Page 6 - ALG Issue 3 2016

Legal
legalupdate
After one of the wettest winters on record, the allotment community is hoping that this spring will not turn out to be a damp squib, and as I write this article whilst looking out at wonderful sunshine, I do not think you are going to be disappointed.
We have had a brilliant start to spring with our AGM held in York on 4th June, which was very well attended by over 100 members. I would like to thank all those members who did come along; this year was particularly a business themed AGM as we have just reviewed the Society rules and I am pleased to announce, as you will see in the Report and Proceedings within this magazine, the rules were passed with over a 75% majority. We can now move along with all the governance procedures that t beneath these rules to ensure that we have a stable, well run Society.
What’s new?
Health and gardening report
Members may be interested to read a recent report published in
May 2016 called ‘Gardens and Health’ - implications for policy
and practice by David Buck. This report was commissioned by the National Gardens Scheme and undertaken by The Kings Fund (www. kingsfund.org.uk), an independent charity working to improve health and care in England. This report has three aims:
• To bring together a wide range of literature relating to gardens and wellbeing and to demonstrate how gardens and gardening are related across life-course, from schools to family life and into older age.
• To demonstrate how gardening interventions have an important place in the NHS and the wider health care system, particularly given the focus on greater integration of health services, social care and prevention and on working with people as citizens within communities rather than just as patients.
• To place ‘gardens and health’ within the current strategic health policy context, proposing recommendations on how gardening, if brought into mainstream, can be an important mechanism for reaching health policy goals, nationally and locally.
Neonicotinoids
The National Farmers Union’s (NFU) application for banned pesticide use on oil seed rape crops is rejected as government rules against
neonicotinoids for the rst time. This is outlined in Garden Organics May newsletter.
Neonicotinoid pesticides have been shown to be harmful to bees and were banned from use on owering crops by the EU in 2013,
a move opposed by the UK Government. But ministers granted
a temporary lifting of the ban in 2015 after the NFU argued it was needed to ght the cabbage stem ea beetle (CSFB).
However, the Government’s scienti c advisers said this year’s application from the NFU and the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board should not be granted. Farming minister George Eustice then rejected the plan, which is the rst time the Government has ruled against neonicotinoid use.
The Expert Committee on Pesticides (ECP) said the application contained “insuf cient information to ensure that use will be limited only to those areas where there is a danger or threat to plant protection and [did not] offer adequate assurance that the use will be controlled in an appropriate fashion”.
Matt Shardlow, chief executive of Buglife, said: “Oilseed rape yields went up by 7% last year - this is not an ‘emergency’. The loss of bees and pollinating insects is the emergency. The decision is great news for the bees and for the hundreds of thousands of British people who have asked the Government to do more to protect our disappearing pollinators.”
Friends of the Earth’s Dave Timms said: “The ECP has given
a damning verdict on the applications. We hope the NFU will get the message and give up trying to bring back these dangerous chemicals. Ministers must now push for the ban on these chemicals to be made permanent.”
The NFU said it will persist in applying for the emergency use of neonicotinoids on behalf of farmers facing pressure from CSFB.
The National Allotment Society is deeply disappointed at the recent decision of the Secretary of State to nally approve the disposal of the Farm Terrace Allotments in Watford. We would
also like to applaud the efforts of the unstinting Farm Terrace campaigners who have done a great deal to raise the pro le of allotments in the national consciousness. The support they have gathered through their vibrant campaign is indicative of the strength of feeling amongst the public about the importance of preserving our remaining sites.
Liz Bunting
Legal and Operations Manager
Shield/National Allotment Society Photo Competition 2016
Sponsored by Shield Vantage Insurance
We hope you are all watching out for great photo opportunities to submit for this year’s competition! Remember to check
out the terms and conditions on the website before you send in your snaps. We do need permission to print pictures of children.
Here’s a reminder of the categories and prizes:
• Growing Together – we are looking for images of allotment
life, from communal site maintenance work to the annual open
day.
• Wildlife – has your site got an area put aside to encourage
bene cial insects and amphibians? Have you got bee boxes etc
on your plot?
• Scarecrows – How do you discourage those pesky pigeons?
There will be one overall £250 winner voted for by members; the shortlisted images will appear on the website from 29 August to 9 September.
3 category winners – 1 year NAS individual membership
3 category highly commended – 1 year ALG subscription Entry deadline is 26 August. Images should be at least 2500
by 3500 pixels at 300 dpi and submitted as jpegs. Email entries
to marketing@nsalg.org.uk. Winners will be announced by late September and details published in ALG issue 4, which is distributed late October/early November.
6