It seems the fight for fair access to green spaces has never been a hotter topic or more crucial for city dwellers. Recently, urban growing spaces have been drumming up lots of media attention. In Bristol, allotmenteers angered by council-proposed changes and price hikes formed the Bristol Allotmenteers Resist group and got many of the suggestions overturned. Meanwhile, on the outskirts of the city, a private company setting up new allotment plots has been met with fierce opposition from locals, who claim the site will damage green-belt land - tensions reached such a height that at one clash in October 2023, the police were called.
But how did allotments, once considered the sleepy past-time of an older generation, become such a contentious issue?
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At their core, allotments are supposed to be an affordable way for people to produce their own food. Allotments as we know them now stem from the Small Holdings and Allotment Act of 1907 and 1908 which placed responsibility on councils to provide allotments if there was a demand for them.
Writer, allotments historian and artist JC Niala, who has a PhD in urban gardening, has strong feelings about the importance of allotments. “Low-cost growing spaces have numerous benefits for individuals as well as their communities,” she says.
“They have been shown to improve physical and mental health, increase local biodiversity and stimulate engaged and active communities. Allotments in particular have repeatedly supported people across Britain during times of national crisis such as the World Wars and COVID-19 pandemic.”
"Allotments in particular have repeatedly supported people across Britain during times of national crisis such as the World Wars and COVID-19 pandemic."
At their peak, during and just after the First and Second World War efforts and the Dig For Victory campaign, there were over 1 million allotments in the UK. Now, there are an estimated 330,000 allotments in the country, and with the population having increased by almost 30 million since the end of the Second World War, it is no surprise that demand is outstripping supply.
Councils still have a legal responsibility to provide allotment space where it is needed - if six people from different households apply for an allotment together, their council has an obligation under the Allotment Act to find them a space. But with councils under pressure from all angles, and with council land scarce, can this law actually be enforced?
JC says that it can. “During my 36 months of fieldwork, I met people who had managed to start allotment sites by mobilising the 1908 Allotment Act. Their councils had responded and they told me about the transformation that it had brought their local communities. I believe that a key reason that the Act is not well used is because not enough people know about it - so yes, it is worth people banding together.”
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How much demand is there for more allotments?
Last year, JC, in collaboration with two other artists, Julia Utreras and Sam Skinner with help from Greenpeace UK found that across England, Scotland and Wales a staggering 174,183 people were on a waiting list for an allotment. Bristol had the longest waiting list, with 7,630 aspiring growers waiting for a spot.
They created an artwork, which was taken to the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities as a visual representation of the data collected. Although unable to secure a meeting about the data they had uncovered, the artists were happy that their work sparked interest in the matter.
“A national conversation was triggered,” says JC, “ including a BBC Politics programme where I featured alongside representatives from both the Conservative and Labour parties. Access to allotments is a rare issue that both parties can agree on.”
See more about the project here:
What are councils doing to tackle allotment waiting lists?
We reached out to Bristol City Council, where it is believed the number of people waiting has now surpassed 8,000, but we didn’t get a response. However we did speak to spokespeople from Portsmouth and Edinburgh; two other councils with lengthy waiting lists.
Portsmouth City Council, where 6,299 people were waiting last year, said: “We manage eight allotment sites in Portsmouth and one just outside the city, offering over 1,700 individual plots. These are hugely popular and there's increasing demand. Because we are an island city and one of the most densely populated parts of the country, there's very little available green space to create new allotments."
They went on to say: "We're doing what we can to ease the situation, including splitting large plots into smaller ones where possible. We employ a dedicated allotment officer who monitors all plots, and if any are underused or vacated, they are turned around quickly for a new tenant from the waiting list to use."
In Edinburgh, the waiting list in 2023 had reached 5,658. Edinburgh’s Transport and Environment Convener, Councillor Scott Arthur, told us: “Since lockdown, demand for allotments in the city has increased. Edinburgh is also a growing city, and our population is rising, so this demand is only going to go up.
To respond to this we’ve been looking at how we increase the number of growing spaces we have. In recent years we have opened a new allotment site at Newcraighall, adding an extra 26 plots to the Council’s stock. By 2027 we believe we could create an extra 200 plots at six sites.”
However, he also touched on the difficulties, saying: “This will depend on the availability of land and resources. A lack of capital to develop them is also a barrier.”
"This will depend on the availability of land and resources. A lack of capital to develop them is also a barrier."
“Councils have prioritised other facilities, for example housing, instead of setting aside land for allotments," says JC. "It is possible to do both, but the years of under-resourcing means that it is taking time to catch up with the rise in people's interest in growing their own food.”
What other pressures are allotment sites under?
A lack of resources holds councils back from building more allotments, but even for established sites, safety is not a given. In Bath, an allotment site that has existed for 130 years is facing closure, as the landowner plans to terminate the council's lease in 2025.
Comb Down Allotments is the site of 64 plots, which are now at risk. A petition to save the allotments has received more than 5,000 signatures and the council is looking into whether it can acquire the site, but the future is uncertain.
Allotment land is often looked at as potential space for housing development too, due to their prime city locations. In October 2021, Ralph Percy, the 12th Duke of Northumberland, lost an application to build 80 flats on part of his Grade-I listed Syon Park estate - a project which would have destroyed a large number of allotments that have been there since 1917. Although in this instance, the allotments were saved, it is clear that sites continue to be under threat in spite of people's desire to grow their own food.
Should people shoulder the responsibility of finding alternatives?
Edinburgh Councillor Scott Arthur suggests that community groups could be a way of providing growing opportunities to meet demand. “Edible community gardens are also important and help people to access growing spaces at low or no cost, pass on gardening skills and get to know each other. I would like to see community groups forming to take forward the development of land that has the potential for being an allotment or community food growing space.”
It is true that allotments are not the only way to get involved in food growing, and if you're in an area like Bristol that has lengthy waiting lists then it's worth researching local community gardens and organisations to get involved with.
Other options are also becoming available for those willing to pay more than the council fees, which average around £45 per year. Roots Allotments in Bristol has launched a 700-plot site on the outskirts of the city, with prices starting at £9.99 per month.
Critics argue that private allotments with higher prices are gardening for the elite and send a message to councils that the problem is being dealt with externally. However, given that the site has already sold out and opened a waiting list of its own, it's clear that plenty of people have no problem with paying a higher price if it means they can start growing their own food straight away.
Other schemes have popped up that attempt to redistribute outdoor space too, such as AllotMe, on which people can rent out gardens they aren't using. Some people even list their gardens rent-free and are simply looking for someone to give their space more love than they can.
"Access to growing land should not be contingent on money."
Although these alternatives can work in harmony with council-run allotments, they cannot replace them. "Other schemes can help but only if like traditional allotments they keep the rent low so everyone who wants to access them can," says JC. "One of allotments strengths is that they bring together people from all walks of life. Access to growing land should not be contingent on money."
I'm on a waiting list and I've given up hope, what should I do?
To start the process of change in your community, follow these steps:
- Talk to your neighbours - find out if other people in your neighbourhood are looking for an allotment and struggling. Judging by the data acquired in The Waiting List project, you won't have to search for long to find allies.
- When you have six people willing to be representatives, write a letter to your council. Art in Liverpool has a useful letter template on their website, which you could adapt for your local council.
- If you don't get a response, keep writing to your council until you do.
Your council is legally required to find growing space for you if you and your neighbours want it - so fight for it and show the government that access to healthy, homegrown produce is something they need to care about and provide.
