Early 20th
Century Allotments
In August 1965, a formal
government inquiry into allotments was initiated by the then Ministry of Land
and Natural resources under the leadership of Professor H. Thorpe. Their report’s
350 pages was published 4 years later and is now often referred to by many as
the ‘Thorpe Report’.
The article below draws upon
the comprehensive review of the twentieth century allotments and the statutes
that were passed which affected them.
By 1900 allotments had
come to be recognised as either ‘garden allotments’ of some quarter of an acre
or below or larger ‘farm’ allotments. The distinction depended on whether they
were cultivated by spade or plough. In 1900 almost two-thirds of all allotments
were ‘garden’ in character.
In
1908 the Small Holdings and Allotments Act came into force, placing a duty on
local authorities to provide sufficient allotments, according to demand. Central
power was vested in the Board of Agriculture, reflecting the view
that County Councils had not been effective. The Board of Agriculture was able to
launch independent inquiries if it considered that a County Council was not
doing its job. The Act tidied up the 1887, 1890 and 1907 acts and included a
statement that councils could not run allotments as a loss-making activity; and
it required that notice to quit had to be given to plot holders. This act is
still on the statute book today.
A Board of Agriculture survey in 1912
showed that around 25% of councils supplied land for allotments, amounting to
31,000 acres of which approximately 23% was purchased and the remainder leased.
There were difficulties in getting land for urban allotments, principally due
to development pressures and to address this The Vacant Land Cultivation
Society was formed by Joseph Fels in 1907, but it had little early success in
getting areas of waste land under cultivation.
In
1913 evidence given to a Land Inquiry Committee showed high demand for
allotments in almost every urban area. At this time, a standard size of 300
square yards had been widely adopted.
The
First World War gave allotments a massive boost especially in urban areas. In
1916, under the Defence of the Realm Act, local authorities were given powers
to secure as much land for allotments as demanded, and parks, open space,
playing fields were requisitioned and ‘wartime plots‘ appeared. Railway
allotments increased from 27,680 to 93,473 plots between 1914 and 1918. In 1913
there had been 600,00 allotments in England and Wales and by 1918 this had
increased to 1.5 million.
A Board of Agriculture report in 1916
found a great disparity between the rural and urban allotments with the urban
ones producing more, and were maintained better whilst costing the user more.
The rural allotments on the other hand, tended to be on poorer land, were poorly
maintained, produced a lot less and costed a lot less.
Between
Wars
At
the end of the war there was a need to give up some 50,000 acres of allotment land
but the returning servicemen fuelled a surge in demand, and it was estimated
some 7,000 new applications were coming forward each week. In addition fresh
food was in short supply and it’s price had risen sharply, and with a closing
of the munitions factories and reduction in overtime many had more leisure time.
The Land Settlement Act of 1919 was intended to help but it was the first time
all references to the ‘labouring population’ was omitted and allotments were to
be open to all, irrespective of status or occupation.
By
1922 the balance of the return of emergency requisitioned land and the provision
of security of tenure for allotment holders was introduced in the 1922
Allotments Act. This introduced the concept of the allotment garden mainly to
produce fruit and vegetables. It also required councils to set up Allotment
Committees (although this stipulation was subsequently removed in the Local
Government Act (1972).
The
Allotment Act of 1925 followed, which today is still the pivotal Act and
provided two principal provisions. First, that allotments should be considered
in every town planning scheme, and Second a regulation that land purchased or appropriated
by a local authority for use as allotments (statutory allotments) must not be
disposed of or used for other purposes without Ministerial consent, known as
section 8 orders.
In
Scotland the Community Empowerment Act came in to force on 1 April 2018 and
updates and simplifies legislation on allotments. It requires local
authorities to maintain waiting lists and take reasonable steps to provide
allotments if the waiting lists exceed certain trigger points. It also
strengthens the protection for allotments and clarifies the rights of local
authorities and plot holders. Provisions allow allotments to be 250 square
metres in size or a different size that is to be agreed between the person
requesting an allotment and the local authority.
The
National Allotment Society was formed in 1930.
Allotments
declined in the 1920s and by 1929 had fallen below 1 million and less than
150,000 acres. In 1931 the Agricultural Land (Utilisation) Act was passed as a
temporary measure to provide powers to the Ministry of Agriculture to provide
plots. Between 1932 and 1937 even so 2,000 acres of urban allotment land was
lost.
Dig
For Victory
At
the outbreak of the Second World War, Michael Foot’s solan and ‘Dig for Victory’ campaign (October 1939)
with the objective of creating 0.5m new allotments. Pasture land, railway land,
spaces in parks, front gardens, disused land on airfields, even bomb sites
became allotments. The Ministry of Agriculture produced a series of leaflets with instructions on all aspects
of fruit and vegetable cultivation. As the number of plots grew it became more
difficult to get hold of adequate quantities of manure. A partial
solution appeared with the introduction of National Growmore, a chemical-based
balanced fertiliser 7 (nitrogen) :7 (phosphorus) :7 (potash), which was
initially made available by George Monro & Sons. Potatoes were the most popular
crop while Onion Clubs were formed to encourage people to grow the crop, as it
had become almost impossible to get hold of them by 1941. By 1944 there was an
estimated 1.75m plots.
