Council allotments evicted to make room for buildings

 It was a polite request not to sow anything at this time of Nature’s “reawakening” that put a group of pensioners, who have grown vegetables on two pieces of land owned by Castellanza council, on the alert. There won’t be any sowing this year, or any harvesting. Because the allotments won’t be there anymore. The town council have decided to put the two large areas in Via San Giovanni and Via Campo Sportivo up for sale, and to change their intended use. Instead of tomatoes and lettuces, there could be concrete pillars and brick walls, in a few months’ time. The council justified their decision, claiming that there are currently too many areas with respect to the demand and to the actual use. So these are going to be sacrificed. The oppositions are ready for a fight to prevent that 5000 m² of farming land from being lost.

In any case, Castellanza is not the only town that has problems with creating urban spaces dedicated to farming. Despite the constantly growing demand for such spaces, many towns are not only unable to keep up with the requests, but often renege on their decisions. This is the case, for example, of Busto Arsizio, where work to create a large area to accommodate 65 allotments was brusquely stopped when the council “discovered” that the area was to be the venue for travelling shows.