Plots prosper in public hands

摘要

As allotments enjoy a return to popularity, councils are being urged to put the users in Charge. There are over 330,000 allotments in the UK with around 290,000 users. The role of allotments is rapidly changing. They no longer represent merely patchesof land for poor people to grow food on. The reinvigoration of allotment culture means healthy allotment sites play an important role in the community, whether for growing healthy food or providing wildlife habitats. But you can't have a thriving allotment community without local authority commitment. The Local Government Association says now is the time "to reconceptualise the role, purpose and meaning of allotments to local communities and to integrate them with local authorities' wider objective for sustainable development, Local Agenda 21, open space, biodiversity, healthy living and community development".