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.
- Are you a member of a Croydon, Sutton or Bromley allotment society? Email us the details of your open day – a jpg of your poster – and Inside Croydon will give you a free advertisement!
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