Page 62 - ALG Issue 3 2020

London
London
Has the Covid-19 emergency changed the view of allotments?
There are many different perspectives of allotments, allotment folk and the value they provide to the community. Views will vary greatly, and some from the outside may be far adrift from reality. The views of the value allotments give their plotholders will also differ by demographic and ethnic mix. But whatever the view held we must respect that perception often trumps all.
Some views may be tainted by
the length of waiting lists, and in
today’s instant gratification times,
view allotments as elitist and plots unobtainable. Others may look through the gates and take the view that they often resemble a ramshackle shanty town. Others will look with envy at the fresh vegetables and jealously yearn
for the good life. The perception will obviously vary significantly between rural and urban, suburban and inner- city sites. Some even see them as a sort of day care centre for the retired. Over the years, allotments have gone
in and out of fashion. Often in times of hardship, they attract attention, whilst in times of plenty and affluence they may lose that attraction. As a result of the current Covid virus, has perception of allotments changed?
One thing that is very clear is that the profile of allotments and the benefits they offer has been raised. It may
be increased column inches in the weekend broadsheets, or even the five-minute sound bite on TV, but six months ago there would have been very few. Perhaps two things have helped to raise the profile. The first was the supermarket queues and the awakening that we, as a society, had become too dependent on the one stop shop, the perfect all year-round fresh food that knows no seasonality. When you start to add up the air miles and extended supply chains and things done to preserve freshness maybe you realise that there is fresh and there is fresh. The second profile raiser was the fact that allotments remained open all hours and even government ministers classed them as exercise. Later they were lauded as providing both mental well-being as well as physical exercise.
In areas of dense housing and where there is a shift from houses to flats,
the loss of growing space or even meaningful open space is acute. Here in London’s Docklands, we have the highest density of residential housing
in Western Europe and everything new reaches into the sky in little boxes piled on top of each other. There is some open space, but that is often managed by the estate to provide the lowest maintenance option and community gardening is rarely encouraged or provided. It is ironic that allotments, as we know them today, are only some 100 to 150 years old. They were developed to provide, along with parks and libraries, a release from the industrial sprawl and to give householders a piece of land to grow on. Today the industrial sprawl has been replaced by concrete, glass and commercial or residential sprawl and yet we have less space than we did 100 years ago, or even 50 years ago. Some would suggest that we now have longer waiting lists and latent demand than at any time in the history of allotments.
I was once told by a Mayor of a Borough that his colleagues were the problem and that they viewed allotments ‘as
the lowest of the low.’ Well if there was ever a reason to change perception that was it. Today even the hardest councils have had to keep allotments open and respect the benefits they give. Folk who thought gardening was something their parents and grandparents did, have started to discover its many benefits and the closure of garden centres has in fact help raise awareness even further. But perception must be changed,
and allotments have to continue to help that change happen. Allotments are integral to the community. They are environmental standard bearers, centres of both mental and physical well-being, educational stimulants, ethnic and social melting pots. I often state to doubting eyes that only 28% of our plotholders are retired, only a minority are English origin and so on. These are small facts, but perception changes.
We do not judge the longest bean, the fattest leek, the straightest carrot.
In fact, we celebrate the community outreach programme we have and embrace environmental initiatives and projects. Finally, I strongly believe that allotments do not stop at the fence and these physical barriers do not stop the
Folk who thought gardening was something their parents and grand parents did, have started to discover its many benefits
allotments fully integrating into the community in many ways. Children
may learn some basic gardening at school but where do we expect them
to continue this after leaving school? Where do the disabled or long-term sick go who are unable to physically manage a garden? How do we
ensure social housing also has social gardening? The city planners need to think holistically about the cityscapes they are responsible for developing
and ensure that the various green and welfare needs highlighted by the current situation are not a lost opportunity. We can change not just perceptions but reality.
Martyn Daniels
Martyn is a plotholder and Chair of Isle of Dogs and District Allotment Society www.iodadas.com. This year he has been nominated for election as the Regional Representative for London for the National Allotment Society.
62 Allotment and Leisure Gardener