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(Image removed)

A volunteer came across the man pictured, today, picking apples from a tree on a plot, using a picking tool. He had quite a large bag of other produce and some leeks too.

He seemed startled when the volunteer said hello, and left site shortly afterwards, on foot, by the Western Avenue gate. He had a gate key.

He appeared familiar, and could be a plot holder or an ex one. He’s perhaps in his seventies, of shorter-than-average height, medium build, and has a distinctive walk, which verges on a trot.

We’d be interested to hear from anyone who recognises him or the description, and from anyone who has also had produce taken from their plot at this time.

Update:

A plot holder has informed us that they authorised the ex-plot holder described to gather produce from their plot. Since the fruit being gathered elsewhere was from overhanging branches, and didn’t involve the picker going on to the plot, it appears that no serious wrong has arguably been done.

However, plot holders are reminded:

• All visitors should be supervised by them.
• The only people entitled to own gate keys are current tenants. On giving up a plot all keys should be handed back.
• All produce growing on a plot, even overhanging other land, is, we understand, the property of that plot holder, and therefore not available for anyone else to harvest.

Site volunteers

As signs beside the main gate, and elsewhere on the perimeter fence announce, and as resolved to be continued at a number of PPAA Committee meetings, the site’s subject to surveillance by cameras. However, for various reasons, this safeguard’s only been intermittent.

With a view to improving things, a plot holder has purchased various equipment – at their own expense – and has been trialling this around the site. The results so far are promising, with a great many images, some of which are interesting. (When movement triggers them, shots are taken every few seconds. At night, infra red pictures are taken.) A couple of examples are shown below:

There are also images that a few people might prefer weren’t recorded. For instance the plot holders – who subscribe to the newsletters and therefore have been repeatedly reminded – who haven’t payed their five pounds (yes, only five pounds) subs for full PPAA membership, but who nonetheless helped themselves to a counted nineteen barrowloads of manure, over two occasions, in a borrowed wheelbarrow.* (One of these was also indicated, apparently vexatiously knocking over the doorstop blocks for the bring-and-take cubicle. You have to laugh…)

We did consider the idea of publishing those pictures, but we’d just ask that these folk – they know who they are – simply play the game, like nearly every one of their fellow gardeners does in good heart.

We’re pleased to report though, that in the areas covered, there was only one instance recorded, of any person’s being on the site during real night time over the last six weeks or so, and no instance of gates having been left open, so thanks to all for everyone’s care in that regard.

Whatever, the trials continue, but as a protection against theft, the particular equipment has been moved from the location revealed by the images in this article. So, wherever anyone might be on site, keep smiling 🙂

*At one time the Council moved the manure for the Riding School for free, but these days the Riding School have to arrange this at their own expense. Importantly, PPAA Committee now have to buy the manure from them. It’s therefore PPAA Committee’s property, and so those taking it without having paid for that right would, on the face of it, simply be stealing.

Site volunteers and Website Team

The volunteers who did the recent work on the hedge improvements are sincerely grateful to the several gardeners, who spoke to them to offer to help with the planting of replacement hedging where the problematic, fast-growing subjects have now been removed. That assistance would be of great value and benefit, and so these kind ad hoc volunteers are invited to contact PPAA Committee by email (using the message page if they don’t have the address.) If everyone’s in agreement, then an email group etc. can easily be set up to co-ordinate the work.

Now that the somewhat onerous initial stage is over, the extent and type of work needed is clearer. It’s pleasing to see that there are quite a number of good mixed hedging subjects such as holly, hawthorn, and berberis. (There are in fact more of these than at first sight, because some had to be cut back quite rigorously to access e.g. sycamores for suppression, but they should readily sprout again.) This means that good replacement plantings can be done more simply than was at first thought to be likely, and the volunteers think that – at least as a holding position – infilling the gaps with pyracantha – firethorn – would tick all needed boxes for the time being, and other items – such as honeysuckle – can be planted among them at any time after.

Pyracantha* really is a very good thing to plant for this purpose. It’s attractive, dense, extremely thorny, and has strikingly colourful berries. Moreover, it’s evergreen, so continues to grow all year round. It’s also available from everyday suppliers in convenient form for planting, as here in the case of B&Q.

