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Is £138.50 more than is needed? Can you put any of that towards new plots, or does it pretty much cover the maintenance?

Absolutely. It is exciting times for all manners of local growing. We also have the Good Food Nation (Scotland) Bill, which needs to fit together with all the local food strategies.

Wayne Priestley wants to come in.

Thank you very much. Nobody else wants to come in on planning. Paul, do you have any comments about planning?

That brings us to the end of our questions and what has been a very useful discussion. I think that one of the things that has come out of this and the earlier session is the question of how we get people started younger on this sort of activity and how we hardwire it into the education system. What I am hearing is that, at the moment, people are faced with a large plot and do not know what to do with it; however, they still have that impulse and know that it is something that could bring them benefit. If we could get that going in schools, things might become more consistent. I know from my work in the past that a particular challenge is the summer holidays, when suddenly there is nobody to water the vegetable plot at peak growing period.

I thank the witnesses for joining us this morning and their very useful evidence. As that was the last item in public on our agenda today, I close this part of the meeting.

Thanks for that clarity.

Paul, do you have a bigger-picture sense of the cost of allotments?

Absolutely. That is a very good point.

You said that there are three sizes in Fife. Could you say a bit more about that?

In my role on this committee, I am beginning to realise that local authorities have many different strategies to look at. There are strategies and plans for many different things, but there is also a need for the integration that you are talking about, whereby the local food growing strategy can speak to the local authority’s climate strategy and the biodiversity strategy. It is about that holistic thinking.

I am going to bring in Marie McNair with our closing themes around community organisations, volunteering and planning.

I welcome our second panel of witnesses, some of whom are joining us remotely and some of whom are here in person. We have Sandy Paterson, assistant manager for food growing with Glasgow City Council; Amy Alcorn, green space programme co-ordinator with Scottish Borders Council; Marina Curran-Colthart, local biodiversity officer with Argyll and Bute Council; and Sinclair Laing, policy and strategy manager with Aberdeen City Council.

It would be helpful if members could direct their questions to a specific witness where possible, although I will be happy to bring in others who wish to contribute. I would be grateful if our witnesses who are online would type an R in the chat function in BlueJeans to indicate when they want to come in.

I will start the session with the first question. In last week’s session, in our visits and in the earlier session today, we have learned that there are huge benefits from people growing food in community growing spaces and allotments. I direct this question first to Marina Curran-Colthart. What are the main barriers that prevent local authorities from creating more allotments and community growing spaces?

Thanks for that response. That is an interesting point about food growing needing to be in the place-making standard—that could be a great help.

Amy Alcorn wants to come in.

It is very heartening to hear that so many different departments, groups and organisations are involved in the city food plan. Twenty years ago, I was working extensively in community food growing in New York, and at that time, there was not the same level of awareness and understanding that everybody needs to get behind that kind of work and to realise the massive benefits that it can bring to a city.

Marie McNair has a few more questions to ask.