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Observations of the Final Report of the Urban Green Spaces Taskforce
According to the preface of "Green Spaces, Better Places", the Final Report of the Urban Green Spaces Taskforce launched in May 2002, "although urban parks and green spaces in England remain enormously popular, too many have suffered decline over the past twenty years. Action is needed by all sectors of society, working together at all levels from the national to the local, to achieve better planning, design, management and maintenance, as well as extra resources. This report is presented to the Government as the basis for developing a new national strategy for urban parks and green spaces. Our aim is to reverse the present decline and to ensure that these precious spaces play their full role in creating a better quality of life in our towns and cities, contributing to a sustainable urban renaissance."
This message will be welcomed by many parks departments, which have long been disadvantaged in the competition for local authority cash by the discretionary nature of leisure services. For allotments, however, the message of the report is mixed: while they are recognised as a legitimate and valued component of urban green space, their profile is low and their status dimly understood. Consider this claim (on p. 22): "The large majority of urban parks and green spaces are owned and maintained by local authorities, although they have no statutory duty to provide or maintain them." No statutory duty to provide? There may be battles ahead, to ensure that the plot (and its legal protection) isn't lost sight of.
The report has three big ideas. The first is an "urban open space typology", to be used as the basis for planning, local assessment of need and audits of existing provision, and to ensure comparability of data collection across local authorities. The good news is that allotments are recognised, along with community gardens and city farms, as a distinct category of green space, which should make it far easier than at present to monitor the national picture of allotment provision. The bad news is that the typology will help expose underused allotments, though diversion into alternative (and underprovided) green space uses as a least-worst alternative may be enhanced.
The second is the "green space strategy", to be developed by each local authority as part of the Community Plan. The ingredients are to include "locally-determined provision standards", a recommendation that undermines the national standards for which NSALG argued at the "Future for Allotments" inquiry, and there is a risk that the "allotment strategies" advocated in last year's good practice guide, "Growing in the Community", will be marginalised within strategic thinking on parks and larger green spaces. The report calls for local people to participate in the formulation and delivery of green spaces strategies, citing examples (p. 50) of "collective practical activities such as organised arts and cultural events, tree planting or footpath improvement". This should be a call to arms for plotholders, to ensure that "allotment gardening" is added to everyone's list of worthwhile activities, along with wider community involvement and empowerment through devolved management, which is specifically highlighted in the report (p. 39).
And third, there is a call for a new national agency for urban green spaces, to coordinate strategies and champion the cause. The government will be responsible for setting this up, and the inclusion of allotment gardens in its terms of reference will be an essential goal for lobbying at the national level.
The report (and the six working group reports that accompany it) contain a wealth of information, analysis and recommendations, much of which can be used to promote the case for allotment gardening. The challenge is to ensure this happens - nationally and in every locality.
Department of Transport, Local Government and Regions (2002): Green Spaces, Better Places: Final Report of the Urban Green Spaces Taskforce. (Available free of charge from DTLR by calling 0870-1226-236: ask for Product code 02UP00206).
Richard Wiltshire, Research Officer, QED Allotments Group.