MenuMinutes of the meeting of Amble Town Council Allotment and Playground Committee held on Saturday, 21st April 2012 at 10.00am in The Council Office. This was preceded by a Site Visit starting at the West Allotment at 9.00am.
1. PRESENT: Cllrs Mrs Lewis (Chairman), Bilboe and Weir. Mr Duquemin (Secretary) from the Allotment Holders Society and the Clerical Assistant (Mrs A Burn) were also in attendance.
2. APOLOGIES: Cllrs Morrison, Rev Nicholson and Palin – other commitments. The apologies were proposed for acceptance by Cllr Mrs Lewis, this was seconded by Cllr Bilboe and agreed.
3. SIMPLY HORTICULTURE:
Cllr Mrs Lewis proposed this item be removed from the Agenda as it is no longer required, this was seconded by Cllr Weir and agreed.
4. CLERK’S REPORT:
4.1: Email received from resident re: Bonfires at Percy Drive Allotments.
4.2: Spoke to local painter re: Painting of Equipment at Philip Drive Playground. He will contact after going back along to ensure the quotation from last year is still correct as prices have increased.
4.3: Email including photos sent to various Playground Equipment providers for further information re: installing a mushroom / balancing board. The quotation provided last year was incorrect, the amount of work would not be necessary. After seeing the photos another quotation has been submitted.
4.4: Letter sent to CMDA as agreed in previous meeting.
The Clerk’s Report was proposed for acceptance by Cllr Mrs Lewis this was seconded by Cllr Weir and agreed.
5. ALLOTMENT HOLDERS SOCIETY REPORT:
The secretary of A.A.H.S (Colin Duquemin) informed the committee members of the successful outcome the advertising of the Raised Beds had produced. As a result there were only a couple of raised beds which were still available; the Allotment Society hoped the remaining beds would be allocated in the coming weeks.
The Poly Tunnel is in need of repair, once the repairs have been completed it is hoped the Poly Tunnel will be used as a Community Area by all of the Raised Beds Tenants.
There had been Blackberries planted around the area to encourage Tenants to help themselves. A Tenant would provide various bushes to be planted in the West Allotments.
All of the West Allotments are let, letters will be sent to Tenants whose Allotments are overgrown.
The Society had placed a late payment surcharge on this year’s rents some of which had enabled the purchase of polythene to repair the Poly Tunnel.
There was still a waiting list for allotments.
Cllr Bilboe would be judging the Garden Awards again this year.
SITE VISIT:
West Allotments: The Clerical Assistant would email NCC – Highways re: request for road plannings at the entrances of the West Allotments to enable filling of potholes.
The Clerk would contact the firm that had repaired the damaged wall at the bottom of the Wynd and request the piles of rubble be removed and placed into the pot holes at the Wynd entrance- photo taken for clarity.
The Clerical Assistant would look at the drainage maps in the office for information re: 1st Allotment next to the Compound as the tenant was considering a borehole. Once the information had been gathered she would forward it to the secretary of A.A.H.S and he could inform that allotment holder if necessary.
The Clerical Assistant would send a letter to Mr McDonnell re: clearing up the boat and dormobile / Truckman ‘scrap metal’ in the yard. The building requires boarding up. It would be suggested that the boat could be donated to Cllr. Weir for the floral projects.
The secretary was awaiting further details of Fly Tipping Notices, the clerical assistant had contacted NCC – re: signs but had not heard from them- contact again.
Percy Drive: Members were pleased to see less barbed wire, the secretary had informed all allotment holders if an injury occurred, allotment holder would be personally accountable.
6. REQUESTED AGENDA ITEMS:
6.1: Consideration of resident’s complaints re: Bonfires – Clerical Assistant
Cllr Weir suggested a diffuser be placed on top of the greenhouse chimney in case this was the problem.
The secretary had received 4 emails from Environmental Health re: smoke from bonfires. The society had placed notices around the allotments regarding procedures and considerations.
The secretary had contacted the National Society re: legal advice, a response had been received but nothing obvious was outlined.
Cllr Mrs Lewis enquired if another complaint was received then could Environment Health advise A.A.H.S of any other measures to be taken as it was felt more specific information was required from them.
6.2: Pathways Quotations – Cllr Mrs Lewis.
The secretary had gathered quotations from a couple of firms however specific details were required. The secretary agreed to look into the quotations further.
Cllr Mrs Lewis requested the clerical assistant copy an A4 map of the allotments and send it to the secretary so the precise area could be marked.
Cllr Weir suggested the work required could be completed in stages.
7. COMMUNICATIONS
7.1: A request from Age UK – number of people on allotment waiting list
The secretary confirmed he would complete the form as requested.
The secretary requested the date of the next meeting which was agreed and left the meeting
6.3: Consideration of quotations for replacement springer playground equipment – Clerical Assistant
The clerical assistant confirmed she had gathered quotations from various playground equipment providers.
The 1st company would charge £527.
The 2nd company would charge £900.
The 3rd company would charge £1493
The 4th company would charge £1058.00.
Cllr Mrs Lewis proposed accepting the first company in principle as further information was required; this was seconded by Cllr Bilboe and agreed
Cllr Mrs Lewis requested further information be gathered i.e. price for replacing tiles if needed and to clarify that H & S standards conforms to regulations.
8. INFORMATION
8.1: None
9. TOWN COUNCIL PLAYGROUND REPORT:
9.1: The clerical assistant summarised the reports from the Playground Inspector, the members enquired if the fence had been repaired. The clerical assistant had taken photos of the playground area and confirmed the fence had not been repaired.
Cllr Mrs Lewis proposed a letter be sent to Nomad Housing, members were concerned re: the delay in a reply, the repair requires attention a.s.a.p as children play in the playground and a dog is fouling inside the playground area. There is also a possibility of the children being scared by the dog in the adjacent property.
Cllr Mrs Lewis proposed the relocation of a town litterbin be moved to the Working Party. The bin could be located on the grassland outside of the playground and also used by those walking along the footpath, the bins inside the playground area being removed as the inserts had been removed a long time ago and any rubbish placed in them blows all over the playground. This was seconded by Cllr Weir and agreed.
10. DATE & TIME OF NEXT MEETING:The next meeting would be held on Saturday, 7th July 2012 at 10am. in the Council meeting room
There being no further business the meeting closed at 10.45a.m.