Council urged to create more allotments as demand on Wearside soars

A green-fingered councillor in Sunderland is urging the Council to massively increase the number of allotments in the city in a bid to boost mental health.

Keen gardener and Liberal Democrat councillor for Grindon and Thorney Close Margaret Crosby has started a petition calling for the creation of hundreds of new allotments across Sunderland, Washington and Houghton.

It comes as the City Council has been inundated with record levels of requests for new allotments.

Some city allotment sites have also disappeared in recent years, like those at Deptford that were removed to make way for the new dual carriageway between the Northern Spire bridge and the city centre.

Speaking about the campaign Councillor Margaret Crosby said:

"It's no surprise that with lockdowns and more people working from home the numbers of people wanting to have access to an allotment has gone through the roof.

"People are already waiting years for a plot and this is only going to get worse with this increased demand. That's why I am calling on the Council to use land available across the city to quickly create new allotments for residents and to protect existing ones for future generations.

"Not only would this help by providing people with a way to grow healthy local produce with no carbon footprint, but working an allotment is great exercise, gets people out the house and is a boost for people's mental health and wellbeing.

"I hope Sunderland City Council will listen to the huge demand for more allotments for residents and commit to creating more plots in all our communities as quickly as possible so people don't have to wait years to rent one."

Residents are encouraged to sign our petition for more allotments here: wearsidelibdems.org.uk/en/petition/create-more-allotments-in-sunderland