§ 11.56 p.m.
§ Mr. John Cordle (Bournemouth, East, and Christchurch)The Local Government Act 1972 has wrought profound and gratifying changes in our system of regional and local administration. However, the Act failed to deal adequately with the matter of allotments, and I should like, at this late hour, to express my gratitude to Mr. Speaker for selecting this subject for the Adjournment debate.
During the course of the day I received a telegram from the National Allotments and Gardens Society, which is holding its annual conference this week, which states that the following resolution was passed unanimously:
That this conference being dismayed by the Local Government Act and its reference to statutory allotments, together with replies from the Minister to agitation on this subject, now asks that Her Majesy's Government expedite the proposed new allotment legislation following urgent discussion with accredited representatives of this society.That is signed by the chairman, Mr. Robinson, and the secretary, Mr. Milligan.It may be thought that allotments are the most mundane and unexciting things, but in my opinion the provision of allotments is a vital duty on the part of Government and local authorities, and the tending of allotments surely is a meritorious and healthy pursuit. In my view, the tending of allotments must be one of the most popular recreational activities in this country. For reasons that I shall later recount, every encouragement should therefore be given to those who wish to pursue it.
The law regarding allotments is in disarray. It needs to be updated. The Minister agrees with this. There is a need for precise definition of the duties of local authorities to provide land for allotments, to finance their upkeep, to provide facilities for the proper use of the allotments and to superintend the activities of allotment users.
The Allotments Acts from 1908 to 1950 are still operative, but the Local Government Act 1972 has made two changes in the existing law. They are not extensive, but they are important. First, the default powers of the Secretary of State and the 1860 old county councils, by which allotments authorities were controlled, have been removed. Secondly, the statutory obligation on allotments authorities to appoint allotments committees has been removed.
It is a source of consternation to me that the Government so effected piecemeal change and proceeded to leave the relevant law in disarray. If there is further delay, especially after the advent of the new local government system in April 1974, in producing new legislation on allotments, many thousands, perhaps millions, of allotment holders will be seriously disadvantaged and inconvenienced. I therefore respectfully ask the Minister to give priority to the promotion of new legislation on allotments.
In the modern world, allotments are paradoxically vital. They are a deliberate substitute for gardens. Modern housing developments are dominated by high-rise flats. The tenants have no piece of land to call their own, on which to grow their own flowers and vegetables. Modern houses have small gardens, principally because of the astronomical cost of land. For retired people in flats and old people's homes, an allotment affords untold enjoyment, cheaply and beneficially. The age of retirement is coming down and the need to help pensioners to get the most out of their retirement is more pressing. For some old-age pensioners it is their only pleasure.
Similarly, with the shorter working week people will need to channel their energies during their leisure hours into useful, rewarding and harmless activities, and more allotments should be available to cater for this need.
It is said that man is nearest to God in a garden. Those of us who love flowers and who are excited by cultivation and growth can appreciate the peace and joy of tending the land. No amount of scientific data will persuade most people other than that home-grown vegetables and fruit taste better than factory-farmed produce, and also that home-grown produce is more beneficial.
With rocketing food prices, people should be encouraged to grow their own food as they did so successfully in the last war, when we were encouraged to "Dig for victory". In short, the tending of allotments is healthy, productive leisure, and in an age of manufactured 1861 entertainment such self-sufficiency and effort should be encouraged.
I readily admit that some allotment holders have let the rest down by allowing their plots to go to rack and ruin. There has peen legislation empowering local authorities to deal with such lack of cultivation but often the powers have not been used. In the past local authorities have been reluctant to spend money on amenities to promote good cultivation and ensure security.
While I recognise that there is much that the allotment holders' movement can do to improve its lot, the attitude of the Government and of local authorities must become one of encouragement and real concern. The promised legislation on this matter could provide for this among other things.
I propose that each allotment holder should be able to take his plot on a five-year tenancy agreement, rather than the present 12 months. This change would give greater security to plot holders. I would further propose that local authorities should be given more aid by the Government to purchase suitable land for the establishment of allotments. In addition, no planning permission should be given for new housing developments unless they include parcels of land suitable for cultivation. No block of flats should be without attendant allotment land.
The Department of the Environment could make regulations to enforce the proper administration of allotments by the relevant authorities. Minimum standards for security, water supply, lavatories, access roads, car parks and particularly maintenance should be promulgated.
