Meopham and District Allotment Association
NOTICE AND AGENDA OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF MEOPHAM AND DISTRICT ALLOTMENT ASSOCIATION
Notice is Hereby given that the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Meopham and District Allotment Association will be held at Meopham Village Hall, to the East of Wrotham Road (in front of Meopham Country Club at DA13 0AT and approximately opposite Meopham Senior School and medical centre), on the 5th May 2018 commencing promptly at 5:45pm (17:45hrs) for the transaction of the following business.
1. Apologies – E Levett, R Mackey, S Branch, D & R Heel, I Carey, J & P Clinch
2. Review and Acceptance of the 2017 AGM minutes
3. The Committee Chair’s annual review and 2017/18 report
4. The Committee Treasurer’s 2017 report of income and expenditure, and summary of the accounts for the year to date
5. To receive and adopt the audited accounts for 2017/2018
6. At this point the existing Committee members will retire and election of the 2018/19 Chair and Committee members will take place – Thank you Pascal Benn for your work over the last year: -
The following committee members: -
David Aspinall – Treasurer
Theresa Seeley – Secretary and Communications
Robin Lee – Maintenance
Peter Hughes - Lettings
are willing to continue in office.
New nominations:
Julie Courtney
Caroline Halfpenny
Lindy Webster
Mark Hill
Nominations from the floor
7. Matters of interest and items requiring voting advised by way of Notice of Annual General Meeting
The meeting will be closed on or before 7:45pm in view of venue time limitations
Signed
Theresa Seeley (Honorary Secretary)
Contact the committee on info@meopham-allotments.co.uk
Meopham and District Allotment Association
MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF MEOPHAM AND DISTRICT ALLOTMENT ASSOCIATION
Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Meopham and District Allotment Association held at Meopham Village Hall on the 5th May 2018 at 5:45pm.
1. Apologies – E Levett, R Mackey, S Branch, D & R Heel, I Carey
Present 37 people in total – 27 plotholders – 6 committee members, 2 Councillors, 1 auditor and 1 PCSO.
2. 2017 AGM minutes reviewed and accepted to be a true record of last year’s minutes.
3. The Committee Chair’s annual review and 2017/18 report – The Secretary asked plot holders present if they had read The Chairman’s Report and handed copies to those that had not seen it.
4. The Committee Treasurer’s 2017 report of income and expenditure, and summary of the accounts for the year to date – Treasurer gave his Report for the year up to January 2018. It was noted that we are in a healthy financial state notwithstanding us showing a slight loss of £16 for the year. We have reserves, prior year’s income and sinking fund of just over £9900. At the start of the year we have £12,226 in the two bank accounts to which should be added the allotment rents paid by cheque and cash of £1860 that were banked in February. The reasons for the loss are that we had an extremely dry spring and water usage reflected this. Also we had a change to our water supplier as we are treated as a trade customer and Southern Water moved our account to its associated company Business Stream. This resulted in us spending £300 more than the previous year. To keep costs down the Treasurer asked that we report any leaking or damaged taps.
There was also a significant increase in the cost of site maintenance and is shown as a separate expense in our accounts. This included a number of seriously overgrown plots where we had to ask Steve Shipman to work on them to bring them back to a lettable state, this also included having to deal with safety issues on pathways, removal of rubbish and removal of asbestos on one plot. The Treasurer reported that weed walks have helped enormously with the issue of plot maintenance and plot holders should view these weed walks as a way that the Committee can be supportive and not as a threat. He also asked that plot holders report any plot that may be an issue so that we can deal with it quickly.
The other item that has been shown separately on the accounts is the rotovator. This was bought by the Committee with the intention that we could lend it to plot holders, but we have been told that we would not be covered by our insurers if there was an incident and advised against this. It has been beneficial in that Steve Shipman has used it for the maintenance of the overgrown plots, saving as around £90 in renting one. We are deciding whether this item should be retained or sold.
The Treasurer reported that he wished to continue increasing the sinking fund to cover the cost of major future maintenance, such as the water supply system.
