Present: Richard Masterman (Chair), Sue Jones, Wendy Gunter (Treasurer), Martin Pasek, Robert Loxton, Lewis Evans, Gordon Goldsmith, Mike Powell
Apologies: Dan Hostler
Previous Minutes:
Meeting date 5th September 2023: Previously approved.
Actions from previous meeting
Items to be addressed as the agenda.
Chair Report
Richard welcomed Mike to the Committee
Site Representative
Council.
The Council have given a response to the overflowing culvert issue on Road 3. The PPAA Committee, who do not accept aspects of this response, have replied to the Council accordingly.
In the meanwhile the PPAA Committee have independently and WITHOUT PREJUDICE committed to warning signage, and to clearance of the silt – which is underway .
PPAA
As agenda
Treasurer’s report
Wendy advised that Dave King had confirmed he would continue to act as account auditor for which the Committee are very grateful.
A token of gratitude would be made to Cardiff Rivers Group for this and for their assistance in recovering the trolley and the continuing collection and removal of metallic waste.
Site Security
Richard has obtained a quote from a metal fabricator to improve the security of the bottom gate by making it more difficult to climb over. Intruders have been seen on several occasions to climb over the gate and have been aggressive to plot holders. The Committee approved the expenditure. Richard to obtain a risk assessment from the contractor and action.
The cost of installing full cctv was proving excessive and it was agreed that wildlife cameras would be obtained and discreetly positioned at suitable locations.
Autumn hedge trim
This will be carried out when most leaves have fallen.
Waste heap and shed debris removal
It is anticipated that this will be carried out in the next few weeks depending on contractor work schedule and a period of dry weather; work to take up to 3 days to complete.
Wendy volunteered to pursue the removal of shed debris next to Plot 2.
Hedgehog boxes
5 have been procured and will be installed.
Plot Inspections
7 plots had been identified as long-term overgrown with no sign of activity and had been referred to the Council for terminating the rental agreement.
Sue confirmed that all new prospective new plot holders were apprised of the demands of maintaining a plot and Council procedures for neglect. A 6-week probation period is in operation for new plot holders.
Plot Vacancies, letting and structure applications.
Sue reported the following movement since the last meeting:
5 new tenants in the 6-week probation period
1 vacant plot waiting viewings.
1 vacant plot in bad condition to be cleared before letting.
1 plot being cleared and nearly ready for letting.
1 application for a structure.
Manure
A Committee member had recently met with a Council representative who had agreed to investigate manure delivery.
Post meeting note: manure has now been delivered.
Poly tunnel allocations 2024
6 grow beds will become available in February 2024 and the process of application and draw will begin in December.
Water trough water
Mains water will be isolated for the winter at the end of October.
Any Other Business
Mike queried the requirement of a site specific Risk Assessment. Richard to enquire if other allotment sites have adopted any procedures.
Mike noted that a large ash tree near the composting toilet appears to have die back and will advise the Council.
Date of next meeting
19:00 Tuesday 7th November 2023 at Butcher’s Arms Canton.
Now’s that time of year on site when many of us choose to tidy up our plots from the summer growing season, and to start preparing them for the spring. It also makes it an ideal time for new plot holders to start on a plot, as they now have the time to prepare for the next season’s activities.
With that in mind, it’s also a good time for anyone thinking of giving up their plot – or wanting to explore the relevant options – to do so.
Around the site there’re quite a few plots which’ve seen minimal, or even no, cultivation during this last year. There can be many reasons for this, but there’re options which might help to see some of them being worked productively again.
If a plot’s too big, then the holder could swap it for a smaller one, or the plot could be split.
Maybe there’s someone who would like to share their plot – after all, the Council have people on the waiting list who’ve specified this very thing as a choice.
Or maybe – as’ll be the case for us all in due course – the time’s come for the holder to give up their tenancy.
Anyone wanting to discuss options is cordially invited to contact PPAA Committee, and the range of possible next steps can then be identified and considered.
