Jeremy Corbyn, the former Labour Party leader, has criticised the government’s move to relax restrictions on local councils to allow them to sell allotments to house-builders.
Flower power: Jeremy Corbyn has written to the Torygraph about the importance of allotments
Angela Rayner, the Secretary of State for housing, has recently given her permission for eight allotment sites to be sold off.
“Of course, social housing is desperately needed, but we need not sacrifice these vital green spaces to build it,” Corbyn wrote in… [checks notes] the Torygraph.
“We can build on ex-industrial land and take over empty properties. Even then, we should ensure social housing is accompanied by community gardens and adequate growing space,” said Corbyn, now an independent MP who has recently started a new party.
In the island of Great Britain – England, Wales and Scotland – there’s more land devoted to golf courses than there is to housing. But Keir Starmer’s Labour government appears to be leaning towards concreting over allotments.
Allotments are protected from development or sale under the Allotment Act 1925, except with ministerial sign-off.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government told the Torygraph: “We know how important allotments are for communities, and that is why strict criteria is in place to protect them, as well as school playing fields.”
In the article for the newspaper, Corbyn, the MP for Islington North and keen allotmenter, wrote: “Allotments have always been under threat from developers. Now, that threat seems to have government backing, which makes the future of these precious spaces even more perilous.
Harvest festival: this is a fruitful time of the year for allotment-holders
“Those advising government and local authorities should have some regard for the troubled history of land ownership, and the struggle over access by those who simply want to grow their own crops…
“The Enclosure Acts, one of the most grotesque abuses of power by Parliament, took away the growing and grazing rights of the rural poor.
“A monstrous attack on working-class life, the enclosures represented the widespread theft of public land, sanctioned by a parliament that was dominated by landowners.
“The rural poor, left with nothing and facing starvation, were forced to migrate to industrial cities. It was in these rapidly growing industrial cities – notably in Birmingham – that allotments started to grow. Allotments, then, grew out of opposition to enclosures and the privatisation of common land…
“Allotments have been crucial in times of national stress. Many came out of the Second World War… Once lost, they never return. Their loss makes us all poorer, as we become more and more detached from how food is grown and how nature interacts with us.
“Allotments provide a vital space for community cohesion, biodiversity and social solidarity. These parcels of land, that cannot be individually fenced, provide growing space for many people.
“Many people have no access to their own garden, and an allotment gives them the opportunity to grow vegetables and fruit and observe nature…
“Property developers have always had their eyes on these parcels of land. Together with local authorities, they construct various arguments for building over them. Instead of contemplating sales of these wonderful spaces, the government should be encouraging the growth of allotments, or where there is insufficient land, the growth of community and school gardens…
Open days: look out for open days at allotment societies around Croydon in the coming weeks
“Is this government going to put the nail in the coffin of the joy of digging ground for potatoes on a cold, wet February Sunday afternoon?
“The battle for the grass roots is on!”
Support for Corbyn’s stance is broad, with another allotment-holding parliamentarian, Green peer Jenny Jones, adding her voice to the opposition of any sell-offs.
“I will fight this nonsensical Labour policy with a fury!” the former London Assembly Member posted on Twitter.
“Allotments keep us mentally and physically healthy, give us fresh food, inspire us to give our produce away in a gift culture, and are a haven for many ecosystems.”
The campaign group WeOwnIt has a petition warning Rayner “Hands off!”, as well as calling for a reversal of any sales that could be reversed, and another petition opposing any allotment sell-offs has so far attracted nearly 44,000 signatures.
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I whole heartedly support Jeremy’s views re allotments and I have signed the relevant petition to, hopefully, save my own plot….. that said, this does have all the hallmarks of a Jeremy Corbyn publicity stunt akin to his being photographed sitting on the floor of a train carriage which in fact had empty seats. Nice try, burnishes his green credentials and potentially attracts a cohort of voters that might not usually agree with his views. However I could not find in this article any reference to a change in the rules regarding allotment closure; any suggestion that current rules were misapplied and, tellingly, any reference to an increase in the number of ‘grabbed’ plots under Rayner’s term of office or evidence that she intends to change said rules. Sure councils might want to sell the crown jewels, Croydon in particular, but to date , as they used to say in the USA, where’s the beef? PS any recipes for a glut of courgettes?
Look again, Peter. Rayner has signed off permission for the sale of eight allotments so far. Where next? Pampisford Road? Carlton Road? South Norwood?
How much do you want for a couple of pounds of courgettes?
Reported on BBC news website 5th August:
“Figures from the National Allotment Association suggests allotments are still vital for many people today, with one-in-eight of the UK population having no access to a garden, rising to one-in-five in London.
About 100,000 are currently on waiting lists for allotments, some waiting decades for a plot.
Rayner’s decision to give permission for eight allotments to be sold by councils was revealed in a parliamentary answer, external last month, including sites in Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Somerset, Kent, Hertfordshire and West Sussex.
Developers plan to build new homes on sites that are currently community allotments in Derbyshire, Somerset, external and West Sussex.”
So, Corbyn is usefully drawing attention some short-sighted planning decisions by Raynor in line with Starmer’s so-called ‘modernisation’ of the planning system. The stated objective of the UK’s town and country planning system was defined originally as being to regulate development in the public interest. The Tories always sought to weaken it and this is continuing with presumptions in favour of development increasingly outweighing other legitimate considerations of what is in the public interest.
Allotments are a genuine community resource. My parents had a half allotment and were self sufficient in veg. All holders shared plants and produce, and it got kids gardening and understanding where their food came from. Plus its good for your head after a desk job to dig the soil. Jeremy’s right about this.