The Treasurer reported that due to the current financial state that we do not propose an increase in rent but Meopham Parish Council may increase this when our lease is due for renewal in 2021.
The Treasurer advised that we were waiting for a skip to be delivered to site, but due to the fire at Pepper Hill Tip this would now be postponed until it is reopened.
The Treasurer also reported that the £10 cash would be written off as he had never received it nor had the previous treasurer received it when he took over. but it was too late for this year.
5. To receive and adopt the audited accounts for 2017/2018 – This was proposed and seconded.
John Bushell, who kindly volunteered to audit our accounts at extremely short notice, introduced himself and reported that he has revamped the accounts. He stated that as he had put the accounts together he should not have really audited them. He reported that the £10 will be written off at the next audited accounts.
6. Existing Committee members retired and election of the 2018/19 Chair and Committee members took place. The Secretary thanked Pascal Benn for all his work over the last year and introduced the present committee members.
The following committee members retired and put forward for re-election and are willing to continue in office:
David Aspinall – Treasurer
Theresa Seeley – Secretary and Communications
Robin Lee – Maintenance
Peter Hughes - Lettings
Proposed by Martin Entwhistle and seconded by Mike Shipway.
New Chairwoman elected - Julie Courtney Proposed by Marion Lee and seconded by Roy Canning.
New nominations:
Caroline Halfpenny
Lindy Webster
Mark Hill
Nominations from the floor Sue Twyman and seconded by Marion Lee.
7. Matters of interest and items requiring voting advised by way of Notice of Annual General Meeting
We are currently revising our Data Protection policy – The Secretary advised that data held by the association is only used by the Secretary, Treasurer and Lettings and that all data is held securely and once a plot holder leaves all data is deleted. All emails are sent as BCC.
Suggestions for stalls, who can help, timing, BBQ, etc. – Form was passed round for suggestions/offers of help.
Bees – It was asked if there was the possibility of keeping bees at the allotment. It was said that it had been looked into in the past but had been voted down due to the risk of anaphylactic shock to some and that the insurance was too expensive. It was suggested that plot holders may wish to plant bee-friendly flowers on their plots to encourage bees. It was also noted that the U3A Bee Society do a monthly audit of the bees on the plot, but had not contacted the Committee for permission. The Committee felt that this was not a problem if they kept to the pathways, but if they were entering plot holders’ plots then this was an issue.
Spraying of farmer’s fields – It was asked if the Committee were advised when the farmer sprays his fields. We suggested that this may be too difficult as the spraying depended on the wind conditions so date may change at short notice.
Contact the committee on info@meopham-allotments.co.uk
NOTICE AND AGENDA OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF MEOPHAM AND DISTRICT ALLOTMENT ASSOCIATION
Notice is Hereby given that the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Meopham and District Allotment Association will be held at Meopham Village Hall, to the East of Wrotham Road (in front of Meopham Country Club at DA13 0AT and approximately opposite Meopham Senior School and medical centre), on the 5th May 2018 commencing promptly at 5:45pm (17:45hrs) for the transaction of the following business.
1. Apologies – E Levett, R Mackey, S Branch, D & R Heel, I Carey, J & P Clinch
2. Review and Acceptance of the 2017 AGM minutes
3. The Committee Chair’s annual review and 2017/18 report
4. The Committee Treasurer’s 2017 report of income and expenditure, and summary of the accounts for the year to date
5. To receive and adopt the audited accounts for 2017/2018
6. At this point the existing Committee members will retire and election of the 2018/19 Chair and Committee members will take place – Thank you Pascal Benn for your work over the last year: -
The following committee members: -
David Aspinall – Treasurer
Theresa Seeley – Secretary and Communications
Robin Lee – Maintenance
Peter Hughes - Lettings
are willing to continue in office.
New nominations:
Julie Courtney
Caroline Halfpenny
Lindy Webster
Mark Hill
Nominations from the floor
7. Matters of interest and items requiring voting advised by way of Notice of Annual General Meeting
- No overnight parking
- Change Tenancy Agreement so that 25% of the Plot May be used for Leisure gardening purposes such as growing flowers, creating and maintaining a bio -diversity habitat.
