Page 42 - ALG Issue 1 2019

Yorkshire
NAS Yorkshire, AGM
This year’s AGM was held in South Yorkshire at a very well- situated venue: Phoenix Sports & Social Club, Rotherham, only minutes off the M1. Before I go any further, I would like to give special thanks to our colleagues in Rotherham Federation for doing the majority of the arrangements. Thank you.
I welcomed the delegates and thanked them for their and our guests’ attendance. The Mayor and Mayoress of Rotherham, Cllr Alan Buckley and his wife Sandra had kindly offered to open our meeting. David Allison, Chair of the northern Branch, NVS, had come to give a talk on getting the best from our vegetables., Also our very own Liz Bunting talked about progress in the NAS, and our Regional Mentor, Tony Urwin was also a guest. Someone pointed out we also had the President of the NAS present. Oh! That’s me. The Mayor opened our meeting by welcoming us to Rotherham and went on
to say how pleased he was with the development of the Rotherham Allotment Alliance to manage the development of allotments in Rotherham.
This was then followed by a wonderful illustrated talk by the dynamic David Allison, whose knowledge of growing vegetables knows no bounds. You cannot fail to learn something new following his talks. After a very nice hot buffet lunch, the business side of our AGM began. The main point was to adopt the proposed Regional Constitution and our new title. I am pleased to say both were
David Allison discussing parsnip growing
Welcome to our new members...
Anston Parish Council
Birdwell Allotment Society Harden Parish Council
Manor Allotment Association Nether Hoyland Allotment Society 4 Individual Members
unanimously agreed upon, as you can see above. After the election of Officers, Liz Bunting addressed the delegates on the multitude of changes and developments the NAS has undergone this year and the many new initiatives. The Yorkshire Trophy was awarded to Mike Farrel for his persistent and dedicated efforts to the progression of the allotments movement in Rotherham and the development of the Rotherham Allotments Alliance.
What was especially pleasing about this AGM was that we
had an invited guest from outside our region, who wanted help
with the worrying practice of authorities offloading their allotment management responsibilities without due care and concern about the consequences. We were able to direct our guest to network over lunch, and any free time with four of the Yorkshire regions members who had been through or were undergoing the same process. I am quite sure it was beneficial as I received a thank you email from our guest later that weekend.
Phil Gomersall, Chair, NAS Yorkshire
Liz, me, Mayoress and Mayor of Rotherham
David Allison discussing beetroot growing
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