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EDITORIAL
Christmas and New Year are done as Easter looms on the distant horizon near the end of April. By then we should be hard at it digging, planting and sowing. By the time you read this onion sets, shallots and seed potatoes should be in the Stores awaiting your collection.

I predict that the big issue this year will be self management of the allotments. In fact there is a meeting at the Town Hall on Tuesday, 1st March. Please try to attend as your views are important. Be assured that the Association Committee are keeping a close watch on developments.

SELF-MANAGED ALLOTMENTS

Over the past few months there has been a sub-committee working on behalf of the Borough Council's Overview & Scrutiny Committee (OSC) to look at allotments. Their Report, which contains their recommendations was scheduled to be presented to the OSC on 18th January, so by this time the Report should be in the public domain and could be on our website.

The sub-committee spoke with several parties that have an impact on allotments as well as getting views from the public. This Association had representation on the Committee and I was also invited to join as an independent plot holder.

Although many areas were covered not everything was taken on board and at the end of December the Report was finalised with the Committee's recommendations being made.

One of those recommendations was that there should be investigations into the viability of the allotments in Worthing being self managed. Nobody on the Committee was in a position to say whether or not this was a good policy, but looking at the information on the web there were a lot of positive reports from sites which had gone down this route.

Every site is different so each case needs careful consideration. Paul Neary from the Allotment regeneration Initiative attended one of the meetings and gave some outline information to the Committee.

Paul has been invited to give a talk on Self-Management on TUESDAY, 1st MARCH 2011, at 6.00 p.m. at the Town Hall. It is hoped that this will be supported by a good turnout from all plot holders, whether or not they are Association members.

There will be notices going up on the notice boards at various sites with more information - look out for them.

To make the evening more informative I would suggest that if anyone has an issue which they want to raise, then they send details to me and I will forward them to Paul Neary so that he can try to address them in his talk. Send to: Ken Willo, 14 Westmead Gardens, West Avenue, Worthing, BN11 5LP or email to kenwillo@googlemail.com by 21st February.

Please remember that this talk is about the FUTURE management of the allotments sites and not about the present scheme. There is a Contract in place with Continental Landscapes until the end of 2012, so we may well be looking at 2013 before this could be operating.

Your views are important; if you are of the opinion that self management is the way forward then your time will be needed to make it work.

Ken Willo

VISIT THE RHS GARDENS at WISLEY

We have obtained tickets for SATURDAY, 4th JUNE. The normal price is £9.90 for entry alone, but you can see the gardens and get a coach ride there and back for the all-inclusive price of £10.00

See http://www.rhs.org.uk/gardens/wisley for pictures.

We expect to reach Wisley at 11.30 a.m. at the latest and to leave at 4.00 p.m. You can obtain food and drink there OR take sandwiches and a flask to picnic in the grounds. There is a plant centre. You can order a guided tour (cost extra) and arrange a wheelchair if required.

Complete and return the form in your Plotholder to Paul Eustice, 50 St. Thomas's Road, Worthing, BN14 7JN, or hand it in at any of the Allotments' Stores. Please include a stamped addressed envelope for your reply. You can also download it here and email it to paul@bpfe.org.uk

Paul Eustice

ANNUAL SHOW

With the New Year comes thoughts of our Annual Show and the prospects are very exciting. The date is SATURDAY, 20th AUGUST 2011. Put that in your diary NOW!

We are moving to a new venue - Oak Grove College, which is on the Durrington High School campus with the entrance in The Boulevard, just south of the Littlehampton Road. The College is for children with special needs and it specialises in gardening, which makes it an ideal organisation for us to work with. The move was made to give us much needed extra space to expand the scope of the Show and invite other organisations to join in. It does mean that we will no longer be sharing premises with the Worthing Horticultural Society who are staying at Broadwater, holding their Show on 3rd September.

We will be staging all our usual exhibits of fruit, vegetables, flowers, flower arranging and cookery, plus the children's Section which adds something special to the Show. Last year's new Section specifically for novices was very successful so we shall be repeating that and, of course, there will be the cake staff, white elephant stall and raffle to raise the cash needed to fund the whole event. Teas and home-made cakes will also be on sale so you can take the weight off the old feet, have a chat and make it a really enjoyable afternoon out.

We are keen to broaden the appeal of the Show and are putting out feelers for other organisations who might like to have a publicity stall and maybe make some funds for their own needs. If you know anyone who might be interested please give me a ring on 234216.

If you are a new member or one who has not yet taken the plunge, this is a personal invitation for you to come along and take part. Ours is a very inclusive Show with a few experts and a lot of ordinary gardeners like me who have a go and together put on a wonderful display, but it needs people brave enough to enter. Last year the ladies outnumbered the men almost two to one. So come on chaps, show your courage and have a go. It really is so much fun.

The Show Schedule will be revised and issued well in advance, telling you everything you need to know; it will be in our Stores for you to pick up a copy. Forthcoming editions of Plotholder will also include information to help you on your way. Also, I am only a phone call away.

Jack Powis, Show Secretary

WHITE ELEPHANT STALL

Each year at our Annual Show we have a White elephant Stall where we sell nice saleable items donated by members. Last year this raised over £200 making it a very important part of the Show funding. This year we are putting out the request early, in the hope that we can catch any of you having a spring clear-out.

So, if you have anything suitable, please ring Bob Bingham on 07968 482311 or Celia Powis on 01903 243216. While I am in the asking mood - if anyone would like to help run the Stall please put your hand up. We are going to need all the help we can get.

THAT'S ALL, FOLKS! HAPPY GARDENING AND HOPE TO BE BACK WITH EDITION No2 IN APRIL