It’s not just for the enhanced benefits to site security, appearance, and wildlife support that this work is being done. PPAA are charged with the maintenance of most aspects of the site under a Local Management Agreement deed with the Council. It’s implicit in that duty then, that PPAA must preserve or improve the maintainability of the site. That means, that where possible, the burden of the work involved in so doing be reduced, so that there’s less for volunteers to do, or less expense involved in paying contractors to do it. In this case, where a fast-growing, tall hedge – which needs cutting three or even four times a year – can be transformed into one of moderate height, which only needs cutting once, then it behoves PPAA Committee to do this. Furthermore, such a transformation also greatly reduces the amount of biomass arising from such work and which requires disposal. This in turn frees up funds to support the central task of the Association, which is to ready plots for occupation by new tenants, that is, Cardiff Council Tax payers from the Waiting List.

*The Local Management Agreement – like our tenancies – doesn’t permit the planting, by anyone, of broadleaf, conifer, or willow trees anywhere on the site, and there’s no dispensation for doing that as hedging either, so pyracantha, which is generally considered to be a shrub, avoids any difficulty in this regard.

PPA Website Team

Today saw the last meeting of the Working Group – Council Officials and site association delegates – on this subject. The Consultation responses have been analysed, and accordingly, in a few places, adjustments have been made.

The Council say that they will shortly write to all Site Representatives, then tenants, setting out the next steps in plain English / Welsh, and attaching a copy of the new Agreement. They will also include an executive summary of the consultation report. The process remains on course to have all of us tenants who wish to continue with our plots signed up to the new conditions by February 1st 2027. That is, there will be over a year’s notice, during which we can all make any changes needed to our plots.

With particular reference to the last sentence, the Working Group were told that the watchword, that the Council expect to be applied is “pragmatism“. That is, reasonableness, when it comes to enforcing the new conditions. For instance, it would be unconscionable to expect someone who had a previously approved greenhouse, somewhat larger than the new limit, to dismantle it, and it would also break the general convention on non-retrospection for rules where that would cause undue hardship. However, our understanding is that if a tenant’s breach of the rules were to be causing – or likely to cause – problems for anyone, then such breaches would receive priority for Council time on enforcement.

PPA Website Team

The recent windy weather has brought down some quite large branches from trees in the park and on to plots on PPA.

Fortunately PPAA has a volunteer with the necessary qualifications to deal with and to remove these, and he’ll attend to them over the next week or two. So if anyone should discover these on their plot, then all that they need to do is to wait.

While you’re here…

Subscribers to this website will generally have received an email notifying them of this article, and all tenants who’ve consented to email contact by PPAA have been added to the Subscriber List.

NB: such tenants, but who’ve chosen to unsubscribe from this list will not be sent individual emails on important matters, e.g. the procedure on how to ensure that their tenancy continues, when the new Tenancy Agreement is introduced, and requires their becoming a party.

The website settings are such, that if a recipient should reply to this email using their own email account, then it’s been arranged that so doing will send an email to the PPAA gmail account.

However, the notification email also features a “comment“ button. Clicking on this will take the user to the comment section beneath the public website article notified by the email, where they can leave a public comment. That is, doing this will not send any email to the PPAA account.

The website has been receiving a few comments, worded as if the sender perhaps believed that they were private emails, and the gmail account emails worded as if they were maybe public comments.

(At one time PPAA used emailing software for its mailing list, but that isn’t any longer the case. Publishing communications to all on the website means that subscribers can be confident that they’re receiving the same as all the other recipients, whereas emailing software generally promotes – as an advantage – the capacity to send different messages to chosen groups.)

We hope that the above might have helped to clear up any uncertainty or misunderstanding.

PPA Website Team

The work – as resolved at Committee meetings – to replace the many presently unsuitable hedge components such as sycamore with better ones has begun.

This shouldn’t cause a reduction in site security, as that job is now done by the adjoining abundant dry hedging, made mainly from the arisings from the crown lifting of the row of mature hawthorns (those are in fact the original PPA boundary hedge), and by the vigorous brambles which now permeate it too.

The sycamores etc. will be cut out or reduced, and the stumps deactivated. This will lead to temporary gaps in the hedge – some quite wide – but these will be replanted where needed with far better subjects such as sloe, hawthorn, barberry, pyracantha, etc., and interspersed with honeysuckle. Not only will these form a much denser and thorny hedge to prevent intruders, but they’ll be much slower growing, and therefore greatly reduce the maintenance burden and its cost to PPAA. They’ll also make far better nesting for birds, and the berries will provide food for a range of animals. So everyone’s asked not to be tempted to infill such gaps with prunings or other waste!

(There are in fact many of the latter already among the sycamores etc., but they’ve been crowded out and light starved by those up until now, so it’ll be rewarding to see them start to thrive at last.)

The planting of the new hedging ought to be generally pleasant work, but there’ll be quite a bit of it, so if anyone wants to volunteer to help, then their offer will definitely be very gratefully received.

