Allotments: Council Provision

Debate between Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth and Lord Elton

Monday 6th March 2017 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth]

My Lords, it is like a round of Mornington Crescent with the noble Lord—he always succeeds in bringing that in. Of course I agree about the importance of allotments, not just for healthier lifestyles, but for ensuring that we have appropriate food supplies in the country.

[Lord Elton (Con)]

My Lords, massive numbers of houses are now planned for the future. In the literature on them I have seen no reference to the provision of allotments for new housing. That will be appended to many small communities that have plenty of provision, but there is nothing on the map to show what will be added to that provision when the new houses are built.

[Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth]

My Lords, I am sure my noble friend will take comfort from the fact that thanks to neighbourhood planning, which owes its root to the Localism Act 2012, many areas are bringing forward plans for neighbourhood allotments—Thame, Exeter, Norwich and Haywards Heath, to give just some examples.

Yarl’s Wood Immigration Removal Centre

Debate between Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth and Lord Elton

Tuesday 3rd March 2015 Lords Chamber

[Lord Elton]

My Lords—

[Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth]

We have heard from the Liberal Democrats, it is for the Conservatives next.

[Lord Elton]

My Lords, it has happened more than once in this and related fields that a monitoring body reports all is well, and shortly afterwards it is revealed that all is very far from well. Is it not an occasion for a rigorous examination and consideration of the methods used by the monitoring body itself? How often is that done?