Allotments Act 2015

A bill to encourage allotments and make them more affordable.

BE IT ENACTED by The Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Commons in this present Parliament assembled, in accordance with the provisions of the Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949, and by the authority of the same, as follows:-

1: Definitions

(1) For the purposes of this Bill, an allotment garden is defined as in Section (1) of the Allotments Act, 1922

(2) For the purposes of this Bill, gardening equipment is defined as plant containers, trellises, and other gardening tools such as forks, shovels and hoes.

2: Maximum Prices

(1) The cost of an allotment garden is not to exceed £15 / 25m² p/a (in accordance with local land prices).

(2) The cost of an allotment garden is not to exceed £10 / 25m² p/a (in accordance with local land prices) if it is for the sole use of senior citizens, registered disabled people, or households eligible for welfare benefits.

3: Education

(1) Free day long programs about allotments will be available in local community centres.

(2) These programs must cover —

(a) The benefits of allotments

(b) How to grow healthy plants

(c) Where to purchase seeds and gardening equipment

(d) Where local allotments are located

(e) How to rent allotments

(3) Leaflets will also be made available at the local community centres for those who cannot attend the programs.

4: New Developments

(1) New housing developments of over 10,000m² must set aside at least 5% of the development’s arable land.

(2) Land set aside in this way may be purchased by local councils at a cost of between £10/m² and £15/m² (in accordance with local land prices) and must be used for the creation of allotment gardens.

(3) By one year after this Act is passed, at least 1,250,000m² of allotment gardens should have been created or purchased in addition to the currently existing allotment gardens.

(a) Each individual local council should have created or purchased at least 2,500m² of allotment gardens, or have completely cleared their waiting list for allotment gardens, or they shall be subject to fines of up to £10,000.

5: Equipment

(1) Local councils will be given money to purchase seeds and gardening equipment.

(2) Local councils will sell seeds and gardening equipment through local community centres if those community centres are further than 5 miles from the nearest gardening centre. The prices will match those of gardening centres.

6: Costing

(1) This bill is expected to cost £20,000,000 in total —

(a) £1,000,000 will be set apart to subsidise Section (2).

(b) £1,250,000 will be set apart to subsidise Section (3).

(c) £15,250,000 will be set apart to subsidise Section (4).

(d) £2,500,000 will be set apart to subsidise Section (5).

7: Commencement, Short Title and Extent

(1) This Act may be cited as the Allotments Act 2015.

(2) This Act shall extend to the United Kingdom; and

(3) Shall come into force when it is passed.

This bill was submitted by /u/britboy3456 on behalf of the Crown National Party.

The voting period for this bill will end on April 29th, 8PM BST.

Vote Aye, Nay or Abstain. Comments with anything else will be deleted. Comments that are edited will be void and not counted.

If a member is voting by proxy, they must have gained permission from the speaker prior to this vote. If no permission was sought and granted, their vote will not be counted.