Organic Gardening Society Drienerlo (BTD), founded 3 September 1970
Internal Regulations
(adopted at the BTD General Assembly on 23-09-2023)
The BTD is a sub-association of the UT-Kring (staff association of the University of Twente). Statutes and Bylaws, Internal Regulations and Privacy Regulations of the UT-Kring (as published on the UT-Kring website) therefore apply.
The following Internal Regulations also apply specifically to the BTD.
- Aim
Article 1.
The Organic Gardening Society Drienerlo aims:
- To offer its members the opportunity to garden organically and in their own way on one or more garden units (vegetable garden and/or flower garden and/or herb garden) on the complex of the society;
- At the joint maintenance of the complex in accordance with the biological principles of the society;
- At providing and exchanging informaƟon about organic gardening;
- At promoƟng a shared responsibility that should make individual gardening as enjoyable as possible.
- Membership
Article 2.
Members of the BTD can only be:
- Those currently employed by the UT;
- Those whose employment with the UT has been honorably terminated for reasons other than accepting a new job, such as pensioners;
- Students enrolled at the UT;
- Partners of the members referred to in Articles 2a. and 2b.;
- Those who were employed by the UT when they joined the BTD and their partners may remain members of the BTD after accepting a new job elsewhere;
- Partners of deceased UT employees and UT pensioners.
Article 3.
- Members as referred to in Article 2a. must also be members of the UT-Kring.
- Members as referred to in Article 2b. must also be members of the GEWIS sub-association of the UT-Kring.
- Members as referred to in Articles 2d. to 2f. are considered as external members, unless they are members of the UT-Kring or GEWIS. These external members pay an additional amount of membership fees each year.
Article 4
The BTD has 2 forms of membership:
- Regular members who are allowed to use one or more garden units at the BTD complex for growing vegetables, flowers and/or herbs. Regular members are also eligible for one or more bushes in the berry garden or one or more fruit trees in the orchard and may use the joint herb gardens
- So-called garden herb members who do not have a garden unit in use, but may qualify for a bush in the berry garden or a fruit tree in the orchard and may use the joint herb gardens.
- Members of UT-Kring's sub-association De Botte Hommel must also be regular or garden herb members of the BTD, insofar as they also use the facilities at the BTD complex.
Article 5
Termination of membership.
In addition to the provisions in the Statutes and Bylaws of the UT-Kring:
- The board may terminate membership and take back the garden units and/or berry bushes and/or fruit trees in use if a member does not comply with the obligations referred to in Articles 14 to 16 of these Internal Regulations or if the membership fees, fines or registration fees due have not been paid on time.
- Before terminating membership, the board will first warn the member concerned (maximum 2 times).
- In case of membership termination by the board, the registration and membership fees already paid will not be returned.
- In case of prolonged absence (more than 1 month) due to illness, etc., the board must be informed.
- Facilities
Article 6
The following facilities are available at the BTD complex on the UT campus:
- Numbered garden units with an average area of 22.5 m2. A garden unit is located to the right of a numbered pole.
- A berry garden with numbered small plots, each plot with space for 1 berry bush.
- An orchard with numbered small plots, each plot with space for 1 fruit tree.
- Herb and testing grounds for shared use. Herbs and flowers may be picked here (not dug out).
- Cold container in which plants are pre-sown in spring for general use (only take away a couple of plants per garden unit).
- A tool shed for the storage of shared garden tools. There is also a toilet in the tool shed.
- A log cabin that is used by the board for various society activities.
- Various water supplies: rainwater collection, pumping groundwater and drinking water pipes.
- Storage facilities for manure and wood chips, among other things.
- Storage facilities for non-compostable green waste and coarse residual waste.
- The BTD sub-association of the UT-kring
Article 7
The society year runs from 1 January to 31 December.
Article 8
Decisions are taken by majority vote in the General Assembly, which is held at least once a year before 1 July of each year. All members will receive an invitation to this meeting by email, with an agenda.
Article 9
The BTD has a board:
- Consisting of at least 3 members of the BTD;
- That is elected and appointed at the General Assembly;
- That divides the tasks among themselves, with at least a chairman, secretary and treasurer;
- That fills an interim vacancy itself if necessary. This action requires the approval of the next General Assembly;
- That appoints the members of the committees set up by the board, including in any case an audit committee and a garden control committee;
- That allocates garden units, berry bushes and fruit trees to members and aspiring members.
- The aim is to achieve a proportional distribution between UT employees, UT pensioners, UT students and external members (see also Articles 2 and 3). It is not allowed to transfer garden units, berry bushes or fruit trees to another member without the approval of the board;
- That initiates joint activities of the BTD (such as work mornings and workshops) and possibly coordinates them or have them coordinated by BTD members.
Article 10
Email is the only official means of communication between members and the board.
- Finances
Article 11
The BTD has the following forms of membership fees, registraƟon fees and other income:
- New members pay a one-time deposit upon registration. For this amount of money they receive a key that fits all the locks of the gates on the BTD complex and the tool shed. Upon termination of the membership, the member concerned will receive the amount paid as a deposit back after returning the received key and provided that all obligations of the membership (see Articles 14, 15 and 16 below) have been fulfilled and the garden unit is delivered clean.
- Annually, regular members pay a standard amount of membership dues per garden unit.
- Annually, garden herb members pay a standard amount of membership dues.
- Annually, owners of a berry bush or fruit tree pay a standard amount of contribution per allotment or tree in the berry garden or orchard, respectively.
