Allotments can enrich people’s lives in so many ways.

A well-tended and planned plot can provide a family with a steady supply of cheap, healthy fruit and vegetables throughout the year.

And working the ground can also be a great way of getting some regular exercise and fresh air.

They give families something they can do together, while the sense of community and companionship among fellow gardeners can also be very important to people.

It is not surprising, then, that they are popular and demand for plots outstrips supply in many parts of the country.

That is certainly the situation in Bradford, with the majority of sites having waiting lists from a few months up to five years (in parts of London the wait is an incredible 40 years).

So the suggestion by the New Local Government Network that councils convert some of their currently derelict brownfield sites into allotments would definitely help meet an existing need.

However, it is not as simple as just putting a fence up and planting some vegetables – many such sites will be totally unsuitable without an expensive clean-up.

Whether allotments are really the best use for a site is just one of the many other factors that need to be thought about.

But the idea deserves serious consideration, not least because it seems to be a low-cost way of bringing derelict land back into use.