'We demand allotments': huge living artwork 'guerrilla planted' at old Tesco site as 170,000 languish on waitlists

An allotment-sized living artwork has been "guerrilla-planted" at a disused Tesco site just north of Liverpool, as figures reveal there are more than 170,000 Britons languishing on council waitlists for their own food-growing space.

The artwork, called The Waiting List, comes on the back of new data collected by Greenpeace UK via the Freedom of Information Act, after the group sent requests on the number of applicants waiting for allotments to all councils in England, Wales and Scotland. In a statement, they there were 174,183 applications on waiting lists, with the longest recorded waiting time for a spot being 15 years - although the average wait was three.

Writer JC Niala, who has a doctorate in urban gardening from the University of Oxford, created the piece alongside fellow artists Julia Utreras and Sam Skinner. The 200-square-metre artwork is the size of a traditional allotment designed to feed a family of four, and is made from seed paper embedded with ash from the Amazon rainforest - which the artists say is in protest of the UK importing environmentally-destructive soy products from the region.

"Far too many people across the country are being held back from growing their own food because land like this is being monopolised by food giants like Tesco," Dr Niala said. “The artwork’s size may seem huge but you can see how many more allotments this relatively small piece of industrial land could hold - and each one would enable a family of four to feed themselves."

She said that if all of the allotment requests on local authority waiting lists were granted, they could collectively feed cities the size of Nottingham and Leicester combined. “Everyone has the legal right to request an allotment and councils are legally obliged to provide a sufficient number. They quite literally provide a lifeline for some."

Allotments brought "good local food" back to people, she said. "They improve people’s mental health and wellbeing by creating a sense of purpose and increasing opportunities to connect with others as well as spend time in nature."

Dr Niala said a little-known fact was that if six people from different households applied for an allotment together, their council had an obligation under the 1908 allotment act to find them a space. NationalWorld has approached Tesco for comment.

Earlier this week, a section of the artwork was carried to the Department of Levelling Up, along with a letter to Secretary of State Michael Gove urging the government to enable people to exercise their rights to allotments "as part of the solution to food insecurity, the cost of living crisis and the climate and nature emergency".

Greenpeace UK forests campaigner Daniela Montalto said the size of the allotment waiting lists demonstrated a huge desire from people to be part of the climate and food growing solution. "But without access to land, the many benefits of community food growing are being stifled," she said.

"The government must support councils to act as well as take seriously its own role in creating systemic and lasting change to the food system. Crucial steps include proper support for farmers to transition to climate, people and nature-friendly farming, as well as measures to reduce our climate footprint abroad including a ban on imports of soya and other agricultural commodities that drive deforestation in places like Brazil."

A Department of Levelling Up spokesperson told NationalWorld that allotments were managed by councils. However, they added: "we expect them to do everything they can to reduce waiting lists so as many people as possible can benefit".