Allotment grower appeals for more communal spaces

Reviving unused greenhouses for communal allotment spaces is being promoted by current plot holders and politicians.

Deputy Sasha Kazantseva-Miller expressed interest in the revival in recent States meetings, with fellow deputies Andy Taylor and Lindsay De Sausmarez reportedly expressing interest too.

‘Guernsey now has no major commercial food production,’ said allotment holder Sarah Breton.

Laws prevent horticulture from flourishing, she said.

‘At the moment if a greenhouse falls into disrepair it returns to agricultural use. There are 200 odd vineries unused at the moment.’

Community allotment spaces exist but few are left, particularly in the north.

There are long waiting lists for those which are available, she said.

‘In the northern allotments, people used to go down on their push bikes, with office workers coming on their lunch, or families coming down together. Now there is nothing like that.’

Ms Breton had used an allotment space for 14 years to grow a wide selection of mature trees, fruit and flowers.

Years of dedication was uprooted when the site owner indicated a need to use it, with much of it lost.

‘With the diversification growing hemp, the greenhouse owner decided to switch. All 17 of us who used the site had to move out.’

Unofficial notice first came in January.

‘I said we need to know sooner rather than later, and in March we had formal notification to leave by the end of December. I said all along I would stay until the last moment, as all my fruit were in season.’

Moving thousands of plants and well-rooted trees would take time, and at that point the election looked to be postponed until 2021 before it was scheduled for October.

‘On election day we were told sorry, the doors are getting locked on 15 November. The majority of people had been there for years, so it was a case of getting as much out as we possibly could. I had countless thousands of plants there, and salvaged a couple of hundred.

People are willing and able to get things started up again. She is now at the Edible Guernsey site in St Peter's.

‘We’re getting lots planted. All things perennial are going in. We’re a right community down here. We swap and share seeds and help each other.’

Greenhouse owners and anyone with areas for indoor, outdoor or communal growing are asked to consider setting up an allotment scheme.

‘Everyone does their bit. By putting in a bit of time you get part of the crop for payment, and it can fit in with your work or life schedule.’

Politicians are asked to promote sustainable growing in Guernsey, to offer fresh produce, improve food security, reduce carbon footprint, and increase hedge veg and market offerings.

‘If you are supporting diversification then please consider making Guernsey less reliant on everybody else for food sources.’