- Gardeners Question Time
- NASLG – Insurance benefit – do we give them access to our member’s email addresses – Data Protection issue.
- Open Day 19th August 2018 – Charity to Support
- Cancer Research
- Mind
- Ellenor/Lions Hospice, Northfleet
- Hold On Letting Go
- Molly McLaren Foundation
- Prostate Cancer UK
- Request people who use chemicals not to wash out the containers in the water butts.
- Tree Surgeon – chippings
- Monthly coffee mornings – suggested by members (cost of small hall £7.70 per hour suggestions for free meeting place e.g. local pub?)
- Any Questions?
- Allotment Watch
The meeting will be closed on or before 7:45pm in view of venue time limitations
Signed
Theresa Seeley (Honorary Secretary)
Contact the committee on info@meopham-allotments.co.uk
Meopham and District Allotment Association
MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF MEOPHAM AND DISTRICT ALLOTMENT ASSOCIATION
Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Meopham and District Allotment Association held at Meopham Village Hall on the 5th May 2018 at 5:45pm.
1. Apologies – E Levett, R Mackey, S Branch, D & R Heel, I Carey
Present 37 people in total – 27 plotholders – 6 committee members, 2 Councillors, 1 auditor and 1 PCSO.
2. 2017 AGM minutes reviewed and accepted to be a true record of last year’s minutes.
3. The Committee Chair’s annual review and 2017/18 report – The Secretary asked plot holders present if they had read The Chairman’s Report and handed copies to those that had not seen it.
4. The Committee Treasurer’s 2017 report of income and expenditure, and summary of the accounts for the year to date – Treasurer gave his Report for the year up to January 2018. It was noted that we are in a healthy financial state notwithstanding us showing a slight loss of £16 for the year. We have reserves, prior year’s income and sinking fund of just over £9900. At the start of the year we have £12,226 in the two bank accounts to which should be added the allotment rents paid by cheque and cash of £1860 that were banked in February. The reasons for the loss are that we had an extremely dry spring and water usage reflected this. Also we had a change to our water supplier as we are treated as a trade customer and Southern Water moved our account to its associated company Business Stream. This resulted in us spending £300 more than the previous year. To keep costs down the Treasurer asked that we report any leaking or damaged taps.
There was also a significant increase in the cost of site maintenance and is shown as a separate expense in our accounts. This included a number of seriously overgrown plots where we had to ask Steve Shipman to work on them to bring them back to a lettable state, this also included having to deal with safety issues on pathways, removal of rubbish and removal of asbestos on one plot. The Treasurer reported that weed walks have helped enormously with the issue of plot maintenance and plot holders should view these weed walks as a way that the Committee can be supportive and not as a threat. He also asked that plot holders report any plot that may be an issue so that we can deal with it quickly.
The other item that has been shown separately on the accounts is the rotovator. This was bought by the Committee with the intention that we could lend it to plot holders, but we have been told that we would not be covered by our insurers if there was an incident and advised against this. It has been beneficial in that Steve Shipman has used it for the maintenance of the overgrown plots, saving as around £90 in renting one. We are deciding whether this item should be retained or sold.
The Treasurer reported that he wished to continue increasing the sinking fund to cover the cost of major future maintenance, such as the water supply system.
The Treasurer reported that due to the current financial state that we do not propose an increase in rent but Meopham Parish Council may increase this when our lease is due for renewal in 2021.
The Treasurer advised that we were waiting for a skip to be delivered to site, but due to the fire at Pepper Hill Tip this would now be postponed until it is reopened.
The Treasurer also reported that the £10 cash would be written off as he had never received it nor had the previous treasurer received it when he took over. but it was too late for this year.
5. To receive and adopt the audited accounts for 2017/2018 – This was proposed and seconded.
John Bushell, who kindly volunteered to audit our accounts at extremely short notice, introduced himself and reported that he has revamped the accounts. He stated that as he had put the accounts together he should not have really audited them. He reported that the £10 will be written off at the next audited accounts.
