Winter update: road closures, water supply, and Christmas wreath-making social event (RSVP)
Temporary road closures
The council have put up a sign at the park entrance letting everyone know the road is being dug up from Monday 15th November to Friday 10th December. It’s being totally rebuilt all the way from the bridge entrance right through to the gatehouse/archway. That means this Sunday will be our last chance to bring any cars up the lane for the next few weeks until the road works are finished.
Due to the length of the stretch being worked on, we’ve been told we won’t be able to cut across past the grass in front of the cottages, so there’ll be no pedestrian access via the bottom of the lane at all, except hopefully on Sundays when the road crew aren’t working and they might be able to leave us a path open.
You’ll still be able to reach your plot on foot any time by coming across the playing fields. The shortest route is from the Nether Pollok Playing Fields entrance (click here).
You might also have noticed the new gate at the bottom of the lane. It’s been donated by the council to help us avoid the lane getting used by public visitors when the Burrell Collection reopens. (The park renovation has involved a big reduction in the number of parking spaces in the park, and the council are putting on an electric bus service from the city centre. They’ve also made more bike paths through the South Side.) They’ve advised that we try closing it for a few weeks when the Burrell Collection opens again in the Spring, so we’ll probably do that and then open it again and see if we have any problems. They’ll be fitting a combination lock so we can open and close it ourselves if we need to without everyone needing keys. They’ll also install some signs in the Spring to let drivers know it’s a private lane for permit-holders only.
Water being turned off for winter
We turn the water off every year in mid-November as the first frost approaches so that ice doesn’t burst the pipes. We’ll be turning it off and draining the system after this weekend (Sunday 14th November), so the toilets will be out of use from then until the risk of ice expanding in them has passed in the spring.
If you use a water butt and you’ll need it over the winter, now’s a good time to make sure it’s filled!
Christmas wreath-making & social – RSVP for numbers
A few plotholders have offered to hold a social event and demonstrate their skills in wreath-making and table-top decorations. It’ll be a good chance to say hi to people and get a hot drink on a cold day.
The pavilion obviously has a limited size and we want to make sure people have the ability to manage how close they get to each other, so if you’re keen on coming along, please let us know so we can keep an eye on it.
Please either email the secretary or click here to let us know:
- if you are able to come along for refreshments and/or
- if you’d like to help with the organisation and/or
- if you would like to learn to make a wreath or table decoration (more info to follow on suggested materials to bring for this, e.g. acorns, pine cones, willow branches, old Christmas decorations, old artificial tree branches, etc.)
We’re keeping it as a plotholder-only event in the first instance, so we can make sure places go to our own group before anyone from outside.
Pumpkins and straw free to a good home
There are some untouched pumpkins left over from the recent Hallowe’en event (click here for photos), so help yourself from the usual table outside the pavilion.
There are also 3 bales of straw that were donated for Hallowe’en by a local farm as decorations. They might be useful as a mulch, compost fodder, or as kindling in a burning bin now that we’re in the burning season (October to April).
You could also use them to expand your growing space – here’s a clip from Mansewood allotments, where they wet down straw bales with nitrogen fertiliser until they start decomposing, then pot seedlings on straight into them.
Let us know if you want any. Since we’ve been using Vegware plant-based cups for the past couple of events, we also have a small bag of separated compostable waste from the Hallowe’en party. Let us know if you’re a composter and you want to help us put our waste back into the ground for the good of the plots!
The skip has arrived!
The skip showed up unexpectedly late this afternoon. The driver arranged to pick it back up on Friday so we can have the lane clear again for Open Day on Saturday.
Sorry for the short notice – we had already told the company that we were going to go with someone else, but news about the cancellation obviously didn’t reach the transportation department who send out the trucks.
If you need to get in touch, email us, message us on Facebook, or phone someone on the committee. I won’t put my personal phone number up on an open website for obvious reasons, but it’s on the noticeboard!
Scott
Acting Secretary
Skip update
We’ve been let down again by Enva (formerly William Tracy), the skip company we’ve used for years. They’ve told us this time that the company is 1 skip down because of a fault, and that all the others are on their way to other sites. Both of the last times it was blamed on driver shortages.
Trust us when we say we’ve told them how angry we are and how unacceptable this is, and that they’re interfering with people making plans around their work and childcare schedules for over 120 plots.
I didn’t let them off the phone until they promised to phone back before 08:30 with an update every day until it gets delivered. I’ll post here, and on Facebook, as well as at the noticeboard at the gate when the news changes.
I don’t want to spam anyone with emails, but we don’t want you leaving the house without knowing that the skip’s on-site. I’ll send one more email on the day we get absolute confirmation. Keep an eye on your spam folder and mark us as a trusted sender or put us in your contacts to make sure you get any future ones (secretary@sjsmallotments.co.uk and treasurer@sjsmallotments.co.uk are the two allotment addresses we use).
If anyone has any recommendations on other skip companies with large roll-on/roll-off skips that could fit under the bridge any faster, let us know and we’ll see if it’s worth cancelling this order and changing company.
Scott
Acting Secretary
Skip update
The skip is now expected this Thursday, 12th August
The supplier has sent apologies for rearranging it twice now, putting it down to driver shortages. We’ll keep the information (including expected arrival time) here up-to-date, as well as on the website, and the gate noticeboard.
We’ll need to get the skip off-site again quickly in case there are more delays getting it taken away, since we’ll need the lane as clear as possible for Open Day next weekend. It usually fills up within a day anyway, so best be quick! We’ll have someone on hand to supervise, and priority goes to new plotholders / transfers who might be getting rid of rubble they didn’t create, so bear with us.
