MenuMinutes of the meeting of Amble Town Council Allotment and Playground Committee held on Saturday, 7th January 2012 at 10.00am in The Council Office.
1. PRESENT: Cllrs Mrs Lewis (Chairman), Morrison, Rev. Nicholson and Bilboe. Mr Duquemin (Secretary) from the Allotment Holders Society and the Clerical Assistant (Mrs A Burn) were also in attendance.
2. APOLOGIES:
3. ACCEPTANCE OF DECLARATIONS OF INTERESTS:
None.
4. CLERK’S REPORT:
4.1: Letter sent to CMDA, no reply has been received.
4.2: Email sent to Bill Pringle re: graffiti, mound of Tarmac and fence.
4.3: Email from Bill Pringle to confirm removal of Graffiti and Mound of Tarmac.
4.3: Letter sent to Mr Macdonald re: The Building and items on his land.
4.4: Email sent to NCC re: Fly Tipping at the West Allotments.
4.5: Cemetery Operatives removed over hanging branches above hole in the wall at West Allotments.
4.6: Cemetery Operatives removed smaller stones to create a larger access area behind the Wall at West Allotments.
4.7: Local builder repaired the Wall at the West Cemetery.
4.8: A telephone call was received from an allotment holder re: quotes for repairing allotment fence behind the repaired wall.
Cllr Mrs Lewis requested the Clerical Assistant expand on item 4.8 from the Clerk’s Report.
The secretary from A.A.H.S informed the members of the materials from which the fence was constructed.
Cllr Mrs Lewis proposed The Clerk write to the Allotment holder stating that any quotations would have to be like for like, it was unlikely that it could be included with the Council claim as individual boundaries were the allotment holder’s responsibility and it was not yet clear whether the firm who owned the vehicle would accept responsibility for any claim at all. However if she/he still wished to go ahead then the Clerk would contact Amble Town Council’s Insurance Company and clarify if a claim could be made for the replacement fence on behalf of the allotment holder. This was seconded by Cllr Bilboe and agreed.
Cllr Mrs Lewis proposed accepting the Clerk’s Report. This was seconded by Cllr Bilboe and agreed.
5. SIMPLY HORTICULTURE
5.1: Cllr Mrs Lewis proposed the Clerical Assistant send another letter to CMDA, as no reply was received from the previous letter, stating that as there had been no response A.A.H.S would take over administration of the area and ownership of all items on the site thereafter all ties with CMDA would be severed. This was seconded by Cllr Rev. Nicholson and agreed.
6. ALLOTMENT HOLDERS SOCIETY REPORT:
6.1: Report from Allotment Holders Society: the Secretary informed the members of the numerous responses which had been received from the adverts for the raised beds in the CMDA area. As a result there will be 2 raised beds given, the remaining raised beds will be offered to the waiting list.
At present 17 people have been given letters to tidy their allotment, if this is not carried out then there is a possibility of allotments transferring.
There has been rubbish dumped again at the West Allotments.
Letters have been sent to Allotment holders at the East Allotments due to the amount of complaints regarding fires and the items being burnt.
Concerns have been raised at the East Allotment due to the amount of sheds which have been erected; sometimes as a result of an allotment change, the new tenant erects another shed. The Allotment Holders Society has requested some sheds are to be removed if there are multiple on one site. A few of the sheds may have asbestos inside them so this could cause a problem. Cllr Mrs Lewis enquired if the A.A.H.S had contacted NCC as they will come and take the Asbestos away, if it has been dismantled. The secretary confirmed NCC had removed Asbestos in the past.
Cllr Mrs Lewis asked the Secretary if the Society had considered introducing a Bond which would encourage the holders to dismantle the sheds. The Secretary would forward the information to the Society. The Secretary confirmed the Society had hired 3 skips in the past to strip allotments before new tenants could take over.
Cllr Mrs Lewis thanked the Secretary for his report and enquired if there were any further items he would like to discuss.
The Secretary sought permission to gather further quotations for the roadways at the East Allotments, as the quotations he had gathered in the past were not detailed and did not indicate where the work would commence and finish. The members agreed for the quotations to be gathered and report back to ATC as soon as the information was available. Cllr Mrs Lewis reminded members it had been agreed in principle that the amount for the work would be equally shared between A.T.C & A.A.H.S.
7. AGENDA ITEMS:
7.1: Limb of a Tree had fallen onto an Allotment.
Cllr Mrs Lewis expressed concern regarding the aftermath of a tree Limb which had landed in an Allotment at the West Allotments. The Tenant had advertised it for free on the internet for members of the public with a chainsaw to cut it and carry it away. This could raise liability issues and the Council wished to be assured the Society was aware of this.
The Secretary had no prior knowledge of the Tree limb having fallen onto the allotment. He sought clarification of which allotment was involved and would contact the tenant. He was also concerned regarding members of the public gaining access to the Allotment to dispose of the wood.
Cllr Mrs Lewis requested a copy of A.A.H.S Insurance Documents be made available for the Clerk to scrutinise.
The next meeting was agreed to be held on 21st April 2012, at 10.00am in the Town Council Offices following a Site Visit commencing at the Wynd entrance to the West Allotments at 09.00am.
The Secretary left the meeting at 10.30a.m.
8. TOWN COUNCIL PLAYGROUND REPORT:
The Clerical Assistant gave a summary of the Playground Report which had been carried out by the Playground Inspector. The Inspector had to remove sweets which had been melted onto the slide on 19/11/2011. There were a lot of beer cans found in the Playground on 04/01/2012.
Cllr Mrs Lewis proposed contacting the Police regarding the beer cans in the playground. This was seconded by Cllr Nicholson and agreed.
Cllr Morrison enquired if there had been any progress on the Paddlers area. Cllr Mrs Lewis explained the progress on the Paddlers area was already on the Town Council agenda. The Town Council meeting would be held on Thursday 12th January 2012. The Clerk had sent a letter to NCC which required clarification on a few items.
Cllr Morrison expressed concern regarding the pool linings having been removed however there had been no replacement lining. Cllr Mrs Lewis proposed pictures be taken of the Paddling Pools and enclose the pictures with a letter to NCC, Asset Management Team. The letter will request the Paddling Pools to be cleaned with a hard broom and all broken glass be removed; then a smooth over coat and colour be applied as had been suggested previously. After this is complete the School Children may then be able to design murals to be placed in the pools. A reply to the letter would be requested within 14 days. This was seconded by Cllr Bilboe and agreed.
9. COMMUNICATIONS
None.
10. INFORMATION
None.
11. DATE & TIME OF NEXT MEETING: Saturday 21st April 2012 at 10.00a.m.in the Town Council Offices, following a Site Visit at 09.00a.m.
The meeting closed at 10.38am.