If anyone in the west wiltshire district council would like to use any of this letter in lobbying their local councillor and MP please feel free to cut/lift/plagarise to your hearts content. The more people who e-mail the more likely they are to do something about it!I am writing to you both, as my local councillor and MP, to bring the poor situation regarding allotment space in the Trowbridge area to your attention.
To start with http://www.publications.parliament.uk/p ... ii/560iii0 2.htm states that "The allotments legislation has a long history, some of which originates from the Nineteenth Century Inclosure Awards.[ 1] The present legislative provisions are contained in the Small Holdings and Allotment Acts 1908 and the Allotments Acts 1922-1950.These place an obligation on allotment authorities to meet the demands of local residents wishing to cultivate allotments and to make provision for the acquisition, management and control of allotment sites."
The current situation in the west wiltshire area is that demand is not being met. I have attatched a document from the councils commercial services department which I received today regarding the waiting lists for allotment sites. On contacting the planning department to try to find out whether there was any provision for further allotment sites I was told that to the best of the persons knowledge that there was not. This she blamed on a report by Kit Campbell Associates who have recently done a survey of leisure requirements within the area. However to quote from the top of page 118 from the report "Accordingly we recommend a quantity standard of around 1.5 sq m per person, unless local circumstances - such as waiting lists for plots - indicate a need for additional provision."
The report states on page 87 that at the time of the audit approximately 1/4 of the allotment sites appeared unused, something which commercial services assured me was not accurate. Even if this was the case out of the 250 sites in the Trowbridge and Bradford-upon-Avon area this would only cover half of the current demand.
While I realise that there are other issues which require your attention I would request that you give this issue serious consideration for several reasons. To start with the provision of allotments, especially with the councils current policy of requesting allotment holders not to use pesticides, promotes biodiversity. Use of allotments means that people are consuming locally grown food thereby reducing the carbon footprint of the local area, provision of additional allotment space by the council therefore helps the country meet the agreed reduction in carbon emmissions. Allotment gardeners frequently use heritage species which is in keeping with DEFRA's policy on genetic resources http://www.defra.gov.uk/farm/policy/gen ... /index.htm. Finally, although there are many more reasons, keeping allotments is a form of regular cardiovascular exercise, keeping the allotment holders healthy and reducing the burden on the health service.
I hope that you will do your best to raise this as a serious issue,
Thanks
Philip