Community gardens recognised in law for the first time!

Earlier today, community gardens were recognised in Irish law for the first time by the signing of the Planning and Development Bill by President Higgins. Allotments were already defined in law.

This is an important step as all local authorities will now have to consider both allotments and community gardens when it comes to a new Sustainable Places and Communities Strategy. We have long argued that some local authorities are excellent at providing these spaces, but others lag behind. More work is required on this, but we welcome the recognition of community gardens for the first time.

Community Gardens Ireland have been consistently pushing for more recognition for community gardens for years, and a few hours ago issued the below press release:

Community gardens recognised in law for the first time

Community Gardens Ireland welcome the inclusion of community gardens in Irish Law for the first time. The wording, which includes a definition of community gardens and a responsibility for local authorities to include allotments and community gardens in a new Sustainable Places and Communities Strategy, was included in the new Planning and Development Act which was signed by President Higgins on Thursday morning.

President Higgins had previously highlighted at Bord Bia Bloom in 2023 the need for more community gardens, how as a country Ireland needs to “enable people to share the opportunity to grow food” and the “huge public enthusiasm” for growing your own food.

Interest in community growing projects have increased dramatically in recent years yet Ireland currently provides one of the lowest number of allotments and community gardens in Europe. The most recent figures available from the Local Government Management Agency in 2020 showed that eight local authorities failed to provide any allotments or community gardens.

Community Gardens Ireland, a volunteer national organisation who support community growers across the country, welcome the timing of today’s announcement during National Allotments and Community Gardens Week. The week-long national event is taking place to raise awareness of allotments and community gardens, to highlight how important they are and to detail the huge benefits of community gardening for communities, individuals, and the environment.

Dónal McCormack, Co-Chairperson of Community Gardens Ireland said:

“The inclusion of a definition of community gardens is a good step forward for communities across Ireland. Community-led initiatives such as allotments and community gardens help as climate and biodiversity friendly actions, as detailed by groups such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.”

“The recognising of community gardens in today’s law has come about following years of discussions with government, presentations to Oireachtas Committees and meetings with Ministers. We wish to thank Minister Malcolm Noonan TD, Marc Ó Cathasaigh TD, Steven Matthews TD and all Oireachtas members for their help in getting this approved.”

“More work is still required to achieve more spaces for communities throughout Ireland. Countries such as Wales and Scotland issued guidance documents for their local authorities almost a decade ago. We are renewing our call for Minister Darragh O’Brien to release the guidance documents for local authorities on the provision of allotments and community gardens, which was agreed to be issued by the end of last year.”

Molly Garvey, Co-Chairperson of Community Gardens Ireland said:

“In recent days, Community Gardens Ireland issued a report on how allotments and community gardens contribute to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. It’s clear that these key community spaces are good for sustainability, communities and social cohesion.”

Community Gardens Ireland recently launched their GROW2030 manifesto which included a call for political parties to set a target for all communities to have a space to grow by the end of the decade.