UK: Allotment wars erupt as gardeners face 12-year waits while locals fight over 700-plot mega site
One private firm with aims to plug the gap across the country and make gardening more accessible has opened up mass allotment plots – but this has proved unpopular with locals
By Connie Dimsdale
Inews
June 3, 2023
Excerpt:
An allotment war is reaching boiling point, with space so hard to come by gardeners face waits of up to 12 years for council plots.
One private firm that aims to plug the gap across the country and make gardening more accessible has opened up mass allotment plots in the South West.
But the plans have received fierce pushback from residents wishing to protect green belt land, with no clear solution following the pandemic allotment boom.
Britons have continued to join local waiting lists in the post-pandemic era as the cost of living crisis has made growing your own produce an increasingly attractive prospect.
Thousands of people across the country are spending more than three years on council allotment wait lists, according to analysis of 120,000 council-managed plots by furniture company Oak Tree Mobility, of an estimated 330,000 allotment plots.
Data obtained via freedom of information requests, seen by i, found that the average wait time for a spot to become available at a council-run site is just over three years – but this increases to six years in London.