- Annually, an additional contribution from each so-called external member (see Article 3c.).
- Fines received from members who have not fulfilled the obligation to participate in joint working days (see below).
- Payments from members for materials purchased by the board such as manure and compost. The board determines the amount to be paid by the members, unless this is included in the annual contribution to be paid, as adopted by the General Assembly.
The amounts listed in Article 11a. to 11.f for the next society year will be determined annually at the General Assembly of the BTD and requires the approval of the board of the UT-Kring.
Article 12
The treasurer of the BTD is responsible for:
- Receiving, managing and spending financial and other resources of the BTD;
- The administration of revenue and expenditure in such a way that it is possible at any time to monitor the state of financial and other resources of the BTD;
- Periodic reporting to the board of the UT-Kring on the state of financial and other resources;
- Drawing up an annual financial report and budget for the General Assembly of the BTD, as well as the General Assembly of the UT-Kring.
Article 13
Audit Committee:
- From the members of the BTD the General Assembly annually appoints an audit committee consisting of 2 members, who are appointed for a period of 2 years (preferably 1 new member per year);
- Members of the Audit Committee may not be part of the board;
- Prior to the annual General Assembly, the Audit Committee examines all financial documents and in particular the annual financial report and reports on its findings in the General Assembly and may or may not make a proposal to grant discharge to the treasurer;
- The board is obliged to provide the Audit Committee with all its desired access to documents and books of the society.
- Obligations of the members
The BTD is a society of members and volunteers who have to make agreements with each other to make organic gardening as enjoyable and cheap as possible for everyone. Therefore, each member has the following obligations:
Article 14
Use of garden units, berry bushes and fruit trees:
- Only organic gardening is allowed, i.e. the use of fertilizers, poisons and chemical pesticides is not allowed.
- On a garden unit vegetables, flowers and herbs may be grown. Berry bushes and fruit trees are not allowed on the regular garden units unless they do not cause any nuisance to other members, at the discretion of the board.
- No fixed structures, greenhouses, etc. may be placed on the gardens. A small dome greenhouse is possible. Use as little plastic material as possible.
- On the right side of each garden unit (i.e. before the number pole of the adjacent garden unit), a path of approximately 30 cm wide must be kept free over the full length of the garden unit. This path may also be used by the user of the adjacent garden unit.
- Users of garden units adjacent to the hedge surrounding both parts of the BTD complex should keep approximately 1 meter free from the heart of the hedge to provide space for the company that regularly prunes the hedge and to allow maintenance of the chicken wire in the hedge. The chicken wire serves to keep hares and rabbits out of the complex.
- Users must perform proper and regular maintenance. Weeds, in particular, must be removed regularly because the weeds can quickly spread to neighboring garden units.
- Users are also required to keep the common paths that run along their garden unit, berry bush or fruit tree clear of weeds. A path that runs between 2 garden units must be maintained jointly by the respective users.
- The state of maintenance is regularly inspected by a garden control committee, consisting of some members of the BTD, which is appointed by the board. Board members cannot be part of this committee. Following the report of the garden control committee, the board can instruct members to perform better and more regular maintenance on the garden units, berry bushes and/or fruit trees in use, including surrounding paths. If, after a possible second warning, the obligaƟon to maintain is sƟll not complied with, the board may decide to take back the relevant garden units, berry bushes and/or fruit trees and to cancel the membership of the member concerned without refund of the contribution and deposit /registration fee already paid.
- Garden tools for general use can be found in the tool shed. After use, the tool should be brushed clean or rinsed before being hung back in the right place in the tool shed.
- Collected rainwater or groundwater can be used to water the plants. The drinking water available on the complex - via taps along the paths - may only be used if ground or rainwater is no longer available. The groundwater is pumped up and stored in water vessels. Members are required to refill the water vessels to the brim after water has been removed with the watering cans.
Article 15
Waste disposal:
- Compostable green waste must be processed on one's own garden unit via a compost bin or compost heap or taken home.
- Non-compostable green waste should be taken home. If necessary, the board will designate one or more places on the complex where non-compostable green waste can be dumped.
- There is no place on the complex where residual waste can be deposited. Members who bring material such as poles, stones, sticks and grids to the complex must later dispose of it themselves when that material is no longer used.
Article 16
Working days:
- During the society year, several working mornings or aŌernoons are organized on which members perform necessary joint maintenance on the BTD complex.
- All members who use and maintain one or more garden units or a berry bush in the berry garden or a fruit tree in the orchard are required to participate in a work morning or afternoon (duration 3 hours) at least three times per society year.
- The BTD buys manure together. For each garden unit, 1 wheelbarrow of manure is reserved. The cost of this one wheelbarrow of manure is included in the annual membership fee. In early spring, a so-called wheeling manure day is organized. On this day, 1 wheelbarrow of manure is deposited on each garden unit by members. Participation in the wheeling manure day is considered to be participation in 1 of the mandatory 3 working mornings or afternoons.
- Members who fail to comply with these obligations will be liable for a fine per missed work morning or afternoon. The amount of the fine is determined by the General Assembly. Where appropriate, the Board may exempt members from the obligation to participate in working mornings or afternoons.
- Privacy
Article 17
- The privacy regulations of the UT-Kring also apply to the BTD.
- Personal data of members (such as telephone numbers and email addresses) will not be shared with other members, unless a member has specifically consented to the sharing of one or more personal data.
- Personal data is shared annually with the board of the UT-Kring in connection with the granting of subsidies.