£110 Lottie in a rich man's world

. Today we have the extraordinary situation that Brighton, the city with the only Green MP in Britain and with a Green council, is proposing to increase allotment rentals by 67%. It is being done clandestinely, without any consultation whatsoever with the 2800 tenants. Yet the Green manifesto stated it would protect and improve allotments.

The Allotment Federation received this news last week and decisions must be taken on Wednesday 25th January. Obviously there is no time for the Federation to consult the tenants. E-mail rumours suggest that this is deliberate, so that there can be no effective lobby. It is tokenistic, the e-mails suggest, so that the Allotment Federation can be blamed and the chances of a legal challenge are reduced. In January there are few allotment tenants gardening, but those I have spoken to are incredulous.

The allotment rental has increased from £35 in 2007-8 to £64 in 2010-11, which is already well above the national average; the current proposal is for an amazing £110 rental later this year. Already some elderly and single parent tenants are talking about giving up their allotments, as they are too expensive. Very neatly this would reduce the time on the waiting list for wealthier newcomers.

This 67% increase comes when there are major campaigns in Brighton for healthy eating and when the NHS wants to reduce its costs radically by spending money encouraging people to stay fit. The annual cost of all the allotments in Brighton is less than the cost of one GP, yet tenants (who are also council tax payers) are being told to pay the full cost. Allotment site reps are frustrated that more economic ways of running the allotment service are not being explored. There is the immense cost of water due to leakages in Victorian piping, while there have been no educational initiatives to conserve water. There are the allegedly 400 free lets and the high cost of waste removal is ridiculed.

The Council Officials are planning to charge all the staff costs to the allotment holders, as a way of reducing its own staff costs without losing staff. Indeed a new specialist allotment officer is being appointed in March and staffing is increasing for City Parks.

Allotment tenants are generally content to live and let live; they often come from lower income groups, have little financial power and are weak lobbyists. They are an easy target for disproportionate increases. A £10 rise might be accepted begrudgingly, but this clandestine move of a £44 ( 67%) increase demands wide consultation and wide discussion on what is a fair rental and what services needed protecting and improving. Tenants are seeing red…. not Green policies.

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