Minutes of Meeting held 3 September 2008 at Craigentinny Allotments.
Present: Tom Cashman, Katie Ferguson, John and Monica McKinlay, Norma Carlyon, Johnny Gailey, Helen Gestwick, Richard Cross and John Maule.
Item 1: Election of Office bearers
Chairman: Tom Cashman
Secretary: Monica Mckinlay
Treasurer: Katie Ferguson
We had decided that in order to be as inclusive as possible the Committee would consist of those plot holders who had attended at least one of our three meetings so in addition to the above, other than the Office Bearers, Joan MacLellan, Joan Anderson, Ernest Curtis and Norma Carlyon would complete the Committee.
Item 2: Diary for meetings
We decided to meet monthly on the first Saturday of each month at 11 o’clock at the site. All plot holders are very welcome at the meetings.
Item 3: Autumn Project
The project will be to clear the access track. This will take place at the time of the next meeting, 3 October at 11am. Anyone who wants to help should just come along. Even half an hour of your time will make a huge difference.
Item 4: Suggestions for Site Improvements
There had been no suggestions outwith the meeting. However there was a wide ranging discussion of various current topics of interest. These included the following;
Acquisition of water butts – Johnny Gailey kindly offered to look into this.
Removal of problem trees if plot holders required- it was thought the Council would need to do this.
Composting- a fair amount of composting material finds its way into the bins. The site at Leith Links and Midmar had received a grant for on site composting facilities. We also decided to approach Mr Woolard to see if any garden compost bins could be provided. Material from plots can easily produce good quality compost at no cost and little effort.
Manure- In times past the site had made effort to jointly order manure. Various plot holders had organised this. We wanted to assess if there was an interest for this. I have attached a sheet and if anyone wants manure please append your names. If anyone has a source kindly call me on 661 4373.
Leith Permaculture Plots – There was a general discussion of these and concern was expressed about the state of the plots and access. As we wanted to get a bit more information it was decided to contact Ian Woolard for more details. We discussed what we might do with the plots if they came back within the let of the site. There were a few thoughts on use including a kind of common area for general use this included a suggestion to coppice the area or perhaps a community orchard as trees would help dry the area.
There being no other business the meeting closed.
Date of next meeting is first Saturday in October, the 3rd, at 11 o’clock which will also be the project day.