Articles

New trucks for communal use

Two trucks like the one shown have been bought.

They hold more than a wheelbarrow, and would particularly suit people who find supporting the weight of those arduous for any distance. The hopper can be tipped to empty the contents conveniently too.

Could everyone please kindly leave these by the manure heaps when not in use, and also return the other tools left there for communal use, such as spades, shovels, and forks.

Our thanks go to Gordon Goldsmith for organising the purchase, assembly, and delivery to site of these, and also to Sue, for donating her Council gratuity for their purchase.

Car parking on tracks causing obstruction

Tenants are reminded that whilst cars are allowed on PPA site, this is on the basis that they don’t cause nuisance to gardeners, e.g. when they’re using the tracks for their principal purpose, which is access to and from their plots, with or without wheelbarrows etc.

A recent plot-viewing party, a family, including a relative on a mobility scooter, were recently obstructed by such a car, and its owner had the temerity to castigate them for taking up some of the remaining space, which he impatiently wanted to use…

So would plot holders bringing cars to site please park them in the designated parking areas, that is, by the gates at each end of site, in the car park by Road Three, in the corner by the abandoned toilet, or by the Community Gardens containers, and nowhere else.

(As rule 16 of our Tenancy Agreement states: “The Tenant shall not cause or suffer any nuisance, annoyance or damage to the occupier of any other Allotment Garden or to the tenant or owner of adjoining or contiguous premises or obstruct or injure any path set out for the use of the occupiers of the Allotment Gardens…”)

Thanks everyone.

PPA Website Team

Help needed!

The PPAA Committee – and no one’s getting any younger – are looking for fellow plot holders to join them in a few hours of volunteering, by making up a works party.

Help’s needed, to tidy two plots of debris, rotted wood, and rubbish, ready for a waste company to collect.

The date will be Saturday, 11th April, at 10:30. Hopefully, if enough people volunteer, then the work should be complete in less than two hours.

In accordance with recent Council instructions to sites, the cost of removal of the rubbish, by the waste company will, in the one case, be passed on to the departing plot holder, who refused to leave their plot in a tidy state (as required by the Tenancy Agreement, to which they’d put their signature.)

Everyone’s very welcome, and as the saying goes ‘Many hands make light work’.

Anyone willing to help should contact PPAA Committee.

Site access hours – a reminder

Tenants are reminded that our terms only permit access to the site between sunrise and sunset. The days are getting longer now, so that should allow plenty of time to do what we need.

(Our security cameras take good infra red pictures in the dark, and recently showed a tenant on site in the very dim twilight.)

Dogs

Dogs are allowed on site, but must be kept on leads or tethered at all times. Plot holders need to be confident, that their produce has not been performed upon by anyone’s pet.

New gate sign and post modifications

Tenants may have noticed the smart new sign on the Western Avenue end gate. Our thanks go to our Treasurer Wendy, for organising the sign writers to make this.

The stop post for this gate has also been modified by D&S Fabrications, to allow the gate to be opened a little further when necessary. (The manure deliveries require every inch of space. During the last one, the large trailer – which barely fits through the gate – made contact with the lock box, and stretched the gate. It was pushed and sledgehammered back into shape, but a repeat of this must be avoided at all costs.)

PPA Website Team

Present: Mike Powell (Acting Chair), Wendy Gunter (Treasurer), Gordon Goldsmith, Martin Pasek, Sue Pasek (Acting Site Representative)

Apologies: Nerys Lloyd-Pierce, Lewis Evans, Rhys Williams

Jane Davies had informed the Acting Chair, by email, that she has resigned from the PPAA Committee.

The meeting opened at 19:00.

Matters arising from previous Minutes:

• “Clean Or Quits” 2025 – eight terminations were requested, however the Council failed to process, citing heavy workload.

• Plant Sale 2025 – raised £135.

• Red Brick Cubicles – still waiting on quote for works.

• Spine Road hedge works – works completed, 232 pyracanthas planted, bank seeded with grass. 

Site Secretary’s report:

• Sue reported that she had let four plots during February, with another viewing booked. Eight more plots are currently vacant, four require work before being let.

• The Orkastrate system, rolled out by the Council to replace shared files for waiting lists etc, has so far failed to work reliably. It was agreed at the CAHA meeting in January to return the Orkastrate tablets until the app was made stable and the information updated. The tablets were duly returned at the Site Representatives’ meeting of February 11th. The Council have so far not supplied any alternative means of accessing lists so Site Representatives across Cardiff sites are left working from files last updated in 2024.

• There has been no further news from Cardiff Council re progress on the potential fly tipping case against the last tenant of plot 103a.

• The water supply to the site was turned on, Sunday 1/3/26.

