Present: Mr M Still (Tredegar), Mr D Risby (Tredegar), Mr J Rowden (Bean), Mr A Hewitt (West Dartford A. & G.S.), Mr R Stone (Swanscombe: Chair), Dr R Wiltshire (Research Officer).

1. Apologies for Absence: Mr R Johnson, Mrs J Bourne, Mr P Fry.

2. Minutes of the Twenty-Third Meeting of the Committee: Accepted.

3. Matters Arising from Minutes of the Twenty-Third Meeting:

13c) Composting Leaflet: The QED Waste and Steering Groups have approved adaptation of the Bexley booklet for use in Dartford. Advice is awaited from the QED Waste Group on the quantity of leaflets required and the means of distribution.

13d) Mobile Building Renovation: The hard standing for the mobile building at Tredegar Allotments has been completed. The QED Steering Group has awarded a grant to cover the cost of making the building usable.

4. Research Officer's Report:

a) Since the last meeting, advice on allotments in Local Agenda 21 and related matters has been provided to allotment groups in Devizes and Sunderland, to Pendle and Watford Councils, to Groundwork Thames Valley, to the Local Government Association, to the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, to Greenfingers.com and Sainsburys, and to a student from Birkbeck College writing a thesis on allotment history.

b) Since the last meeting, items relating to the QED Allotments Group have appeared in the Daily Telegraph and the Local Government Association's Advocacy Document for Allotments and Local Government First magazine.

c) Dr Wiltshire's visit to allotment gardens and lecture tour in Japan went well. A response is awaited from Kunitachi City to the message of greeting from the Mayor of Dartford.

d) Dr Wiltshire will attend a conference on "Local Food and Sustainable Development" at the Woodbrooke Centre, Birmingham on December 5.

e) Dr Wiltshire has been invited to write a short monograph on "Communities, gardening and land use" by the Town and Country Planning Association, for publication next year.

5. Nottingham Community Gardens Conference: This had been attended by Dr Wiltshire (who gave a paper with Ren Azuma on Japanese allotments), Mrs J Bourne, Mrs E Poulton and Mrs C Tilston. Some useful contacts were made with allotment and community gardeners from North America and Continental Europe, and some interesting presentations heard, although the excursions were hindered by bad weather and the fuel crisis. Copies of the QED Allotments Newsletter were distributed at the Conference. The Proceedings of the Conference will be published next year by the CWS.

6. LGA Good Practice Guide for Allotments: Dr Wiltshire and Professor David Crouch have been awarded the contract to draft a "good practice guide" for allotment management, to be published in April 2001. the research is being supported by the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, Shell Better Britain Campaign, and the Greater London Authority (this is the first research project the GLA has sponsored). The "guide" will build on the LGA's "advocacy document" for allotments, which cites QED as an exemplar of good practice.

7. Joint activities with the QED Pollution and Waste Management Group: Mr Still agreed to take over responsibility for organising the supply of pallets from Dr Wiltshire, who is standing down from this group. Dr Wiltshire will pass the necessary contact details on to Mr Still.

8. Joint Activities with the QED Biodiversity Group:

a) Memorial Plaque to Lawrence D Hills: Mr Stone reported difficulties with the local supplier who had originally expressed an interest in supplying the plaque. He will approach an alternative supplier in Gravesend, and also investigate possible sites for the plaque further.

b) Biodiversity Action Plan for Allotments: A Draft Biodiversity Action Plan for Allotments tabled by Dr Wiltshire and based on a document prepared by allotment gardeners in Ealing was adopted, subject to further modification later on. It was agreed that this Draft Plan would be placed on the agenda for the next meeting of the QED Biodiversity Group, with a proposal that it be adopted as a joint project between these two QED Groups. Mr Stone will attend that meeting and speak on the Draft Plan if necessary. The members attending from Tredegar Allotments will discuss the progress being made in biodiversity-related activities on their site at the same meeting of the QED Biodiversity Group.

9. Dates of Meetings in 2001: It was agreed that meetings would be held at the same venue from 8 pm on the following Mondays in 2001: February 5, April 2, June 11, July 9, September 3 and November 12. [NB: The room has now been booked for these dates].

10. Any Other Business:

a) Dr Wiltshire tabled details of the CWS Community Dividend Scheme.

b) The Awards Ceremony for the 2000 Dartford Festival Allotments Competition will be held at the Civic Centre from 6.30 pm on November 23.

c) Dr Wiltshire tabled details of a community composting workshop to be held at Sunnyside Community Garden, Islington on November 9.

d) Excursions in 2001: Mr Stone will request funding from the QED Steering Group for a trip to Ryton Organic Gardens for Potato Day on Sunday February 4. Other destinations proposed included Yalding/Brogdale, Audley End, Kew, the Eden Project and the Lost Gardens. Mr Still reported that local assistance may be available to make arrangements if a trip is organised to gardens in Cornwall..

11. Date of Next Meeting: February 5, 2001 from 8.00 pm at the Princes Sports and Leisure Centre.

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