Greater Manchester town where gardeners face NINE YEAR wait for allotment opens first new plots in 50 years

The new allotment is almost one and half times the size of Trafalgar Square and has room for 140 plots

The UK saw an allotment boom during the pandemic, as thousands of people signed up for their own gardening plot. And with the cost-of-living crisis making growing your own food an attractive and affordable option, the trend is not showing any signs of slowing down soon.

In Rochdale space is so hard to come by it can take up to nine years to get an allotment and there's more than 1,500 people on the waiting list. But the first new first new allotment in 50 years has opened there as part of a bid to double the number of plots in the borough.

Spanning a sizeable 15,000 square metres - around one and a half times the size of Trafalgar Square - the allotment has opened at Great Howarth near Wardle. It's the first in Rochdale since the 1970s and the biggest.

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Disused grazing land has been landscaped to hold around 140 plots, with the first 100 released as part of the council’s £240,000 commitment to increase the number of allotments from 500 to 1,000.

Coun Liam O’Rourke, the council’s cabinet member for climate change and environment, said: "These new allotments will allow us to speed up the allocation of sites, which we understand is often frustrating to our residents who have been on the waiting list for a long time. Being the largest site in the borough, we expect the site to be popular as we know allotments have always been a great way to get people outdoors, which boosts moods, encourages fruit and vegetable growth, and saves money along the way.

"It has been a long time coming, but what a way to make an impact, which can only benefit the land and our residents."

The next door Great Howarth school has been given two plots and pupils and staff will also be helping to plant and grow 240 trees over winter. Under the plans to create more allotment space, larger plots that are given up by gardeners will be split up into smaller holdings, while unused space on existing allotments will also be converted into plots.

The council says it will also take a 'more proactive approach' in dealing with gardeners who aren't looking after their plots.