Communities and Local Government written question – answered at on 3 April 2008.
Ben Chapman
Labour, Wirral South
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will (a) collate information on allotment provision held at a local level, (b) encourage local authorities to devote more resources to providing and maintaining allotments and (c) increase funding for allotment sites.
Iain Wright
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Communities and Local Government)
Government recognise the significant benefits that allotments provide. The Government do not hold information on allotment provision in local authorities, although we do collate information on the disposal of allotments. To improve information available on green spaces, including allotments, we have commissioned the development of a green space database. This will be an interactive mapping tool which will bring together several datasets and provide the opportunity for local authorities, and other users, to access and input information on quality and provision of green space, including allotments. The newly revised good practice guide, Growing in the community, published by the Local Government Association in March 2008, includes information on how local authorities can better maintain allotment sites and provide extra resources to do so. Local authorities have the freedom to manage their own resources. It is up to them to determine their spending priorities within the resources available to them.
Yes4 people think so
No2 people think not
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Annotations
Anthony John Cuthbert
Posted on 4 Apr 2008 4:35 pm (Report this annotation)
With a better understanding of the distribution and number of allotments around the country, better decisions about demand and funding can be made. So I welcome a data base. If this is going to be the extent to which government are going to commit to allotments and allotmenteers then I would worry. There needs to be an assessment of how policy would promote allotments, for both healthy living and food production, in a time of uncertainty for many families. There is anecdotal evidence of a greatly increased demand for allotments but policy decisions should not be determined merely on opinions. I would strongly encourage the government to set this data base up as soon as possible so that it can be used to inform local government as quickly as possible.