There will be a site cleanup to coincide with this Town event.  This will be an opportunity for tenants without transport to dispose of general rubbish.

A one off arrangement has been made by Swale  for BIFFA to pick up bagged allotment rubbish on Mon 6th March from the designated area by the main  entrance.  It important to remember:

ONLY SECURELY BAGGED MATERIAL MAY BE DEPOSITED ON  SAT  4th AND SUN 5th READY FOR COLLECTION ON THE MONDAY

METAL
This can now be deposited in the new disposal area within the tin enclosure at the end of the main drive. Collection will be arranged during the next month, when there is a full lorry load.

Enthusiastic plot holders have commenced a number of local work parties to tackle improvements in their area of the site.

FORMER DUMPING AREA BY PLOT 22A

Ashley and Daniel Haines, Hazel Grave and Keith Thompson have completed the clearance of the former dumping area by plot 22A, including the fallen trees, ivy and bramble in the adjacent waterway.  The area has been added to plot 22A which now has direct access to water.

WALNUT TREE BETWEEN PLOTS 37 AND 38A

Andy Freeman and John Gould have tackled the large walnut between plots 37 and 38A, raising the canopy and relieving the load on the main trunks.

OTHER LOCAL WORK PARTIES  are planned to clear clogged streams of bullrushes, remove trees, etc, to improve the site by their plots.  If you have plans, let the Secretary know.

Planning permission has now been received.  Work is expected to start on site first week in March.

The minutes of the AGM, held on 9th November were approved at the committee meeting on 21st November and are attached for in formation.

agm-minutes-2016

A reminder that the AGM will be held tomorrow evening, Wednesday 9th October, 7pm, in the Guildhall.

I attach a copy of the audited accounts for the tear, to complement the Annual Report circulated earlier.

Planning permission has just been received for the proposed tree works on the site and plots.  Its implementation will be discussed at the AGM, along with other proposed site improvements.

We look forward to seeing you there.

accounts-2016

The bonfire was lit on wednesday evening.  Thanks to Sally and Kieran Kerin, Penny Smith, Angela Smith, Andy Freeman , Maureen Wale and Sarah Edmondson for their help in re-stacking the bonfire material and feeding the controlled burn.

No more material is to be taken to the Orchard area.

The survey and plans for the orchard area development will be presented for discussion at the AGM on 9th November.

The bonfire will be lit this week as there is a short window forecast when the wind speed and direction  is suitable.

No further bonfire material is to be taken to the orchard area by the main entrance after this wednesday, 26th October.

Further areas of bullrush were cleared to gain access to water, using the newly acquired underwater brush cutter, thanks to Bob Gomes and Noel Perkins.  Ricky Roberts, Sally and Kieran Kerin cleared rubbish from the recently reclaimed brick store.  This has now been surveyed and repairs will commence shortly.
General clearance was delayed by the weather.  The bonfire will be delayed a week.

Despite the inclement weather and shortage of apples this year, the event went off as planned.  The demonstration table processed 180lb of washed apples, producing 7 gallons of juice, over 3 hours.  We were well fortified with a constant supply of sausages from the BBQ run by Andy Freeman.

When the sun came out, there were plenty of visitors happy to help extract juice, sample the wares, and enjoy the BBQ.  There was a lively interest in the process, so it is planned to repeat the event next year.  There may even be some samples of the cider produced from the juice extracted yesterday.

Thanks to Andy, Sarah Edmondson, Sally and Kieran Kerin, for ignoring the rain and making the event such a success.

We are also grateful to Faversham Homebrew for the loan of the second press, made available for other allotment holders to press their own juice.

This concentrated on completing the clear up of the orchard area ready for the October bonfire, plus planting of wild flower areas in the main drive.  Thanks to Sally and Kieran Kerin, Adrian Ferrell, Andy Freeman, Marion Ripley, Noel Perkins, Louise Lees, Margaret Law, Bob Gomes and Isabel, and John Gould.  The work party was great fun and made an enormous contribution to improving the site.

GRAND AUTUMN CLEARUP 16TH OCTOBER 10-12.30
The next work party is to take advantage of the bonfire.  Please join us for a final clear up of the site.