Our Allotments Are Under Threat Like Never Before With the New Proposed Planning Bill. Is No Green Space Safe?

Emma Hawkins-a member of Havering Climate Coalition and proud allotment holder, today writes in the Havering Daily on the threat our allotments face under the government’s new Planning Bill.

Allotments are under threat as never before. Throughout the country people are waking up to the possibility of growing their own fruit and vegetables to live a sustainable life and promote biodiversity. Waiting lists are growing and yet allotment sites are being lost as the land is need for housingand other developments. In Havering we have been fortunate.The Council has not felt the need to develop this land, but who knows what the future may hold? The Planning and Infrastructure Bill currently making its way through Parliament offers no protection for this land and no requirement for Spatial Development Strategies to include land for growing food. Furthermore, Part 3 of the Bill appears to give Natural England the statutory powers to compulsorily purchase allotment land.

There is a perception that allotment gardening is just a hobby for retirees to potter about and grow a few vegetables. It is much more than that. When plots are taken on by committed individuals a significant amount of food can be grown, helping the UKs food security and with the avoidance of pesticides, herbicides and peat they can contribute positively to the environment. There are also know benefits to health and wellbeing and social inclusion.

I was fortunate in obtaining an allotment at the Pretoria Road site over seven years ago. At 12.8 acres the Pretoria Roadallotments are the single largest site in Havering and could provide over 150 full sized plots. However, Havering Council require that plots are offered preferentially to residents in the locality of the site. Thus, residents in the adjacent streets wereoffered plots within a few months, whilst people who lived further away were left waiting years. Just under 12 months ago the waiting list at Pretoria Road allotments was closed which has put pressure on other sites in Havering. It is time that Havering Council end the postcode lottery of allotment provision and allow residents to have equitable access to an allotment regardless of where they live in the borough.

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