PPA Website Team

About two weeks ago, Site Representatives and the Working Group received the Final Report from the Council on the Consultation that’s taken place. However, for the time being its contents aren’t to be shared generally. Recipients have until October 3rd to make any comments.

Whether, on the basis of the Consultation analysis, the draft Agreement will be significantly amended remains to be seen.

We appreciate that this post doesn’t convey many facts, but what is clear is that the process seems to be following the expected timetable, and as soon as more is known it’ll be passed on. It’s hoped that this will allow plenty of time for those whose plots don’t meet whatever new standards for cultivation etc. to bring them up to specification, e.g. by the increase of cultivated area, removal of newly-specified disallowed plantings, and so on, without being pressured by any limited grace period etc.

(The expected timetable is that the new Agreement will be finalised by the end of this year, so that a full year’s notice can be given to everyone regarding the change. The new Agreement would then apply to allotment years – starting Feb 1st – 2027 onwards.)

As previously mentioned, every one of us will need to sign the new Agreement if we want to continue with our plots.

PPA Website Team

We had the first gale of the season yesterday, and there’ll no doubt be plenty more.

Everyone’s asked to make sure that all their structures and other property are capable of withstanding this type of weather. In particular, sheds etc. will be blown about like toys unless anchored securely to the ground. An effective way of doing this is by driving into the earth a good length of sturdy angle iron or scaffolding at some point along each side.

It’s also a feature of English and Welsh property law, that if someone else’s stuff gets blown onto our plot, then it becomes our possession, whether we want it or not. Our title – ownership – isn’t as good as the original owner’s, but as the saying goes, possession is nine-tenths of the law.

So if we were tempted to fly tip it anywhere, then we would have committed just as much of an offence as would the original owners if they had done this themselves, so please don’t anyone do this. Yes, it’s an inconvenience, but if the property can’t be reunited with its first owner, then we must dispose of it off site ourselves.

Thanks everyone.

PPA Website Team

Although it’s been customary for PPAA Committee to try to meet monthly, there isn’t in fact any constitutional requirement for the Association to do this, but only to hold an Annual General meeting. Nor is there any procedure laid down for such meetings, but the present Acting Chairs have followed the “blue chip” companies’ guidance as to that, and as to what is proper to include in or to exclude from any minutes taken. The position’s explained on this page.

The last meeting of PPAA Committee was in June as minuted, and there hasn’t been one since (nor of any sub-group.) This has been down to a number of reasons, such as holidays, people’s other family commitments, personal preferences, and the fact that electronic communication means that anything important can be discussed and resolved in that way.

From messages received however, it seems that some have perhaps mistakenly assumed that meetings took place as customarily scheduled, but that either minutes weren’t taken, or if they were, then they weren’t published. This isn’t the case. There simply haven’t been any meetings, but nevertheless the routine works – such as the clearing of plots and letting them to new tenants – have continued as normal, as has site maintenance, and other works previously resolved to be undertaken.

(If there should be reports being circulated, which differ from the above, then these – we’d suggest – would be mistaken. On a general point regarding communication, we’d also make clear that no plot holder is blocked from the PPAA email account, nor from commenting on this website. On the other hand, what anyone might do with their personal accounts – where these have, with hindsight, perhaps unwisely been shared – is of course entirely a matter for them.)

PPAA Website Team

A few years ago, the then PPAA Committee discussed the possibility of putting up new, additional site notice boards, on which plot holders could place e.g. for sale notices.

This was partly informed by the periodic need – taking up volunteer time – to remove the remains of such notices attached to the gates, along with cable ties, bits of wire etc., and the general impression of untidiness created.

However, the Committee members who’d agreed to investigate taking this forward subsequently left. More importantly though, since then, this website’s been developed, to offer the facility to readers to place such advertisements on it, where they will likely find a much wider readership. It also means that PPAA funds don’t need to be spent on the installation and maintenance of physical boards. The place for such notices is on the “Lost/found etc.” page. However, a word of warning: it’s unwise to publish to the world email addresses or phone numbers. So e.g. just a first name and plot number should be used for contact, and meetings can easily be arranged by reply to the original comment.

This website has well over two hundred subscribers, and the stats show that it also has a steady flow of general readers.

We’d respectfully ask then, that people wanting to advertise things for sale, or to announce that they’ve found lost property, and so on, kindly don’t place notices on the gates, but advertise as just described.

(It’s not just that it creates work for unpaid volunteers in tidying up the gates. Our understanding is that it’s unlawful to attach private notices to public property, which would, on the face of it, also put the poster in breach of rule twenty-seven of our tenancy agreements.)

Thanks everyone.

Again noted…

PPA Website Team