Grassroots campaigners are victorious as Hackney Council passes the Right to Grow
Hackney Council becomes the second council in London to pass the Right to Grow motion, opening up land to food growers to promote healthy food, wellbeing and biodiversity across the borough.
Last Wednesday, 4 March, Hackney campaigners celebrated a triumphant win for the borough as the council passes the Right to Grow. Glyn Harries, one of the Hackney Right to Grow group co-ordinators said:
"It's great that Hackney Council have voted to adopt the Right to Grow principle and we hope to see a significant increase in food growing sites in the borough, bringing people together, getting healthy food for those that need it the most, with great biodiversity benefits and helping fight climate change"
Hackney Council is a trailblazer across the city for their support for food growing, particularly on housing estates but there a lot of unused land in Hackney that could be used for growing food. This exciting new policy will help to further this work, increase food resilience, improve physical and mental health, and directly confront climate change and create biodiversity hot spots in urban areas.
Hackney residents have particularly low levels of access to public green space, with little space to grow, whilst residents face some of the highest levels of food poverty across Britain. Campaigners argued that everyone in Hackney should have access to enough fresh food to feed themselves and their families well, which is particularly challenging during the cost of living. Opening up more land for growing food is a fantastic step to help residents grow and access fresh fruit and veg whilst also investing in sustainable food production.
Cllr Sarah Young, Hackney Council Cabinet Member for Climate, Environment and Transport responded to the campaigners with the following:
"Powerful speeches on the importance of growing our own food as part of our diverse cultural heritage - growing food that tastes of home in Hackney - as well as enjoying being active, eating well and cheaply and spending time with together and outdoors while we garden … Bring it on.”
Capital Growth, Sustain's London-wide food growers network, is thrilled at the development of the campaign across London, with Hackney joining the ranks with Southwark as the second borough to pass the motion.
Curious to learn more about the Right to Grow campaign? Join the London wide campaign whatsapp group to find your borough branch or find out how to set one up yourself.
09/03/2026
