Liberal Democrat allotments plan comes to fruition

11.43.00am BST (GMT +0100) Thu 11th Jun 2009

Liberal Democrat councillors Ruth, Greg, and Terry at one of Highbury's allotments

Islington's leading councillors visited keen community gardeners at one of Highbury's allotments this week as plans to massively increase the number of allotments and vegetable patches in Islington started to come to fruition.

The council is promoting and funding food growing projects and new allotments to encourage residents to have a go at growing some of their own food. These range from turning an abandoned carpark in Holloway into 15 brand new allotments by the end of the year, to growbags which are already sprouting tomatoes at some of Islington's community centres.

The Council has also planted the seeds of more than 40 other projects, with vegetable patches on housing estates, in primary and secondary schools, and in parks and adventure playgrounds.

Councillor Ruth Polling, Islington's executive member for parks and leisure, commented:

"In a borough as densely-populated as Islington, where many people don't have their own gardens, breaking through tarmac to create new allotments is fantastic. Allotments are so valuable to residents and demand for them is so high.

"The experience of putting your hands in the soil, and growing your own vegetables, is so satisfying, particularly for people living in the middle of London. We want to open that opportunity to as many people as possible, so as well as creating allotment plots, we're also introducing vegetable patches at estates and schools.

"By this time next year people all over Islington will be watching their own plants grow."

Here are just some of the planned community growing projects:

Girdleston Estate

Quaker Court

Redbrick Estate

Stafford Crips Estate

Toffee Park adventure playground

Mayville Gardening Club

Tremlett Grove

Whittington Park Community Association

Newington Green

Hugh Myddleton Primary

St Aloyisius Secondary

St Mary's Primary

Ambler Primary

St Andrew's Primary

St Mark's Primary

Samuel Rhodes Primary

Grafton Primary

Robert Blair School

Hanley Crouch Community Centre