Three troughs had significant leaks, two apparently from frost damage, one from interference/vandalism

The three troughs have been repaired, and all above ground pipework inspected. No further leaks were found.

With all the troughs full, the meter now turns at about one litre every three seconds. It therefore appears that the deduced underground leak has worsened, and at this rate would lose about £18,000 worth of water a year. The Council have been informed and reminded.

• Plant Sale 2026: two plot holders have volunteered to manage the growing of plants for the sale
• Criminal/vexatious behaviour has included an arson attack on one plot holder’s structure, and the repeated interference with another plot holder’s wood chippings on a shared pathway

• The annual poly tunnel draw has resulted in six new tenants for the period 2026-2028

• The Committee are now aware of at least forty plot holders, who have not received a bill for 2025-2026. Their names have been passed to the Council Income Retrieval department.

Treasurer’s report: Wendy 

• Wendy confirmed that the funds were in a healthy state and welcomed any suggestion for works to make use of the monies.

• There has been a good response to plot holders paying their £5 PPAA full membership fee.

New Tenancy Agreement Progress: Sue

All plot holders will have received by now notice, and details of, the Council’s intention to issue everyone with new tenancy agreements in 2027. The Council have yet to decide the process of issuing these, but have confirmed that they will be responsible for collecting the new plot deposit that everyone will be expected to pay.

Tree Works: Mike

• Necessary tree safety work on the spine road was carried out by contractor, Andrew Webb, 27/11/2025, cost £660.

• Mike suggested that problematic trees on plots be identified during the forthcoming plot inspections, with follow up action in the autumn.

Vacant Plot Clearing: Mike

• Two plots had required substantial clearance works with the added cost of waste disposal.

• The Council have told all sites that the cost of any such works should be billed to the exiting plot holder, if they should fail to clear at the end of their tenancy.

AOB

Gordon enquired as to what what more could be done to improve site security, and a short discussion followed.

There was no further business and the meeting ended at 20:00.

The next PPAA Committee meeting will be at 19:00 on Tuesday, April 7th, at The Cricketers Inn conference room, Cathedral Road, Cardiff.

Criminal damage is the intentional damage to, destruction of, or adverse interference with, the property, or installation, or other productive work of another person, and against their wishes.

An often misunderstood point is that it doesn’t matter, if that installation or productive work should happen to be on land not owned or otherwise formally occupied by the person who put it there. That fact doesn’t give another party the right to damage it, and if they should, then our understanding is that they may be convicted of an offence.

We’re sorry to have to report then, that a plot holder has suffered repeated damage to a wood chip path that they have installed beside their plot, with the underlay having been ripped back and the path destroyed more than once.

We’d point out to whoever keeps doing this, that for the reasons explained in the earlier paragraphs, this seems to us to be criminal damage.

The maintenance of paths between plots is the joint responsibility of the respective tenants, and ideally their nature would be a matter of agreement. However, some plot holders are seldom present, and if not, then common sense would say that if the other plot holder invests the work in maintaining it – in whatever form – then everyone should respect that.

Volunteers had also built a log pile to support wildlife in the conservation area – clearly signed to discourage disturbance – beside Road Three. A good part of it has now been removed unfortunately, and what appear to be some of the logs have appeared on a nearby plot. Would everyone please kindly not interfere with this area, especially now that nesting season has started.

Finally, we’d mention that ignorance of the law isn’t a defence in these matters.

PPA Website Team

It’s been taken for granted perhaps, that since PPAA Committee members are a familiar presence on site, then face-to-face discussions with them are in order, on whatever matter might occur to a plot holder. Custom-and-practice to date also tends to support this understanding, correct or otherwise.

However, the formal responsibilities of the volunteers who make up the PPAA Committee are stated in its Local Management Agreement with Cardiff Council.

That is, there isn’t any binding requirement for them to offer dispute resolution between tenants.

So everyone’s asked kindly, to familiarise themselves with the procedures in the article Reporting Channels For Victims Of Wrongdoing, and to remember that their tenancy contracts are with Cardiff Council and not with PPAA Committee. That is, only the Council and not PPAA Committee can take enforcement action.

(From time-to-time PPAA volunteers are approached by a tenant, who believes – and sometimes without even any proof – that they have been wronged in some way by another. Having told a volunteer, it sometimes appears that they then expect their problem to be resolved with no further action on their part. If so, then as the facts of PPAA Committee’s brief make clear, their expectation probably isn’t realistic.

It’s become a common discussion point, at meetings of Site Representatives from across Cardiff, that goodwill attempts at informal resolution of such things by them have all too often led to unpaid – and often overburdened – volunteers being subjected to a great deal of unpleasantness.)

