Assembly Members have unanimously welcomed the Mayor’s initiative to encourage Londoners to grow their own and enjoy food fresh from their gardens or allotments. To boost opportunities for Londoners to grow their own food, the London Assembly has urged the Mayor to revise his London Plan in order to protect existing open spaces from development and include space for food growing in new schemes.
James Cleverly AM, who proposed the motion, said:
"Growing your own food is good exercise and a great way of putting fresh fruit and veg on the table but it must be a matter of choice for busy Londoners. Where increasing numbers of Londoners want to get their green fingers to work we should do what we can to provide the opportunity to exercise that choice."
Jenny Jones AM, who proposed an amendment to the motion, said
"With allotment waiting lists stretching years ahead, the Mayor of London can help preserve green spaces and provide more growing plots. I hope this will result in food growing becoming a common sight in our urban spaces and will encourage more Londoners to grow their own food, especially those on low incomes who spend significantly more of their disposable income on food."
The amended motion in full reads as follows:
‘The London Assembly congratulates the Mayor on his initiative in encouraging Londoners to grow more of their own food. The Assembly welcomes the promotion of Londoners’ choices and responsibilities rather than imposing centralised government solutions.
‘The Assembly calls on the Mayor to examine how the London Plan could be revised to give stronger protection from development for open spaces used for food growing and greater support for the provision of new spaces for food growing especially in major regeneration schemes.’