Perhaps it would not be without sense and reason at this time to suggest that there should be facilities made available for the rest of the family, so that, when Dad is digging, perhaps Mum and the children could have adequate facilities to enjoy the open air, the space and perhaps the complex, with the possibility at a later date of even swimming pools being arranged.
It is distressing that the organisation of such a beneficial form of recreation is as poorly treated as it is. The Government must act swiftly and boldly to bring the law on allotments up to date and actively to encourage this most civilised and rewarding leisure activity.
§ 12.5 a.m.
§ The Minister for Local Government and Development (Mr. Graham Page)My hon. Friend the Member for Bournemouth, East and Christchurch (Mr. Cordle), with his usual perception, has brought before the House tonight a subject of some topical interest. In the past few months there has been a significant increase in the demand for allotments, particularly in certain urban areas. One might cynically say that this is due to the rising price of vegetables, but that is not the full story and I do not think it plays any real part in the demand we have seen lately for this type of recreation. The increased demand is due to changes in leisure habits coupled with the fact that Birmingham, Bristol, Coventry, Sheffield, Waltham Forest and Brent have gone ahead with the provision of a new type of allotment—the leisure garden—recommended by the Thorpe Committee.
I pay tribute at once to the Thorpe Committee, which inquired into allotments under the chairmanship of Professor Harry Thorpe, whose report, Cmnd. 4166 of October 1969, I commend as the encyclopaedia on allotments, giving very valuable information and advice upon all aspects of the subject.
At the end of the last war there were about 125,000 acres of allotments in England and Wales. That high figure was undoubtedly due to the response to the "Dig for victory" campaign. But it looks as though there is a "dig for peace operation at present. In an Adjournment debate just over a year ago I said that at that time there were only some 35,000 acres of allotments in urban areas. I am now told that since then there has been a significant increase in demand for plots in such areas.
Gradually the image of allotments is changing. No longer do so many of them qualify as candidates for Operation Eyesore. It was Professor Thorpe who exploded the theory that vegetables would grow only in rectangular plots and in juxtaposition to corrugated iron. He advocated a wider variety of plots, not necessarily rectangular in shape or given over entirely to vegetables, but plots on properly landscaped sites, with provision for flowers, shrubs and even small lawns where all the family could go and spend leisure time together.
1863 This is a quite new conception, which properly reflects the fact that nowadays the emphasis is not so much on out-and-out food production but on recreation and general family enjoyment. It gets us away from the conviction that in this country we have only two kinds of vegetables and they are both cabbage. In a statement in July 1971 I told the House that the Government welcomed this new look for allotments. I certainly encouraged local authorities to review their allotment sites and to tidy up those which did nothing to enhance the environment or which positively detracted from it. I also asked local authorities to consider improving facilities for allotment holders where these were necessary to ensure a viable and appealing site.
Local authorities can give a lead by fencing sites against trespassers, laying on water supplies, putting vacant plots into proper shape for reletting and so on. I know that local authorities and plot holders become despondent when their efforts are frustrated by vandalism, but it could well be that attractive family allotments would keep potential vandals out of mischief.
There are encouraging signs that there is now emerging a renewal of interest in allotments and a rising demand for them. Professor Thorpe and his committee have shown in their report the improvements that are possible, and I am pleased to say that a growing number of local authorities have promoted the new-style allotment sites, and many others are contemplating doing so.
Allotments are an integral part of the environment. These new-style sites are already showing that by careful planning, landscaping and internal layout they can enhance the environment and improve visual amenities for us all. But one must recognise the difficulties that face local authorities in bringing about these changes, particularly those in the heavily built-up areas where land is expensive and the pressures on land continue to increase and there is mounting competition from other sporting and recreational pursuits such as football, cricket, tennis, golf and so on.
Provision has to be made for all those activities, and I think it is right and proper that local authorities should be given the maximum possible freedom to 1864 meet the demands, unfettered by control from central Government. It is no longer right to single out allotments for special treatment, as the old statutes did, as compared with, say, tennis courts or bowling greens.
