Growing pains Battle over the rise of private allotments

When police arrived at the field outside Bristol in October 2023, two old cars were blockading the gates.

- Alex Daniel

Protesters had used them to stop developers building on the slice of north Somerset greenbelt. The threat was not housing or industry, but a company building vegetable patches.

Roots creates privatised allotments to give city dwelling customers a place to grow food.

It was co-founded in 2021 by Christian Samuel, Ed Morrison and William Gay, who were frustrated by a 28-year waiting list for a plot in Streatham, south London. Samuel, 32, said: "We thought 'This is crazy'. Why don't we just build our own?" The idea was a success. Roots has 20 sites from London to Leeds, and nearly 5,000 customers. Last October the founders announced a £6m fundraiser. Backers included Terry Leahy, the former Tesco chief executive, and Mark Selby, the co-founder of Wahaca restaurants.

There are early plans for a site in Austin, Texas - Roots' first abroad.

The startup leases farmland and turns it into plots that it rents out on subscription. Prices range from £9.99 to £49.99 per month for a patch of up to 108 sq m. One adviser describes it as "WeWork for allotments", a fresh air and wellies version of the coworking office space trend.

The appeal is obvious. More than 170,000 people are thought to be on council allotment waiting lists. "For many people it is not about growing the food, it's the mental health and the wellbeing side of being outside," said Samuel. "They see it as a place to escape. And there's clearly a supply and demand gap." Not everybody views it that way. What started as a local protest in Bristol has turned into a nationwide opposition campaign. A Facebook group, Roots Allotments uncovered, has attracted more than 1,700 members. Opponents accuse the company of an aggressive expansion strategy, developing land first and applying for planning permission later - and only when councils force it to.