High Wych Allotment Association Annual General Meeting

Wednesday 6th November at 7:00 pm in High Wych Memorial Hall Current committee Chairman Ken Blackburn Secretary Mike Blight Treasurer Barrie Richardson Members Roger Glynn

Bob Collie Ken Blackburn has asked Barrie Richardson to chair this meeting, Present: Margaret Clark: Clive Clark : Phil Attesley : Mark Sears :Jackie Portelly : John Portelly : Frank Nash : Alan White ; Abel Santos : Bob : Collie : Mike Blight : Barrie Richardson : Roger Glynn : Ali Geller : Mike Brown : Alan Wood : Janet Stanton N.B. No record was taken of members present but those listed above were definitely there! Please inform the Secretary if your name has been inadvertently omitted so that the list can be amended. Thanks Apologies for absence: Ken Blackburn : Val Foster : Kate Yarnold : Alan Foster : Tom Cole : Derek Blizzard : Mike Morgan Letter from The Chairman: Due to prior commitments, I am unfortunately unable to attend the AGM and offer my apologies. In my absence, I have asked Barrie to act as Chairman for the forthcoming meeting, which he has kindly agreed to do.I have had a couple of years as Chairman of HWAA but, as my colleagues on the Committee are aware, my future plans lie elsewhere and I am therefore tendering my resignation from the Committee. We have had a somewhat turbulent time with problems which I do not wish to go into. History is history and the Association should now go forward in the spirit it was formed to do. Because the Committee was attempting to sort out certain matters with the Parish Council, it was my decision to postpone the AGM from earlier in the year and this has probably added to the confusion. Mr Nash has recently distributed a copy of the letter he received from the Parish Council to you all and this has somewhat pre-empted the information you were to be given - but so be it. The Agenda that Barrie has prepared covers all the points and should be acceptable to all members. It confirms that the Association is for the well-being of all and that is what it should be all about. My thanks go to all members of the Committee for all the work that they have put in – plus, of course, the considerable amount of time spent attempting to resolve the various hiccups that have occurred. I wish the Association well for the future and now hope that it will go forward with a clean sheet, leaving the sad period of the last twelve months in the past and, hopefully, forgotten. Yours sincerely Ken Blackburn Outgoing Chairman of the HWAA

Secretary’s Report:

1. The last 18 months have been both good and bad. The allotments are, in the main,

in good condition and reports from both the Parish Council and the judges of the

Best Plot praised all plot holders on the general standard maintained at High Wych.

2. We currently have one half-plot vacant and one half-plot which has not been

cultivated during the last 12 months plus one that the Committee are looking after

due to the plot holder’s recent accident.

3. Plot 1, which is our communal plot, currently houses our Bee colonies, our storage

shed and other equipment, which includes a shredder, generator, BBQ and general

stock. With regard to the generator and shredder these are for everybody’s use and

if you need to use power tools you only need to put petrol on the generator and plug

it in. We also have a hedge trimmer but it needs a service at present. We also have

enough slabs to put a proper hard standing down in front of the shed so plot holders

can use it as a general place of getting together.

4. Our social events have been well attended, both the BBQ and the Fireworks in fact

due to the delay in the AGM we have had 2 of each.

The plant sales have been a great success and I’m sure the treasurer will give us the

amounts raised in his report. (£728.56)

We also supported the village fete and donated £50, to the Memorial Hall fund.

5. The Best Allotment prize went to Clive Clark in 2012 and Ron Felstead in 2013 both

worthy winners.

6. In the next few weeks we will be infilling the hedges both the front and the right hand

side behind the shed and a few willing hands will be welcome.

I would like to thank our chairman Ken for his common sense approach to some of

the problems we have had this year and Barrie for keeping our stock up to the levels

now required by members, now we have been running for a few years members

have started to use the facility of cheap seeds and fertilisers much more and reaped

the benefits of bulk buying. I would like to also thank the other committee members

who have given their support during the last 18 months.

I have been asked by Val and Alan on plot 4B to thank all members who donated

tools nd plants to her project in Epping Green they have had a great year and the

whole project has been a great success.

Treasurer’s Report

I wish to change the accounting period from February - February to September - September. Trying to audit the accounts at the busiest time of the year is a nightmare for the treasurers (me) as the books are with the auditors for several weeks. So, at this AGM we will be ratifying 25th February 2012 to 24th February 2013, as well as 25th February 2013 to 30th September 2013. Finalising the accounts at this time of year allows the treasurer to prepare a meaningful profit and loss

statement, something the auditor would like to see as a final check. Thus futures AGMs are likely to be about a month after the end of the accounting period. This is in line with our tenancies and should allow new tenants to participate at the AGM.