It’s important for us all to remember this though. A plot holder who releases their tenancy voluntarily isn’t prevented from putting their name back on a Cardiff allotment waiting list. However, that’s not the case if the Council end the tenancy compulsorily.
It’s dispiriting to see new gardeners give up because they struggle to keep their plots sufficiently weed-free to be productive, indeed, acceptable, under the terms of tenancy.
There’s a recurrent pattern, where the new plot holder invests a lot of effort, perhaps even enlists help, to weed the plot, but is then daunted to see that a mere month or so later the myriad seeds have germinated and then rapidly grown, so that the plot looks little different from when they first took it.
The problem often seems to be a lack of knowledge, as to the proper use of two simple, basic tools – the hoe and the rake, and of the effects of time on the growth of weeds.
A typical pull hoe. The handle should be long enough to enable comfortable working without bending (It’s fair to assume that everyone knows what a rake looks like?)
So, to start at the beginning, once the heavy work of first clearing has been done, it’s essential to prevent weeds from re-establishing themselves, but this needn’t be difficult, and this is where hoe and rake come into the picture. If the gardener can attend at least once every ten days or so during the growing season, then the small weeds and seedlings can easily be destroyed, by using a pull hoe to cut them and their roots away from the underlying soil, working methodically in strips, to avoid trampling the weeds back in, or re-covering them with successive work. This is by far best done in dry weather so that the weeds quickly shrivel and die. After the hoe, a rake can be used to gather up the weeds for the compost heap. It’s best not to leave them as, a shower of rain can water them back in, and some will recover. However, it’s crucial not to allow the weeds time to put down deep roots, and so regular attendance – at least once every ten days – is essential.
That said, however, using a hoe and rake isn’t hard work. If done regularly, then unlike digging it doesn’t need much strength or energy, doesn’t involve bending like weeding with a trowel, and it’s very quick.
If the gardener hasn’t much time, then a low-maintenance plot should be designed so that it may easily be managed by hoe-and-rake. Too many structures – raised beds, cages etc. can hinder the use of these wonderful, simple tools.
A productive, low-maintenance plot, quickly restored to a weed-free state after harvest, by hoe-and-rake.
A Word About Bay Trees
We’re used to seeing these as attractive small shrubs in tubs, as topiary features, outside restaurants and other public places, and it might be tempting to include one in an allotment herb garden. However, the ones that we see out-and-about are only small because they’re in containers and regularly trimmed. The fact is, that bay is a fast-growing evergreen, a laurel. Planted in free soil it quickly becomes a large, very dense tree. Furthermore, the Council have confirmed, that bay trees are simply broadleaf trees, and are therefore prohibited under Clause Seven in the Schedule forming part of our Tenancy Agreements.
Part of the volunteers’ work is clearing plots ready for new tenants, and an increasingly large part of their time and energy is being taken in dealing with neglected bay trees, which shouldn’t have been planted in the first place.
If anyone wants to grow one of these, then please keep it in a container, one from which it can’t root into the soil, and prune it regularly. After all, how many bay leaves would even the most enthusiastic cook need in a year – a couple of handfuls?
There’s at least one bay in the hedge by the spine road in any case, so if anyone wants a few leaves for a stew then they’re very welcome to help themselves.
The recent weather has been perfect for the rapid growth of weeds, and it’s a fact of the terms of tenancy, that the responsibility for keeping these paths weed-free and usable rests jointly with the holders of the adjoining plots, but not with either PPAA Committee or with the Council – unlike the position with the trackways.
It might assist some to remember then, that it’s also a fact that PPA – like the rest of Cardiff allotment sites – isn’t an organic site. Plot holders are therefore entitled to use chemical weed suppressant if convenient or expedient in the maintenance of these paths. So PPAA Committee understand – on that basis – that no one should hinder or harass any plot holder so doing. If the occupant of an adjoining plot wished to ensure that no splashes whatsoever went onto their plot, then the option is always fully open to them to maintain the path in a weed-free condition themselves.
