The Annual General Meeting of the Salisbury Allotments Association took place on Tuesday 24th November at Dennis Marsh House, Coldharbour Lane, Salisbury. Reg Williams and Councillor John English from Salisbury City Council were in attendance for some of the time. An apology for absence was received from Salisbury Police.
The Chair, Yvonne Toon, opened the meeting. She outlined how the Association had continued its involvement with the new City Council and stated that the Warden Liaison meetings, which were set up last year, had continued to meet on a quarterly basis. At these meeting the wardens, representatives from the Association Committee and Reg Williams and Debbie Cox from Salisbury City Council continued to deal with such issues as security fencing, which is an ongoing problem, repair to and installation of additional water troughs, clearing of rubbish, creation of new plots etc. This regular contact has eliminated some of the day to day problems. Reg Williams explained that Salisbury City Council is responsible for allotments within the City and it is a Council decision that only people living in Salisbury will be allocated new plots. Those living outside the City who currently have a tenancy will be allowed to keep their plot in the future
The 3rd Annual Horticultural Show was another resounding success as reported earlier. The date for 2010 has already been set and is 7th August at St. Michael’s Hall, Bemerton as previously. The Association had a stand at the Salisbury Show over the weekend of 11/12th July and this proved to be a success with memberships taken. The Association hoped to secure a stand for the 2010 Salisbury Show to be held 10/11th July.
During the year the Association Trading Hut continued to flourish and members have enjoyed exceptional prices for their gardening commodities. The shop is closed at present but will re-open on 23rd January stocked to the brim with prices even better than last year. Orders are currently in with suppliers taking advantage of the current rate of VAT and early order discounts.
Yvonne explained to the meeting that due to the fact that our involvement with the National Association of Allotment and Leisure Gardeners had proved over three years to be of no benefit whatsoever, we should look to joining our members to the South West Counties Allotments Association
She continued by saying that for the year 2010 membership subscriptions are to be held at £5, which will include the £2 per member to the SWCAA. Members will be requested to complete an application form to the SWCAA to effect their insurance.
For Members next year it is hoped to run a trip to RHS Wisley and to organise a Scarecrow competition to be judged on the plot at the same time as the annual allotment competition organised by the Council. Details will follow when plans are finalised and more information will be available on our website
Jenny Coleman, Treasurer addressed the meeting summarising the financial situation. She reported that is has been a very successful year for the Association Shop with sales of almost £8,000. The accounts are up to date and all outstanding payments have been cleared. Any surplus money has been put aside for stocking the shop for next year.
Yvonne was re-elected as Chair for the forthcoming year and the present committee were re-elected as a whole.
