I would like to start of by wishing everyone a very Happy Christmas and New Year.

This is the time of year when most of us have time to relax and think about the past year and the future. What did we do well and what can we do better next time, that is the one thing about growing vegetables, each year you start with a blank canvas and a new picture is painted on the plot.

What has happened this year off the plot?  AMAS and the Edge Lane Society has won an important and significant victory in fighting off the threat of closure of the site. Let us not deminish the emensity of this, Manchester City Council applied to the government for a Section 8 order for the closure of the site under the Allotments Acts. They used the full backing of the legal department and other sections of the councils staff to make a case for closure, even though the factual evidence was weak.

The objections by the Society and AMAS were made on the grounds that the Council’s case was not proven, that actions the council took after the decision to close Edge Lane site and the information supplied in the ‘Section 8 Application’ was incorrect.

The Government Office of the North West rejected the application on all points. This was a complete vindication of all our statements and arguments.

The second item of good news is that this web site has been shortlisted for a national award for web sites. Much of the work toward this shortlisting was done by the staff of MDDA who sorted out a specification for the site and e-connect who designed the site. Many thanks to them, and to all who contribute to the site and to all you who visit the site.

Looking to the future, a meeting has been arranged between AMAS and the councillors who lead the Leisure Section to open a dialogue to discuss the future of Allotments in Manchester. The meeting will take place in late January and we will report back to the committee and the meeting afterwards.

Back to the plot, as I said at the beginning this is the time to plan the new picture for our plots, so let’s hope that the weather is more favourable this year and potato blight does not visit with the same results as this year.

Once again enjoy your Christmas and New Year but don’t forget about the plans for next year.