Where the paths are grass, tenants are encouraged to share the burden of their cutting co-operatively. Where, however, someone refuses to do that, there is no rule which says that the grass must be retained.
Everyone is reminded, that even if they are fortunate enough not to need to use these paths, their neighbours may very well need them for access to their plots and to water troughs, and so it’s very important that they not be blocked by encroaching compost heaps, or by junk etc. either.
The very large pile – mainly of fly tipping – is on the southwest part of plot 50. Other parts of plot 50’s historic area have been, by proper process and recognised by the Council, assimilated into adjoining plots 48a and 48b, and the ever-growing heap is now encroaching on their long-suffering tenants – besides being an eyesore and source of weed nuisance to them.
The heap arose because some years ago, the then PPAA Committee had the well-intentioned idea – as an experiment – of using this plot’s shady portion as a collective composting heap. The idea was that volunteers would process the compost – as it rotted – into a useful product, and that it would be kept under control. However, it quickly became clear that the huge amounts of waste rapidly dumped there – and its containing general rubbish and not just biomass – could not be processed in that way, and so the experiment was abandoned – as publicised several times in previous Committee Minutes.
Human nature and wishful thinking being what it is though, along with the genie being well and truly out of its bottle, and thanks to a safety-in-numbers sense, quite numerous tenants have continued to fly tip their waste on this heap, rather than to comply with Provision 17 of their Tenancy Agreement.
It’s as well to make clear, that PPAA Committee would be acting completely beyond their powers if they purported or implied that they were able to waive any term in tenants’ Agreements. It’s perhaps the case then, with hindsight, that this experiment implied just that.
So to be absolutely clear once again, there are no collective composting areas anywhere on the PPA site, and people who tip their waste anywhere other than on their own plots or remove it from site are simply fly-tipping. This needn’t cause a serious difficulty for anyone however. During the growing season, Cardiff Council collect garden waste from domestic properties and they will, within reason, empty any number of the large white woven bags. PPAA Committee know of at least one plot holder who does not have a car, and who uses a cycle trailer to take their waste vegetation home for disposal in this manner.
What is proposed to be done?
PPAA Committee have decided to pay private contractors to remove the waste. It appears that two may be required – one to deal with the unrotted, “green” waste, and another to remove that which resembles soil. The cost will likely be well into four figures, so it will use a large slice of PPAA’s Annual Grant.
It is proposed to display notices on both gates, as well as by the site of the former heap itself, reminding all plot holders that there are no collective compost facilities, and that all such fly-tipping must cease promptly. The freed space will either be offered to the tenants of adjoining plots 48a and 48b, or form a reinstated plot 50 – in part or whole. So the land should become privately occupied in short order. All plot holders are expected therefore, to show it the due respect that they would for any other such occupied plot.
Present: Richard Masterman (Chair), Sue Jones, Wendy Gunter (Treasurer), Martin Pasek, Robert Loxton, Lewis Evans, Gordon Goldsmith
Apologies: Dan Hostler
Previous Minutes:
Meeting date 31st July 2023: Previously approved.
Actions from previous meeting
Items to be addressed as the agenda.
Chair Report
The 4-wheel trolley has been recovered but now needs a little attention resulting from being dumped into the Taff. Thanks to Cardiff Rivers volunteers who helped and provided a trailer to return it to site.
The poly tunnel has been repaired. Thanks to John Morgan who assisted.
Site Representative
Council.
Meeting of Site Representatives held 16th August 2023. Salient points of discussion as follows:
A specific query regarding antisocial behaviour or unwanted attention between plot holders was raised with the Allotment Officer and the Parks Community Safety Officer who stated that individual concerns should be addressed by the plot holder directly with the police for particularly serious matters or otherwise with the Council. Committees have no power or responsibility to intervene.
Termination Notices issued by the Council will be copied to the associated committee.
The updated Allotment Strategy might be issued this month.
The Allotment Office has now got access to more detailed water bills for each site enabling better identification of leaks or excessive use.
