Minutes of the Meeting of the Paignton Home Garden & Allotment Society held at the RAOB Club, Paignton on Monday 6 November 2017

Present: Keith & Jane Parker, Flis Cotton, Joe Wallis, Gary Buckingham, Jackie Green, Andrew Bibbings, Kay Mason, Philip Moore

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting.

1.    Apologies: Alan Smith, Pat Messenger, Liz Barnes, Christine Guiver, Pat Marriott.

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

3.    Matters arising from the minutes:

• Repairs to the LP Gatepost are ongoing. Matter is still in hand.

4.    Correspondence:

• 21b LP notice given that she is giving up (date to be confirmed).

5.    Chairman’s Report:

• There will be no meeting in January.
• The insurance and affiliation fees will be due in the new year and the Chairman asked that if there was no variation in the fees in excess of 10% from last year, that he be allowed to carry on and pay these. The site insurance covers indemnity insurance for the committee members and the total cost of cover is around £1,000. This was proposed and seconded by the committee.
• A man with a van will be required again, to be shared between Oakleigh and Derrell Road. We need to ensure that we have a full load before ordering, so the date will be confirmed at some point in the future.
• The Chairman reported that because of the slope and the weather conditions, the DR path is unusable in the winter months. We are missing deliveries of hops and the situation is not ideal. He had made some enquiries about getting plastic matting for the key places only and calculated that approximately 60 would be needed, together with gravel to put underneath. He calculated that there would be a cost of approx £150 including the gravel. Gary Buckingham agreed to obtain alternative prices from his place of work for comparison purposes.

6.    Vice Chairman’s Report:

• None – not present.

7.    Treasurer’s Report:

• Monies in bank:
  • Current: £279.66
  • Deposit: £3,672.66
• Cheques:
  • 100302 - Cobblers (Keys for Oakleigh) - £17.50
  • 100803 - Water (Lower Penns) - £26.66

8.    Sites:
Derrell Road

• 11a - no work has been done. Letter required.
• 13a - available to let

Oakleigh

• 3c - letter re shed – must be moved within 14 days
• 7b - letter 
• 10 - letter 
• 11b - vacant?
• 13a - letter 
• 13b - terminate
• 14b - letter
• 27a - letter
• 27b - letter
• 29b - giving up?
• 30b - given up?
• 33a - letter
• 34 - letter
• 35a - letter
• 35b - letter
• 37a - letter
• 41b - letter

Lower Penns

• 19b - letter

• 21a - letter
• 24b - letter

9.    AOB:

• The vice-president, Joe Wallis reported that there had been an article in last month’s Allotment Journal in which the shortening of time between dirty plot letters was discussed. It was recommended that the time-frame should be Letter 1 then Letters 2 and 3 to follow at two weekly intervals.
• Various ways that this could be implemented were discussed and it was agreed that this approach would be adopted in April at the start of the next season. The first dirty plot letter would allow the plotholder one month to improve the plot and thereafter they would receive a letter at 2 week intervals . This was with the intention of not allowing the sites to become untidy as, under the current system, it can be over 3 months before a plot is reclaimed by the Society.
• It was agreed that the site reps would be required to monitor the position closely and liaise with the secretary for the letters to be sent to the appropriate plotholders in a timely way.

10.    Date of next committee meeting:
To be held on Monday 4 December 2017 at 7.30pm at the RAOB Club.

Meeting closed at 8.15pm.