Hello to everyone, and particularly our new members.
I hope that the recent spell of cold, wet weather is not making you too frustrated as gardeners and allotment holders. Don't worry, warm weather will soon be back I am sure. Also, don't be alarmed if you see standing water on your plot - it is normal on Hill Rise during wet weather (admittedly, normally during the winter) but the water usually drains away within a couple of days - once it stops raining ! It does help however if you leave you car in the car park while this wet weather is upon us, just to protect the state of the tracks.
At the time of writing, our membership of the main Allotment Association stands at 85 which is really good, and growing all the time. Since we set up the online payment scheme, we have gained 10 new members. In addition, with the gardening club, we now have over well over 100 members across the two groups. We could soon be one of the biggest community groups in St Ives!
On the weekend of the 28th April I went on a trip to Kew with the Gardening Club, organised by Robin Bletsoe who managed to book a full 50 seater coach, and we had a great day. Whatever successes we have with improving the allotment faclities, or in our battles with the council, I think we should take pride in building a real community group, one which I feel is going to benefit the town in the long term, and I would particularly like to thank Robin for his hard work in making the gardening club happen.
Turning to facilities, we have purchased an additional water tank, to be situated somehere near plot 55 in the centre of the site, and this is being matched by the town council, who are going to place another water tank somewhere near plot 40, on the top row. Hopefully this will mean that most members do not have to walk more than four plot widths to get water.
Turning to more troublesome matters, some of you will be aware that a couple of sheds were set fire to during the winter. Luckily we have not suffered too much from vandalism in recent years, but as you will have read about allotments in Somersham, once vandals get allotments in their sight, things can really detriorate rapidly. Of course a site as open as ours with poor security means that we can never be completely free from vandalism.
If you are new to the allotments, and want advice on securing your shed, then please contact John McKinnie our secretary who has made notes following our last meeting with the council. Secondly, if you do suffer, or do spot vandalism or theft, then you must report it to the police (Chaz Hansford at St Ives Police station) and the Town Hall, so it gets logged..... If it doesn't get logged, then the police won't do anything. I know that you will always hear people say "well the police won't do anything.." but that simply isn't true. Two years ago when we had a couple of young boys entering the allotments and throwing stones at chickens, I managed to ring Chaz Hansford as soon as I saw the boys, he was on site with 5 minutes, he managed to find the boys on their way home, and have a chat with a father, and we managed to nip the problem in the bud. My frustration is that this had been going on for a couple of weeks, and nobody had bothered to call the police. I work during the week so by definition I can only spot things which go wrong at the weekend - if you are there during the week, then please keep your eyes peeled and keep a mobile phone with you with the number already in your phonebook.
Please note that the new number for non-emergency calls is 101. This replaces any previous number we may have given you. I have it entered as 'PoliceStIves 2933' in my phone book which reminds me when I ring, that you can get through to St Ives and leave a message on extension 2933. Finally don't put your self in danger by trying to tackle thieves or vandals yourself. Just quietly call the police.
Finally, John has already informed you that he and I will be standing down as secretary and chair respectively this autumn, so we will be looking for members to volunteer for these posts. I have carried out the role of chairman for 3 years and feel it is time to let someone else to get stuck in, and bring some new ideas. I am still happy to help with specific jobs like sitting on the Produce Show committee and maintaining the web site. What we probably need to do is break down some of the jobs further such as meetings secretary, membership secretary, newsletter editor, which are currently all done by one person (John!). We will give you a better idea of what these entail, later in the summer.
Well, even though the cold weather has slowed things up a bit, I hope you are enjoying some fresh produce, if only asparagus, rhubarb and early sprouting broccoli. Look forward to seeing you at our Spring social event on the allotment site this coming Sunday 20-May from 11:00 to 14:00 for lots of lovely home made soup, cakes, plants and fun!.
Richard
Chair HRAA
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