Asked by Baroness Sharples To ask Her Majesty’s
Government, in the light of the Statement by Lord Bourne of
Aberystwyth on 7 February on the Housing White Paper, what steps
they are taking to ensure that councils continue to provide
suitable plots for allotments. The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of
State, Department...Request free trial
Asked by
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To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the
Statement by on 7
February on the Housing White Paper, what steps they are
taking to ensure that councils continue to provide suitable
plots for allotments.
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for
Communities and Local Government and Wales Office (Lord
Bourne of Aberystwyth) (Con)
My Lords, the Government recognise that allotments are
valuable assets that play an important role in bringing
communities together to live healthier lifestyles. Before
disposing of allotments, councils must satisfy a range of
statutory criteria set by the Government. Moreover, there
is a range of measures through which communities can help
to safeguard their allotments, including the National
Planning Policy Framework, neighbourhood planning and the
community right to bid, as well as always, it is hoped,
keeping allotments free of Japanese knotweed.
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(Con)
My Lords, does not the Small Holdings and Allotments Act
1908 still apply to councils? If more than six people ask
for an allotment, are they not to be given one?
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My Lords, my noble friend is right about the importance of
the 1908 Act and subsequently the 1925 Act, and the
Government subsequently tightened the statutory duties on
local authorities in the 2014 guidance which ensures that
existing plot holders are protected if a local authority
wishes to dispose of the allotments. That protection is in
place.
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(Lab)
My Lords, while allotments make a valuable contribution,
public parks play an even larger part in promoting health
and well-being. Last October, the Heritage Lottery Fund
warned that local council cuts were endangering the
condition and health of public parks, and last month the
CLG committee warned of cuts of up to 97%, with some parks
facing a return to the neglect suffered in the 1980s and
1990s. What are the Government doing to mitigate this
threat to amenity and public health?
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My Lords, as always, the noble Lord is absolutely right
about the importance of green spaces, which, as he will
know, are well protected in the housing White Paper, which
is open for consultation until 2 May. I have no doubt that
the noble Lord will respond to it.
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(LD)
My Lords, I declare an interest as a plot holder in Saltaire.
The noble Lord talked about the benefits to the community of
communal space and communal gardens, but do the Government
encourage developers developing new housing to move back from
individual gardens and individual houses towards a greater
density of houses with communal space and communal
gardens—exactly what allotments are—given the current long
waiting lists in so many parts of the country for allotments?
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My Lords, as I indicated, green spaces in general are the
subject of consultation in the housing White Paper. The noble
Lord is right about the importance of appropriate density
provision, with those green spaces. We give special
protection to allotments and have done since 1908. If
anything, that protection has been ramped up in the 2014
guidelines. Regarding waiting lists, I have spoken to the
National Allotment Society. The pressure has eased on
allotment waiting lists. There is still a waiting list, but
it is not as long as it was, say, 10 years ago.
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(Con)
My Lords, does my noble friend recognise that private
landowners are often very well placed to make land available
for allotments? Given that, will he encourage Defra to
promote discussions between councillors, the NFU and other
representatives of landowners to see whether they can find
ways to promote such private provision?
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My noble friend makes a very important point. Having spoken
with the National Allotment Society, I know that it is
discussing and bringing to fruition a plan with British
Telecom, making available a lot of land that is now I think
1,200 disused telephone exchanges, which will be used for
allotments, and that is heartening. I certainly take on board
what my noble friend said and echo it.
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(Lab)
My Lords, 100 years ago last month, the Germans declared
unrestricted U-boat warfare on this nation and almost starved
us to death. Of course allotments became very important, as
they were in the Second World War. While allotments are
wonderful things, does the Minister not feel that protecting
our merchant shipping with enough warships might be more
important?
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My Lords, it is like a round of Mornington Crescent with the
noble Lord—he always succeeds in bringing that in. Of course
I agree about the importance of allotments, not just for
healthier lifestyles, but for ensuring that we have
appropriate food supplies in the country.
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(Con)
My Lords, massive numbers of houses are now planned for the
future. In the literature on them I have seen no reference to
the provision of allotments for new housing. That will be
appended to many small communities that have plenty of
provision, but there is nothing on the map to show what will
be added to that provision when the new houses are built.
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My Lords, I am sure my noble friend will take comfort from
the fact that thanks to neighbourhood planning, which owes
its root to the Localism Act 2012, many areas are bringing
forward plans for neighbourhood allotments—Thame, Exeter,
Norwich and Haywards Heath, to give just some examples.
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The (CB)
My Lords, further to the question from his noble friend, the
noble Viscount, , is the Minister
aware that the National Trust provides some allotments? A
number of charities have communal gardens to help people with
mental health problems. Rooting around in the soil, seeing
plants grow and then harvesting them is a wonderful
rehabilitative practice.
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My Lords, the noble Countess makes a valuable point about all
the benefits of allotments. That is why we provide special
protection for and give such importance to them in
neighbourhood planning, community right to bid and the
planning framework I spoke of.
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(Lab)
My Lords, referring back to the supplementary question of the
noble Viscount, , does the Minister
agree that one of the great benefits of allotments is the
diversity of what is grown on them and the effect of that on
the population of pollinators, which of course are extremely
important to agriculture? Does he not think that that is a
good reason to encourage farmers to make land available?
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My Lords, the noble Baroness makes an important point about
pollinators and the great variety of plants and vegetables
that grow on allotments. I have had the opportunity to see
this with my own brother—and I hope that he is listening to
this so that I can benefit again this year.
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(Con)
My Lords, in the London area in the past the obligations were
fewer for local authorities. Is it still the position that
London is treated differently?
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My Lords, my noble friend, who understands London like few
others, is absolutely right: that was the position in the
1908 Act. However, since the 1925 Act, London has been dealt
with on exactly the same basis. If I am wrong on that, I will
write to my noble friend and put a copy of the letter in the
Library.
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(Lab)
Does the Minister agree that, once we have left the European
Union, we will probably have to grow a lot more of our own
food, and therefore that we will need many more allotments—in
which case we will certainly have to look at the law again?
Does the Department for Exiting the European Union have this
on its agenda?
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My Lords, first, as I indicated in my earlier response to the
noble Lord, Lord West, growing our own food is of importance
anyway. I do not know whether we are looking at this in
particular through the Department for Exiting the European
Union, but it is of extreme importance—as are all the other
benefits of allotments, which is why they are so important,
as indicated in the exchanges today.
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(Con)
Is my noble friend aware that concern about public parks—to
which the noble Lord, , made reference—is widely
shared across this House? Will he say what the Government are
doing now to safeguard their future while the consultation
exercise grinds along?
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My Lords, I share the view that this is extremely important,
as my noble friend indicated. As I said, this is acknowledged
in the housing White Paper. We face many challenges, of which
building more houses while protecting the green belt and
public parks is one. As I said, the consultation will be open
to take views until 2 May.
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