I am also asking to make a change to the constitution. The template constitution from the National Society of Allotment and Leisure Gardeners (NSALG) suggested two auditors. Both current auditors think this is unreasonable and unnecessary and it is contrary to most other small organisations. I wish to change from two auditors to one. Our auditor will be Mr. John Spenser of 3 Wychford Drive, a retired accountant.

We have had some suggestions regarding security and signage on the gate. These have been a contentious in the past. We are enquiring on availability of CCTV coverage from the big house next door. Nothing to report yet.

See attached Accounts 2012 and Accounts 2013

Role of the committee The role of the Committee and of the individual members of the Committee will be discussed at the next meeting of the Committee to be held on Wednesday 20th November. All members of the Association will receive a copy of the Minutes of this meeting. Election of Officers Chairman: Mike Blight Proposed: Barrie Richardson Seconded: Roger Glynn Secretary: Ali Geller Proposed: Barrie Richardson Seconded: Frank Nash Treasurer: Barrie Richardson Proposed: Phil Attelsey Seconded: Nigel Rivers Member#1: Roger Glynn Proposed: Barrie Richardson Seconded: Alan White Member#2: Phil Attelsey Proposed: Ali Geller Seconded: Nigel Rivers Any Other Business

• The question of day-to-day management of the site proved to be a lively start to the meeting. Several points of view were aired and concerns voiced over the possibility of the Committee taking on this role. Members of the Committee made it quite clear that should this be the case, they would no longer stand as they did not believe this to be the job of the Committee and that this should remain firmly in the hands of the Parish Council. Michael Sykes – for the Parish Council – spoke of other similar committees taking on such a role. The constitution of the HWAA, however, does not provide for a management role being fulfilled by the Committee.

• There followed a significant amount of lively discussion of a personal nature between various plot holders..

• It became apparent that several plot holders were unaware of the Constitution of the Association

• Questions were raised regarding insurance of the site with reference to what/who is covered, for what and by whom. Michael Sykes put forward the Parish Council view that the cover for the site held with the Parish Council includes damage to the site by a third party. The cover that is held by the HWAA, through the NSLAG, covers personal injury on the site.

• Regarding the insurance policy, Michael Sykes will be forwarding a copy to Barrie for scrutiny.

• Mike Blight will look into possible insurance of the communal shed on Plot 1.

• It is extremely doubtful that insurance for plot holders individual sheds would affordable due to issues surrounding security.

• Discussion concerning security of the site – following several incidents of theft of produce – included possible measures such as improved and permanent signage, higher fencing to the back end of the site adjoining the field and a gate to the entrance to the site that was not so easily climbed! It was suggested by Phil Attelsey that the Newsletter penned by Mike Blight and published in the Link magazine could be acting as an advertisement to potential thieves – especially when abundant crops are mentioned! - and should be discontinued. All the points raised will be added to the Agenda for the Committee to discuss further and reach some decision on how best to proceed.

• Ali Geller presented to the meeting two possible choices for a ‘logo’ to be adopted by the HWAA. The majority who voiced an opinion selected the logo you see at the head of these minutes.

• Mark Sears suggested that such a logo could be used on fleeces/polo shirts/ sweatshirts that members could purchase. This idea was taken forward to be added to the Agenda of the next Committee meeting. Mark committed to supplying further details to the Committee prior to that meeting.

• As newly elected Secretary to the Committee, Ali Geller made it clear to the members that her intention was to improve communication and ensure all members are kept fully informed of the workings of the Committee with copies of minutes of any and all meetings being emailed/posted to every member. She also suggested that a copy of the minutes of Committee meetings could be posted on the website. John Portelly voiced concerns over this and Ali agreed that the minutes would not be posted on the website.

Date of next AGM: Wednesday 12th November 2014 MEETING CLOSED AT 8.47pm Note from in-coming Secretary: No Minutes were actually recorded at the AGM. The Minutes above have been compiled from memory and I apologise for any inaccuracies and inconsistencies. Should any members present at the AGM wish to make any amendments or additions that may have been omitted, please email me at: ali@alexgeller.com. Any changes will be forwarded to members as amendments to these minutes and will be signed off as such at the next AGM Wednesday 12th November 2014. Ali Geller, Secretary