A DECISION could finally be made this month on the cost of renting an allotment from Bristol City Council.
Rents have not gone up since 2018. Proposals earlier this year to increase them sharply and bring in new rules for plotholders were shelved after an outcry. Following the elections in May, a revised scheme went to the new public health and communities committee in August but a decision was deferred.
Further new plans are being drawn up and will go to the committee on October 11.
The council is also considering plans to create three new allotment sites to help meet demand.
Allotment holders have said they would prefer rents based on the area of their plots, but council staff said this would be too complicated to work out, with just one allotments officer currently employed.
For several years allotments have cost the council more money to operate than the total income made from rents, with the rest of the money coming from the general budget for the parks department. This means all council taxpayers in Bristol are subsidising just 4,200 tenants.
Many allotment holders agree the rents need to increase, but have criticised the proposals put forward so far, saying the planned increases appeared arbitrary and excessive.
Speaking to the committee in August, Ruth Hecht said: “If these increases are passed, many people will be forced to give up their plots, which will be taken on by new tenants who can afford the rents. Allotments will become places for the better off. Is that really what we want?”
The most common type of allotment in Bristol is between 75 and 149 square metres. The current rent for this size plot is £4.16 a month, and under the proposals that would have increased to £7.42 a month. The rents for allotment last changed in 2018, six years ago.
According to council staff, if rents were charged based on the size of plots, just under half of tenants would pay more than the current proposals. Allotment groups on larger plots could be adversely affected, and many of these groups provide crucial support for vulnerable people.
Following the August meeting, Redland Green councillor Fi Hance said: “Whilst I am glad that the decision has been deferred, we desperately need to find a stopgap solution for a fair rent rise in 2025/26 to avoid the collapse of the service. This will give us time to work with officers and allotment holders on a more permanent solution to reset rents in a more equitable way.”
• Sites for new allotments are being considered at Dovercourt Road and Cotman Walk in Lockleaze. These would be funded by £168,700 from the developers of Bonnington Walk.
Liberal Democrat Councillor Stephen Williams, chair of the public health and communities committee, said: “The investment responds to the growing demand from Bristol residents for space in which to grow their own food and help contribute to a healthier and more equitable food system. We know there’s plenty of demand out there for allotment spaces and there are over 7,000 people waiting for an allotment at the moment.”
By Alex Seabrook, Local Democracy Reporting Service