Examples of allowable materials:
- Site rubble
- Bricks
- Glass
- Wood
- Plastic
- Broken tools
- Worn netting
Exclusions (some of these are prohibited by the skip supplier and may result in a site fine):
- Weeds and soils
- Metal (we have a separate scrap metal uplift service)
- Gas canisters
- Petrol
- Acids
- Solvents (e.g. paint stripper)
- Tyres (rubber)
- Asbestos (should be none on site)
- Paint
AGM: 2pm Sunday 20th June
Now that we’re back in level 2, we’re able to go ahead with small one-off events in venues again. Separately from socialising restrictions, level 2 allows small events of up to 100 people seated at a distance of 1m (or the capacity of the space – whichever is reached first). See the ‘Stadia & events’ section at the level 2 guidance pages for more information.
All members are requested to attend.
Only members (i.e. the plotholder who signed the membership agreement for your plot when you joined) will be allowed into the pavilion, to avoid overcrowding.
The Agenda will be as follows:
- Chair – Opening Remarks
- Secretary – Reports
- Treasurer – Annual Reports
- Auditors’ Reports
- Minutes of 2019 AGM
- Resolutions
- Rent increase
- Toilet cleaning proposals
- Communal area upkeep
- Election of office bearers and committee members, including groundsperson
- Any other business
If anyone would like to include any other resolution, please do so in writing, to the secretary.
Please note that probationary members cannot be elected to sit on committee in their first year. They will still be allowed a vote.
Meetings usually last approx two hours.
A copy of our constitution and rules can be printed off from our Documents page.
We hope to see you there!
AGM 2021 (update: postponed until date TBA)
The AGM has now been changed to Sunday 23rd May at 2.30 PM delayed until Glasgow is allowed to move out of level 3 restrictions. Separately from socialising restrictions, level 2 allows small events of up to 100 people seated at a distance of 1m (or the capacity of the space – whichever is reached first). See the ‘Stadia & events’ section at the level 2 guidance pages for more information.
We’ll post more as soon as we can set a new date!
All members are requested to attend.
Only members (i.e. the plotholder who signed the membership agreement for your plot when you joined) will be allowed into the pavilion, to avoid overcrowding.
The Agenda will be as follows:
- Chair – Opening Remarks
- Secretary – Reports
- Treasurer – Annual Reports
- Auditors’ Reports
- Minutes of 2019 AGM
- Resolutions
- Rent increase
- Toilet cleaning proposals
- Communal area upkeep
- Election of office bearers and committee members, including groundsperson
- Any other business
If anyone would like to include any other resolution, please do so in writing, to the secretary.
Please note that probationary members cannot be elected to sit on committee in their first year. They will still be allowed a vote.
Meetings usually last approx two hours.
A copy of our constitution and rules can be printed off from our Documents page.
We hope to see you there!
Rents due throughout April
Rent season is open! Rates haven’t changed – it’s still £25 per plot (unless you have a smaller plot and you usually pay £20). Any rents not paid by the start of the AGM will incur a late fee.
I have to present a financial report at the AGM, so if possible, clearing your rent by the end of April will help make the report as complete as it can be. The AGM will be on Sunday 9 May. Any rents not paid 14 days after the AGM will be deemed a vacation of the plot.
Payment options
- Bank transfer (include your plot number in the reference; same account details as last year; email me if you need the details)
- Cheque (please make payable to Sir John Stirling Maxwell Allotment Gardens)
- Cash
Pavilion dates
I’ll be at the pavilion with the receipt books on the second and fourth Sundays of April:
- Sunday 11 April 12 – 2pm
- Sunday 25 April 1 – 3pm
- I can arrange to meet people at other times if those don’t suit – just email me, say hi on Facebook Messenger or try me at my plot – #38 with the green-framed greenhouse and the green & brown shed.
If you’ve got any questions, just let us know!
– Scott, Treasurer
Covid-19 update 24 March: Allotments allowable exercise & plot safety guidelines
Our secretary sent a question to BBC Breakfast this morning while Michael Gove was taking questions, and we’ve had an answer:
Getting exercise is important at a time like this and we know what a positive impact keeping up a plot has for so many of our members.
If you’ve been at the plots since yesterday, you’ll have seen the posters we’ve posted at the gate and on the toilet doors with advice and some new restrictions on the way we use the plots that will help us to keep everyone safe and comply with government requirements.
The Chief Medical Officer and the Chief Science Adviser to the government have been consistent with the message that the best way to prevent the spread of the virus is to wash your hands (along with distancing). For this reason, as we’re one of the few sites in Glasgow with the luxury of handwashing facilities, we’ve decided to keep the water supply running to the site. We’ve also had additional hand sanitiser in the toilet areas since yesterday.
There are disposable gloves next to the handwashing sinks, so please take one of these if you need to draw water from the path taps. We’ll also try to leave a supply of gloves at the taps themselves. Please use these rather than your gardening gloves, which you might have touched your face with or coughed into without noticing. Disposable gloves can be put into the toilet bins as you leave.
As you’ll see from the signs, we’re restricting use of both toilet areas to one person at a time so that everyone can keep the recommended distance from each other – 2 metres / 6 and a half feet.
We’ll keep monitoring the situation and keep everyone updated as and when anything changes. We’ll also post these announcements on our Facebook page, the notice board inside the gate, and by email where it seems necessary.
Stay safe, and enjoy your plot!
2019 Rent – final reminder
We’ll need to present accounts at the AGM the week after this, so get in touch with Scott on the treasurer email address if you need help sorting out your payment, or with anyone from the committee if you’re down at the plots – we’re all listed in the notice board.
Rent 2019 – reminder
To quote one of the members who paid this morning, ‘and a bargain at half the price’!
Not long left now…