Sarah Champion MP marks National Allotments Week 2025 by pushing for a change in law

Sarah Champion, Member of Parliament for Rotherham, is pushing for the provision of more allotment and community garden land as part of National Allotments Week 2025 (11th August – 17th August).

This follows her political campaign with Rotherham constituent and Chair of the National Allotment Society, Mike Farrell, to ensure allotments and community-gardens were prioritised in the Government’s Planning Bill. [1, 2]

They sought to amend legislation to ensure that planning authorities had to include their policies in relation to the provision of allotment and community garden land in spatial development strategies.

The political campaign has now moved to the House of Lords, and a group of Peers are taking up Champion’s amendment, to fight for allotments to have their place in national Planning policy. [3] Soon, the amendment will be debated again, and there will be an opportunity for it to be pushed to a vote.

Champion’s work on this issue has garnered broad support from horticulturalists, with backing from the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), Horticultural Trades Association (HTA), National Allotment Society (NAS) and members of the National Community Garden Network (NCGN).

Commenting Champion said:

As part of National Allotments Week, I am pushing for the prioritisation of small-scale green spaces in national policy. In the midst of a biodiversity crisis, over 150,000 are on allotment waiting lists, and 8 million people without access to a garden. People want more space to grow, and this could be our secret weapon to climate change. I hope the Government listens to their asks.

ENDS.

Notes to editors:

[1] Sarah Champion MP on Allotments and Community Gardens | 9 June 2025 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=My74fU_bm2E

[2] Rotherham Advertiser ‘Allotments thrust into the Government spotlight’ | 14 April 2025 https://www.rotherhamadvertiser.co.uk/news/people/allotments-thrust-into-the-government-spotlight-5082898

[3] Amendment to the Planning Bill by Baroness Bennet, drawn from Champion’s amendment in the Commons https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3946/stages/20044/amendments/10024709

 To get involved with National Allotments Week, visit the National Allotment Society Website, where you can participate in competitions and attend events: https://thenas.org.uk/national-allotments-week