Abstract

The purpose of this document is to look at the many different ways in which the use of allotments can benefit both the allotments movement and the local community by taking ideas and examples from the publication “A Good Practise Guide For The Management Of Allotments”.

Allotments in Local Agenda 21 Strategies

What is Local Agenda 21?

In 1992 world leaders met at The Earth Summit in Rio, Brazil. This summit marked an important milestone in the history of the relationship between humankind and the planet earth. For the first time development throughout the world was considered with future generations and the planet in mind.

The Rio conference achieved a set of agreements that were to mark a major advance in agreements between governments at an international level. It placed sustainable development on the agenda and opened up channels of communication between official and non official organisations. Furthermore this summit raised public awareness throughout the world and has led to grassroots action across the globe.

One of the agreements signed at The Rio Conference was Agenda 21, an agenda to take us into the 21st Century. It is a 40 chapter document which examines the interconnectedness of social, economic and environmental issues and addresses the problems of today while considering the needs of the future. Agenda 21 outlines objectives and actions and that can be taken at local, national and international levels and provides a comprehensive blueprint for nations throughout the world who are starting to make the transition to sustainability.

A central theme of Local Agenda 21 is the relationship between social and environmental issues. Agenda 21 emphasises the need for all sections of society to be able to make a contribution - particularly those that have traditionally been excluded. Developing a Local Agenda 21 strategy is therefore an opportunity to integrate other council policies such as equal opportunities and anti poverty with environmental policies. Chapter 28 of the Agenda 21 document calls on local authorities to work with their local communities to achieve a local action plan, a ‘Local Agenda 21.’ This process recognises the role local communities have to play in shaping their own future and it is an attempt to empower local communities in the decision making process.

Tony Blair has recently stated that all Local Authorities should produce a strategy to promote sustainable development within their area. Each Local Authority is required to produce its own LA21 strategy by the year 2000.

The integration of allotment gardening into local sustainable development strategies can enhance the benefits of allotments and strengthen the Local Agenda 21 process. Links built through the Local Agenda 21 process can enhance the role played by allotments in the reuse and recycling of materials that would otherwise go to landfill at public expense. Recycled barrels, discarded guttering and old carpets can help gardeners to get by with less water. In order to realise the potential of allotments in Local Agenda 21 it is essential that those who are responsible for managing allotments are aware of the Local Agenda 21 process and the part that allotment gardening can play within it. The hallmarks of good practice are active co-operation between all parties to identify opportunities for allotment gardening within Local Agenda 21 strategies

Allotments and Biodiversity

Biodiversity is an important concern in any Local Agenda 21 process, and policy measures such as Biodiversity Action Plans (BAPs) seek to conserve the variety that is found in nature. Allotments make a valuable contribution of their own to local biodiversity and in some places species have been found that are unique to a single allotment site. It is important to ensure that allotments are included in BAP’s in their own right and in a manner that is sensitive to the contribution which gardeners make to the day to day maintenance of these sites. Uncultivated corners of individual plots and neglected strips along the boundary can also provide a refuge for amphibians, reptiles, invertebrates and small mammals. A few contiguous uncultivated plots may provide an appreciable wildlife asset. In Bromley vacant plots have been deliberately managed as a wildlife meadow. In some parts of the country where natural habitat is scarce allotments can be so significant for wildlife conservation that they merit inclusion as a priority habitat in the local BAP. Model BAP’s seek to promote biodiversity through new partnerships between local authorities, allotment associations and local wildlife organisations and by encouraging allotment holders to encourage wildlife with bird boxes, ponds and wildlife friendly cultivation practises. (For more information visit www.la21.org)

There are many interest groups involved in the conservation of wildlife to which allotment authorities and associations can apply for advice. For example Froglife has been working with local allotment groups to identify ways of enhancing habitats (visit www.froglife.org)

Waste Management

Allotment gardening can make a valuable contribution to the reuse and recycling of wastes, including materials brought in from beyond the allotments and put to new uses. Most vegetable wastes produced on allotments can and should be composted. The composting process can be hastened by the use of pre-shredded material and authorities should consider providing access to shredders. Vacant allotments can also be used by local authorities to compost municipal green wastes

