Page 6 - ALG Issue 1 2016

Legal
legalupdate
As we approach the end of 2015 it is appropriate to assess the achievements over the previous twelve months, as well as looking to the future and what 2016 may hold for the National Allotment Society.
Allotment Gardens Society, the Federation of City Farms and Community Gardens, the Crop Protection Association and Barnsdale
NAS continues to work hard to save and promote allotments; we have received many applications this year for disposal of Statutory Allotment land, many of which are for small sections of a site, that either have never been used for allotment gardening, or sites which have been derelict for a great many years. It is always good to celebrate success and in early December we heard that members in Gloucester at Estcourt Park had managed to preserve their site close to the University campus.
I would like to thank Deborah, Richard and the consultation panel for their dedication to the Society
2015 proved to be an extremely successful show season with many areas receiving prestigious awards. I would like to thank all those volunteers who work tirelessly to promote allotment gardening in their own regions and on behalf of the NAS.
We hope to be able to bring out new
offers and promotional literature for
the 2016 show season.
I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all NAS staff that have worked hard over the last 12 months to deliver a comprehensive service to our members.
As I write this article,
we are currently looking
to increase our staf ng
and hope to be able to introduce a new member of staff in the New Year.
New Policy documents are
about to be introduced onto
the website. During the summer
months, Deborah Burn undertook
writing policy documentation for
NAS as an intern from Newcastle
University. This work was completed under the
guidance of Richard Wiltshire, the NAS Policy Advisor.
We have two new completed policies on the website;
Devolved Management and Measuring Demand. Four
other documents include; Cultivation Standards, Sharing an Allotment Garden, Social Interaction on Allotment Sites and
the Use of Designated Allotments for Other Forms of Gardening. These will be on the website in the New Year with more to come during 2016.
I would like to thank Deborah, Richard and the consultation panel for their dedication to the Society.
2015 has seen NAS work with many other organisations to promote allotments, including Co-op UK, the Wildlife Gardening Forum, Garden Organic, Horticultural Trades Association, Scottish
and garden products.
New EU regulations are to be agreed in early December, as I write
this article. These could place stringent controls on 37 non-native invasive species; these include 14 plant species from 1st January 2016. These are species which have been assessed as posing a high risk of invasion within one or more EU Member States. This has led to a co-ordinated European wide response to limit their spread.
It will, therefore, become an offence in the UK to keep, cultivate, breed, transport, sell or exchange these species or release
them intentionally or unintentionally into the environment. The UK Government will have 18 months to put management
measures into place to control the listed species and to limit their spread accordingly.
Of the species being banned, 8 are garden plants including American skunk-cabbage, which has
increased by 84% in the wild during the last 15 years. Curly waterweed has
also increased over a 15 year period by 41%.
Plant species include: American Skunk cabbage
Curly Waterweed Carolina water-shield
Water hyacinth
Tree groundsel
Persian hogweed Sosnowskyi’s hogweed
Parthenium weed Mile-a-minute weed
Kudzu vine
Varieties already banned are: Water primrose, oating
pennywort and parrot’s feather. Further information on this subject
will follow during 2016. Happy New Year to you all.
Liz Bunting
Legal and Operations Manager
Visit our PALLET SHOP and lots more:
Gardens.
To ensure our members remain updated on pesticides, NAS are part of a committee of the Chemical Regulatory Directorate, reporting on home and garden pesticides.
New legislation is always being introduced. Some time ago I wrote an article about Pesticides and would just like to take this opportunity to remind members that on the 26th November 2015 the ‘grandfather’ rights for certi cation and purchase of pesticides were removed and that allotment gardeners should only be using home
volcanic rock dust
SOIL AND COMPOST REMINERALISER
Regenerates tired soil – so give it a go... FOR GOODNESS SAKE!
ORGANICALLY APPROVED
Website: ON-LINE PALLET SHOP, LOCAL STOCKISTS and lots more
www.reminscotland.com
Burnhead, Raemoir, Banchory, ABERDEENSHIRE AB31 4EB T: 01330 820914 E: jennifer@reminscotland.com
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