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Right to grow
What if we all had the Right to Grow?
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Communities want to grow food.
Too often, they can’t get the land to do it.
The Right to Grow campaign is calling for communities to have a right to use public land for food and nature projects.
It is where grassroots action meets policy – and where the movement becomes a lever for systemic change.
Up and down the country, public land sits unloved
It costs local authorities money to maintain and gives nothing back to the community. Meanwhile, Incredible Edible groups – and communities like them – are ready and willing to transform those spaces into places for food, wildlife, and people.
The barrier isn’t a lack of enthusiasm. It’s red tape.
Complex leases, opaque processes, and no straightforward way for communities to find or access unused public land. Repurposing the public realm for growing is not radical. It is logical. And right now, it is needlessly hard.
What is Right to Grow?
The Right to Grow would require local authorities – and other public land-owning bodies – to make it simple for communities to create growing spaces on public land – with clear, zero-cost leases that protect their right to stay, and the opportunity to bid for that land should the authority ever decide to sell it.
The campaign is gaining ground.
It has received broad support in the House of Lords and is being taken up by local authorities across the UK – including Hull, Cumberland, St Albans, Southwark, Bury, Brighton, Hounslow and Runnymede, among others.
How you can get involved
There are things you can do at every level – from writing a letter to starting a campaign in your own community.
I’m a resident or community member
You can push for the Right to Grow in your area – whether that’s writing to your councillors, starting a local campaign, or raising it with your community group. Every voice helps build the case.
I’m a councillor or local authority officer
A growing number of councils have already adopted Right to Grow motions. If yours hasn’t, we can support you – with guidance, briefing documents, case studies, and examples from authorities across the UK.
Campaign resources
Everything you need to make the case – whether you’re writing to a politician, briefing a council, or hosting a local meeting.
Right to Grow
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Right to Grow
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Right to Grow
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Incredible Edible Denbigh
