3. Membership is open to any Grower, being a sole business or partnership based and growing thatching straw in the United Kingdom, whether the grower farms the land from ‘plough to harvest’, or sub-contracts out the crop husbandry & deals with the harvesting husbandry only.

Members must :-
a) be willing to guarantee their integrity to the Association in their determination to produce quality thatching straw in accordance with the ‘first principles’, published as Schedule A to this constitution.
b) understand and accept that their guarantee to the Association will remain a condition of membership.
c) agree to make their thatching straw/husbandry available for inspection by the Standards Sub-Committee.
d) on application for membership, provide information on present harvesting techniques employed and whether this is intended practice for future years.
e) provide each year, their crop husbandry records to the NTSGA archives for beneficial research purposes to help growers develop good consistent crops, see Schedule B;
f) agree to accept such rules as the Association may from time to time adopt.
g) attend at least one meeting per year – General or Annual General.
h) pay the membership subscription when due.

4. Associate Membership shall be available to professional individuals, bodies, organisations, allied trades and retired growers. Associate members will have no voting rights concerning the workings of the Association.

5. If at any time the Association shall be of the opinion that the interests of the Association require it, it may withdraw the membership of any member. The member shall have the right to appeal in the first instance to an open meeting of the Association. In such an event, the member’s subscription for the current year shall be refunded pro rata.

6. Notice of resignation must be given to the Secretary, in writing, at least one month before subscription is due for renewal.

7. The Association shall have the privilege of nominating Honorary and Life Members, who will be elected at the Annual General Meeting. Unless they are in the chair, an honorary member shall have no right to vote.

COMMERCIAL USE OF MEMBERSHIP
8. Only full members of the Association shall be entitled to use the style and device, (logo) of the Association during the course of their daily business.

APPLICATIONS FOR MEMBERSHIP
9. Applications for membership and associate membership shall always be by written application to the Secretary in the form at Schedule C to these Rules.

10. The Association reserves the right to refuse admission to membership but refusal shall be notified in writing to the applicant and the reasons given. In the event of a disagreement the applicant has a right to appeal to an open meeting of the Association.

SUBSCRIPTION
11. Upon joining the Association all members shall be required to pay a membership subscription in proportion to the remaining months of the year and thereafter an annual membership subscription.

12. The membership subscription, which shall be payable annually on 1st January in advance, shall be a sum such as the Association shall from time to time determine.

13. There shall be a penalty for late payment calculated as 10 per cent of the annual subscription for every calendar month overdue, up to a maximum of three calendar months.

14. In the event of a member failing to pay his dues by the end of the second calendar month, he shall be sent by the Treasurer a notice drawing attention to these Rules. If there is no payment by the end of the third calendar month, and there are in the Executive Committee's opinion no extenuating circumstances, then membership shall cease and the Secretary shall so notify the ex-member in writing.

15. Restoration of Membership. Membership withdrawn under this section shall be restored at the discretion of the Association, provided it be upon terms not unfavourable to other members.

16. Office holders shall pay one half of the annual subscription in recognition of the time they are required to devote to the day to day administration of the Association.

17. Associate members: Professional individuals, bodies, organisations, allied trades and retired growers etc., shall pay an annual subscription of one half of the full membership fee.