Our #DemandForLand campaign has been running throughout the summer - there have been so many ways you can get involved and there's plenty more still on offer, including our Show What You Grow competition.

The campaign is all about raising awareness of the need for more land for producing food in Glasgow. So, in order to prove that we do need more land, we've pulled together a list of facts which illustrate the current 'lie of the land', if you will.

Allotments:

👉 There are 32 allotments in Glasgow, totalling 80 acres - roughly the size of Kelvingrove Park. 

👉 Half are managed by Glasgow City Council and the other half are managed by individual allotment associations. 

👉 According to GCC’s Food Growing Strategy (2020-2025) - the council must hold a list of individuals waiting on an allotment, with the number of people on the waiting list no more than half the number of Council allotments available, and no-one should be on a waiting list for more than five years. 

👉 Despite these targets, many allotments are still have waiting lists of over five years, along with individuals from our survey reporting being on lists for multiple allotments, and someone on a waiting list for as long as 11 years and counting.

Market Gardens and Community Gardens: 

👉 There are at least 60 community gardens and community run wild spaces across Glasgow (with many more in the process of being developed), covering at least 17 acres of space (roughly ten full size football pitches), from old tenement blocks, disused gardens, former industrial sites.

👉 Furthermore there are four working market gardens across Glasgow (Locavore Bellahouston, Locavore/Tenement Veg at Queens Park Recs, Wash House Garden, Pollok House Veg Garden) and one food forest in the east end, covering nearly seven acres (roughly four full size football pitches) of space for vegetable and fruit growing.

Vacant and Derelict Land

👉 The most recent report (2021) into vacant and derelict land in Glasgow shows there are 880 hectares of land left derelict or vacant in the city, equivalent to around 550 full size football pitches, with a total of 515 sites across the city!

👉 Much of the derelict land is on sites previously used for manufacturing, transport and industry.

👉 However some land are green or brown sites that have been left to overgrow, including a 25 hectare site, previously agricultural land at Robroyston Oval, a 5.5 hectare site on former football pitches in Dawsholm Park in the West, and a 3.1 hectare site by the Riverside Museum on the Clyde (perfect for allotments and community gardens!)

If you'd like to have your say on how this land should be activated, you can complete our Demand For Land survey or email us at [email protected] with 'Demand For Land' in in the subject line.