyone willing or able to do some repair work on the retaining wall contact the committee

9.    AOB:

• The vice president suggested cross inspections of plots between the sites prior to committee meetings as a fresh pair of eyes. The chairman stressed the importance of the site reps individual site knowledge, but otherwise thought it was a good idea. 

10.    Date of next committee meeting:

• To be on Monday 5th December 2016 at 7.30pm at the RAOB Club.  

Meeting closed at 8pm.