The Allotment Strategy 2016

Overview

The City of Edinburgh Council is in the process of revising its current Allotment Strategy “Cultivating Communities – A Growing Challenge” and would like to gather public feedback on the draft to date. 

The Council’s first allotment strategy, Cultivating Communities was published in 2002.  This was followed by Cultivating Communities – A Growing Challenge in 2009 and this revised Strategy, “A Growing Success” continues the themes of its predecessors.  It aims to provide a strategic approach to the planning and management of allotments for the next 10 years and contains a 5 year action plan.  The two previous strategies were instrumental in initially improving the quality of allotments and in the development of support for allotments not only in Edinburgh but in other council areas and at government level.  They also focussed on giving more people the opportunity to grow their own food by increasing the number of allotments in Edinburgh and by promoting other food growing initiatives.  This strategy and implementation plan has been drafted in consultation with the Allotment Strategy Steering Group, this group includes representatives of the Federation of Edinburgh and District Allotments and Gardens Association (FEDAGA), the Scottish Allotments and Gardens Society (SAGS) and representatives from the City of Edinburgh Council Parks, Greenspace and Cemeteries Service.

The new strategy considers the unprecedented demand for allotments and focuses on a strategic approach in order to tackle the current short fall of sites. It aims to ensure that the benefits of allotment gardening are properly recognised and available to all and that the allotment requirements contained within the new Community Empowerment Act are met.

The Council would value public feedback on this draft and hope that you take five minutes to complete the survey.