Birmingham’s allotments set to grow, according to Council

• Mar. 22 by Rachel Simmonite (0)

As the trend for growing your own food continues to gain popularity, Birmingham City Council are responding with the creation of new plots for allotments.

Recently the Government proposed a scheme where it would allow places such as derelict building sites to be used for allotments.

The main reason for the increase in the number of allotments is so that people can grow their own produce, gaining satisfaction out of doing so from the hard work that they have spent digging, growing and maintaining their plot. Renting a plot is also fairly cheap with annual prices ranging from £25 to £60.

Birmingham Recycled spoke with Adrian Stagg, the Allotments Finance and Records Officer at Birmingham City Council about their plans for future allotments to meet the rising demand.

Rise in popularity

Adrian told us:

‘There has been a significant rise in demand for allotments over the last 3 years particularly in the west of the City and Sutton Coldfield.

Most sites in the City have waiting lists, though there is still availability in the South East and Handsworth areas.

We plan to provide more plots in Quinton, Moseley, Stirchley and East Sutton initially. There will also be a new 80 plot site opening in Handsworth this Spring.’

Adrian said that Birmingham City Council is also running a project to identify and develop derelict sites for community gardens or possible allotments.

This is being focused on the less affluent inner City areas around Ladywood, Lozells, Aston, Small Heath where there is little allotment provision and where there are wider health issues within communities.

Popularity of allotments

Adrian said that it is difficult to identify one reason for the popularity of alloments.

‘It is a combination of TV promotion through programmes such as Gardeners World (which featured an Allotments Special filmed around Birmingham), River Cottage, The Allotment, various cuisine programmes that advocate ‘grow your own’ together with a new generation that is more acutely aware of food sources and want to get back to growing crops, reactions to fast food and a desire for healthy food, TV promotion of diet and health issues, changes to school curriculums and possibly (though not measurable) the credit crunch.’

If you are interested in renting an allotment in Birmingham then go to Birmingham City Council’s Allotments section and the BBC’s Dig In site, where you can apply for free seeds to try and grow and get handy tips on growing them.