Allotments and Sustainable Local Food Supplies

Food initiatives operating in areas of high social and economic deprivation include allotments as an important source of fresh local produce with an important role to play in community regeneration. The aim of ‘Food Futures’ is to develop the local food economy through supporting and creating community based food growing and distribution schemes across local networks. A key objective is to find ways of making locally produced food , including organic food, more accessible to low income families and multi-cultural communities. The activities of Food Futures projects encompass allotments but much else besides, including farmers’ markets, box schemes and training initiatives. The Soil Association provides the organisational focus for these projects and the projects are supported by the National Lotteries Charities Board (Visit www.soilassociation.org)

The gardener motivated only by the promise of cheap and wholesome food contributes to sustainable development through the reduction in ‘food miles’. The opportunity to share with others the fruits (and vegetables) of one’s labour is an intrinsic part of the culture of allotments. Surplus produce is often given away to friends and neighbours. Local Exchange Trading Schemes (LETS) are an alternative route to the same end.

Provided the allotment is used primarily for its intended purpose, the Allotments Act does not prescribe the wider distribution of surplus allotment produce. The popularity of farmers markets has raised the issue of whether it is appropriate and legal to sell allotment produce. It is not illegal under the allotment acts to sell produce provided that is not the primary use to which the plot is put.

An appropriate way forward is to encourage the donation of surplus produce for distribution by the allotment association to a local charity or to the general public through a farmers market or equivalent. The proceeds from sales can be invested in areas of common benefit such as site improvement or the promotion of allotments, an approach pioneered by the Cambridge Allotments Network. The presence in a farmers market of fresh, organic allotment grown produce is itself a powerful advertisement of the benefits of allotment gardening.

The Community Food Project in Brighton aims ‘to grow organic food for local people’ . It also draws attention to Local Agenda 21 and issues of sustainability including the packaging, storage and transport of food and ‘food poverty’. The project occupies 2 acres of allotment land and is financially aided by Brighton and Hove City Council.

Allotments , Health and Special Needs

In a recent allotments survey Brighton and Hove City Council identified that around 8% of plotholders have some form of disability. There are probably many more people with disabilities or special needs that could benefit from the outdoor activity and sense of community involvement that allotment gardening provides. Those with special needs include people with mobility problems, special learning needs, mental health problems and physical rehabilitation needs. The necessary qualities for allotment sites for those with special needs include

· Accessibility to vehicles (possibly of minibus size or adapted vehicles)

· Flexible layout

· Variable height beds

· Adjacent to conventional plots

· Flexible and co-operative tenants nearby

· Provision of shelter

· Provision of toilets

· Accessible paths and hard areas adjacent to the plot

There are a number of allotment sites and plots specially adapted for those with special needs. The Cheam Park site in the London Borough of Sutton has 18 plots surrounded by a sensory garden and a model plot to help give ideas and inspiration, in addition to a sheltered area , seating and toilets. This was developed in consultation with the voluntary sector and the housing and social services departments.

There are other ways of opening up allotments to the disabled which do not necessarily involve special plots. Brighton and Hove City Council recently brought together people representing the needs of the disabled and members of the local authority in order to identify how allotments could be made more accessible to the disabled. The following suggestions were put forward

· Arranging for people with special needs to work with volunteer plotholders on established plots

· Provision of help from local volunteer plotholders and organisations for disabled people on standard plots

· Provision of advice from council officers

· Formation of a disabled gardeners group open to both those with disabilities and those willing to assist

Elder Stubbs is a charity which owns a 12 acre site in Cowley, Oxford and has used this land for community projects including providing allotments. Over the last 10 years it has worked in partnership with a local mental health charity which now cultivates over 2 acres of the site and operates a ‘box scheme’ for local residents. Other projects, which could be adapted for traditional allotments include

· the creation of a wood and a pond with the support of the Forestry Commission

· a coppicing project to replace imported bamboo

· establishing an orchard of 46 kinds of English Apples

· creating play areas for plotholders children and hosting visits from school and youth groups

· adopting a flexible approach to plot lettings, including lettings as small as 1 pole

(visit www.nsalg.co.uk/elder/elder1.htm)

Horticulture has long been used as a therapy in both physical and mental illness and rehabilitation. It allows skills to be learned, promotes relaxation and improves well-being.

