Bit on Radio4 today about that chap in Cheltenham - fast forward 18 minutes in.
The question was 'should councils be telling us more strictly what to grow on our allotments now that waiting lists are so long'.
It's an important question and it does nothing to inform the debate by linking it to situation in Cheltenham where the council have bent over backwards to accomodate a very poor allotment gardener - latest is that the council have allowed the chap to keep one of his plots.
It's a condition of the Allotments Act that a council allotments must be mainly used for growing fruit and veg, but councils are over-reaching themselves if they want allotmenteers to do more than that. And the very worst tyrany on an allotment is the busybody who tries to impose their standards on everyone else.
Councils who understand little of allotment culture think that sheds, ponds, patios, lawns, etc are now taking up space that should be intensively cultivated for fruit and veg, but that's very wrong. All of those things are central to allotment culture - not for everyone, but that's the point - allotments are a celebration of diversity.
