Help save future of allotments and community gardens

On Monday 9 June 2025, the Planning and Infrastructure Bill went before parliament for its third reading. The bill sets out how to speed up the planning system to support the delivery of national infrastructure and 1.5m homes planned by this government.

Sarah Champion, Labour MP for Rotherham tabled the ‘Space to Grow’ amendment with the aim of giving allotments and community gardening legal protections.

If successful, it would ensure ‘Space to Grow’ would always be a strategic priority for local planning authorities (local councils) and ensure they are considered in future development plans. This could mean community gardens and allotment spaces had to be delivered alongside the 1.5m new homes government plans to build. It would raise community growing space to the same level as other strategic planning considerations, such as climate and biodiversity.

People working together in an allotment, planting and sharing knowledge in a green space

The RHS with the National Network for Community Gardening: Over 20 charities and groups that support community growing, including the National Allotment Society, Garden Organic, Sustain and the Wildlife Trusts, are supporting this amendment and want to harness the power of their members and gardeners to get this through parliament.

The need for more community growing spaces is crucial because there has been no new legislation in England to protect or promote allotments since the 1950s, and no concrete legislation to protect community gardening or growing spaces at all. This means that the community spaces used by millions of people nationally often lack security or longevity.

Despite high demand, the UK currently has a shortage of allotments, with at least 157,820 on English local authorities’ waiting lists. The land used for allotments has declined by 60% since the 1950s, the loss being 8 times greater in deprived communities.

The role of community gardens provides an increasingly important refuge for people living in towns and cities to relax, improve their mental health and their relationship with nature and gives people vital exercise and fresh air.

Volunteers take a well-earned break, enjoying drinks and conversation in a community garden

In Scotland, the 2015 Community Empowerment act requires local authorities to provide spaces to grow if waiting lists for allotments meet a certain threshold. The amendment would help give people across the UK similar opportunities to grow.

Sarah Champion MP said: “These small but mighty green spaces amount to so much more than vegetables. They foster a sense of community, they supercharge biodiversity, they create food security, and they teach us about our environment and sustainability.

“The public have been crying out for more allotments and community gardens for years. For the eight million people in the UK who have no garden at home, shared spaces such as community gardens are essential. With so many people on waiting lists or blocked from turning an unloved patch of land into a community garden, and a desperate need for nature recovery across the UK, my campaign represents a win-win. The cost to Government is low, yet the rewards for our communities and our environment are bountiful.”