MINUTES OF THE S.H.A.G.S.

COMMITTEE
Meeting held on 11 January 2017 in the Ted Allen room
In Attendance: Lin Norman (LN)(Chair); Carole Pamphlett (CP) (Treasurer.); Roger Glanville
(RMG) Sec.; Chris Wilson (CW); Peter Hicks (PH); Mike Cobley (MC)(Dep. Chair); Keith
Davison (KD); Chris Overton (CO); Nic Hale (NH); Keith Rowland (KR); David Ebbels (DE);
Marcia Dorey (MD).
Apologies: Rod Cooley, Jim Machin, Hazel Upton, Albert Callaewert.
The Chair opened the meeting by welcoming Marcia Dorey who had agreed to become the
new Site Rep. for Harpenden rise site. 4

Minutes of the December 2016 meeting.

CW expressed concern over the wording of 2.1 and asked that it be clarified that the item
referred to monies paid to Atholl Harmer relating only to 2015 sales: revenue for 2016 sales
were payable to the Society having already been paid for in advance. RMG acknowledged
this point and will amend the Minutes for December and re-issue. (Action RMG)
This change apart the Minutes of the December meeting were approved as a true
record by those present. Prop: MC Sec: PH.

Matters arising:
1) RMG to re-issue November Minutes with point 4.6 re-worded. Completed

2) LN to pursue Access entitlement for homeowner adjacent to Piggotshill Lane entrance

with HTC. Awaiting HTC feedback, however part of the problem was the uncertainty about
the existence of a wayleave, although CW recalled one existed in 1997, plus the
homeowner did not have a plot, however MC confirmed they had asked for a plot and
indeed was expected to take on a tenancy shortly.
LN hoped HTC would contact the homeowner and ask they did not deposit rubbish on the
site.

3) LN to pursue Rules and Lettings Agreement review with consultant. Ongoing.

4) KD to canvass CF plot holders on Methodist pre-school shed application. In progress

although the application for a structure has been approved.

5) LN to include item in Nov newsletter about keeping dogs on leads whilst on sites. To be
included in the Jan email.

6) RMG to write to Southdown Methodist Pre-School to formally communicate approval of

their structure application stipulating Societys condition. Completed

7) LN to circulate date for next Site Reps meeting. Still outstanding.

8) LN to write to Harpenden Rise tenants asking for a volunteer to become Site Rep.
Completed.

Minutes of Jan 2017 SHAGS Committee Meeting

2. Finance
2.1 See Reports Summary: CP confirmed that the income and expenditure for 2016 had
been finalised and a surplus of some 351 had been agreed.
CP reported all was in place to provide HTC with 2016 Year-end Accounts for the
Environmental Comm. Meeting on 17 Jan.
CP wished to thank all Site Reps for their assistance in making projects happen in 2016.
Rent income was down but several plots had to be rented free owing to their condition. 4
2.2 Rent renewal preparation: CP briefly described the process by which rental letters and
address labels are prepared, with assistance from Irene Boogerman and distributed by Site
Reps and Committee members ahead of collection weekends. Efforts were being made to
ensure the database was up-to-date and PH will request JM to liaise with IB. (Action PH)
Also, the Jan email will include a request for any plot holder planning to give up to contact JM
direct. (Action LN)
The wording of the letter relating to whether a tenant wished to give up, has been changed
slightly this year plus the letter will, for the first time, include the Societys bank details for use
should tenants prefer the BACS option.
CP confirmed the dates on which rent renewal will take place as Sundays Feb 26 and March
5th, 12th and 19th.
PH raised a question on behalf of JM asking about whether tenants should receive renewal
letters by email but the Committee agreed the existing arrangement should remain.
LN asked for a special vote of thanks to CP for her efforts in overseeing the Societys
finances.
3. Site Matters
3.1 Site Reps reports:
Topstreet Way: NH confirmed a further plot had been cleared and the hedges were all done.
Churchfield: KD reported to the meeting Tim Wall planned to collect all machinery in the
following week. KD had asked for the wheeled strimmer to be serviced first and then
returned quickly. KD would also request that as much as possible TW should not drive onto
wet pathways.
HTC had delivered donated surplus compost bins/water butts for distribution to anyone who
would like one. Site Reps to contact KD as necessary (Action Site Reps)
Further spraying work had been done on the HC plots. Trees had also been cut down and
hedge-cutting was complete.
Piggotshill: MC confirmed 1 plot, AB14, had been re-let, however a further 7 were likely to
become vacant. MC asked about the hedge position and LN summarised the comments Carl
Cheevers had made during the recent meeting with him. The project to overhaul the John
Minutes of Jan 2017 SHAGS Committee Meeting
 OConnor contract was ongoing and work was continuing to detail the locations of hedge to
be cut and to develop a new specification which importantly now looked likely to contain
different levels of cut along separate stretches of hedge-line.
MC made the point contractors were still not contacting Site Reps ahead of attendance.
Harpenden Rise: MD said that there were still rats on site. LN to contact HTC re putting bait
down (Action LN)
3.2 First Aid boxes: It was confirmed they had been re-stocked in 2016. Site Reps were
asked to make final checks.
3.3 New Tenants pack: LN asked the Committee if they were content with the current details 4
and LN will just ensure all details were up-to-date.
4. Lettings:
4.1 Update: PH confirmed details of the latest Lettings schedule compiled by JM; overall the
Society remained 96% let.
JM planned to issue database extracts for each site including a new email list for Rod Cooley.
JM had also referred to waiting lists and asked whether priority should be given to new
members or would it be based on chronological order. After discussion on the merits of both
arguments it was agreed priority would be given to new members unless there was no
waiting list.
4.2 HR14: MD raised the issue of this plot which had been split into 3. There was no record
of the details and it was agreed MD would investigate and inform JM/PH. (Action MD)
5. Machinery

5.1 Machinery update: See comments under 3.1 (Churchfield).

6. Projects/New Developments:

6.1 None

7. Shop

7.1 Update: The Shop remained closed until 22 Jan 2017.

LN confirmed a full stock-take was planned for 15 January.

8. Communications:

8.1 Update: See Reports Summary: RMG read from RC report from this month.

9. A.O.B.

9.1 Site Reps meeting: LN still to send round some possible dates (See Matters arising
#7) (Action LN)

Minutes of Jan 2017 SHAGS Committee Meeting

9.2 New vacancy notice: The new notices had been done and distributed.

9.3 Court case update: Hearing was planned for 3 March

9.4 PlotSoFar timetable: LN planned to add an item in the Jan email. DE asked for any
other contributions to be sent through to DE by end January.

9.5 Wayleave email from David Wain: RMG read out an email received from DW detailing
current and surrendered wayleave records held by HTC and asking if there is any action the
Society requires. CO confirmed there was detail of wayleaves on the database and LN
asked if that and the system employed by the Council was open to confusion.
4
Ahead of sending details again to HTC, RMG was asked to forward the DW email to Site
Reps so that they could review the listings. (Action RMG). LN also agreed to alert DW the
lists were inaccurate. (Action LN)

Date of Next Meeting: 15th February 2017 Ted Allen Room

Minutes of Jan 2017 SHAGS Committee Meeting