Where I live, near London Fields in the flourishing East End, everyone and their brother seems to want an allotment. The waiting lists are so long in Hackney that they have now closed the list to new applicants entirely. Some sites in Tower Hamlets have also closed the waiting list and another (closest to my home) are so small they only have two plots. In other boroughs where waiting lists are still open, the council measures the potential waiting time in years - not months.
Each council, according to the National Society of Allotment and Leisure Gardeners (NSALG) "...have to, by law, provide allotments - with the exception of Inner London. So what should Londoners who are desperate to get a bit dirty and grow their own goods do? Get on it, immediately.
Neil Russell-Jones has recently published an allotment guidebook called Your Own Allotment: How to find and manage one - and enjoy growing your own food that provides fantastic advice. He suggests putting your name on as many lists as you possibly can, regardless of the waiting list, as sometimes lists can be inflated if applicants do not remove their name when they receive a plot from another waiting list. He put his name on five lists and received a plot only a few months later. He also advises to take whatever plot you are allocated, even if it is smaller than you would like, as it is easier to request a larger plot 'when you are on the inside looking out' than wait forever for a large plot that may never come.
For those, like myself, who are looking for a plot in either Hackney or Tower Hamlets, the most helpful websites I have found include the following.
For now, Hackney City Council has posted this message on it's website:
Booming interest in allotments leads to waiting list freeze
As the waiting list is about to hit 300, the Committee has decided to take the unprecedented step of closing the list.
Recent media interest in allotments has led to a huge number of applications being received by the Society. The decision to close the list has been taken with regret but we simply cannot keep up with this level of demans. We are also concerned that we are continuing to accept membership fees from residents who have little hope of renting an allotment for many years to come.
The Committee plan to review the waiting list following membership renewal in the Autumn. An announcement of the decision will then be put on the website. In the meantime we encourage all those seeking an allotment in Hackney to lobby their local Councillor for more allotment provision in the borough.
Your local Councillor can be found here.
Lobby! Lobby! Lobby!
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