The Edinburgh Reporter March 2022

12
FEATURE ALLOTMENTS
Allot
to be
Martin P McAdam
Phyllis Stephen digs into
city allotments and waiting
lists populated by people
looking for The Good Life
after the pandemic
On 1 February this year there were
5,865 people on the council list
waiting for an allotment which is
double what it was in 2016. There
are currently 1,969 council
owned plots on 47 sites. A 26 plot
site opened last April and six new
sites will open this year. The
council’s allotment strategy, Cultivating Communities, for
the decade from 2017-27 was adopted in March 2017 and
follows other reports dating from 2002. The strategy is
due to be reviewed this year, but a pandemic and a
council election might well get in the way. So what is
being done to ensure the plan is put into action?
The council say they have identified six new sites - 200
allotments - with potential either as allotment sites or
community gardens.
A council spokesperson said: ““Since lockdown, there
has been increased demand for allotments and growing
spaces in the city, and we have been actively working to
increase allotment provision and the number of allotment
plots in Edinburgh.
“In response to this our third allotment strategy aims
to ensure adequate provision of allotments and other
growing spaces by investigating potential new sites,
encouraging people to directly establish and manage
new allotments on council-owned land, and the creation
of new allotments as part of the planning process for
new developments.”
FEDAGA
Stuart McKenzie, President of The Federation
of Edinburgh and District Allotments and Gardens
Associations (FEDAGA), says his organisation
has discussed with the council making allotment
site provision a statutory obligation for all new
home developers.
He has had a space at Inverleith for 25 years.
He said: “I like the sense of society on an allotment site,
and then there is our little flower show each year. It is just
good fun with like-minded people. We all share and have
a laugh together.
“Years ago I remember only ever being able to buy
white potatoes from a green grocer and I got an allotment
so that I could grow some more interesting varieties. I’ve
grown the Aura variety which is delicious and also Salad
Blue - it really is blue all the way through when cooked.”
While Stuart disputes that people grow vegetables on
their allotments purely to save money he agrees that
having an allotment is a good thing. He claims many
vegetables may appear cheaper in the supermarket, but
with the labour involved in growing your own he advises
it is best to only grow food you really want to eat.
(There are exceptions to his theory however. Stuart
gave me a lovely leek to take home and explained that
it costs just £3 for 50 leek plants.) Tomatoes are at the
more expensive end of the spectrum with 10 seeds
costing about £5. Stuart with his 25 years of experience
behind him, recommends that allotment holders grow
fennel, rhubarb, soft fruits and squash which can be
pricey in the shops.
Stuart talked of the dynamics of the official waiting list.
He said: ”Ian Woolard, the council’s allotment officer, is
absolutely overworked. He deals with the whole of
Edinburgh maintaining the waiting list. He told me a few
years ago he had conducted a review of the waiting list,
Top left, the good life
at Inverleith
Above, Susan Grafenstein and
Martin Finlayson sniffing
around the garlic plants at
Stuart’s plot
I like the sense of society on an
allotment with like-minded people.
We all have a laugh together
and by asking people for an update he halved the list. I
think it reduced to about 1,500 people and then the
council allowed people to register for an allotment on
their website.
“The list then doubled almost instantly. During
Covid it further doubled. We have to thank Michael
Gove who said during an interview at the beginning of
the first lockdown that it was okay to keep them open as
working on an allotment allowed people to observe
social distancing.”
While the council installed composting toilets at
some of the allotments these are no longer in use, and
there has been no move to replace them. Most allotment
sites have running water but not much else in the way of
basic services.
Stuart who is now retired from a career with RBS
spends a couple of hours a day at his allotment. He said:
“Allotments are wonderful places. I really think that if
somebody sat down and worked out what the value of an