Kettering Allotments Society
Secretary’s Annual Report 2024 (draft)
The following report is submitted for the Annual General Meeting held on 18 March 2025 and covers the Society’s activities for 2024
Kettering Allotment Society continues to thrive. 2024 was a more challenging growing year for some with mixed harvests; it was a successful year for the Society in its management of our 4 sites in Kettering. All sites were fully let and have short waiting lists. People have not had to wait too long to get a plot (months, not years).
One year ago the AGM passed a resolution to adopt an updated Tenancy Agreement (known as Rules). Some Rules needed updating and clarifying to prevent misunderstandings and harm. The committee then appointed a sub-committee to work on rewording and updating our Policies, so that there were no inconsistencies or ambiguities. The sub-committee worked hard to clarify points and give further guidance to our members. There are 20 Policies in total, covering a wide range of issues, including health and Safety, Poultry, Bonfires etc etc. Once these Polices had been agreed and approved by the full committee in December, a new website was created and launched. We believe that the updated Rules and Policies, together with our Constitution, enable our Society to continue to run smoothly for the benefit of all of our members past and future.
Constitution - updated March 2023 (AGM) and approved by the FCA
Tenancy Agreement (Rules) - updated March 2024 (AGM)
Policies - further guidance - updated December 2024 committee meeting
New website launched - December 2024
One question we sometimes get asked is “Why are there so many Rules and Policies? The reason is best summarised in the preamble to our Rules, copied below:
The purpose of these rules is to enable all tenants to cultivate and enjoy their allotments and avoid harm. Tenants are free to cultivate their plots in their own way, but their activities must not harm themselves, their neighbours, future tenants or the environment. These rules are therefore designed to prevent harmful activities and to be fair to all tenants. These rules cannot cover every possible aspect, but further guidance may be found in the Society's Policy documents, published on our website.
2024 was a difficult year for some. After heavy rain there was flooding on Margaret Road (line 4 nearest the river Ise and line 3). This occurred several times as 2024 weather included several deluges. Such heavy rain is expected to be more frequent in the future as a consequence of climate change. This is why tenants on lines 3 and 4 at Margaret Road pay a reduced rent. Many plots are only accessible for part of the year and take weeks to recover from floods and waterlogging.
Our Northfield Avenue suffered in a different way. Unfortunately previous stewards had not enforced the Rules and had allowed the accumulation of rubbish and waste on plots. This legacy will require continued work to rectify and bring all plots into a good state for renting and cultivation. Several skips have already been filled and scrap metal taken for recycling. There is more to be done in 2025, but thanks to the hard work of the current stewards and volunteers we have already seen a great improvement. This highlights the importance of our Rules and the vital stage of enforcement.
2024 saw continued investment in our sites to improve the infrastructure. Costs will be reported by the treasurer in his financial report. Scott Road benefitted from a 19 tonne lorry load of gravel to improve the tracks. This gravel was spread by many volunteers with shovels and barrows. Many thanks to all who helped, and especially to Rob McIntyre who liaised with Storefield and drove the lorry. The track is better than ever. We are also really grateful to those who organised and helped at Scott Road creating a large soakaway at the lower gate. This location has always suffered from poor drainage and had a constant large puddle in wet weather. The new soakaway has improved things vastly. A special thanks to Pat Mullins for his work on this. Margaret Road had large lorry loads of hardcore and gravel to improve the tracks also. As mentioned before, Northfield Avenue had very large skips to remove the rubbish left on several plots. Many thanks to all of the volunteers who helped to clear this rubbish and fill the skips.
There was a successful project at Margaret Road to set up starter plots. Each mini-plot was prepared with 6 beds dug by Bec in advance. A basic set of tools is provided and a new member can start in the spring on their mini-plot and grow their crops, learning about allotments in their first year. After the first year on the mini-plot the member can transfer to a regular plot at the end of the growing season. Many thanks to Bec for all of her hard work on this, including digging the beds and sourcing the tools.
Our Facebook group has grown and allows members and the committee to exchange ideas and news quickly and efficiently. Our monthly newsletter on WordPress is also read online by many members (818 views in January and a total of 4464 during the year of 2024) further improving communication.
