As a former allotment holder in Glasgow, I read Robin Tyne’s article with empathy (‘I joined every list’: the gruelling search for a Glasgow allotment, 2 September). I too joined every waiting list in Glasgow before I became a plotholder. There are not enough allotments in Glasgow and indeed across the UK. While the company Roots and other private allotments have a place, they can never be a replacement for local authority ones. Under the 2015 Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act, Scottish local authorities have a duty to provide allotments. We need to find more space in our cities for them – spaces that have been proven to improve mental and physical health, at an affordable price.
In 1932, the Scottish allotment scheme for the unemployed was created. Plots were provided, as well as grants for seeds and tools. The scheme was not just to provide a place for growing food but also seen as preventing a mental health crisis, even though that would not have been said at the time. Plots were found on existing allotment sites, but the scheme also worked with local authorities to create new sites.
We call on allotments in times of crisis, and I believe our plot got me, my husband and our baby through the Covid lockdowns. It gave us a safe outside place beyond our flat to go to.
The value of allotments needs to be recognised by the government. If we could find extra land in the 1930s, surely we can do it now without the need of expensive companies.
Dr Hannah Connelly
Hull
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