I am dubious about the background to this petition, lets leave that at that.
However I do regard my allotment as a little more than just a hobby, it is something that is good for my mental, physical, and spiritual health.
Whether it is good for my financial health is at the moment debatable as I am still investing in infrastructure, but it has certainly cut down on my food bills in the most productive months, and this year I shall get better at preserving and storage.
Some years ago I suffered from depression, the causes of that were complex, but I had a deep abiding feeling that there was nothing in the future for me and I did not wish to live to see it. An allotment however gives me something to live for no matter how bad things seem as it is something you have to plan out for the future and I do. This is the beginning of my third year, and for the first year it was mostly clearing it, as it had not been maintained for some time. I am now on the allotment committee and we manage the land not the Council, so long as the Council renews the lease when it is due all is fine. If there were rumours that someone was eying the land for building we would have heard. I consider allotments to be a vital part of the community and culture, especially for people who do not have access to a garden of there own, as I live in flat. It could perhaps be argued that rents are too cheap because there are too many people who start an allotment but then lose interest or fail to maintain it for one reason or another, not having realised what a responsibility it is. They are bad for the community because they prevent people who are really keen from getting further up the waiting list. Our rent however is set by the committee, not to make a profit but at a rate that enables us to keep on doing the essential work that most allotment holders are unaware of.