Our allotment land is owned by Kettering Town Council and our relationship with them has continued to strengthen. The Council has been very supportive, including financially. We are very grateful for this support. The Town Council agreed to fund a new fence for part of Northfield Avenue; something we would have not been able to finance ourselves. This project was completed in 2025 . Plans for further enrichment of this relationship are being made for this year. Our lease with the Council was negotiated in 2024 on very favourable terms. A very modest increase on the rent our Society pays to the Council was negotiated. As the previous lease had been signed in 2006 we knew it was overdue. The new lease runs from 2025 until 2037, so gives us confidence and security.
One consequence of the new lease is a prohibition on new poultry with effect from 2025. Our previous lease had allowed poultry and the original proposal from the Council was to ban all livestock. We successfully negotiated an exemption for existing birds, so the new lease states “no new poultry” and allows existing poultry-owners to keep their birds.
We have also continued to benefit from our membership of the National Allotments Society (NAS). Each member of Kettering Allotments Society is also an affiliate member of NAS and gains many benefits, including liability insurance, quarterly magazines and a discount scheme with Kings Seeds. The committee was grateful that Sarah Dexter is our seed secretary and any members who wish to buy Kings Seeds online at a great discount can contact Sarah: kasseedsec@gmail.com . The Society also benefits from its membership of NAS through access to their expertise, website resources and advice, including legal advice without the need for costly solicitors.
Other organisations that we have liaised with include the Kettering Food Bank. The Food Bank was very grateful to receive vegetables from our members, especially potatoes. We also donated to the Resource Centre at the Grange shops and they are most appreciative. The Resource Centre is open Tuesdays and Thursday mornings for hot food, a cuppa and a chat. If any members have surplus crops please consider donating to these amazing charities.
Stewards have been busy as ever, working hard to maintain and improve their fields. We are really grateful for all of their hard work. Stewards are appointed by the committee as volunteers. We thank them again for their dedication and service.
Some of the maintenance and improvement work done by stewards is recorded below:
Scott Road - vacant plots cleared of rubbish before re-letting to those on the waiting list, boundary hedge (400+ metres) trimmed, gaps in hedge secured with Heras panels. A large lorry-load (19 tonnes) of excellent gravel was bought and volunteers spread it along the tracks. This has vastly improved the tracks, reducing potholes and puddles. At the lower gate we have always experienced puddles in wet weather. The wet winter of 2023-4 made this puddle-pond worse than ever. This location is in a natural dip and rain runs toward the gate from all directions. A deep soakaway was created and special crates buried along with 10 tonnes of hardcore. Water at the gate has now reduced to s small puddle for a day when heavy rain falls instead of a large pond for the duration of winter.
Margaret Road- large lorry loads of hard core and gravel were delivered and spread along the tracks; this improved access to vehicles and reduced potholes and muddy tracks in winter. Beautiful signs and notice boards have been created to help members, eg where to place scrap metal and where woodchip mulch may be accessed. Vacant plots cleared of rubbish before re-letting to those on the waiting list, much of it removed by stewards and taken to the tip, saving the cost of skips.
Northfield Avenue - our new stewards team have made a great start in improving this site. Several neglected plots have been cleared and very large quantities of rubbish removed. This was done with help from committee members from other sites and volunteers. Their help is much appreciated. Skips are expensive and there is more to be done, but with continued effort we know that Northfield Avenue can be as good as our other sites.
Windmill Avenue - our smallest site, continues to be well managed and successful. Many thanks to the steward George for his work and support.
Our annual awards and social evening was held in September and was a great success. Many prizes were awarded, including best in field for each site and best newcomer. Thanks to everyone who helped out, especially those who sold raffle tickets. The raffle raised funds to help our Society and the cake sale raised money for Kettering Food Bank. The Bridgstock Cup was awarded to Gloria Elmore, plot 113 Scott Road. Well done Gloria. The judges commented that Gloria’s plot was so inspiring that visiting it was a spiritual experience.
Another word of thanks to everyone in our Society who has helped in any way. We cannot name you all as there are so many acts of service, but please be aware that we appreciate your contributions. We are a Mutual Society run by volunteers and that spirit of service is what makes it successful. Stephen Payne deserves a special mention, as our retiring Society chairman. Stephen has been a supportive and creative committee member for many years and his initiatives include setting up our very successful Facebook group.
ends.