6. Existing Committee members retired and election of the 2018/19 Chair and Committee members took place. The Secretary thanked Pascal Benn for all his work over the last year and introduced the present committee members.
The following committee members retired and put forward for re-election and are willing to continue in office:
David Aspinall – Treasurer
Theresa Seeley – Secretary and Communications
Robin Lee – Maintenance
Peter Hughes - Lettings
Proposed by Martin Entwhistle and seconded by Mike Shipway.
New Chairwoman elected - Julie Courtney Proposed by Marion Lee and seconded by Roy Canning.
New nominations:
Caroline Halfpenny
Lindy Webster
Mark Hill
Nominations from the floor Sue Twyman and seconded by Marion Lee.
7. Matters of interest and items requiring voting advised by way of Notice of Annual General Meeting
- No overnight parking – it was agreed that this was an issue and would be added to the tenancy agreement as it is private land so not a Police issue. Nominated from the floor by Julie Mummery and Seconded by Sue Twyman.
- Change Tenancy Agreement so that 25% of the Plot May be used for Leisure gardening purposes such as growing flowers, creating and maintaining a bio -diversity habitat - this was felt that it was already covered by the existing tenancy, so as such did not need to be amended by a majority vote.
- Gardeners Question Time – a plot holder had put forward the suggestion that we might want to bid to hold GQT. The Secretary had looked into the matter, downloading a 14 page guideline regarding holding this event. It was felt that as an association that we would be unable to hold this on our own due to lack of numbers and would have to contact local gardening associations/clubs to join to qualify for the numbers of 150+. It was also noted that it would take a great deal of organisation, numerous volunteers to help run it and would be quite costly. It was felt that there was not a great deal of interest and that it would be too time consuming so it was agreed that we would not pursue it.
- NASLG – Insurance benefit – do we give them access to our member’s email addresses – Data Protection issue. The NASLG are offering free Public Liability Insurance to allotment holders, but to do this they have asked for all Plot Holders’ email information, but the Treasurer thought that this would not be in line with Data Protection. They informed him that they would only be using the information for their records and would not sell on the information, but they are not the company that would be supplying the insurance so there may be an issue there.
We are currently revising our Data Protection policy – The Secretary advised that data held by the association is only used by the Secretary, Treasurer and Lettings and that all data is held securely and once a plot holder leaves all data is deleted. All emails are sent as BCC.
- Open Day 19th August 2018 –
Suggestions for stalls, who can help, timing, BBQ, etc. – Form was passed round for suggestions/offers of help.
- Request people who use chemicals not to wash out the containers in the water butts – it was requested by plot holders that tools, etc., were not to be cleaned in the water butts due to possible chemicals being on them. An email will be sent to all plot holders requesting this and also a laminate sign will be positioned on/near each water butt advising plot holders not to do this.
- Tree Surgeon – chippings – The offer of free wood chippings was offered to plot holders and after a discussion it was agreed that the majority of plot holders would like this.
- Monthly coffee mornings – suggested by members – it was agreed that this would be a welcome social event, especially in the winter months, and a suitable venue will be looked into. Istead Rise Community Centre was a possibility as it can be used as a free meeting place.
- Any Questions?
Bees – It was asked if there was the possibility of keeping bees at the allotment. It was said that it had been looked into in the past but had been voted down due to the risk of anaphylactic shock to some and that the insurance was too expensive. It was suggested that plot holders may wish to plant bee-friendly flowers on their plots to encourage bees. It was also noted that the U3A Bee Society do a monthly audit of the bees on the plot, but had not contacted the Committee for permission. The Committee felt that this was not a problem if they kept to the pathways, but if they were entering plot holders’ plots then this was an issue.
Spraying of farmer’s fields – It was asked if the Committee were advised when the farmer sprays his fields. We suggested that this may be too difficult as the spraying depended on the wind conditions so date may change at short notice.
- Allotment Watch
- Vacant plots – there are currently 6 vacant plots if anyone knows of anyone who would be interested.
Contact the committee on info@meopham-allotments.co.uk