Log of Responses to WG22211 Respondent Comments Q1 Do you agree with the goal of the Welsh Government for allotments and community grown food? Cheow-Lay Yes -This is a vital role, especially with the scientific research showing organic food has benefits for people. Wee Cyrenians Yes Allotments are about far more than growing food, and contribute in all kinds of ways to community Cymru cohesion. Capita Yes - I sit on the CLAS Cymru steering group and am actively assisting them with locating suitable sites for community growing, this is a voluntary role. I have suggested meeting with the NFU and YFCA to get their help with the engagement of the farming community. I also act for the Land Trust in Wales who are more involved in managing sites on behalf of communities. Cwmni Nod Ydw Glas Cyf. Owen Jenkins Yes A community garden can only enhance the well-being of an area. No negatives except for the possible eye-sore that can often happen with an abundance of garden sheds and the odd unkept patch. Gill Wislocka Yes Bleddyn Yes The question is How do you assess needs/demand .you cannot do it by looking at waiting lists. Williams Evidence presented at the previous 2010 exercise indicated that there is a massive latent demand. People do not apply to a waiting list for sites that are not accessible. Examine areas where there are sites within walking distance of all the population. Measure the demand there.it could be as much as 1 in 10 households. Assume then that this could be the latent demand/need in all communities and aim to provide for this. City and Yes We agree that community food sites must meet local needs more effectively. Greater participation from Log of Responses to WG22211 County of the local community, together with a more flexible attitude towards the short and long term use of land will Swansea allow landlords to facilitate community growing. The Housing Service is actively encouraging the use of communal land for food growing. We appreciate that traditional allotments can be inflexible and so, we are trying to be open to requests that seek to share a growing space. Isle of Yes Anglesey County Council Delegates to Yes Welsh Region of NSALG We already Self Manage 11 allotment sites for the Bridgend County Borough Council we cater for the minority groups ;- drug awareness groups, and Disabled groups, we would also welcome onto our sites any Community Gardeners and City Farm Groups if we had the land available our Allotments at the moment are all full with waiting lists. At the moment it's not a level playing field as all the funding seems to go for Community Gardens. Allotments are covered by legislation yet receive little or no funding in Wales. Sully Terrace Yes Allotments Association STAA believe that there is strong evidence of health, nutritional, economic, social and environmental benefits to individuals and groups of growing. Other benefits include improved community cohesion and biodiversity. STAA believe that people should have same opportunity to share these benefits regardless of where they live or of their capacity and capability Denbighshire Yes County Yes I agree with the goal that the Welsh Government is attempting to achieve, but the public need to be fully Log of Responses to WG22211 Council committed to the same goals Llandough N/A Community Council One Voice Yes In general, this is a worthy goal, and one that our sector would support. Wales Federation of Yes City Farms and The Federation of City Farm and Community Gardens (FCFCG) was established in 1980, and has operated Community with a staff team in Wales since 2005. Gardens FCFCG has a long association and interest in allotments and the interface between them and community gardens. In 2000 we were part of the LGA / DCLG’s task force which resulted in the publication of Growing in the Community, and we were subsequently involved in its revision in 2008. From 2002 – 2012 we project-managed the Allotments Regeneration Initiative in partnership with the National Society of Allotments and Leisure Gardeners (now known as the National Allotments Society) and their counterparts the Scottish Allotment Gardeners Society (SAGS). Our staff team have extensive knowledge of all aspects of community gardening and a deep commitment to allotments. The Community Land Advisory Service (CLAS) was established in Wales in 2013, and is part of FCFCG's service delivery across Wales. We are encouraged to see Welsh Government acting on the Wales Rural Observatory report on the barriers Log of Responses to WG22211 to community growing and supporting the Community Grown Food Action Plan (2010) placing high priority on the social, environmental, health and economic benefits of community grown food. The consultation document is thorough and detailed and presents a real opportunity to shape our communities for the better. We suggest the outcome of this consultation will be of interest to others involved in allotments and community gardening in other parts of the UK and beyond. Community Yes Food Co- operative No further comment