Post
War Decline
At
the end of the war between 1945 and 1947 0.5m allotments disappeared as
temporary plots reverted to their original use, and despite the harsh winter of
1947 and rationing continuing to 1954, people gradually started to lose interest.
On
the legislation front, The Allotment Act (1950) increased the notice period to
quit in that plot holders must be given to 12 months. In the following year
(1951) the recently formed National Association of Parish Councils produced
a handbook on running allotments for local councils.
For
the next two decades the number of plots fell to 532,000. There were some 75,000
plots on railway land in 1950, and British Rail were the largest single
allotment operator. However many factors compounded their decline at the rate
of 3,000 a year with the Beeching line closures in the 1960s which saw sites
simply disappear along with the lines.
By
1999 it was estimated the number of allotments had dropped to 250,000.
Allotments
were once again investigated in 1998, this time by the Parliamentary
Select Committee on The Environment, Transport and Regional Affairs. Like its predecessor
the Thorpe Report, nothing came from this review. It did note that of 51
statutory allotment sites that were closed in the period from May 1997 to May
1998 only two of them were re-housed. A statutory allotment site is one that
can be only closed with the consent of the Secretary of State who is
responsible for allotments and alternative sites should be pursued.
21st
Century and the rise of environment issues, climate awareness, health and wellbeing
and value of allotments
Today
there are some 300,000 to 350,000 allotments in England and Wales and although
this looks like more sites are being created the reality in that many sites are
halving the size of some plots to accommodate more from the waiting list and
those looking to downsize. There have been some new sites but there has also
been site or part site losses. Urban demand has increased, and inner-city
demand has exploded as many have moved into flats with no gardens. This land
restriction has been coupled with increased awareness in health and wellbeing,
fresh food and the environment.
One
group that has changed the dynamic and demographic of allotments are women and
the balance in many areas is now tipped towards the female plot holders being in
the majority. Young mothers have also risen in numbers changing again the age
spread across plot holders. These trends are most prevalent in inner city and
metropolitan sites.
A
cynical view of history would indicate that we are merely on a temporary
upslope of the standard cyclical pattern where periods of enthusiasm alternate
with periods of relative disinterest. Nevertheless, it seems bizarre, not to
say disheartening, to note that in the two year period from April 2007 to March
2009 during one such upturn in demand there were 98 section 8 applications under
the 125 Allotment Act to close statutory allotment sites and only 2 were turned
down .
There
is a view that allotments may take on a greater leisure role in the future, as
indicated in the Thorpe Report of 1969. Allotments on the Continent take this
approach but the Dutch, for example, have greater land pressures than are
experienced in England and Wales. Many live in flats and apartments and have no
gardens. This gives people a much greater incentive to make all-round use of
their allotments, and importantly, they are prepared to pay for the opportunity
to establish their own green paradise. The challenge will be the traditional views
of sites versus those that may herald change and a more holistic view of
cultivation.
Increasing
numbers of allotment sites have formed allotment associations. Part of the
reason is to ensure that plot holders are represented on council-run sites.
Some associations have gone further and adopted varying degrees of
self-management, from simply being responsible for some site maintenance work,
all the way through to being fully responsible for the entire site, including
the setting of rents under leases. This change is in part due to local
authorities not wanting to run sites, the move to outsource non-essential civic
services and a general disinterest in the management local authorities of
allotments.
Today
allotments in many areas are melting pots of diversity in both ethnicity and demographics.
There are often the only place where all mix socially with one common interest.
This diversity and other changes are together pushing back the old perception
that allotments were really day care centres for the old. The gentrification of
allotments has quietly begun and although you will not see double glazed chalets
where a tired old shed once attempted to stand, you are seeing money being
spent and many trends being followed. The largest leek, biggest onion and
straightest bean are slowly being replace by new exotic plants and raised beds.
The
one thing that we have all learnt in 2020is that the future is going to be quite
different. More people will work from home. Physical and mental wellbeing will
be especially important, social interaction within communities will increase
both physically and virtually, fresh will be important and allotment demand
will only wane because it can’t be met. Today many sites have experience huge
spikes in waiting list growth and even mainstream media is talking about cultivation
and allotments.
What Next
Will
allotments still remains as they have for many decades or will they change
quite radically? Will the same laws that have lasted for nearly a century continue
or will they finally be consolidated and will this herald in change? Will we
see a split similar to that of the late 19th century were smallholdings
went in a different direction and will community gardens prevail over single
occupier allotments? The one thing that is certain is land is becoming scarcer and
against this we are moving towards a gardenless or significant reduction in the
number of private gardens in urban areas.
