Articles of the Constitution of the Green Lane Allotment Association
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1 Name of the Association
1.1 The Association shall be called the ‘Green Lane Allotment Association’ (hereinafter ‘the Association’). 2 Aims 2.1 The role of the Association is: § to promote the interests of the Members with regard to the proper cultivation, good management and enjoyment of the Allotments. § to maintain and improve facilities which will help Members to pursue these activities. § to maintain and improve the condition of the site as a whole and to encourage and educate others to do the same. § to raise funding to enable the Association to carry out its aims § to take measures to protect Members and the site against damage, trespass and theft. § to conduct negotiations with Wakefield Metropolitan District Council and, wherever possible, to co-operate with them, other allotment groups and other organisations and individuals in furtherance of the above aims.
3 Membership of the Association shall consist of: 3.1 All those gardening plots on the Green Lane allotment site. 3.2 Each registered tenant shall be known as a full member of the Association and shall have one vote in any ballot or election organised by the Association. They shall be eligible for appointment to any office within the Association 3.3 All other gardeners shall be associate members of the Association with no voting rights and shall not be eligible for appointment to any office of the Association 3.4 In the case of a tenancy being registered in more than one name, the tenancy shall have one vote in total and only one of the named tenants may be nominated for election to the any office of the Association
4 Equal Opportunities 4.1 The Association believes in equal opportunities for all. We aim to ensure that no-one shall be discriminated against by us on the grounds of: age, class, employment status, physical or mental disability or mental health, political belief, race, religion, sex, marital status or caring responsibilities, sexuality, unrelated criminal convictions. 5 Data Protection Act 5.1 The association does not keep records of tenants other than voting eligibility and emails/addresses for correspondence 5.2 Access to the above information shall be limited to the Management Committee 5.3 No information on individuals shall be passed to a third party without their permission 6 Management Committee
6.1 The affairs of the Association shall be conducted by a Management Committee, comprising of a Chair, Secretary and Treasurer. 6.2 The site secretary shall be an ex-officio member of the Management Committee. 6.3 An Extended Committee of three, making a total of seven ‘committee’ members shall support the Management Committee. 6.4 Tenure of any post on the Committee, and of all other offices , shall be voluntary, unpaid and open only to registered voters. 6.5 Where necessary, Officers shall be elected for the ensuing year by majority vote in a general ballot of registered tenants. Each registered tenant shall have one vote. Where only one nominee is put forward for any given office an election shall not be required. 6.6 Officers shall be eligible for re-election each year. 6.7 In exceptional circumstances, following the tabling of a specific agenda item to the effect, Officers may be dismissed by a majority vote at a general meeting. An example of this would be where officers or members of the committee were acting in a way that is considered to be detrimental to the general good of the tenants or the site. 6.8 The Chair, Secretary, Treasurer and members of the Extended Committee shall keep accurate records of their dealings on behalf of the Association, which shall be available for inspection by Members. 6.9 Any vacancy arising between Annual General meetings shall be filled by appointments made by the Management Committee
7 Election of Officers 7.1 Nominations for Chair, Secretary, Treasurer and other officers shall be put forward by the end of last week in February 7.2 Any registered voter may be nominated for office 7.3 Candidates for election of Chair, Secretary, Treasurer shall require two nominators, neither of which can be themselves or family members 7.4 Candidates may only be nominated for one of the following roles – chair, secretary or treasurer 7.5 Unsuccessful candidates for the above roles shall automatically be considered for membership of the extended committee. i.e. committee members other than the chair, secretary and treasurer 7.6 Ballots for election of members of the Management Committee, if required, shall be carried out and all voting slips handed in at least three days before the Annual General Meeting. 7.7 The site secretary shall organise the ballot for election of officers to the Management Committee where this is necessary. 7.8 Where necessary election of extended committee members shall take place within a fortnight of the ballot for the election of the management committee.
8 Subscriptions 8.1 There are no subscription costs involved.
9 Association Meetings 9.1 An Annual General Meeting shall be held during the last week in March each year to receive the Committee’s report and accounts, and to announce the results of any election ballots to appoint members of the Executive Committee. 9.2 The Committee shall decide when ordinary meetings of the Association shall be held and shall give reasonable notice of such meetings by email and posting dates on the notice boards and blog. 9.3 Special General Meetings shall be held at the written request of members representing not less than one third of members of the Association. 9.4 The Committee shall meet to discuss issues relating to the Allotments, no less than four times a year. 9.5 The Articles of the Constitution for Green Lane Allotments may be amended as appropriate. 9.6 All tenants of Green Lane Allotments shall receive a copy of the proposed amended constitution and have a week in which to make comments on or raise objections to the amendments. The amended Articles of Constitution shall be adopted by majority vote at a General Meeting.
10 Finances 10.1 The Committee shall maintain a bank account in the name of the Association and all monies received from any source on behalf of the Association shall be paid into that account. 10.2 Records and accounts of all transactions shall be kept by the Treasurer and shall be available for inspection by Members. 10.3 The Association’s financial year shall end on the last day of March and accounts shall be submitted to the Annual General Meeting. 10.4 Cheques shall be signed by a minimum of two signatories. 10.5 Two auditors appointed by the committee shall audit accounts twice a year in March and September. 12 Amendments to the Constitution 11.1 Should it be deemed necessary to make amendments to the constitution, this shall be drafted by the Chair, Secretary and Treasurer and then presented to the full membership of the association. 11.2 Members shall have the opportunity to comment on the amended constitution, which shall be accepted on receipt of a majority vote at a full member meeting.
12 Liability 12.1 The general membership, the officers and Executive Committee and individual members shall not be liable for the actions of individual members claiming to act for the Association without prior agreement with the Executive Committee. 13 Dissolution 13.1 The Association may be dissolved by a two-thirds majority of members voting at an Annual General or Special Meeting confirmed by a simple majority of members voting at a future Special General Meeting held not less than fourteen days after the previous meeting. 13.2 Dissolution may also take place if, in the belief of the Executive Committee, it is no longer possible to carry on through lack of members or funds. 13.3 All income and assets belonging to the Association at the time of dissolution shall be distributed to a charity or organisation of the Management Committee’s choice. This constitution was amended and agreed by a majority vote of those tenants attending a full Association meeting on 29 April 2007
Signed by Association Officers:
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