Programme in Wales - Rural Regeneration Unit. Mick Antoniw I strongly agree. Community grown food supports the Welsh Government’s sustainability agenda. There are AM also clear well-being benefits from physical activity, opportunity for social-interaction and the presence of more 'green space' that allotments provide. In my view allotments increase social cohesion by providing opportunities for different generations to interact, offering educational opportunities and promoting inclusion by helping to integrate certain groups (e.g. disabled groups) into the community. Bridgend Yes County Allotment I agree that the Welsh Government should be looking at ways to provide more growing spaces for the people Association of Wales. Log of Responses to WG22211 Food Cardiff Yes Food Cardiff, as part of the Sustainable Food Cities movement, feels that it is vital to see growth in the This is an availability and accessibility of land for allotments and community growing. The FCFCG is a member of the endorsement Food Cardiff Council and we endorse its consultation response as below making the addition of the comment of the FCFCG under Question 15. response with the additional We are encouraged to see Welsh Government acting on the Wales Rural Observatory report on the barriers comments in to community growing and supporting the Community Grown Food Action Plan (2010) placing high priority on question 1 and the social, environmental, health and economic benefits of community grown food. The consultation 15 document is thorough and detailed and presents a real opportunity to shape our communities for the better. We suggest the outcome of this consultation will be of interest to others involved in allotments and community gardening in other parts of the UK and beyond. Joint response Yes from Brecon Beacons, Pembrokeshir e Coast and Snowdonia National Park Authorities. Growing Yes Green Teens Project Natural We agree strongly with the expressed desire of the Welsh Government to increase provision of Resources and opportunities for community food growing in Wales. As part of this initiative, it would be Wales useful to highlight and support opportunities for all scales of community food production – from Log of Responses to WG22211 local allotments to community supported agriculture and social enterprise development and supply chains – linking in with strategies across the Welsh Government. Links can also be made to promote greater understanding of food production, improved diets and nutrition and cooking with fresh produce. These are crucial issues for the Welsh Government’s tackling poverty agenda and improving quality of life. National Yes Botanic - Better awareness of what is available for the public Garden of - Good facilities are important e.g. access to water, parking, toilets Wales Gelligaer Yes Community Council Cornelly Yes Community Council The availability of land is limited, would it not be better to build new homes with gardens, to allow people to utilise them for growing purposes. National Yes Society of Allotment & The NAS welcomes this goal. However, we do question the phrasing, repeated throughout this consultation, Leisure of “allotments and community grown food”, which reflects outdated assumptions about what allotments are Gardeners about. Allotments are inherently a form of community food growing, though not one necessitating collective Limited cultivation, or with the problems of organization, commitment and accountability that collectivization entails. The demand for allotments has been outstripping demand in communities across Wales, and the goal reflects what is already legally required of local authorities. In the consultation document there are references to the “historical model” of a “traditional allotment”. Contemporary allotment gardening has moved on from the traditional model of alienated individuals under remote local authority management, to full devolution of management to democratically accountable allotment Log of Responses to WG22211 associations. Policy development is best served by a comparison of good practice in alternative models of food production, without reliance on a dated conception rooted in the 1970s at best. Penarth Town Yes Council FlintShare Yes We strongly support the goal and are pleased that community gardens are recognised as a distinct extension of the more traditional model of allotments as a means for people to produce their own food. However, community gardens are just one type of community supported agriculture (CSA), and other approaches do, in our view, merit inclusion in the overall government strategy because they offer other opportunities for communities to access healthy, locally produced products. For example, some CSA schemes employ a professional horticulturist to provide some or all of the labour. This can help the participation of members of the community who, for one reason or another are unable to contribute their labour. Other CSA schemes link a commercial market gardener with a committed client base in the locality.