Page 5 - ALG Issue 2 2015

Head Office
Chairman’s Comments
As I write these comments, I have just received notice that the Southern Region have co-opted Mrs Jenny Crawford to the position of Regional Representative, the change being occasioned by the sudden resignation of Ms Kay Powell. It is pleasing to be able to inform you that the Management Committee is now up to full strength. At the last Management meeting we welcomed Mr David Banks as the new representative for the Northern Region. We also welcomed Mr Thomas Terrence as the proposed new Representative for the West Midlands.
forthcoming AGM are hotting up. A recent communication with the office was passed to me for a reply. The comments were on the Draft Rules; one in particular was to the effect “why should associations pass the details of their members to Head Office”. I really do wonder where some people hibernate! We have for some considerable
time been trying to explain to members that we are aware that some associations do not communicate with their own members as well as we would like. To try to improve the situation, we have a
Mr Terrence will replace long-standing member Mr Maurice Lander, who resigned at the last AGM but was co-opted to continue until a replacement was found. We thank Maurice for his years of hard work and wish him many years of peaceful gardening.
As you are probably aware, Mr Andy Percival of the North West is now back in harness.
My potatoes are chitting nicely and about ready to go in on the first reasonable day
newsletter and an online version of the magazine; however, without email addresses we still cannot communicate with our grass-roots membership.
A current move on this front is to encourage the regions to look at setting up their own websites along the lines of the North West and Yorkshire. Whilst these will be individual projects, I would like to see them all carry links to each other and indeed to the National Societies web content. But how can we possibly move forward if we cannot even talk to each other?
Whilst the new Draft Rules are still the subject of
comments from the regions, a sub- committee has
already met to start work on the promised Regional
Constitution. This document is not intended to be a
set of rules for the regions, but more a model to ensure we all work in a similar manner upon which the regions can put their own identity. The document has yet to go to the Management Committee, and then I expect the regional representatives to take it back to their regions for further comment. The plan this time is to reduce this document’s content sensibly by leaving such items as the conduct at meetings and expenses to be referred, which will appear in the main National Society Rules.
It is a busy time for the office staff at the moment with final work being done for this issue of the magazine whilst preparations for the
Enough of the serious stuff. My potatoes are chitting nicely and about ready to go in on the first reasonable day.
The greenhouse shelves are rapidly filling with seedlings of tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, cabbage, cauliflower and such. Boxes of onions and leeks are waiting potting on and I’m sitting here slaving over a hot computer keyboard. Such are the rewards for volunteering.
May we all look forward to a warm and productive spring and summer.
Tony Heeson,
Management Committee Chairman
...from the President
Dear Members,
The New Year has begun and we are all raring to get busy on our plots. The Society continues to evolve, with much work being undertaken by the Management Committee to improve our service to members and to engage with like-minded organisations for mutual benefit. The publication of new and updated leaflets are underway and they will be available soon in print and online. The website continues to develop and
we are pleased to see so many of you logging on. Ask your secretaries for the log on details if you don’t have them, so you too can join us online and reap the benefits. I would also urge you all to consider subscribing to your own personal copy of our magazine. As you will be well aware, there is so much to enjoy when reading, including lots of horticultural info as well as interesting articles and news around the
country. Although you may read the information
online, if you are like me, there is nothing quite
like the real thing to dip into at your leisure and
to keep for future reference. A bargain and a
great present for a fellow allotmenteer too!
Please join
us in Leamington Spa for the 2015 National Allotment Society AGM, details on page 7
Only by standing
together can we hope
to have any influence
on the retention and
growth of the allotment movement of the future.
Farm Terrace is once again in the forefront
of our activities. The Council have sent in yet
another section 8 disposal application which
attempts to dispose of the whole of the Farm
Terrace site. The Council wish to use a section
for the possible expansion of hospital facilities,
which the Farm Terrace tenants are not averse to and have never been, provided that is what it is used for. However, the remainder is said to be utilised for housing in an already dense housing area and a car park for Watford Football club; this they are definitely averse to. The Society is supporting the Watford tenants in their continuing challenge to this application. It is you, the members and your affiliation fees, that are the mainstay of the whole allotment movement which allows the Society to support such actions and to negotiate on behalf of allotments everywhere. Today it is Watford, who knows whose site will be targeted next.
Come and join us in Leamington Spa, meet your fellow members and have your say
I have been out and about again and enjoyed an evening with Calverton Allotments at the end of February. I thank them for
the invitation and for giving me the opportunity to reinforce the benefits of being NAS members and answering their questions. We also had a fun evening discussing organic gardening on allotments, with some excellent tomato, fennel and sage ‘plants’.
The next day I flew off to Luxembourg for a two day International Assembly. A report on this will be appearing later in this magazine. We can contribute a lot to the international
movement and also learn about different approaches to allotmenteering which we can utilise in our own future development.
This is the last magazine prior to the AGM and it is vital that as many of you as possible attend the AGM, for it is the place where you can have your say and ask the Management Committee questions. The draft rules have been on the website and you have all read them. They are draft rules only and it is important
that you have responded with your comments and that you have indicated what your voting
preference is on any amendments. This will be ongoing work as such an important document will not be finalised in one hit and your participation is essential so that we can make the governance of your Society easier to understand and work for the benefit of everyone.
If you find that you are now able to attend the AGM it is not too late to add your name to the delegates. Come and join us in Leamington Spa, meet your fellow members and have your say.
See you there.
Karen Kenny, your President
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