This is where I must join issue with my hon. Friend. He is arguing for more control and direction by the central Government. I advocate less of it. The controls and requirements which exist, extending back to the beginning of this century, are part and parcel of the charitable image of allotments. I want the movement to be rid of that. These controls are quite out of keeping with our policy of leaving local affairs to be decided by local people. Because the cultivation of an allotment has become increasingly a leisure pursuit, the time has come for the provision of land for this purpose to rank part passu with other recreational and sporting activities.
Local authorities should be free to make suitable provision for allotments, having regard to the demand in their area not only for allotments but also for other recreational needs. The two amendments made by the 1972 Act, to which my hon. Friend referred, to the allotments law were entirely in keeping with the reforms in that Act relating to other local government functions—that is to say, the removal of the Big-Brother attitude from Whitehall towards local government.
The future of the allotments movement lies in the provision of land for the new-style allotments in carefully selected and properly landscaped sites on which there would be proper facilities for the plot holders. The planning of sites in this way, involving not inconsiderable capital expenditure, will stabilise the use of the land for allotments and should bring in its train the security and additional facilities which are the goals for which the movement is striving.
But if we can trust local authorities to use their discretion in the provision of land for almost everything from parks to rubbish dumps, we cannot say that we do not trust them to provide the allotments necessary and demanded in their areas. Nor can we say that if they provide these allotments we do not trust them to provide services to those allotments.
1865 After local government is reorganised next April, the new district councils will all become allotment authorities, and the parish councils which are at present responsible for providing allotments will continue to have this responsibility in their areas, as will the community councils in Wales. The allotments movement has, I know, been concerned that the Local Government Act 1972 will result in a sort of legislative lacuna or, as my hon. Friend put it, will leave the law on allotments in disarray and that there will be no proper administration of allotments law.
That will not happen. That is a complete misconception of the present situation, and it is untrue—I think I am quoting my hon. Friend correctly—to say that millions of allotment holders will suffer from this position. For the present, the general body of allotments law remains on the statue book and the new district councils, the parish authorities and the community councils in Wales will all continue to be governed by it pending any new legislation.
Where I must join issue again with my hon. Friend is in his plea for special Government aid to local authorities for the provision of land for allotments. I also oppose his plea that allotment holders should be provided by local government with what I might call all mod. cons. It is right that local authorities should tidy up existing allotments and make them into leisure gardens, areas which are attractive to those who wish to undertake allotment work. I have urged local authorities to clean up and landscape their allotments sites so that we may have these leisure gardens rather than the untidy and unsightly overgrown jungles which are to be found in many places. I regard that as a good investment and as good local government by an authority of its area.
Expensive land, of course, should not be left unsightly or even, in some cases, derelict, and when tidied up it should be let at a reasonable rent to the allotment holders. They are not entitled to heavy subsidies from either their fellow ratepayers or taxpayers. There is provision in the existing statutes for a proper rental to be paid for the allotments and they 1866 should be managed correctly in that way by the local authorities. In most cases, even when reasonable rents are paid there will probably be an element of subsidy because only 12 allotments can be produced from one acre of land. The rent that can be charged makes little contribution to the land cost so that, even on a reasonable basis of what might be charged for an allotment, an element of subsidy creeps in. Therefore I cannot urge either my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer or the local authorities to provide further subsidies.
The point made by my hon. Friend that the provision of allotments should be part of any housing development, especially a development of high-rise flats, with adjacent car parks, lavatories and so on, is wise and prudent. But, even if my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State had the power, I would not advise him to make regulations ordering local authorities to provide such facilities. The rising demand for allotments will make it worth while for authorities to make these provisions without any compulsion and I am sure that they will provide for their citizens such leisure gardens as are needed. I hope we shall have them in the near future.
The Thorpe Committee sent out a questionnaire to residents in high-rise flat developments asking whether they would like allotments and. generally speaking, about one-third of them said that they would. That proves the value of the point made by my hon. Friend. I would leave it to the local authorities to decide to provide such services in the ordinary way for their citizens, who, I believe, will demand them more and more and will be ready to pay for them so that they may enjoy the pleasure that one derives from seeing things grow on allotments—not only vegetables but flowers—and possibly enjoy having lawns on them also.
I am very grateful to my hon. Friend for raising the matter. I hope that I have been able to give him some answers to his points.
§ Question put and agreed to.
§ Adjourned accordingly at twenty minutes past Twelve o'clock.