Blyth Valley growers face long wait for allotments

They made 351 Freedom of Information requests to councils and unitary authorities in England between December 2008 and March 2009. And it pinpointed Sunderland, which has 4,000 allotments, for top place with a waiting list of 2,251 people.

But the authority said it was one of the biggest allotment-providers in the country and said it was working hard to bring old allotments back in to use to reduce waiting lists.

North Tyneside, which has 1,781 plots, had a waiting list of 1,714 people and Blyth Valley, with 577 plots, had a waiting list of 1,691.

The survey showed, on average, for every 100 council-managed plots in England there are 49 people on waiting lists. NSALG says this represents a significant rise in waiting list numbers. In the last major study, conducted in 1996, the figure was only four.

Dave Clough, secretary of Blyth Allotment Association, said: "This is more or less right. We need more allotments in Blyth and it's a matter that's not going to be resolved easily.''

Allotments have increased in popularity as consumers seek to save money during the recession by growing their own food. Many have also been inspired by celebrity chefs such as Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Jamie Oliver, who have championed home-grown produce.

Northumberland Council said the statistics did not give an "accurate reflection" and its figures showed just 530 on the waiting list in Blyth Valley.

While North Tyneside said it had a new policy under consideration which would govern allotments for the next six years.

Peter High, head of environmental services at Sunderland City Council said: "With the current popularity of allotments we are doing what we can to bring vacant plots back into use as quickly as possible to reduce waiting lists.

"Some of our tenants have held their allotments for 30 years or more, which means that plots don't become vacant that often. Applicants may have their names on lists for several allotment sites, as we haven't, as yet, applied restrictions and this may be exaggerating waiting list numbers.''

A spokeswoman for Northumberland County Council said: "Holding an allotment is extremely popular within our communities and over several years there has been investment in upgrading them, along with encouragement and promotion for residents to become allotment holders, so we are not surprised that there is a good level of interest from people wishing to become tenants."