There has been little centrally funded promotion of allotment facilities in Cambridge City since 'Dig for Victory' (1939). This campaign will redress some of that. It is an initiative coinciding with a widespread modern revival of interest in allotment gardening. It will build on the work of the city's allotment societies with a high profile, professional quality campaign.

Allotments could almost have been designed to fulfil all five of the Sustainable City objectives!

1. Social Equity: enables poorer people to have a healthy hobby and supplement diet with high quality, fresh produce (organic if they choose). Very low cost of plot rental (typically around £15/year) means allotments are affordable for most people.
2. Participation: Allotment societies are groups with a political as well as social function. The fast growing Cambridge Allotments Network (includes tenants without a local allotment society) is building links between plot holders across the City and beyond.
3. Built Environment: modern, affordable housing features small gardens, if any. Allotments offer sizeable gardens for residents.
4. Environmental Quality: The open spaces of allotment sites (100 acres in Cambridge) make a valuable contribution to a green urban environment. Sites are highly bio-diverse already and with organic methods increasingly popular this should improve further. This will be formally supported by inclusion of the City's allotment sites in the Habitat Action Plan for the county's urban areas.
5. Natural Resources: Produce grown on the City's allotments is the most local food supply possible. Thus it helps reduce 'food miles'. Allotment holders are enthusiastic recyclers: already large scale composting is happening and there is scope for further composting initiatives. Hazel coppicing on allotments (e.g. Histon Road site) is an example of efficient land use which benefits plot holders directly (poles used instead of imported canes).

Increasing take-up of allotments in the City will support these objectives by getting more people using this wonderful green facility. This will in turn reduce the likelihood of permanent loss of allotments for building land.

The campaign will be fronted by Cambridge Allotments Network (CAN), which is the public face of Cambridge Central Council of Allotment Societies (CCCAS). Promotional materials funded by this application should carry the logo of CAN as well as Cambridge City Council (CCC) and Sustainable City. Other acronyms in this document refer to: Cambridgeshire Interpreting and Translation Agency (CINTRA); National Society of Allotment and Leisure Gardeners (NSALG); Cambridge Newspapers Ltd (CNL); Henry Doubleday Research Association (HDRA, the leading promoter of organic gardening).

1. Promote allotments in and around Cambridge
2. Publicise benefits of doing a plot
3. Publicise availability of plots locally and multilingually
4. Support plot holders, help them to keep a plot on once started.
5. Improve communication between plot holders
6. Improve image of allotment gardens.
7. Maintain and improve the environment within allotment sites, encouraging bio-diversity and organic methods.
8. Encourage imaginative, appropriate use of difficult land within a site
9. Target 5% overall vacancy.

CAN want to work towards these objectives with the specific projects below. We aim to reach potential new plot holders, especially in the areas around sites with vacancies (because such tenancies are the most sustainable), and especially those who do not read existing promotional material because it is only in English. An informative booklet will support new plot holders, while communications on site will also be improved. Stalls at fairs and the farmers market, and static displays at e.g. the library, will spread the messages of plot-availability and the joys of allotment gardening. A revival of the traditional Best Plot competition will encourage high standards and certainly appeal to older plot holders who recall the competition from decades ago. More details are on the following pages.

In terms of public perception, Cambridge Allotments 2000 runs from spring 2000 to autumn 2002 (three full growing seasons).

However the project has effectively started already, with the Farmers Market stall and promotional material produced by several of the local allotment societies. We aim to have uncultivated plots ploughed in autumn 1999, in preparation for the main thrust, with professional quality leaflets and booklet, in Spring 2000. The paper resources funded by this application last up to three years, and we've a target for vacancy rates at the end of the period stated. Items such as the display boards, notice board and site signs have a tangible lasting value, while the momentum and energy of the campaign will hopefully inspire allotment holders to continue using them.

P.T.O.