The point of this article then, is to emphasise, that there isn’t any formally-agreed obligation between Associations and the Council, which makes it necessary for volunteers to be subjected to the often untoward consequences of their sincere attempts to help aggrieved plot holders in this way.

All this said, the goodwill continues, but nothing can be done unless the plot holder with a grievance puts their claim in writing to PPAA Committee, and has substantive evidence that the person whom they suspect is in fact the wrongdoer. As it stands, if this is done, then the volunteers will continue to do what they reasonably can.

PPA Website Team

A very substantial amount of manure was moved from the Cardiff Riding School to PPA today.

The driver, to use space efficiently, has piled it high.

Plot holders are therefore warned that collapse is possible, and in particular, to avoid the creation of tall faces, which would increase that likelihood. If people use good sense, then the chances of anyone being buried are remote, but in particular children should be kept well away from the heaps at all times.

PPAA Committee now pay for this manure, and so logically it is PPAA property. Full members, who have paid their £5 annual membership have PPAA Committee consent to take it freely – if and when available – but no one else does.

PPA Website Team

Please will drivers kindly not park in any way, which might obstruct the manure pens, or turning in front of them, at either end of the site. The only place suitable at the Western Avenue end is under the trees along the right hand side of the car park as one looks at it from the trackway. If these should be full, then please park elsewhere on the site, e.g. by the Community Garden containers, in the car park on Road Three, or by plot 90, near the disused toilet.

(If a pen should be obstructed, then deliveries to it simply won’t happen, or a car may be contaminated by spillage.)

The vehicle used for this purpose is large, and given to abrupt changes of direction. Will everyone please exercise extreme caution, and keep as far away from the relevant areas as possible, therefore.

Thanks all.

PPA Website Team

Perhaps it’s the extended mild period and absence of winter so far, but the sheer variety and exuberance of the birdsong on PPA site is exceptional this year.

For those with the app to identify the birds we’d be very interested to hear what they’ve found. It’s particularly encouraging that song thrushes – at one time a rarity – are now being spotted quite often. For those who use a spade on their plots to turn the soil, and to expose worms and soil pests, robins will be frequent companions as ever.

The recently laid rough dry hedging is a haven for wrens, black caps, and other small discreet birds, and when the two-hundred and thirty-two pyracanthas have grown we’ll have abundant, cat-proof nesting for various species such as blackbirds. The brashings too will become permeated by brambles to enhance habitat – and site security – further.

We’d remind everyone that nesting season starts at the end of this month, and to take great care that no nest be disturbed.

PPA Website Team

Council billing

Over the past two years, plot holders – some established and others new – have reported that they haven’t received an annual invoice for their allotment plot from Cardiff Council.

PPAA Committee would ask, that anyone in this position should notify the Council themselves, but also let the Committee know that they have done that, so that they may have an idea of the scale of the problem.

Twenty-eight plot holders have so far done just that, and so PPAA Committee have been able to chase on their behalf.

As a result, the Council department dealing with Income Retrieval have now asked the Allotments Department to raise  customer accounts to enable these plot holders to be billed.

PPAA Committee hope very much that we as a site are now nearing the end of this bothersome issue.

Hedge work incidentals

Following the removal of, and deactivation of the stumps of the unsuitable hedging – such as sycamores – two hundred and thirty-two mixed berry colour pyracanthas have been planted in their place, and they seem to to be growing well. These should soon form a dense, strong, very thorny hedge, with attractive, wildlife-supporting berries.

However, sycamores – it’s now understood – will fuse roots with others growing nearby to form an integrated network. This feature has resulted in the stump deactivator, which was used on those cut down, reaching a sycamore which was intended to be retained, but which has unfortunately now also been finished. (It’s the one a few metres to the northwest of the southeast gate.)

Fortunately there’s plenty of room nearby to plant a replacement, and a more ecologically-beneficial one too. Indeed, there’s room for a shrubbery as well.

Consent has therefore been asked of the Council – as required under the Local Management Agreement – for both the removal of the sycamore’s remains, and the planting of a semi-mature replacement rowan, cherry or similar. If anyone has any advice as to a particular tree which is noted for its vigour, good size, attractiveness and ecological benefits, then PPAA Committee would be interested in that.

PPAA Website Team

It’s the start of a new allotment year, and so all tenants are amiably reminded that subs are due if they want full PPAA membership.

Only full membership entitles the tenant to the use of the manure and wood chippings in the pens at either end of the site, and more. (PPAA Committee have to pay for the manure, and so it’s reasonably their property. Consent for its taking costs a mere five pounds, which some sites charge per bag.)

All tenants are automatically basic members free of charge, which entitles them to vote at AGMs, and to be Committee members, however.

PPAA Website Team