This is your second of two e-votes re the PPAA Committee.

Please read the whole of this post attentively before voting. The vote is for the most important office on the Committee.

At the PPAA AGM on Sunday, June 14th, 2026, it became apparent that there were two people willing to be Site Representative, and that a second vote would therefore be necessary to enable tenants to choose between them. Sue asked them to submit their personal résumés by 0900 on Wednesday 17th June to avoid undue delay.

They are (in alphabetical order):

Sera Jones (New volunteer)
Mike Powell (Chair and Acting Site Representative for previous six weeks during Sue’s recuperation)

Personal résumés

Sera Jones

My name is Sera Jones and I’ve been a plot holder at Pontcanna Permanent Allotments since October 2021. When I took on my plot it was very overgrown, so I understand the work involved in getting a plot back into shape and the challenges of balancing it with everyday life.

I work for Natural Resources Wales in information governance, where I regularly work with a range of people, deal with challenging situations, and make sure information is handled clearly and fairly. I would bring those practical skills to the role of Site Secretary.

I’ve taken an active interest in the running of the site since joining, attending AGMs and keeping up to date with what’s going on. While I’m not currently on the committee, I’d hope to bring a fresh perspective while respecting the experience already there.

I am a first-language Welsh speaker and comfortable communicating in both Welsh and English.

One of the things I value most about Pontcanna is the strong sense of community. I’ve been very lucky to be surrounded by long-time plot holders who’ve shared their advice (and the occasional biscuit). That kind of support is what makes the site special, and I’d like to help maintain that.

If elected, I will:

keep things organised and up to date
communicate clearly with members
support practical improvements that benefit everyone
be approachable and fair

I’d like to give something back to a community I really value, and I’d do my best to support both the committee and fellow plot holders.

Thank you for your support.

Sera

===============

Mike Powell

I have gardened since my childhood and have been gardening at Pontcanna for more than fifteen years, and before that at Colchester Avenue allotments.

For the last two-and-half years I have been a member of the PPAA Committee and have been acting Chair for the last five months.

I am Cardiff born-and-bred. I am retired and I believe I can devote the time necessary to be Site Representative.

From my Committee work, I believe I understand the rôle. I have been involved in the plant sale, plot clearance work, organising the removal of rubbish, plot inspections, supervising tree pruning and dead tree removal by contractors, plot viewings and setting up new tenancies.

I have also interacted with the Council on allotment business and understand the difficulties that can be involved. The rôle of the Committee is to implement the Local Management Agreement on behalf of all plot holders.

It is not our rôle to tell tenants how to garden. I love nature, trees and woodland, but I am fully aware that this is an allotment site. We need to be aware that the allotments are prime land for sale and property development, and the best way to avoid this is the proper management of the site.

Cymraeg:

Dwi wedi bod yn garddio ers fy mhlentyndod ac nawr wedi garddio ym Mhontcanna ers dros bymtheg mlynedd, a chyn hynny yn Rhandir Rhodfa Colchester.

Ers dwy flynedd a hanner dwi wedi bod yn rhan o bwyllgor PPAA ac wedyn yn gadeirydd dros-dro ers y pum mis dwetha.

Cymro Caerdydd ydw i. Dwi wedi ymddeol ac felly dwi’n credu allai rhoi’r amser i fod yn Gynrychiolydd Safle.

O fy ngwaith ar y pwyllgor, credaf fy mod i’n deall y gwaith. Fues i’n rhan o’r sêl planhigion, gwaith clirio rhandiroedd, trefnu’r cludiant o sbwriel, arolygu rhandiroedd, cynnal a chadw coed, dangos rhandiroedd i’w rhentu a threfnu tenantiaethau newydd.

Dwi hefyd wedi cyfathrebu gyda’r cyngor ar fusnes y rhandiroedd, ac felly yn deall y problemau all godi. Rhan y pwyllgor yw i weithredu’r Cytundeb Rheolaeth Lleol ar rhan pob un sy’n rhentu rhandir.

Nid ein swydd ni yw i ddweud i bobl sut i arddio. Dwi’n caru natur, coed a choedwigoedd, ond yn gwbwl ymwybodol taw safle rhandiroedd yw hwn. Mae’n rhaid i ni fod yn ymwybodol bod rhandiroedd yn dir gwerthfawr i’w gwerthu ac ar gyfer adeiladu, felly’r ffordd orau o osgoi hwn yw i reoli’r safle yn briodol.

===============

The PPAA Committee are deeply indebted to, and warmly welcome all new volunteers such as Sera and Adrian. PPA is, by Cardiff standards, a very large site with well over two hundred tenants and sometimes up to forty plots changing hands each year. So there’s a lot of scope, indeed need, for role-sharing and collaboration. The Committee anticipated – in the absence of prior notifications from any other interested parties – that Mike Powell would assume this demanding position, and so he and Sue have spent many hours working on a handover, which has been complicated by the Council’s IT problems with the new Orkastrate system.

For these reasons, the retiring Site Representative (Sue Pasek), continuing Treasurer, (Wendy Gunter) and proposed Chair (Gordon Goldsmith) recommend that the elector vote for Mike Powell. We trust that Sera will understand the reasoning for this recommendation, and hope that – whatever the outcome of the vote – both she and Mike will enjoy being part of the Committee. In due course further votes can be taken, with everyone in a democratically better-informed position in any case.