There are many groups which are involved in using horticulture as a therapy. The organisation ‘Thrive’ is involved in the running of over 1500 specialist sites, 100 involving allotment sites, promoting social and therapeutic gardening. ‘Fertile Imaginations’ is a project for the mentally ill on an allotment site rented from Hammersmith and Fulham Council. The project combines the restorative powers of occupational therapy with the principles of group work to develop work related skills, social skills and general functioning. The project enables members of the group to be assisted and informally assessed outside of an institutional setting at low cost and has been so successful that another plot has now been rented

‘Gardening for Health’ was set up in Bradford for Asian women. The project encourages community participation , physical activity, healthy eating and relaxation. The project involves partnership between Bradford District Health Promotion service, the Bradford Community Environment Project, a Bangladeshi Community Organisation, the Bradford Environmental action Trust, the Local Agenda 21 team and volunteers from local colleges and allotment groups. Funding for the project was provided by the Shell Better Britain Campaign, the Civic Trust Local Project fund and the Bradford District Health Promotion service (visit www.la21-uk.org/cases/33gard.htm)

Allotment gardening is increasingly being recommended as a suitable form of recreation for those in need of a little more daily exercise and fresh air. In Mansfield , every general practise has signed up to the GP Referral Scheme , a joint initiative between the health authority and the Borough Council which directs people to allotment gardening, some of whom may never have considered it before

Allotments for all the Family

Allotment gardening provides an opportunity for the whole family to participate together in a leisure activity that is both healthy and productive. A survey conducted by the NSALG showed that in 1992 the number of female plotholders was 16% compared with 3% in 1962 and a recent survey in Brighton showed that 36% were women. A number of local authorities have specifically targeted women in their allotment campaigns. An advertisement which featured a woman gardener holding a spade produced an increase of 20% in the number of women plotholders. It is probable that interest among women will continue to grow and that in order to attract women and families good quality facilities need to be provided and promotion needs to be inclusive. Consider

· Promotion directed at families

· Involving children in promotion - Bexley Councils advertising poster was produced as a result of a children’s competition

· Promoting the creation and use of leisure and play areas on allotment sites

· Promoting organised activities, for example through local Agenda 21 initiatives

Allotments as Community Gardens

Many projects involving the communal use of allotments can be described as community gardens. These can be directed at regenerating neighbourhoods and strengthening the bonds in a community, where people work together for mutual benefit and to help others, producing food in a sustainable fashion , gardening as physical and mental therapy and as recreation and training for those with special needs or the underprivileged. Community gardens can involve whole allotment sites or parts of sites and can be used to manage a disused or derelict site and return it to the community. The Federation of City Farms and Community Gardens provides information , help and advice (www.farmgarden.org.uk)

The Tatnam Organic Patch is a community garden project and LA21 initiative in Poole, Dorset set up on an allotment site that had been derelict for 25 years. It has six objectives

· a sustainable food supply

· a resource for biodiversity

· a resource for health

· an educational tool

· a community resource and open space

· social inclusion

Visit (www.geocities.com/poole_la21/tops.htm)

Allotments and Education

Allotments have a role to play in education at all levels - from the primary school child to the young adult. Allotment gardening allows skills to be learned, not just horticultural but also social and community skills. Primary schools have taken plots to show children from all backgrounds where food comes from and how it grows. Allotment managers have an important part to play in enabling schools and educational establishments to share in the benefits of allotment gardening. In the first instance they can provide information and act as a link between the schools and allotment associations, plotholders and voluntary organisations. There is much information available from organisations such as Thrive, HDRA and the Federation of City Farms and Community Gardens for the benefit of children and schools. HDRA also runs a ‘Schools Organic Network’. Allotment managers can help to disseminate this information and can also prepare and distribute their own. They can assist with promoting and organising visits to allotment sites by schools. To some schools the visit may be the first step to taking on a plot and therefore should be encouraged.

· Children from Oliver Quibell Infant school in Newark won the 2000 RHS/Tidy Britain Group ‘Greenfingers Challenge’ for turning a weed infested plot into their own organic allotment

· Dartford Grammar School for Girls used an entire allotment site as an educational resource in the study of composting and recycling

· Madeley Court School in Telford has an active environment group. The group examine issues relating to recycling and energy use and as part of their work have taken on an allotment site

· Students at the University of Suffolk have joined a scheme to rent plots with support from the University

· The study of allotments features in the Open University course ‘Understanding Cities’

· In Cambridge the sharing of knowledge about horticultural skills has been an important feature of a scheme linking plotholders of all ages with villagers growing vegetables in Mali

Visit www.sustainablecity.net

www.allotments.net