Dear Sir or Madam,

Regarding allotments owned or operated by Islington Council:

1) Please could you provide me with data for each of the past 10
years for the following:

a. Total number of allotment plots

b. Number of people on allotment waiting list

c. Number of people joining allotment waiting list

d. Number of people removed from waiting list

e. Number of plots becoming free that year

f. Advertised waiting list time that year

2) How many new allotment sites / plots have been created as a
result of S106 agreements?

3) How many new allotment sites / plots are currently planned, and
what is their current status?

4) The Islington Council website does not currently list where the
current sites are - please could you provide a list of allotment
addresses and number of plots at each?

5) How frequently are plots checked for usage & therefore freed up
for people on the waiting list?

Thanking you in advance,

Yours faithfully,

Alex Skene

Dear Mr Skene

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 - INFORMATION REQUEST REF: 173367

I acknowledge your request for information received on 18th March 2008.

Your request is being considered and you will receive the information
requested within the statutory timescale of 20 working days as defined
by the Freedom of Information Act 2000, subject to the information not
being exempt or containing a reference to a third party.

For your information, the Act defines a number of exemptions, which may
prevent release of the information you have requested. There will be an
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If the information you request contains reference to a third party then
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There may be a fee payable for this information. This will be
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The 20 working day time limit for responses is suspended until receipt
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The due date for a response is 17th April 2008.

Kind regards

Kit Good
Information Governance Manager
Strategic Customer Services
London Borough of Islington
Room B12, Town Hall, Upper Street, N1 2UD
Tel: 020 7527 1789
[mobile number]
Alternative contact: Amy Harms 020 7527 1788

www.islington.gov.uk

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Dear Mr Skeen
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 - INFORMATION REQUEST REF No: 173367
Your request for information has now been considered and the information requested is enclosed.
If you have any further queries or concerns then please contact the Chief Information Officer at Islington Town Hall, Upper Street, London, N1 2UD or email: [Islington Borough Council request email] <mailto:[Islington Borough Council request email]>
Regarding allotments owned or operated by Islington Council:
1) Please could you provide me with data for each of the past 10 years for the following:
Not all the information is available for the last 10 years, we maintain a spread sheet to store the information which is updated as and when necessary.
a. Total number of allotment plots
1997 - 2005 we had 15 plots, 2005 - 2007 we had 30 council managed plots.
There are additional plots on council land but managed by local groups as community gardens this includes the waiting list. These are Arvon Rd with 30 plots, Culpeper Gdns with an unknown number of plots, Sunnyside Gardens with an unknown number of plots (if required I can contact both sites to find out, but neither is more than 15 plots each) and King Henrys Walk with 70 plots which opened this year.
The following information relates only to council managed plots.
b. Number of people on allotment waiting list
We have 345 people on our waiting list as of 31/3/08.
c. Number of people joining allotment waiting list
Unable to answer this question as we do not keep such data
d. Number of people removed from waiting list
We only remove people from the list if they inform us they no longer wish to be on the list, or we contact them because a plot has become available and they are no longer interested or have moved. At the start of last year we contacted everyone on our list asking if the still wished to remain on it. This led to a reduction in the numbers on the list but we do not have details of how many.
e. Number of plots becoming free that year
Varies, at a rough estimate no more than two, because we have increased the provision of plots by 100% in 2005 we are getting this higher turn over of 2 per year due to people taking on plots then realising that it is not for them.
f. Advertised waiting list time that year
We do not advertise a waiting list time as it is impossible for us to accurately predict what a wait would be.
2) How many new allotment sites / plots have been created as a result of S106 agreements?
None as far as the information we have.
3) How many new allotment sites / plots are currently planned, and what is their current status?
None are planned, although we are in discussion with Homes for Islington about the possibility for using housing land for allotments.
4) The Islington Council website does not currently list where the current sites are - please could you provide a list of allotment addresses and number of plots at each?
Quill Street 15 plots, Monsell Rd 6 plots and Evershot St 9 plots.
5) How frequently are plots checked for usage & therefore freed up for people on the waiting list?
Minimum of once per year.

Mark Rowe
Horticultural Projects Manager
Islington Council
Environment & Regeneration Department
Public Realm Division
222 Upper Street
London, N1 1YA

Tel: 020 7527 7260
Fax: 020 7527 4971
Alternative contact: Support Services 020 7527 4953

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