Category Archives: General

Pest control(Rats) on our Allotment Site

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Woodley Town Council has appointed a new pest control company, which will also be responsible for pest control on our allotment site.

They have recently visited the site, renewed the bait in many of the existing bait boxes and installed additional bait boxes in areas where we have received reports of rat activity.

When I met with them recently, they reported that a number of the bait boxes had been moved by tenants. This really does defeat the purpose of their work.

May I please ask all tenants to assist the Committee and the pest control company in reducing the rat population by not moving these bait boxes. They have been carefully positioned to maximise their effectiveness and are there to help make the allotment site better for everyone.

We will post further updates on the website and Facebook page as and when required.

Many thanks &
Kind regards

Mike McNamara
Chair – WATA Committee

Fresh Backyard Eggs – Mixed Sizes

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We have been approached by the tenant of F15, who keeps hens in her home garden and would like to offer their eggs for sale to other tenants on the allotment site.

We have looked into this in the past, but there were restrictions that prevented it from going ahead. However, Woodley Town Council has now agreed to this arrangement on the strict proviso that there must be no exchange of money for goods anywhere on the allotment site. All transactions must take place off-site. Please adhere to this one rule, as any breach could jeopardise the success of this venture.

Lastly, it is the responsibility of the buyer to satisfy themselves that any product they purchase is suitable for its intended use.

See the poster below for full details. You can also click to download a PDF for your own use.

Newsletter – Summer 2026

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Another great edition, full of interesting information. Once again, the Committee’s thanks go to Hannah Varley-Thompson for the sterling job she has done as our Editor in creating this edition.

One technical point: we believe there is still an issue affecting certain iPhones, which may experience problems opening multi-page PDFs due to compatibility issues with some iOS and hardware combinations. Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do to resolve this issue directly. If you do encounter this problem, we suggest downloading the PDF directly from the WATA website and viewing it on another device.

Please let us know if you have any comments, feedback or suggestions by emailing us at readingroadplots@woodley-allotments.org.uk. Happy reading.

Please click on the image below to download your own copy.

General Meeting – Monday 15th June 2026 –

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Hi All,

Following a suggestion made at the AGM, June’s General Meeting will be held on site. Meet up at 7pm at the Allotment Site Main Gate

We will walk around the site, visiting plots where tenants have issues and would welcome group input, as well as plots where tenants have adopted unique approaches and would like to share their ideas and experiences.

We will finish at the Launchpad Plots, where tea, coffee and biscuits will be available.

If you would like to join us, please let the committee know either via the Facebook Event that we have posted. (https://fb.me/e/7VTSe7z20)
Everyone is welcome, even if you do not wish us to visit your plot. Many of our tenants are relatively new and would welcome the opportunity to pick up tips from more experienced members, so please come along if you can.

Please note that the event may be postponed in the event of heavy rain.

If you have any questions or comments, please let us know by emailing readingroadplots@woodley-allotments.org.uk, and we will respond as soon as possible.

Many thanks &
Kind regards

Mike McNamara
Chair – WATA Committee

WATA General Meeting – 20th April 2026 – Minutes & Speaker Notes

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Hi Everyone

As you will remember, quite a number of items came up during the talk and therefore, we set out below a series of images that it click on your will be able to download your own copy of..

  • a copy of the minutes from the meeting
  • a copy of the slides used for the talk
  • a copy of the compost menu that was discussed
  • a copy of an IRDC survey questionnaire (for you to complete, if you would like) that Krishna talked about
  • a list of Krishna’s Nepalese colleagues who have plots on our site
  • a copy of BBC article about the IRDC.

It was a very interesting evening — enjoy your reading.

Many thanks &
Kind regards
Mike McNamara
Chair – WATA Committee

Pop-Up Shop – Good Friday Success

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We had a very successful day at the H & P Pop-Up shop on the Launchpad plots on Good Friday. We took £594 and served 30 customers with about 15 new members, there were some great bargains to be had, sorry if you missed it.

Let’s hope for a bigger turn-out at our next event. Many thanks to Huntley & Palmer Allotment Association for bringing their shop to our Allotment Site and to Sylwester and his van for moving all the produce back and forth.

You can still join the shop – its only £1.50 per year to become a member – visit and purchase items from their ‘Shop’, full details can be found here.

Update on 2026 Plot Inspections and revised Welcome Pack for 2026

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You will recently have received an email from Woodley Town Council (WTC) announcing its new Allotment Plot Inspections Policy.

The Committee’s Plot Inspection Team will be using this policy as the basis for this year’s inspections, which will begin during the week commencing 11th May 2026.

To help tenants better understand what this means in practice, the Committee has updated its document “Plot Inspections – What are the Criteria” (attached), in line with the new WTC policy.

We hope this updated guidance will be helpful and will support tenants in meeting the inspection criteria. In particular, we encourage the use of the recycling schemes that the Committee has introduced to help improve the overall standard and appearance of the allotment site.

We have also updated the 2026 Welcome Pack (attached). Although this is issued to all new tenants via WTC, we felt it would be useful to share the latest version with existing tenants on our mailing list as well.

Click on either of images below to download your own copy of each document.

We welcome any feedback on these documents. Please reply to this email and we will respond as soon as possible.

Many thanks &
Kind regards

Mike McNamara
Chair – WATA Committee