'Massive demand' for allotments at Stourbridge site - including from people who protested when company took it over
A company which aims to get people growing again has reported 'massive demand' for allotments at a Stourbridge site – including from people who protested when they took it over.
Roots has taken over an empty field in Sugar Loaf Lane, Iverley and turned it into a new large scale allotment with a 'No Dig' ethos.
It sees a cardboard layer covered in compost put in to suppress weeds and plants on the surface, keeping the microbial allies in the soil alive.
Roots started in London during lockdown when three friends discovered long waiting lists for council-owned allotment patches up to 25 years and realised it was reflected across the country.
They came up with a plan to utilise an used meadow on farmland to create 'no dig' allotment patches and are now opening across the country, with demand for the sites outstripping supply.
At Sugar Loaf Lane they are releasing the allotments in batches of 15-per-cent of capacity, with the second ones released on Wednesday and the third a week later.
Concern was raised about hedgerows and habitat being destroyed to make access to the site, but Christian Samuels of Roots said these fears have now been allayed and the people who questioned the project are now fully on board.
He said: "Roots is very much pro-wildlife and no hedgerows were affected by work to create the entrance, only ferns, and there was previously an access point onto the lane which was used.
"The idea for the company came from being eco-sustainable and the fact waiting lists for traditional allotments has risen by 30-per-cent this year but six per-cent of them are being shut down.
" In there 1950s there were 1.5m allotments in the UK but many have been lost due to development and we will fight tooth and nail to try and avoid that.
"We are running projects with schools and other community facilities to visit our allotments and manage them, as well as lobbying the government to bring back education on growing your own food and sustainability to the school curriculum.
"Our ultimate aim is to get all people to grow their own food wherever possible and that is what was behind the start up of Roots which has proved a big success so far
"That is the same at the new site in Stourbridge where we have seen massive interest since we took the plots on and there is a big waiting list which is why we are releasing them in batches and hopefully this will provide an example for all people who want an allotment.
