Minutes of the Allotment Working Group Meeting

Thursday 11thFebruary 2016at 6.30pm in Room 300, Newcastle Civic Centre

Present:Michael Armstrong (Chair),Donald Robinson, Bob Heyman, Susan Pownall,

Vanessa Robinson, Matty Hall,Keith Rogerson (Secretary/Minutes)

Guests: Ian Campbell (NBKA) Keiji Makino,

Apologies: - Su Cumming, David Fay, Cllr Nigel Todd, Mark Todd (NAO), John Tucker,

Maurice Mason, Tony Turnbull.

Minutes: Minutes of the 14th January, 2016 were accepted as a true record.

Matters Arising

Rent Concession

Clarification of acceptable allowances for rent concession reduction (c/fwd to March meeting)

Web Design for NAWG

The NAO had given prior notification to the group that Ian Earnshaw would be attending the March

meeting to roll out the new NAWGweb site design.

2016 Allotment Show

The venue for the September 2016 has not yet been identified by the NAO (c/fwd to March meeting)

Lead Biomonitoring Study

Findings of the above studyinto the relationship between allotment soil lead concentrations and blood lead concentration of gardenerstakes place on Thursday 3rd March 2016, commencing at 18.00 hrs in the Collingwood Room NCC Civic Centre

Sheringham Allotments

Progress in replacing the main gate lock on Sheringham allotments. (c/fwd to March meeting)

Site Association Insurance Issues

KR explained that existing NAWG PLI insurance was originally provided when an area representative

was injured when visiting a site. It transpired that the site had not implemented the NCC 2008-11

tenancy agreement, section 3Q, requiring provision of £2M Public Liability Insurance. The NCC/NAO responsewas to impose a Zurich PLI policy covering all NCC allotment sites. The meeting agreed that the existing NAWG policy was duplicating PLI cover, and agreed not to renew the policy in February 2016.

Bee Discussion

Previous NAWG minutes have identified a variety of issues associated with keeping beehives on NCC allotment sites. The meeting reviewed progress to date:

Continuity of bee focal point.

The meeting was attended by Ian Campbell the current chairman of the Newcastle Association of

Beekeepers (NABK). Ian provided the meeting with a general description of his background and

Experience. NAWG chairman thanked Ian for his attendance, and welcomed him into the NAWG forum as our future focal point for bees. Ian can be contacted on

For administrative purposes Ian will become the first point of contact for all NAWG beekeepers

commencing on 1st April, 2016.

Register of Beekeepers

NAWG Secretary has contacted all area sites by e-mail or telephone in order to produce a register of sites associated with beekeeping. For security reasons the register will not be generally published.

Secretaries note: The register has been finalised and an e-mail detailing changes commencing

1st April 20016 regardingaccreditation, Insurance, and loan equipment has been issued to

secretaries e-mail addresses. If your site has Beekeepers and you have not received notification of changes please contact the bee focal point above,

Member Affiliation

Newcastle Allotment Bee Group (NABG) rules for allotment honeybees state that “full membership of alocal recognised British Bee Keepers Association is mandatory” providing the necessary 3rd party

Insurance.It is the responsibility of all site management committees to ensure that such affiliation and insurance requirements are being met. Upon such confirmation the site are requested to inform NAWG secretary

Member Insurance

Site management committees should be aware that PLI insurance cover provided by NCC/NAO does not cover the activities of beekeepers on their sites. They should seek objective evidence that the necessary

insurance is in place. Failure to do so may leave that association liable for any subsequent bee related issues.

Beekeeping equipment

Commencing from the 1st April 2016 Coxlodge Allotment Association will manage NAWG honey

extraction equipment which will be available for loan periods of 3 days. Such equipment loans will be conditionalon sites being listed in the allotment bee register. Applications to Coxlodge secretary

Secretaries note: Allotment associations expressing interest in obtaining bee hives (only) may wish to take up their interest with:

Budgets

MT reported to the meeting that from his allocated allotment budget of £60k his spend to date was

£60,000.62, leaving him a balance of £0.00

NAWG

KR reported to the meeting that the NAWG business account stood at £4,439.75, and the NAWG

current account at £199.02.

AOB

Highbury South.

BH requested tree pruning services from NAO.

Beehive Theft

IC identified to the meeting the importance of site security and confidentiality associated with the NAWG revision of beekeeping activities, pointing out the potential attraction of such equipment to criminals.

Community Defibrillators

SP explained to the meeting that funding existed to cover the provision of community defibrillators which could be applied for through a medical fund managed by mediproof.com. She explained that Moorside committee were considering possible issues with siting and location for such an equipment. Issues to be considered were location and connection of an electricity supply, and individual competences to use such equipment. The meeting agreed to monitor the Moorside progress throughout its review process.

Coxlodge

VR advised the meeting that association members had reported break-ins and theft which appeared to be a brief, but targeted attack on the site. The meeting agreed that all NCC/NAO sites would need to remain vigilant and alert to this type of threat.

Fairways

KR tabled a grant request from the association based on the principles of matched funding. This type of funding requires support from Ward Area Councillors, Site membership contribution, NAO contribution, and NAWG contribution. Based on the photographic evidence supplied the meeting agreed to an £150 grant. (subject to other application outcomes)

There being no further business, the meeting closed at 20.00 hours

Next Meeting: 10th March 2016at 6.30 pm room 300