'Gardening is like magic' - call for more allotment plots

A group representing allotment growers has called for a significant increase in the number of plots nationwide, saying some existing facilities are reporting waiting times of over ten years.

Meanwhile, the Department of Heritage has said new guidelines for councils to help them plan for allotments will be published as soon as practical.

At the Dublin City Council allotments in Raheny in north Dublin, the groundwork is intensifying as the growing season approaches.

Among those who've gathered is Maria Magdelena, who says her own garden isn't suitable for growing.

"Gardening is like magic," she says.

"One season, everything works, and another, nothing works."
She grows her own vegetables, cutting down on her supermarket visits.

"If you manage to grow what you eat, it will give you quite a few meals and it will cost you almost nothing," she says.

There are over 80 plots in Raheny, and all are taken; the demand is clear.

Chairperson of the facility Steve Rawson had to wait a decade before he secured his plot.

"The interest in demand for allotments right across Dublin, but particularly here at the moment, is absolutely massive," he says.

"There's a waiting list for about 10 years.

In fact, I think it's so much so that they've stopped the waiting list.

I personally was waiting 10 years to get into the allotment here, and it gets really, really busy during the summer."
At one point, in the 1940s following the Second World War, the Government, with food security in mind, ramped up the number of allotments in Ireland, peaking at around 40,000.

The number has dropped significantly since then, and it's estimated now to be around 2,500.

Campaigners say it's simply not enough.

They point to Denmark, with a similar population, where there are 50,000 plots.

"We're calling for 10,000 allotments and community gardens to be provided throughout Ireland by the end of this decade," says Dónal McCormack, co-chair of Community Gardens Ireland.

"They're beneficial because they're good for communities.

They're good for people to come together, to break ground together, to grow together.

And then they're good for the wider environment as well.

"You see around here, there's plenty of birds, there's foxes, and there's bat boxes behind me as well.

I suppose these places are sanctuaries for people and also for wildlife," he says.

Earlier this year, legislation was enacted, which now puts an onus on each of the 31 local authorities to actively plan for allotments.

Those in the sector have described the rules as 'groundbreaking', setting out the legal definition of allotments, and also outlining the responsibilities of councils to reserve land for them.

However, the accompanying guidelines which would advise the councils how to go about their allotment responsibilities have yet to be published.

"We met with Government ministers a couple of years ago and we were promised the guidelines would be issued from central Government to the local authorities by December 2023.

"It hasn't happened," says Dónal.

"What we've been told is that they'll deliver them sometime in the future, but it's been three years.

"It's incredibly frustrating, but it's important now with the law coming into place that the guidelines are finally published."
In response, the department responsible, Housing, Local Government and Heritage, said the Planning and Development Act 2024 requires planning authorities to prepare a strategy relating to the creation of sustainable places within their development plans.

This includes, it says, the reservation of land for use and cultivation as allotments and prescribed community gardens.

It also said further guidance for local authorities on the provision of allotments and community gardens will be progressed "as soon as is practical".

As those guidelines are awaited, another new season in the country's allotments beckons.