PPA
As agenda
Treasurer’s report
As agenda items
Site Security
Quotations will shortly be received for options to install camera monitoring of main access gates also to install a physical security deterrent to the top of each gate to make climbing more difficult.
Discussion took place regarding other potential vulnerable points in the perimeter fencing.
Sadly, the gates are still being left unlocked overnight which makes crime prevention difficult.
Plot Inspections
Rob and Richard will carry out final inspections of plots recently issued with a Notice of Non-cultivation (11 issued) on Thursday 7th Sept. If still no progress, then the plot will be referred to The Allotment Office for action.
The whole procedure will be reviewed for introduction in 2024 season.
Plot Vacancies, letting and structure applications.
Sue reported the following movement since the last meeting:
5 new tenants
2 tenants requesting to relocate.
1 prospective tenant has declined to continue and 1 considering waiting a while longer.
2 vacant plots waiting viewings.
Waste disposal
Wendy advised that the contractor to remove the large waste heap hopes to start 14th Sept but he would not be be able to remove green waste.
Richard advised that he would be meeting a contractor this week regarding the removal of a pile of shed debris.
Manure
No further update regarding a delivery.
Poly tunnel allocations 2024
6 grow beds will become available in the New Year and the process of application and draw will begin shortly.
Shop
Richard is pursuing a Group Account with Thomson and Morgan which offers discounts up to 50% catalogue prices. If still available, autumn planting onion sets and garlic will be procured. Spring seed potatoes will be reserved.
Hedgehog boxes
Wendy has procured 4 units which will be positioned on site.
Tool replacement
Martin has identified suitable replacements.
Any Other Business
Nothing further to report
Date of next meeting
19:00 Tuesday 17th October 2023 at Butcher’s Arms Canton.
It’s that time of year again. The charity Orchard Cardiff will gladly collect apples, pears etc. from anyone who has a crop bigger than their own needs.
Contact Terry Howe – apples@orchardcardiff.co.uk – to arrange to meet him at PPA site gate. (These details have now been added to the Useful Links on this website’s sidebar for future reference.)
Alternatively, just leave it in the Bring And Take point, the cubicle by the Western Avenue notice board.
Remember that there are a growing number of people, who simply can’t often afford fresh fruit.
Present: Richard Masterman (Chair), Sue Jones, Wendy Gunter (Treasurer), Martin Pasek, Robert Loxton
Apologies: Dan Hostler, Gordon Goldsmith, Lewis Evans
Previous Minutes:
Meeting date 4th July 2023: Approved.
Matters arising from previous meeting:
It was noted that the main hedge had been trimmed lightly and the surplus stone from the wall repair had been collected and retain for potential future repairs.
Other items arising to be addressed as the agenda.
Chair Report
Covered by agenda items.
Site Representative
Council
Council contractors have completed a repair to the underground water pipe which had suffered substantial damage from stones resulting from poor original installation. The making good of the road is not good but it is unlikely that it will be improved.
PPA
As agenda
Treasurer’s report
As agenda items
Plot Inspections
Rob and Richard have undertaken inspections of poorly managed plots.
35 Notices of Concern have been issued. There are 9 plots where there has been no response or improvement and these have now been issued with Notices of Termination. This gives the plot holder a further 28 days to carry out work otherwise the Council may terminate the tenancy agreement.
Further inspections will carry on for the remaining notified plots where positive intentions to improve have been expressed.
Plot Vacancy/Letting and Structure Application
Sue advised that, since the last meeting, 6 plots have been let to potential new plot holders, there are currently 3 vacant plots awaiting viewings and there has been 1 application to construct a poly tunnel.
Site Security
Sadly, there has been another unauthorised site entry and theft. Private sheds have been accessed and the door of shop container has been forced open together with damage to window boarding and steel wire guards. Items have been stolen from within the container and the 4-wheel trolley is also missing.
The poly tunnel which was recently re-clad was maliciously damaged during the incident.
Richard is pursuing a quote for cctv which would have to be solar powered.
Martin is investigating tool replacement.
Richard and another plot holder will obtain repair tape and work on the poly tunnel.
