Its great to read every day about folk getting their first plot. The enthusiasm and raw desire to get started is clearly conveyed in their postings and brings back memories of when we all got that starter plot. Often overgrown and neglected, full of weeds and with a shed which often was a living tribute to the adhesive properties of gaffer tape and DIY skills, it still a plot. That first plot was for all of us our first step on the ladder to so much.
The time it takes to get a plot varies according to where you live, in some cases plots are waiting to be taken, in others you may have to wait twenty years and still may never get one. Demand varies significantly with metropolitan and inner city plots being the hardest to get. Some say that's life, others something needs to be done, but the disparity between plot rich and plot poor is growing and plot poverty exists even today in our enlightened, environmentally and community world.
Some will say 'so what' and we don't have a problem and ignore the high waiting lists and latent demand that exists in some areas. It's no longer acceptable to view allotments in isolation and growing food is becoming a need that allotments alone can't solve.
Allotments were created and enshrined in law because the social economic and community benefits were seen and the need to give a better life, nutrition and escape for many caught in the squalor on the poor industrial areas of the late 19th century or working in rural areas with little or no space within the land hierarchy of the day.
So what about today?
At least four application every week are added to our already long waiting list. They ask, 'How long do I have to wait?'
You have to respond that you can't say and that the current top of the list has waited four years, but its impossible to predict because there are so many factors and virtually all are outside your control. The one certainty is that many will never see that starter plot and those that do will have had to wait a very long time.
Still they want to be in the list.
The only other waiting list that springs to mind that is similar in length is for social housing and again there is huge variance between different locations and again metropolitan and inner cities have the longest lists.
Interestingly and not to be overlooked, allotments are often the only place where diverse cultures and ethnic backgrounds, together with a wide range of ages and social backgrounds, all mix together with a common interest and love of growing. This in itself demonstrates what a great social leveller and integrator allotment growing is today.
Can anything be done or is it just a sign of the times and down to the multiple demands for and availability of land?
Some are against cutting plot sizes down, which is a nice luxury to support and easily in plot rich low waiting list areas, but is it supportable in plot poor high waiting list areas? Like many urban and metropolitan sites our full plots are not 250 square metres but 100 square metres maximum and 10% of our plots are half that and our waiting list is over 200% oversubscribed today.
There is little hope of any new open space, the competition for civic open space is acute and we have to do things differently and work differently and not ignore those waiting but embrace them and find ways of involving them or getting them gardening. Perhaps we have to look at different forms of membership, working with other groups and unlocking this great demand and not ignore it. A helping the local authorities and planners to think holistically at the issue.
Some have said community gardens are not allotments and nothing to do with allotments. The spaces used are often temporary and open to all. I say this is both naive and disingenuous to those who just want to grow. Perhaps we need to help embrace community gardening and work with others to create a new community model.
Some say that they wish they could organise transport and bring the long waiting lists for some areas to areas with little or no waiting lists. This fails to recognise that allotments and communities are joined at the hip and the close proximity of allotments to housing is key and 'busing' folk to land breaks that important connection.
The solutions, the initiatives, the awareness and changing or starting to address plot poverty will be different for different areas. If we try to find ways to engage with and involve the waiting list the rewards could be significant for all. Can we afford to turn our back on the issue in some resignation that we
Let's work at at least reducing plot poverty and closing the divide between plot rich and plot poor.
