Islington News: Allotment | 80 Years | Katie Dawson

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Islington Tribune - by ROISIN GADELRAB
Published: 19 September 2008

Cllr Katie Dawson

Fancy growing some veg? Try calling back in 2088!

SCHOOL-leavers who may one day dream of having an allotment had better get their names down quick after it was revealed Islington has an average waiting list of 80 years.
Green Councillor Katie Dawson, who has been campaigning for more allotments in the borough, would be 120 before she is eligible for an allotment – and only if she puts her name down now.
Cllr Dawson said: “A council officer told me there’s an average 80-year wait for allotments.
“The Liberals invented allotments for the working class. So the Lib Dems should be more proactive about providing allotments.”
For the past few years, there have only been 31 plots across three sites – St Thomas Road, Monsell Road, Highbury, and Evershot Road, Finsbury – for the whole borough.
Another 50 were recently added at King Henry’s Walk but the waiting list still has 360 names.
According to Islington Council rules, there is no time limit for how long someone can hold on to an allotment but they cannot be passed on to friends or relatives.
Cllr Dawson said: “I would be 120 by the time I got one. But I think they’ve closed the waiting list.
“We’ve got one of the lowest proportions of allotments to the size of our borough.
“It just seems a shame that whenever we get the chance to
get a commitment from a developer we don’t use it.
“The council should set aside part of the sites for [allotments] – there’s clearly a need.”
Environment chief Councillor Ruth Polling said: “We’ve been doing a vast amount to improve the quality of our green spaces recently, but we recognise there is a demand for allotments.
“In a very dense borough like Islington there just isn’t room, though more space was created just this year with King Henry’s Walk.
“We’re looking to increase our allotment space all the time and have been looking at this with some of the new green space we’ve recently acquired.
“We’re also looking at creating food-growing projects on housing estates. It’s still possible to buy fresh, locally grown produce at our excellent street markets – and we hope residents will take advantage of this.”

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