Secretary Gloria Wallis Tel: 020 8942 9686

The Kingston Federation of Allotment Gardeners,working together for Kingston's allotments

The Federation aims to:

• Promote and encourage allotment gardening in the borough.
• Provide information, support and advice to sites considering voluntary management
• Build relationships within and between sites so that ideas and experience can be shared.

Membership of the federation is currently free and open to any organisation in agreement with our objectives.

Click for the List of Member Organisations

Annual General Meeting Wednesday 29th April 2009

COMMITTEE REPORT FOR YEAR 2008-2009 [below]

Quadron Report from AGM - (attached as pdf file)

Formation and Constitution
This is the fifth Annual General Meeting since our formation in 2003.

The Federation is now six years old, well established and accepted in the borough.  It continues to progress its aims and objectives, focusing on the promotion and uptake of allotment plots in Kingston, the provision of information about the benefits of allotment gardening and the formation of allotment groups and/or voluntary management.

 

Federation and Committee membership
Since our last report the committee has maintained its numbers.  Helen Vibart has taken up the post of Treasurer.  Margaret Lammiman and Ian Jewell have jointly come on to the committee representing Dickerage Road Allotments.

Two new member groups have joined the Federation this year namely:  Dickerage Road Allotment Association and Ladywood Road Allotment Association.

 

Federation / Council Liaison
2008 was a key year for the Federation working closely with Royal Borough of Kingston in progressing the first project tasks set by the newly adopted 10 year Strategy Plan for allotments in the borough.  By the end of the year the first project strand, dealing with Voluntary Management had seen three new sites namely: Addison gardens, Dickerage Road and Ladywood Road all signed up to self management.

As part of the further move to VM KFAG and RBK worked to produce a new model lease serving the needs of these new VM sites and for renewal of existing leases as they occur.  This new lease sets out to become a common template for all the sites, ironing out the irregularities and setting a simple format that fairly deals with both landlord and tenant.

Towards the end of 2008 KFAG and RBK, together with Quadron Services started to address the thorny issue of disused allotment land and the urgent need to bring it back to a standard that would allow re-letting and a reduction in the 330 plus plot waiting list

The Council has also indicated that it needs to get disused plots back into letting and, even then, recognises a land short fall of some 15 hectares.

 

Allotment Lettings
There continues to be a high level of interest in the take up of Allotments across all sites in the borough.  Demand cannot be met and prospective plot holders are scouring Kingston to try to get a plot.  Recovering disused allotment land is the only short term means of gaining further plots and represents a significant challenge to RBK.

Site Liaison Officers
The SLO’s role has now been renamed Site Liaison Volunteers to more properly describe their contribution to site management.  Efforts have been made to rationalise roles and responsibilities but it is recognised that some will always want to be more involved than others.  KFAG‘s view is that whatever their level of contribution, they make a significant difference to the efficient management of sites and continue to act as an essential focal point for communication.

SLVs now seek to meet twice a year and are chaired by their own representatives.  The last meeting was held in September 2008, also attended by RBK and Quadron Services, with a wide ranging agenda and updates on the current work of the Federation.

Grant Aid
We were delighted to receive financial help from Quadron Services during 2008 which considerably helped in the stability of the Federation and together with some prudent housekeeping has meant that we did not proceed with a Grant Aid application to RBK in 2009.

Promotional Events
As a result of the high numbers on allotment waiting lists KFAG decided to continue to limit its promotion of allotment lettings until such time as much of this demand had been met

Publicity, Newsletter and Web Site
As intended in 2008 KFAG have now moved to a simple news sheet, saving costs and more immediate in its production.  Two news sheets were published last year,  one giving early warning of the problems of Amino Pyrallid herbicide found in manure and causing genetic contamination to plants.

During 2008 KFAG  have acted as a net worker, advertising the events of our membership groups to all other allotment sites in the borough.   This is a precursor to KFAG’s intention to also providing a web site serving the needs of its members and other interested parties in the borough.

 

Kingston Home Composting Scheme
The Federation has taken a keen interest in a scheme in Kingston for best practice training in home composting which has been organised between the London Community Recycling Network, Kingston Council and Kingston Vale Leisure Gardeners Association.

This scheme has found mixed fortunes in its success in the borough and RBK have for the moment moved away from specific training of residents on allotment sites.  In the meantime compost display bins have been sited on three sites, which give a permanent view of the composting process, through a viewing panel on one side of the bin.   It is hoped that these ‘demonstration bins’  will encourage visitors to become aware of home composting when attending site open days and other functions.

 

Future Work
The Federation now looks forward to the real challenge of identifying and bringing more land back into use that is suitable for allotment letting.  This in the first instance will mean a full survey of the categories that land designated for allotment use falls into a) usable  b) usable with tenant effort c) not suitable (forest, marsh etc.).   The strategy will then need to identify the basis of priorities for reclaiming this  land together with a programme for implementation.

The Federation will also continue to pursue the benefits of sites taking on self management and hopes to have further success in 2009.

 

Page Updated 21st July 2009

KFAGs webpages are maintained on a voluntary basis by Akimdal Ltd