Greetings fellow plotters! Spring has arrived at Moor Green - well, sort of. The buzzards are wheeling overhead again and calling to each other. The Council have cut the grass for the first time this year, so that's promising. Only time will tell if it's the last. And look! the bloke who actually cut the grass - who doesn't bother too much with detail as you may have noticed - deliberately left uncut the patch of crocuses by the tree at the main gate! It's not enough to compensate for all the bad news in the world, but it does cheer you up as you walk in. Read on for more cheering news!
Repairing the Roof
The continuing story...Storms Eunice, Dudley and Franklin haven't helped very much as you might guess - even if you havent visited the clubhouse in the last month and seen the buckets everywhere. The double layer of plastic covering the place has not really proved up to the job, but then it was only intended to be a temporary fix when it was put on nearly three months ago.
But there is a glimmer of light - we've had a site meeting with the Council! On 11th March after some relentless badgering by your heroic committee, Councillor John O'Shea, Cabinet Member held a meeting in the clubhouse of local councillors, the construction contractors Acivico, a senior officer from his department, plus the allotments officer plus a rep from the Birmingham and District Allotments Society to address the roof repair issue. An impressive line-up - even if he didn't actually turn up himself. And we had a useful meeting - not least because your Association chairman Max chaired it, even though we were only supposed to be there in a support role. Of course, we didnt get the outcome we wanted i.e. Councillor O' Shea saying " we will replace the roof next week and the Council will find the money" but that was never expected. What we did get was
a recognition that action is urgent because the temporary fix can't last much longer
A named officer - Mike Hinton - that we can connect with going forward. A big improvement on the radio silence for the last three months
Mike to produce a report on action to be taken on the damaged roof based on Acivico‘s estimate of the cost of repair and the report of the Health and Safety Office
The report to request funding from an appropriate budget to finance the repair and to set out a likely timeframe for project completion including funding approvals
Moseley Councillors, Martin Straker-Welds and Kerry Jenkins to brief Councillor O’ Shea on the need for a solution and for urgent action
MH to report back to both elected members and the Association ( i.e. us) on the response to the report.
We again offered to provide some of the finance necessary to do the job - which seemed to go down well. The report should make the actual cost of the job clearer to us all. So watch this space....And help us raise the finance (see below)!
Raise The Roof
The flyer above - thanks Jonathan Birkett - is self- expanatory. Come along and bring family and friends and cash for food,donations and raffles. In addition to all of the entertainment we will be raffling various things including the beautiful pictures below which have kindly been donated.
Social Membership - Join or Renew Now!
Because of changes in responsibility within the Committee and the closure of the pavilion throughout the pandemic, our Social Membership offer has been paused for some time. During this pause, the locks were changed - and so we're aware that most social members will have the wrong key, and are due to renew their memberships.
We've made efforts to take this process online, such is life these days, to make things easier to manage for the volunteers of the Committee and also the Social Members themselves. You can now purchase Social Memberships via the website - www.moorgreenallotments.com -, and collect your new key from the Pavilion during normal opening times - 12:30-19:00 Sat-Sun. You'll receive a coupon via email following your purchase, please bring this with you.
Social Memberships are a great way to get involved and give you all of the following benefits:
Allotment Access for Dog Walking / Bird Watching
Access to the Pavilion where we serve delicious local craft beers as well as all of the standards and wines and spirits
Secure Parking for Cannon Hill (we know how difficult/expensive parking that can be!)
Regular Events and Growing Masterclasses
Rights to hire the Pavilion at bargain rates after 12 months
You will also enjoy (we hope) the knowledge that you've supported Moor Green Allotments - a great community asset! We look forward to seeing you soon!
An Evening of Garden Delights - Looks interesting
Anybody Know a Plumber?
Our pals in Melstock Allotment site (behind the Red Lion on Vicarage Road) have problems with their waterworks . Their secretary Richard tells us "we have had problems with the water pressure on site for a while now and have reached the end of the line in trying to get the Council to pay for a repair. [this sounds very familiar - ed.]. We even approached the local councillor, but to no avail. We have decided to pay for the repair out of our own reserves and now need to find a plumber/water engineer who can do the work. This needs to be someone familiar with working on underground water systems and not just domestic plumbing work. "
Does anyone know of someone who might carry out this type of work that they can recommend? If so please email Richard Tomes at richarddtomes@gmail.com