Post meeting note: Rob and Martin have carried out a repair to the wooden door.
Access to the site remains a serious concern and the main access gates have repeatedly been found open early in the morning. This is possibly careless locking by a plot holder the evening before, or the intruders have access to a key.
With apologies to the diligent, all plot holders must ensure they securely close the gates with every access and egress.
Skips and Waste Disposal
Wendy has received a quote to remove the large pile of accumulated green waste. This pile covers what were originally viable plots 48/50 and it is intended to return the area to working status allowing more people to benefit from an allotment.
The quote is based on a set number of off-site disposal trips and the Committee approved the expenditure subject to setting a maximum spend.
Richard will separately contact a waste disposal contractor regarding the removal of various piles of shed debris.
Manure delivery
There is no update regarding delivery although the stables pit will shortly be full hopefully prompting a delivery.
Shop stock
It was noted that the stock of 2.4m canes is now exhausted.
Any Other Business
The Committee approved Wendy’s proposal to obtain and position some more hedgehog boxes.
Date of next meeting
Committee: 19:00 Tuesday 5th September 2023 at Butcher’s Arms Canton.
Volunteers have sorted all the reusable stone from the rubble waste following the wall repairs, and have removed both from plot 51b. This means that its tenants can rightly use the entirety of their plot, which reaches all the way to the wall.
The boundary wall is a Listed Structure, and it’s therefore important that the original stone be retained and not lost.
The stone has been stacked tidily at the foot of the wall opposite plot 52a. It doesn’t obstruct the track. There’s a fair amount – it appears that the builders might have brought more in case they couldn’t retrieve what they needed, and left that. However it may well be needed for future repairs, as there are many stones missing from parts of the wall along its entire length, so could all of us please leave it where it is and under no circumstances add rubbish to it.
Minutes for PPAA Committee Meeting held on 4th July 2023 on site.
Present: Richard Masterman (Chair), Sue Jones, Wendy Gunter (Treasurer), Martin Pasek, Lewis Evans
Apologies: Robert Loxton, Dan Hostler, Gordon Goldsmith
Previous Minutes:
Meeting date 5th June 2023: Approved.
Matters arising from previous meeting:
Richard reported that the green waste contractor previously used was not equipped to deal with the large waste pile.
Wendy reported that the stone wall repair was now complete and looking good. Thanks to Wendy for arranging.
Other items arising to be addressed as the agenda.
Chair Report
Richard welcomed the new Committee members.
Site Representative
Council
The Allotments Officer informs us investigations into the water leak are ongoing.
The Committee encourage plot holders to remain vigilant for any leaks and to report as seen. We thank those who have already done this when concerned.
PPA
As agenda
Treasurer’s report
Wendy confirmed that the grant allocation notice has been received.
Plot Inspections
Richard and Rob have undertaken the first round of inspections and noted some badly overgrown plots. Associated Letters of Concern have been issued. Follow up discussion and inspections to take place shortly.
Annotation: this process is fully explained on this website here.
Site Security
It was agreed that plot holders should be particularly careful when locking the entry gates. Locks would not be changed.
Plot Vacancy/Letting and Structure Application
Sue advised that, since the last meeting, 6 plots have become vacant, 2 applications for a structure have been approved and 7 plots are being offered to prospective plot holders in the next few days.
Hedge trimming
Some hand trimming of the main hedge has taken place but further work will be carried out.
It was noted that a number of fruit trees around the site are growing excessively tall. Dan has suggested a working party be set up to assist plot holders with winter and spring pruning.
Skips and Waste Disposal
Wendy reported that the contractor who repaired the stone wall would be able to clear the large pile of green and wood waste by the end of Road 6. She awaited a quotation.
There was discussion regarding the removal of waste from the site and it should be noted that the Committee have no obligation to provide skips, the provision of which has previously been abused with off-site waste being dumped. Plot holders are reminded that they should remove their own rubbish and waste from site.
PPAA will, however, from time-to-time, hire skips etc. for pragmatic reasons, and a fuller article on this topic may be published on the PPA website.
