Agenda item

Council were requested to consider the recommendation of the Corporate and Partnerships Overview and Scrutiny Committee following consideration of a Notice of Motion which had been referred to it by Council at its meeting held on 15 May 2024.  The recommendations of the Committee were set out in the report of that Committee at page 40 of the agenda and were that:

       i.          The ‘Right to Grow’ Motion as written not be upheld due to the implications of the approach on council priorities and resources.

      ii.          Additional time be given to officers to develop a responsive approach to community grow within the context of current capacity and cross-cutting strategic priorities.

     iii.          Consideration for the provision of allotment land as part of new housing developments be a policy provision within the new Local Plan.

The original motion that was to be debated is as detailed below:

This Council notes:

·        Its own commitment to conserving biodiversity in order to help mitigate climate change by increasing capture and storage of carbon in ecosystems, and support adaptation to climate impacts.

·        That trees and green space in urban environments can help prevent floods, cool streets, sequester carbon emissions, filter air pollution, and provide an important habitat for insect and plant-life.

·        The increasing need to put the health and well-being of residents at the heart of our Council strategies.

·        The powerful evidence which demonstrates the link between people’s health and wellbeing and the availability of fresh locally produced food.

·        That the cost-of-living crisis is creating real hunger reinforcing the need for healthy fresh food at an affordable price.

·        That communities coming together to grow can radically reduce costs to NHS and social care budgets by reducing loneliness and providing healthy food.

·        That there is plenty of under-used publicly owned land which could be used for community food growing while also improving the public realm.

            This Council agrees:

·        Identify and produce a map of all Council owned land suitable for community cultivation that is publicly available at no cost to residents, and actively promoted across all wards.

·        Land should be considered suitable for cultivation for food or biodiversity unless containing proven hazards or unless development is due within 24 months.

·        Make this land available for cultivation by a simple license to community organisations at no cost.

·        Ensure the license does not contain conditions that present a significant barrier to residents in terms of financial or practical requirements.

·        Ensure that where community groups cultivating on public realm land for food growing or wildlife spaces, the groups are given an opportunity to bid for the land should it be tendered to sale.

·        Allow the necessary infrastructure such as access to water and/or for water harvesting to enable sustainable cultivation for all.

·        Ensure that allotment provision adheres to the 1969 Thorpe Report which recommends a minimum provision equivalent to 15 plots per 1,000 households. In the 2011 census, 256,594 households were recorded in North Yorkshire.’

Proposer Cllr Hannah Gostlow

Seconder Cllr Steve Mason

The motion was moved by Councillor Hannah Gostlow and seconded by Councillor Steve Mason.

In moving the motion Councillor Hannah Gostlow proposed amendments to the original motion and the recommendations of the Corporate and Partnerships Overview and Scrutiny Committee as detailed below, and these amendments were seconded by Councillor Steve Mason.

Amendments to the original motion:

This Council agrees:

·        Identify and produce a map of all Council owned land suitable for community cultivation that is publicly available at no cost to residents, and actively promoted across all wards.

·        Work towards an approach where Council owned land suitable for community cultivation is proactively identified, mapped and made publicly available to communities, and in the meantime, where community groups come forward and have identified land, then in principle there would be no objection to assisting them.

·        Land should be considered suitable for cultivation for food or biodiversity unless containing proven hazards or unless development is due within 24 months.

·        Make this land available for cultivation by a simple license to community organisations at no cost.

·        Ensure the license does not contain conditions that present a significant barrier to residents in terms of financial or practical requirements.

·        Ensure that where community groups cultivating on public realm land for food growing or wildlife spaces, the groups are given an opportunity to bid for the land should it be tendered to sale.

·        Allow the necessary infrastructure such as access to water and/or for water harvesting to enable sustainable cultivation for all.

·        Ensure that allotment provision adheres to the 1969 Thorpe Report which recommends a minimum provision equivalent to 15 plots per 1,000 households. In the 2011 census, 256,594 households were recorded in North Yorkshire.’

·        Accept the 1969 Thorpe Report which recommends a minimum provision equivalent to 15 plots per 1,000 households, and ensure consideration for the provision of allotment land as part of new housing developments be a policy provision within the new Local Plan.

(Additional wording in italics)

Amendments to the recommendations of the Corporate and Partnerships Overview and Scrutiny Committee:

       i.          The ‘Right to Grow’ Motion as written is not upheld due to the significantly increased resource implications of the proposed approach on council resources.

      ii.          Instead, some priority time will be allocated to officers to develop a responsive approach to community grow schemes, within the context of current capacity and the council’s cross-cutting sustainable development goals.

     iii.          Consideration is to be given to the provision of allotment land, as an integral part of significant new housing developments within policy provision within the new Local Plan.

    iv.          Where community groups come forward and have identified council owned land, then pro-active assistance will be provided by officers to support these groups.

Councillor Andrew Williams, Chair of the Corporate and Partnerships Overview and Scrutiny Committee, moved the original recommendations of that Committee as an amendment and this was seconded by Councillor Gareth Dadd.

The amendment was then debated.

On a vote being taken on the amendment 42 Members voted for the amendment, 34 voted against and there was one abstention.

The recommendations of the Corporate and Partnership Committee were then voted on as the substantive motion and it was resolved that:

     i.    The ‘Right to Grow’ Motion as written not be upheld due to the implications of the approach on council priorities and resources.

    ii.     Additional time be given to officers to develop a responsive approach to community grow within the context of current capacity and cross-cutting strategic priorities.

  iii.     Consideration for the provision of allotment land as part of new housing developments be a policy provision within the new Local Plan.

(43 Members voted for the motion, 34 voted against and there were no abstentions)