Hansard

The Convener: Lab

Today, the committee begins its inquiry into allotments. We will hear from the Federation of Allotment Holders as well as from the Food Trust Scotland. In th...

Arthur Bell (Food Trust Scotland):

The Food Trust was set up to examine Scotland's diet and consider how we can improve it; to educate people on good food and diet; to broadcast the importance...

Dr Mike Cuthbert (Food Trust Scotland):

The survey that we conducted was the first to have been done in Scotland since the Allotments (Scotland) Act 1892, which established allotments in Scotland, ...

Arthur Bell:

There should be much greater marketing of the availability of allotments. I am certain that there are tens of thousands of people living in tower blocks or t...

The Convener: Lab

Allotments in England and Wales are less threatened than they are in Scotland. Do you think that there is a need for Scottish ministers to issue consent when...

Dr Cuthbert:

In practice, it has not been necessary to protect allotments in Scotland, because there have not been a great many closures. The total number of allotment pl...

The Convener: Lab

I understand that it can be difficult to identify the person in a local authority who actually deals with allotments. Would it be an idea to have an allotmen...

Arthur Bell:

There are already two areas in local authorities where there are people who have related responsibilities. Most local authorities have parks departments, whi...

Dr Cuthbert:

Two thirds of the allotments in Scotland are in the four cities. None of them has full-time, dedicated allotment officers, but all four parks departments hav...

Iain Smith (North-East Fife) (LD): LD

What are the biggest obstacles to developing allotments—particularly new allotments—and addressing the imbalance between demand and supply? Does the legislat...

Arthur Bell:

Enough land is probably available in local authority land banks. Brownfield sites in our towns and cities could also be developed and greened. We are not tal...

Mr Gibson: SNP

I find the issue fascinating. You talked about some plots lying derelict for years, but the information to the committee appears to show increasing demand, p...

Dr Cuthbert:

The situation in Edinburgh is a bit of an exception in Scotland. There is no prioritisation in the west, and people get access. The quality of the service af...

Arthur Bell:

If allotments are allowed to run down, two things happen. People will not want to go and garden on them, and the local authority will feel that the demand is...

Mr Gibson: SNP

In Glasgow, 9 per cent of the land is vacant or derelict, so a lot of brownfield land is available to be used. Given that, does the local authority lack inte...

Arthur Bell:

I think that allotments are just not a sexy subject. No one has thought them important. They have slipped away since the end of world war two.

Mr Gibson: SNP

Dig for victory and all that.

Arthur Bell:

For example, there was a need for food for Britain and people had to grow their own. Since then, allotments have slipped away, and that is a matter of neglec...

Mr Gibson: SNP

Indeed. Would you intend the Food Trust Scotland to have tripartite discussions with COSLA and Scottish Enterprise on trying to obtain land for the purposes ...

Arthur Bell:

I would have thought it a good idea to consider some pilot schemes in deprived areas, to find out what can be done. We have expertise on the dietary side and...

Mr Michael McMahon (Hamilton North and Bellshill) (Lab): Lab

My question is not dissimilar to Kenny Gibson's question about prioritising and making allotments accessible to people who might otherwise not have the oppor...

Arthur Bell:

I do not think that there will be enormous demand from disabled people, but there will be some demand, which will not be satisfied. We could use some of the ...

Mr McMahon: Lab

I wonder whether your comment suggests a conscripted force going out to work on allotments. Would not that defeat the purpose? Is not that a bit of a chicken...

Arthur Bell:

We know that the demand is twice the supply in Edinburgh. In other areas, there are no allotments, so no one has any idea whether there is any demand. It is ...

Dr Cuthbert:

The Executive has placed priority on health. Scotland's diet action plan identified a need to double per capita fruit and vegetable consumption within 10 yea...

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): SNP

I apologise for being late and not having heard your full presentation, particularly if you have already covered the point about which I wish to ask. Are all...

Dr Cuthbert:

Relatively speaking, there is no great pressure on allotments in Scotland. The situation is quite different from that in England. The total base of 4,500 to ...

Mr Paterson: SNP

My father had a plot when I was fairly young and our family used it to supplement our food supply. We even had exotic things such as rhubarb, which I do not ...

Arthur Bell:

People use their plots to supplement their vegetable intake, and indeed many use them as their principal source of vegetables. People probably grow more vege...

Mr Paterson: SNP

I am fairly interested in education. About a year ago I heard a child say that they thought that apples were produced by Cadbury's. I take it that you are lo...