Wasp nests
There have been reports of wasp nests at a few locations. Wasps are valuable insects and should not be disturbed, but if they are causing a nuisance then the plot holder should contact the Council directly for removal.
Materials from vacated plots
Plot holders should not remove materials from vacated plots as the outgoing tenant, or their family, may want to recover items.
Any Other Business
The unused stone from the stone wall repair will be recovered and stored for future repair work.
Richard will investigate acquiring expired scaffolding planks for sale at the shop.
The good work carried to improve the poly tunnel was applauded. Any further improvements must receive Committee approval before any cost is incurred.
Date of next meeting
Committee: 19:00 Monday 31st July 2023, Butcher’s Arms, Canton.
Disposal Of Waste On PPA Site – A Dilemma
The terms of our Tenancy Agreements are quite clear.
We must either compost on our own plots, or remove from site entirely, unwanted plant material.
We must also remove from site under our own arrangements other materials, e.g. plastics, metals, rotten wood, and other refuse, which are no longer wanted on our plots.
Furthermore, PPAA Committee don’t have the power to waive those terms.
The facts that can be found on PPA site sometimes present a dilemma, however. Take for instance the case of a plot holder, who gives up their plot because of ill health. In principle, they should be charged for the cost of removing any abandoned materials from their plot, but it would clearly often be unconscionable or impractical to do this, and so PPAA might arrange for a waste disposal company to remove those, or perhaps hire skips, in which volunteers could put the waste.
The dilemma springs from the fact that – human nature and wishful thinking being what they are – when plot holders see skips being used to take away such waste, they can mistakenly interpret this as PPAA having implicitly waived the term in their tenancy which says that they alone are responsible for doing this. Where PPAA hire green waste disposal firms to remove fly tipped-heaps of compost, then they may make the same mistaken assumption about composting on their own plots.
Volunteers have been asked repeatedly by some plot holders as to when “The Skips” are coming, which could perhaps suggest a mistaken sense of entitlement on their part. If so, then it’s easy to to envisage, that if such a person felt resentment that their expectation of the Committee weren’t met, then that might encourage them to fly-tip around the site, leaving us all in a worse position than if nothing at all had ever been done!
…and this is exactly what we mean.
So let’s repeat, that from time-to-time, for pragmatic reasons, PPAA may hire skips or waste disposal companies, but this doesn’t imply that any term of our Tenancy Agreement has been waived.Indeed, PPAA would be acting beyond its powers if it ever purported to do this.
Temporary Waste Piles Left By Volunteers
Observant plot holders might have noticed that heaps of loppings, prunings etc. often arise around the site, as a result of volunteers’ work in managing overgrown areas, in clearing plots ready for letting, and so on, but that they disappear after a short while, usually within a few weeks. It might well be easy for the opportunist to say “Well, the Committee fly-tip around the site, so why shouldn’t I?” but this is a “straw man” argument. What makes fly-tipping rightly an offence is the intention to abandon the rubbish permanently. There’s no such intention on the part of the volunteers, and so it’s not fly-tipping at all. Indeed, the volunteers also often patiently remove the other materials that actual fly-tippers have added to the temporary piles.
Bee Workshop Invitation
PPAA have received the invitation below from Cardiff Metropolitan University and the Website Team are pleased to publish it here:
Good morning,
Cardiff Metropolitan University’s Sustainability team are offering free introductory bee workshops for all ages and would like to extend an invitation for you/your organisation to book. The workshop will be held at our Cyncoed campus where we keep our beehives and will be taught by our resident beekeeper, Rob. You will learn about the importance of bees and how we can all play our part in helping bee populations: following an educational talk and demonstration of beekeeping, participants will then have the opportunity to make their own solitary bee home to take away. We can host up to 20 attendees at a time, refreshments will be provided.
If you would like to be added to our mailing list to stay updated on events and opportunities, please contact us at: sustainability@cardiffmet.ac.uk. If you would like us to remove you from our contact list, please let us know.
