please empty your brain below
From a plant’s perspective, there is a big difference between daylight and sunlight. And they each have different needs (as I have discovered to my cost). Many vegetables need ‘full sun’. Which the RHS defines as ‘More than six hours of direct sun per day at midsummer’. Just need someone to convert that to spring equinox figures…

Jacqui | 28.09.21 - 7:36 a.m. | #

Can’t blame them for a NIMBY campaign, but I worry that the cumulative effect of so many of these campaigns “over egging” their case, is that objectors will always be dismissed as the boy who cried wolf, even when they have a valid case.

Dan | 28.09.21 - 7:52 a.m. | #

This is just a wild guess, but it could be that vegetables need more direct sun than ordinary plants because they have been selectively bred over centuries to produce far bigger yields than their original form would have given. It may be simplistic, but I wonder if they therefore need commensurately more nutrition, and thus additional sunlight for photosynthesis.

cau1khead | 28.09.21 - 8:31 a.m. | #

We have noticed with our veg plot that direct sun produces hugely better fruit and veg.

Certainly some veg don’t need as much (runner beans), but for things like sweet corn, it’s absolutely essential…

Southern Heights (Light Railway) | 28.09.21 - 8:51 a.m. | #

Allotments!

[ sorry ]

Geofftech | 28.09.21 - 8:52 a.m. | #

Geofftech. Allotments do best when there is an abandoned railway nearby.

popartist | 28.09.21 - 9:02 a.m. | #

Unlike a conventional garden, this will be a site of individual allotments. So some allotment holders may be relatively 'lucky', while others will suffer the loss of sunlight.

Petras409 | 28.09.21 - 9:22 a.m. | #

I agree with the allotment holders. 8 hours of sun is what they currently enjoy in the summer and presumably that's the benchmark they've opted for, but the generally agreed definition is that "full sun" means at least 6 hours of sunlight at midsummer. Those tomatoes pictured won't ripen in anything less!
2 hours of sun as it passes between the buildings is utterly ridiculous.

Cornish Cockney | 28.09.21 - 9:51 a.m. | #

As Half Man Half Biscuit would say, Trouble over Bridgewater

Ian | 28.09.21 - 9:59 a.m. | #

We don’t have any sunlight data for midsummer, but there’s 25% more daylight in June than March and the sun gets 60% higher in the sky, so the allotments will be doing a lot better than the maps show.

diamond geezer | Homepage | 28.09.21 - 10:12 a.m. | #

A well balanced article. Sadly misses the point that the allotment welcomes the new neighbourhood outlined in the LLDC's local plan. But not the new application to double the number of homes. Despite volunteers spending a large amount of time in consultation with the LLDC to find a compromise. Leaving them no choice but to object to the planning application. There is nothing NIMBY about this campaign.

Allotment Holder | 28.09.21 - 3:39 p.m. | #

Low sunshine in a garden - or an allotment - leads to damp soil, moss, slugs and snails. You can grow vegetables, but they're not going to be so healthy, and the slugs and snails may eat more than you do. Growing plants on a balcony, you don't need to worry so much. You'll be growing in pots, so the soil will drain, and there won't be too many snails or slugs up there.

James | 28.09.21 - 3:50 p.m. | #

This is just one example of a more general issue with high-rise buildings. If you're at ground level within such a development or on the north side of one you're likely to be in the shadows for most or all of the day; sunlight is good for humans as well as plants.

Andrew S | 28.09.21 - 4:27 p.m. | #

Local Plan 2014: "Heights should generally be no more than 30m from ground level, with heights stepping down to the allotments to the north of the site."

Masterplan 2021: "In general, taller forms have been located at the edges of the site / to the north to maximise good access to daylight and sunlight within the neighbourhood."

...and there's the problem.

By "maximising sunlight inside the courtyards" the current masterplan prioritises new residents, with barely a mention of the existing allotments which've had four 38m towers shoved up against their boundary.

diamond geezer | Homepage | 28.09.21 - 4:31 p.m. | #

Reminds me that the rich will always fence off land for the own convenience at the expense of the poor as they have always done from time immemorial.

Tones | 28.09.21 - 4:58 p.m. | #

Sometime ago I noticed this area on the map while following along on one of your many walks. We subsequently had a nice email exchange about the allotments and their history both in the real world and on your blog. I'm pleased whenever they get a mention....but not so much today. While less sunlight is not ideal and is going to hamper growth for the first few seasons, I'm hopeful that the gardeners will adjust accordingly and all will be right in Bridgewater again someday soon.

Steven | 28.09.21 - 7:49 p.m. | #

No-one at the plots is angry about the new housing going in, we welcome it. What we do feel angry about is that the LLDC has gone back on its own recommendations to give consideration to the allotments. Why would the LLDC have recommended a tiered development in their own Local Plan if they didn’t think light would be an issue?

At the allotment | 28.09.21 - 10:30 p.m. | #

Plants will grow without any direct sunlight, but they tend to grow faster the more sun they get. And that's the problem: most allotments are trying to get from seed to prize-winning marrows in the UK's relatively short growing season. But lots of people have shady gardens: faced with that you just need to choose the species and varieties that do well there.

Peter | 29.09.21 - 11:33 a.m. | #

Heliostats are being used in Sydney to send sunlight from the rooftops down to ground level.

franinoz | 30.09.21 - 11:35 p.m. | #











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