Page 10 - ALG Issue 1 2025

LEGAL
LOCAL GREEN SPACE
DESIGNATION
In recent months, the NAS has received a higher-than-expected number of enquiries regarding disposal of allotment land
for both statutory allotment land (land owned by the local authority where the allotments are not seen as a temporary use of the land) and private allotment land. To help members further protect their sites, please read this excellent advice from one of our individual members, Jacky Wilkinson:
Tyler Harris, NAS Legal Adviser
How well is your site protected?
Most council-run or owned sites are protected by law under the Allotments Acts 1908 – 1950 (the Acts), but those
that are leased or privately run are much less secure.They are subject to the terms of a lease, which will almost certainly have
a “break clause” in the fine print. My advice to leaseholders is to check the lease and take a long hard look into the future! Even if a site is leased by a council, and even for a very long time, it is unlikely that it would be protected under the Acts, but I don’t know if this has been ever tested in the courts.
Many allotment sites are in prime locations and there is no doubt that
they will come under scrutiny due to the increased housing targets being set by the Government. If they are in a Green Belt (GB), they may be considered as “grey land” which is a new category of land in GBs. It’s unclear as to exactly what the definition
of grey land will be, but a Parliamentary Committee is considering this issue. I have written to them asking for allotments to be clearly excluded.
In the push for higher rates of house building even “statutory” allotments could be affected. After all, it’s a government minister who has the final say and the Government will be putting great weight on achieving house building targets. A site that’s well run and fully occupied will have a better chance of justifying its public and social benefits than one with overgrown plots and underused areas.
Designation as a Local Green Space (LGS) is one important move you can make to protect your site, whether it’s under council management or leased from a private owner.This can only be done through a Local Plan or a Neighbourhood Plan.You need to check your council’s website to see when their Options Consultation is commencing. If you have missed this crucial date, you will have to pick it up again in a few years’ time.
If your council or parish is preparing
a plan, then I would strongly advise you
to promote the designation of all the allotment sites in your area as Local
Green Spaces.This gives them equivalent protection to being in a Green Belt.The sites will have to satisfy certain criteria, which are clearly set out inThe National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and Planning Practice Guidance.There is also very useful guidance fromThe Open Spaces
Society and the Council for the Protection of Rural England.
The criteria for designating a green space are currently set out in the NPPF, section 8 Promoting Healthy and Safe Communities, Paras 105, 106.The site should be:
• Close to the community it serves.
• Be demonstrably special to the local
community.
• Hold local significance, for example
for its beauty, historic significance and recreational value, tranquillity and richness of wildlife.
• It must also be local in character and not be an extensive tract of land.
Allotments easily fulfil most of these criteria. Arguably, beauty is in the eye of the beholder – but personally I think sheds are lovely!
Bath and Northeast Somerset Council has already designated nearly all of its allotment sites as LGS.There is no data
on how many allotments have been given LGS status nationwide and I have found that councils vary widely in their available information.This is an area of research which would be well worth looking into
– perhaps NAS could take the initiative,
in conjunction with the CPRE, who have already carried out nationwide research on the progress of LGS designations.
Jacky Wilkinson
Bath Allotments Association, Individual Member of NAS
10 | Issue 1 2025 | Allotment and Leisure Gardener