Sat, 4th October 2008
Allotment Shortage
But under-occupied sites are more likely to suffer from vandalism and the developers begin to make a case for turning a hardly used bit of ground into 4 bedroom executive shoeboxes at a ridiculous price and an obscene profit.
How things have changed in just a few years. Growing your own has come back with a vengeance; it’s like the 1970s again when we all fancied becoming Tom & Barbara and living The Good Life. Well, I fancied Barbara, but that’s a bit off topic. In the following 30 years we moved away from growing our own to the Greed is Good culture of the city traders and thousands of allotments were swallowed up in the name of progress. That seems to have done us a lot of good.
Well these things come in cycles and now there are estimated to be 100,00 people who would like some land to grow on.
Have you noticed how gardens have shrunk? A pre-war semi usually had a garden 100 feet long and about 30 feet wide. Now a 30 feet deep garden is the norm and it’s narrower. I looked at some new houses near to us a couple of years ago, these were expensive for the area, about three times what our semi was worth, and on three stories. The gardens were just a patio. Those old back-to-back terraces had more space!
No wonder we need more plots. There are still vacant plots in our area but many areas of the country are not so fortunate. I understand that in London one puts young James on the list for Eton and for a plot before he leaves the maternity ward. Theoretically the local authorities should provide allotments when six or more local people request them. Theoretically. Central government throws the blame on local and local bounces the hot potato back to them.
The need for more allotments – and note that ‘need’ – is growing by the day. It’s not just the middle classes playing at being farmer but working people who want to eat wholesome, clean and safe food where they know it’s not chock full of chemicals that may turn out to damage their children in the future. It’s people who find themselves struggling to live on fixed incomes who can get healthy exercise whilst saving their food costs. The retired and unemployed trying to cope with the ‘credit crunch’ We need more plots.
Thank goodness some people are doing something about it. I had this email from Margaret Campbell who has kindly allowed me to put it online – it speaks for itself.
For the last year, we have been pressing our local council to provide more allotments. We’ve set up a website to act as a resource for other groups wanting to do the same.
http://www.transitiontownwestkirby.org.uk/accesstoallotments.htm
The website has a campaign diary where you can read about what has happened so far. There are links to allotment legislation, relevant organisations and publications,
current newspaper articles and allotments in Parliament. There are examples of petitions and letters, which can be downloaded for use. We would welcome suggestions for further material.
As a result of this website we are developing contacts with other groups and individuals concerned about UK allotment provision. Although there is legislation saying that councils must provide sufficient allotments, clearly the legislation itself is not sufficient, and we feel that this is an issue for Central Government.
Through the contact group we have been able to alert people to debates and bills in Parliament, and coordinate letters to MPs etc. We would like to encourage others to contact us.
Do pay a visit to the site and pass it on – it’s fascinating to read the government answers to MP Ben Chapman’s questions. Talk about saying nothing. We need to put pressure on them now whilst they’re desperate for our votes.
Thanks Margaret - keep up the good work.
Filed under Rants and Raves by John
Comments on Allotment Shortage »
keith @ 3:52 pm
there is a shortage in my area Brentwood Essex the problem being that plots got so overgrown it is now nearly impossible to bring them back into use .The number of people who take plots on and dont use them is also a problem because it is so difficult to get them back. Bit of a suprise to find we had a frost this morning the dahlias look rather sad.
BenF @ 12:10 am
There is a shortage in London.
Myself and a few others have been petitioning our local council (LB Waltham Forest, East London) for another site. Since according to the council allotment officer has stated
“Don’t even bother putting your name down - you’d be dead by the time you got one”.
The Council has said it doesn’t have any available land, since we are an Olympic Borough - enquire again in 5 years. Yet walking around the area, even looking on the existing sites many seem overgrown, and untended…..Yet given the fact we are semi-young things and ready for the challenge we are having no luck.
Cawdor @ 10:32 am
I think every red blooded male fancied Barbara! Saw her whilst driving through London about 20 years ago and nearly crashed my car whilst rubber necking.
Cawdor
Richard Sherman @ 4:34 pm
My allotment is on a site in Broadstairs which also has a waiting list.
There are a number of plots which are only half used, usually by people who do not relise.the task they have taken on,especialy if they work.
I have suggested to the committee,to cut a number of these plots in half for newcomers before allowing them a full sized allotment.
I believe this would reduce waiting lists and reduce overgrown sites.
Mr R Sherman,Broadstairs.
Steve @ 9:15 am
There’s a shortage on our site in Leicestershire. The allotments are church owned and let by an agent. The waiting list is now 20 strong. The problems are similar to what Keith in Brentwood says - plots not worked for years, new people come with great enthusiasm but disappear after finding the plot unmanageable. There are a number of plots, rented but not worked which irritates those of us that do try and keep our plots cultivated. There is no simple solution, but I feel these TV gardening programmes don’t help. They paint a romantic picture of what having an allotment entails, which in reality is a lot of bloody hard work!
Charley @ 3:40 pm
I have a plot in Bristol and I was told there was a two year waiting list but after 6 months and regularly calling the site rep I got my own full sized plot.
Since getting the keys I have noticed that the majority of plots are vacant….
Ian Edge @ 9:05 pm
I am sorry if this upsets anybody or turns them green with envy but here goes, I live in a small village in west wales and with only a very small garden attatched to my council house wanted a small peice of land to grow my own veg, No allotments around here so i asked people i knew in case i could get them to part with a bit, eventually i spotted a small advert in the local paper for a garden free to use and got on the phone very quick, i was ivited down to a local country house and offered a 1 acre walled garden, not to look a gift horse in the mouth i took it on and spent lots of tim getting as much of it into shape as possible during the summer of 2007, one day late August i arrive and found 2500 young pheasants happily having a picnic, Turns out that this walled garden has been a rearing pen for years and the owner who i has assumed was a gentleman had forgot to tell me, Having a bit of a short fuse i thought it best to bite my tounge and retire to my armchair where i promptly wrote out a bill for a great number of seeds and a good number of hours labour charge which was posted to the “Gentleman” with and attached note that payment would acceptable either personaly or via a small claims court, i shortly afterwards recieved a reply and a cheque, I thought he may have learned his lesson but the advert appeared again in april 2008, however in the meantime i had again been asking around and was offered a 2 acre field which had at one time in the past had planning on it but which had now lapsed, the owner told me that because of british tax laws he had now decided that he was just going to leave it to his children when he died, of course with no planning the value is much lower so less tax to pay, i started with a friends tractor and plough on new years day 2008 and despite the weather have had good crops on the area planted so much so i have had some to sell, considering the cost of food and that i have only been asking 20p for a cabbage and 40p for a cauli i have been dissapointed at the very small number of people who have taken up the offer of very fresh veg, I have now been aproached by a vegetable shop in a local town to grow as much as possible for them as it seems people are lining up outside to pay premium prices for LOCAL FRESH VEG so not only does it look like i got more than i bargained for i could also get a nice little earner out of it, The moral is dont give up your time will come and if you really can not wait to get started get in touch and bring a spade, payment in the form of great veggie stir fries