Section 48 of the Planning and Development Act 2024 requires local sustainable-place strategies to include objectives for reserving land for allotments and prescribed community gardens. The law is a start; the public still needs guidance, measurable local plans and current national data.
What the law says
Section 48 says a planning authority shall prepare a strategy for sustainable places and communities. Its objectives must include reserving land for allotments and prescribed community gardens and facilitating or regulating that provision.
What remains unclear
In April 2024, a ministerial answer said a guide for local authorities on allotments and community gardens would be progressed, subject to departmental priorities and resources. Homegrown has not found a subsequently published national guide dedicated to that task.
One clear public ask
The petition asks for three measurable actions. Names and counties may be submitted to the Department; email addresses remain private.
The petition
Give councils a dated, practical guide covering demand assessment, land identification, access, governance and delivery of allotments and community gardens.
Ask every planning authority to show how section 48 will be reflected in its development-plan work, with named responsibility, milestones and public progress.
Publish current site, plot, waiting-list and availability data by local authority, then update it consistently so delivery can be measured.
Evidence, without inflation
Local action
Select the relevant council area to generate a factual request for its section 48 timeline, land assessment and current allotment data.
Two complementary routes
The Ireland Grows campaign asks public bodies for accountable long-term provision. Homegrown's separate marketplace pilot asks private hosts whether one suitable garden corner can help one nearby adult sooner.
Help people reach the petition and the primary-source record.