Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:58 pm on 15 November 2022.
Well, Llywydd, I guess I ought to declare an interest in this question. I was on my own allotment on Sunday. If you're picking raspberries in the middle of November then you don't need anybody to tell you that climate change is not affecting us in every part of our lives.
I'm glad to hear what Mike Hedges said about the positive impact of the allotment support grant in Swansea. Across the whole of Wales, it's already in a small pilot and 18 months of the grant itself brought 760 new plots, or allowed plots that were in disuse to be renovated and brought back into use. I was especially interested to see that, in the Member's own constituency, at the Cwmgelli allotments in Treboeth, for example, the local authority plans to develop a set of starter plots, and I think that's a really useful and important way. I'm very used, in my own allotments, to seeing people who arrive with huge enthusiasm, who put an awful lot of work in over two or three weeks, and then simply find that they can't sustain the effort over the longer run. And starter plots that allow people to build up their interest and capacity I think are a very useful way in which the allotment support grant can be used.
And I think Swansea has also demonstrated that, as well as direct provision of extra plots, they're making their allotment stock more available to people by improving accessibility, security, recycling facilities on those plots. I recognise what Mike Hedges says, Llywydd: 16 of the local authority community allotment associations in Swansea all have waiting lists. So, our allotment support grant works alongside other initiatives, such as the Community Land Advisory Service, to look for other and new opportunities to increase the availability of land for those people who recognise both the direct benefits of growing food for your own consumption but also the wider health and social benefits that come with sustaining your own allotment.