Another weekend, another protest on the streets of Bristol. Hmm. What was this one for? Gaza? Thousands of Bristolians having to rely on food banks? The impossibility of getting a GP appointment? Er, no. allotment rents are going up. Literally dozens of people marched from Castle Green to College Green to protest at the council’s decision, some bringing their goats with them. Christ on a bicycle.
First, some facts. According to the failing Bristol Post (so this may be wrong) the cost of a medium-size plot with water will increase from £70 to £113 next year, and then £156 in 2026. These prices haven’t increased since 2018 and while these rises are quite steep, the allotment services are heavily subsidised by the council taxpayer and still will be even with the increases. Allotment holders are still mad and say that “Bristol City Council they can stuff their excessive rent rises up their asparagus.” I’ll ask: then what?
The main reason councils have no money is because central government – you know, the Conservative government elected in 2010 – has slashed council funding to the bone. Public services are in rack and ruin and, short of jacking up council tax for everyone in the city, what is the council supposed to do? Force those who don’t and can’t have allotments to subsidise those who do?
The sheer brass neck of local Tories who say they have “persuaded” the ruling Labour group to cancel increases in allotment charges beggars belief. Unless they are completely stupid – and that’s entirely possible, to be fair – or just plain opportunistic and cynical, they’re playing games. They must know that a) the council massively subsidises allotments and b) the main reason the council is skint is because of their party’s actions nationally.
I am sure these allotmenteers, as they are apparently known, mean well and are thoroughly decent people who think they are all paying enough for allotments. And being asked to pay around £3 a week, instead of the current £1.30, must put a considerable strain on their finances. That’s almost half a pint of beer in a city centre pub. My heart bleeds for them. Except, of course, it doesn’t. Here’s why.
Jeremy Hunt, the chancer of the exchequer, explains that his aim is to cut taxes for people and cut public expenditure. Let me explain to the hard of thinking what this actually means. We use public money to pay for things we need. Things like hospitals, schools, fixing pot holes in the road, that kind of thing. If we cut public spending, as the Tories have been doing since 2010, there is less money to pay for public services. That is why the NHS is in crisis, why schools are falling to pieces and why there are craters as well as pot holes on our roads. And if councils are given less money from central government – well, surely you have worked it out for yourselves by now?
I like the idea of allotments. In an ideal world, everyone who wants one should have one. I like the idea of public spending too, which helps enable the existence and maintenance of, say, allotments, but if people keep voting for political parties which want to slash public spending this is the inevitable outcome.
I suppose that when allotment holders, that most middle class of groups, spring into action when their little world is threatened, there is hope that perhaps more of us will conclude that a better world is possible.
It’s up to all of us, really, if we want change. If we want cheaper allotment prices, GP appointments when we want them, an end to food poverty, fewer pot holes, that kind of thing, it will require more than marching across Bristol in fancy dress, along with a couple of goats.
It all comes down to the kind of country we want and if you want to make it better, you know what to do.
