Minutes of Meeting of the Committee of Tilehurst Allotments Society: Wednesday 1 Februarywww.tilehurstallotments.co.uk email: Tilehurstallotments@hotmail.com

Present: Ken Phillips (Treasurer), William Macphee, Jenny Cottee (secretary), Dave Griffiths, Colin Robinson, Richard Buckingham, Kate Jones ,Karen Fidler

Apologies: Oliver Jenks, John Butt

1	Chair of meeting . In the absence of John the meeting was pleased to take up Williams offer (that had been prompted by jenny) to chair the ciMinutes of meeting held on Wednesday 24 Oct had been circulated & were agreed to be correct; matters arising were considered later in the agenda.	ACTIONS
2	Minutes of meeting held on Wednesday 24 Oct had been circulated & were agreed to be correct; matters arising were considered later in the agenda.
3	Reports: Secretary- had received a summary of his responses at the AGM from Colin Treasurer Ken reported that (i) he had received a donation from TPLC to cover the costs of the KOG roof repair following a request for help prompted by discussion at the AGM (ii) the news that the Charity will cover bills for routine maintenance that until now the Charity has met see item4 (i) below) means that looming financial problems have receded. The committee discussed the good news and asked jenny to pass on their thanks to the Trustees (iii) the balances stood at : Current ac £46.94, money manager ac £699.51 , Bond £9661.45	jenny adjust draft agm mins jenny pass on thanks to trustees.
4	Trustees report (i) Oliver has reported that the Trustees will be taking on responsibility for cutting grass- ie they have sought tenders to cut the same areas we have been paying for, and will pay the bill . They will also take responsibility for boundary hedge eg Armour Hill. (ii) They will be considering the matter of the west fence that has collapsed on to John Butt and Mike Tomas’s plots Mrs Eddy’s garden (Armour Hill) . (iii) Oliver is passing his baton to Stephanie Keighley - re the land-lord’s responsibilities for the allotments, an particular and as the clerk to the trustees in general . Jenny had met her on Saturday –they had a good discussion and tour round the site, met some plot holders. Liz had ensured we have a photograph of the new landlord’s agent for Dig It so we will recognise her on site.	(ii) jenny inform John and Mike that the matter is in hand (iii) we will write a brief introduction and thank you to Oliver for the next Dig it.
5	Updates on events that have happened since the last meeting i.Electronic distribution of dig it- now stands at 35 plot holders and also trustees will get theirs by central electronic mailing and then they will forward- so the dig it printing bill should at very least be held firm in spite of price rises . Some people prefer electronic version- no need to push hard now finances better- but it does save work too. ii.Jenny has delivered folders to new plot-holders having done some updating of the text. She has contacted the Henry Doubleday foundation asking for some more gardening calendarsing the usual arrangement of making a contribution to cover costs .- no response yet. Jenny met many new plot-holders. One volunteer to do any website/business work. Worth remembering have we any bright ideas- need to recruit more help? New projects? iii.There is an entire new neighbourhood police team – we noted their faces and agreed it would be good to arrange an on- site meeting (possibly to be publicized in dig it) when weather a bit better and more gardening going on. iv.Rats- a plot-holder has reported rats in his compost stack- centrally located plot. I have discussed briefly with Oliver- The committee agree with him that a major anti rat campaign would not be sensible/practicable .	Follow up request jenny arrange
4	Reading Council Planning : Examination of proposed Sites and Detailed policies documents: Colin reported that we felt it had been a good experience- the inspector listened attentively and we felt we had a fair hearing. It seems probable that the council will adopt the final approved version in April	Editor- report likely date of outcome news in Dig it.
5	Dig It –next edition – due out by Tuesday 28 Feb since RESCUE happens on w/e 10/11 March copy date fr1 17 feb . content ideas welcome .Include H/S dates if possible	all pass on ideas asap .Jenny find if available
6	RESCUE – Jenny reported that the central arrangements for RESCUE will be similar to 2011.Daict collection of rubbish by plot holders to the Friday and Saturday – so ensuring that 100% of the stuff would have gone by the end of Sunday – it is not reasonable for many people to do runster 4.00pm on Sunday.	clear note in dig it needed
6	Notice boards (i) main- Dave will sort out replacement backing to accept drawing pins .(ii) car park- ken has made scaffolding stand, and will be i/c construction of board and convene team to put it up when weather less awful . (iii) transparent Covers both Jenny to liaise with peter and obtain covers for both-aim for strength- resistance to bricks etc.. The meeting agreed reasonable costs for materials to be ire-imbursed to these nominated people.	all to help as needed
7	Site issues : (i) site map showing newr tenants was noted ii) Repairs to 2 taps (T1 and T6 on the map) noted- agreed to pass on messages re any more asap. (iii) Plots not yet being cultivated –Meeting agreed to pass on messages re plots needing attention to jenny to ensure list is accurate –even if message had been sent previously .We vneed to keep alert so plot holders are contacted in good time before weeds get a hold .	jenny to pass on message re 2 tap repairs all send reminder to jenny
8	AOB (i) next year agm booked village hall for Thurs 27 Sept (ii) ideas re sales income generation we will be under less pressure this year since no grass bill, but it would be good to keep income flowing… any ideas?	.
9	The next committee meeting will be on Monday 23 April 2012
The committee thanked William and Joan for the continued hospitality- accommodation and refreshments, and the meeting closed at 8.40 pm