Topic: Are allotment committees really so bad?

[Ellen K]

Squash64, I know what you meant, I was being a bit obtuse.

But I don't agree with your last statement.  There is no day-to-day running of an allotment site to be done.  On my site, everyone has a key for the gate and if there are any problems we either fix them ourselves or contact the council.  Theres about 60 of us so we all know eachother at least by sight.  We have a site notice board and occasionally someone leaves a note otherwise things get around by word of mouth.  And it all seems to work very well. 

GeeGee  ;D

[shirlton]

I dread to think of what the allotment would be like without someone to look after the day to day running of it.
We have the benefit of having manure delivered almost weekly. We are sent an email asking us if we want to order any and Betty lets the chap in and takes him around to all the sites that have ordered it. She does the same with the straw when we have a delivery. Our chairman also works hard to ensure that the plotholders get what ever they want from the stores.
We also have an allotment order that goes in to Kings seeds so that we can have the benefit of buying our seed cheaper.
The incident that happened today was just one instance in the day to day running of the allotments.
No-one is asking you to like the way that our allotment is run. The plotholders like it and that is all that matters.
Each to his own

[lavenderlux]

There is day to day running needed on our site (its a council site) and what we have works well for us.  Although everyone has a gate key, the keys to the community building, the trading shed and the machinery store are held by various committee members, at least one of whom is usually at the allotments 'mornings';  Access to machinery needs to be controlled in order to ensure that its in good order and safe to use, so its use is recorded and its checked by our field warden between users and he carries out repairs (or arranges repairs) if needed.
Many of our plot holders are retired and they use their allotment visits to socialise which is why we - most weekday mornings - have a communal 'coffee break'. 
When there are problems we fix them ourselves if we can, if not the field secretary contacts the council - I don't think they'd be happy having reports of repairs etc needed from different people - and how do you know that a fault which needs fixing has been reported to the council if you don't have a central figure to do this

[Trevor_D]

There is no day-to-day running of an allotment site to be done.
GeeGee  ;D

You can't be serious!?! Or can't be living in the real world! There are always things to be fixed or sorted. Every time I go to the the plot people nab me - or I nab them - about things that need to be done.

Who sorts out the machinery? Who hunts out the water leak? Who gets "volunteers" to help with the hedge-cutting? Who orders - and fills - the skip? Who liaises with local businesses to get pallets and bark? Who strims & mows the communal areas? Who sorts out problems between plot-holders (before they actually become problems!)? Who cleans the loo?

I'm always around. Every day. People can come up and talk about problems. My email and mobile number are on the notice boards. Most members know where I live. And we've got plenty of other members - not all of them on the Committee - who organise the other bits of day-to-day running: Ted does the plumbing; Michael is Site Manager; Peter organises the hedge cutting; Jenny does the Newsletter; Cathy organises the King's Seeds order; Gerry sees to the skips; Ines & Sue are doing the BBQ; Mick & Rose do the raffle and refreshments; Joe strims the communal areas; Ines & Hanna clean the loo; Marian delivers the Newsletters; and there are almost certainly others I've missed out.

And we've a whole host more who will volunteer at the drop of a hat to help out. A very brief conversation this afternoon with a new member: of course she and her husband would help out at the plant sale on Sunday - and at the hedge-cutting session next weekend.

But none of this would happen if there wasn't a day-to-day presence - available and contactable - to organise things. And if the members don't like what I'm doing, they can vote me out in January....

[Ellen K]

well our site has no toilets to clean, I pee in a bucket in my shed and chuck it in the compost bin and tenants look after their own machinery, paths and hedges.

And guess what?  it works just fine.  But perhaps we are doing it wrong ??

[Ellen K]

We don't do newsletters or tea rooms - shame on us, we just talk to each other.

[Ellen K]

Seriously, the 64,000 dollar Q is: would our site be better with a committee?

And the answer is: ..................... ???

(no in our case)

And at least as it is now, no one can be overruled by a committee - everyone has a voice to the landlord.

[taurus]

A lot depends on various things.
Council run or private.
10 plots or 500 plots.
City centre/suburban or rural.
Over the years I expect each site as evolved to what is needed/wanted at that particular location.  And the same goes for the people on each site.
Squash64 can give herself and the others on her committee a gold star for their generosity.  They give their time and knowledge willing as well as raising money for various charities.  If this country was run on those lines it would be a better place to live.

[GeeGee]

Well said Taurus.

They don't do little clapping smilies or I would give you a little line of them!  ;D

It is so true, horses for courses, what one site may need another may not. Where our new plots are there are a lot of people who are new to the whole thing. Also at a potential of nearly 150 plots I think the poor man at the council would go off his trolley if he had even half that amount all phoning him asking him the same or similar questions all the time. So probably some form of committee that can gather in the info and then one person passes the requests on, if nothing else will keep the man at the council sane!  :) I gather that a lot of people would like to be able to buy good quality commercial seeds, and to do that you need someone to organise it and collect the monies etc. Whether we will have a loo, I haven't the faintest; but I would rather have someone clean it on a regular basis than leave it to chance that everyone is going to be as clean as I would wish it to be before I would use it! And believe you me there is no way I would go in and clean a loo after someone, especially if they had been unhygienic in it!!!!  :o Hats off to the loo cleaning people they deserve a medal!

If you only have a small site then you probably don't need a committee because you can all get together or pass messages on to each other and work it out between you. You are in effect a committee in form if not in name.

[Trevor_D]

We don't have "a man from the council". We're independent - that's why we need a committee. In fact, if we didn't have a committee the Society would fold and we would have to give back the land to our landlord, who could - in theory - sell it for housing. And our financial affairs are regulated by the FSA, which also requires a committee to be in place.

But the important thing is how effective that committee is! I think Betula summed it up beautifully!

[GeeGee]

Exactly my point there Trevor. You need a committee to keep your allotments going back to landlord and on to potential housing, you are just another scenario for the need for a committee. I also agree with Betula that the committee is only as good as the people on it. If you get a power crazed person/people then it can make for some very unhappy lives. To be honest the main reason I volunteered was to try to put some balance into this fledgling committee, so if there were power crazed or self interested parties there they didn't have it all their own way. At the moment they do actually all seem very nice and genuine people who only want to help and get some things organised for the good of everyone on the site.

I'm all for letting people get on with their own thing in their own idiosyncratic ways and if they want my help I'll try to help them. Visa versa I might well learn something from them. I don't get or understand these people who must push people around. Surely it must feel so much better when you have a sense of achievement through helping someone to how a bully feels when he pushes someone to do something against his will?