UK: Waiting list for allotments in England almost doubles in 12 years
There are at least 157,820 outstanding applications to local authorities, and waits of up to 15 years
By Damien Gayle
Guardian
Oct 11, 2023
Excerpt:
There are few things so quintessentially English as the allotment, but the number of people waiting for a space of their own has almost doubled in the last 12 years.
The most recent figures, obtained by independent artists and supported by Greenpeace through freedom of information requests, show there are now at least 157,820 applications sitting on English local authorities’ allotment waiting lists, up 81% from 12 years ago when researchers found the figure was 86,787.
Campaigners say this rise is due to a combination of high demand and delay in turning over plots that are not being properly used.
In preparation for the launch of a new piece of activist art, researchers found that across Britain, 174,183 applications were sitting on local authority allotment waiting lists. The average waiting time for an allotment was three years, while residents of Islington, north London, faced a 15-year wait.
The local authority with the longest waiting list was Bristol, with 7,630 outstanding applications, followed by Sunderland, Portsmouth, Southampton, Edinburgh and Manchester.
Greenpeace said the numbers of applicants demonstrated a desire among people to find new ways to tackle the intensifying cost of living, climate, nature and health crises.
