Allotments – Government must do more to provide space for growing

A Holyrood Committee has called for The Scottish Government to do more to encourage delivery of the Community Empowerment Act (“The Act”), as a new report exposes significant unmet demand for allotments and growing spaces all over the country.

The Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee has undertaken an inquiry into the Act which was passed seven years ago, examining whether it has improved the availability of allotments and reduced the barriers to accessing them.

Ariane Burgess the Committee Convener said to The Edinburgh Reporter that people need to be made more aware of the possibilities of the Act in accessing land which can be used in this way.

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Ariane Burgess MSP Convener of The Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee at Holyrood has called for the Scottish Government to demonstrate increased leadership and oversight in the delivery of the Community Empowerment Act as a new report exposes significant unmet demand for allotments and growing spaces across Scotland. PHOTO © The Edinburgh Reporter

Ms Burgess is a keen gardener anyway but learned from veteran gardener, Liz Grace, who is Secretary of the Federation of Edinburgh and District Allotments and Gardens Association (FEDAGA) that the best advice is to plant the cabbages deep into the ground to protect them from falling over in any wind.

The report highlights the benefits that access to land for growing can have on people’s health, the environment, food security, and on communities.

Despite positive developments since the Act came into force, the Committee found that further action is now needed if the ambitions contained in it are to be met.

Evidence revealed that the Covid-19 pandemic had led to a further surge in demand and the emerging cost-of-living crisis is also expected to drive up the need for growing spaces even further.

The inquiry heard that demand for allotment space is even more acute in Scotland’s cities, with the number of people on waiting lists in Edinburgh almost doubling since 2019, rising from 3,000 to 5,600 and Aberdeen’s waiting list increasing over six-fold, from 150 to 1,000 people in five years.

With demand for allotments and growing space far outstripping supply, the Committee has warned that broader Scottish Government plans for developing community growing, food growth strategies and improving access to land are all being held back.

At Midmar Allotments, John Grace, Chair of the Midmar Allotment Association explained that a recent new allotment holder had been on the waiting list for 14 years, and he agreed that something has to be done to allow those who want to grow their own have the space to do so.

John Grace, Chair of the Midmar Allotment Association. A Holyrood Committee has called for the Scottish Government to demonstrate increased leadership and oversight in the delivery of the Community Empowerment Act as a new report exposes significant unmet demand for allotments and growing spaces across Scotland.

The Committee Convener Ariane Burgess MSP shows allotment holders at Midmar the report that has been compiled. The Holyrood Committee has called for the Scottish Government to demonstrate increased leadership and oversight in the delivery of the Community Empowerment Act as a new report exposes significant unmet demand for allotments and growing spaces across Scotland.

The Committee has made several recommendations in its report for the Scottish Government, as well as proposing actions for local government.

Recommendations to the Scottish Government include:

Increasing the leadership and oversight provided by the Scottish Government to improve access to allotments and growing spaces.
The creation of a national partnership forum which could foster cross-sectoral collaboration, mutual support and enable local authorities to share expertise and good practice.
Reflecting the importance of allotments and food growing in wider strategies such as the National Planning Framework, the forthcoming Biodiversity Strategy, and the implementation of the new Good Food Nation Bill.
Tackling the complexity of existing rights under the Act for ‘community asset transfers’ which were created to enable the transfer of property and land to community groups.
The importance of land for growing food being incorporated into planning frameworks.
Improved clarity about how the requirement for local authorities to publish Food Growing Strategies intersects with the new requirement to produce Good Food Nation strategies.

Committee Convener Ariane Burgess MSP said: “The Community Empowerment Act recognised in 2015 how important allotments are to communities and individuals. Whilst there have been many positive developments since then, there is still a significant and increasing demand which is not being met, and access to land remains a challenge.

“Scotland’s appetite for improved access to allotments and growing space is flourishing, in part due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, but also due to the rising cost of living and levels of food insecurity facing people across the country.

“The benefits of allotments were made clear to the Committee by the many passionate individuals we met in our visits to sites and in the evidence we received.

“These benefits extend from improving health and well-being to tackling social isolation, intergenerational engagement, education opportunities, carbon reduction and improved biodiversity. Nurturing communities’ and individuals’ interests in getting involved should be a priority for the government.

“Our hope is that this report prepares the ground for real change and that The Scottish Government now demonstrate increased leadership and a renewed commitment to the Act to deliver on its own food growth and wellbeing ambitions.”