Minutes of the OPEN Meeting of the Paignton Home Garden & Allotment Society held at the RAOB Club, Paignton on Monday 4th March 2019

Present: Alan Smith, Flis Cotton, Jackie Yates, Stefan Phillpott, Andrew Bibbings, Joe Wallis, Phil Moore, Pat Marriott, Jackie Green, Denise & Terri Harris, Kay Mason, Gary Buckingham.

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting.

1.    Apologies: Liz Barnes, Christine Guiver, Jodi Harris.

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

3.    Matters arising from the minutes:

• The gate to the main DR site is being left unlocked while plotholders are on site, which is good to report.
• Work to repair the metal gate to 22 DR has not yet started and the chairman and vice chairman have it in mind .

4.    Correspondence:

• Email received in January from 20a LP confirming that she is going to be helped on the plot – minimal work has been done though.
• Email received from plotholder re: radios at the sites. Do we have a policy re: noise abatement? No – please adopt a common sense approach when on the sites and not bother the neighbours.
• Two lengthy Emails and letters from DR plotholder re: 17a and 19 DR and the obligation of plotholders to leave their plots ready for the next person. Also, the requirement to spend money on removal of rubbish etc.
  • These were discussed and it was agreed that plotholders are not permitted to remove soil from one plot for their benefit.
  • Plots are taken over by new people at the start of a tenancy agreement based on the condition of them at that time. History has shown that people do not leave their plots in a good condition and that is not likely to change.
  • It was strongly disputed that the soil on the plot in question was contaminated as there is no evidence of this whatsoever.

5.    Chairman’s Report:

• Seed sales have been slow from the shop on the Oakleigh site – please can plotholders support the shop… seeds are such good value and much cheaper than in the shops.
• Additional chicken pellets have been ordered and so there are plenty available.
• There has been a serious accident on the Oakleigh site which resulted in a plotholder being hospitalised for approximately a week. It has reinforced the need to keep the main gate both at Oakleigh and Derrell Road unlocked at all times when people are on site.

6.    Vice Chairman’s Report:

• There were several plot swaps on Lower Penns last month, but it has now all settled down and everyone seems to be happy with where they have ended up.

7.    Treasurer’s Report:

• Monies in Bank
  • Deposit account - £1,326.60
  • Current account - £614.63
• Cheques:
  • 100359 - Man with van - £430.00
  • 100360 - Shield insurance - £529.39
  • 100361 - NAS membership - £474.00

8.    Sites:

• Derrell Road
  • 13a DR
  • 19 DR - now ready to let
  • PLEASE CONTINUE TO LEAVE MAIN GATE UNLOCKED WHEN ON SITE
• Oakleigh
  • 33a – please can plotholder remove the MDF doors as they have swollen in the wet weather
  • 37a - please can plotholder remove the tyres as these should not have been brought on site
  • 41a – please can plotholder remove the several sinks that are on the plot as they should not have been brought on site
• Lower Penns
  • 6b – no work being done on bottom half of the plot
  • 20a -

9.    AOB:

• Please can visitors to the Derrell Road site not bring cars up the path, especially while it is so wet. The path is exceptionally slippery in current conditions and when possible, matting will be put down to make it less dangerous.
• It was reported that a hosepipe was left connected and running while the plotholder was no longer on site. Please could all plotholders across the 3 sites always ensure that your hosepipe is disconnected before you leave the site – especially on Lower Penns, which is on a water meter.
• 13a and 13b Derrell Road plots will have to be remeasured as they are currently not equal. This is down to a polytunnel on one of the plots and 13b will be required to give back approximately 18ft to 13a. Chairman is to deal with this.
• Oakleigh site – the space outside the seed shed and toilet is for turning/unloading only. Please do not park your car there while on site as it must be kept clear.

 
10.    Date of next committee meeting:

• To be held on Monday 1st April 2019 at 7.30pm at the RAOB Club.

Meeting closed at 8.15pm.