BALGA AGM – St Mary’s Church Hall – Mon 11 Jan 2016

Another full AGM.  This year it was brought forward a week because of the amount of work needed to prepare for the self-management go-live on 01 Apr.

Lots of essential business was concluded.  All the bits of bureucratic documents that NHDC insist upon were adopted at the meeting without further comment.  The way is now clear for the Executive Officers as trustees to sign the Managed Services Agreement and the leases for the two sites.  You can find the documents here.

The Tenancy Agreement was not ready for the AGM. The members agreed they would leave it to the General Committee to approve once complete.

Finance Year-End Change

It was proposed and almost unanimously accepted that the BALGA year-end be changed to 31 Oct and the allotment rental year to 01 Nov to 31 Oct.  This will bring big benefits to help efficient management of the allotments.  New tenants taking on allotments given up at the end of the rental year will have a chance to start work before the beginning of the season and not when most of the growing year has past, as is currently the case with NHDC policy.

The change does mean that tenants will receive two invoices in our first year, 2016.  One on 01 Apr and a second on 01 Nov at the beginning of the new allotment year.  The second invoice will be discounted by the 5 months rental and 2 months association subs already paid in advance by current tenants and members.  No one will be paying twice and in actual fact the monthy cost to a member with an allotment will reduce as the subs will in future be included on the rental cost which will not be increased  from the current £120 per full plot charged by NHDC.

NHDC Tenacy Agreements

A further very important point, which passed without comment, is that the tenancy agreements with NHDC will be passed to BALGA and remain in force.  We will be terminating these agreements during 2016 and it is hoped that all current tenants will sign up to the new agreement which includes BALGA membership by default.  From 01 Apr 2016 current tenants will be notified that their current agreements will terminate on 31 Mar 2017.  Anyone not wishing to take a new agreement or who does not wish to become a member of BALGA will be offered alternative plots at other sites by NHDC.

Best Kept Allotment

The prizes for the Best Kept Allotment competition were awarded by County Councillor Michael Muir.  See Best Kept post.

Happy Cultivating 2016