We need our gardens to f ight climate catastrophe

THE housing crisis has forced many compromises from tiny shoebox apartments to intensive development of green spaces, all in service of the overwhelming need to put a roof over the heads of more people.

But the latest proposal to remedy the accommodation shortage, to cut standard garden size by a third in order to build more houses rather than costly apartments which it appears nobody wants outside of Dublin, is a step too far.

Leaving aside the fact that apartments are sought after when they are nicely designed and well located, reducing garden size surely flies in the face of the action required to tackle that other emergency on our doorsteps; climate change.

We may still be in denial about the future – and none more so than the property developers responsible for this lunatic idea – but it will involve more walking and cycling and electric cars requiring charging points.

Not to forget water butts for collecting rainwater, washing lines for drying laundry rather than carbon emission-busting tumble dryers, eco-friendly vegetable patches and garden lawns becoming meadows to encourage biodiversity.

How is that to be achieved in a tiny garden where there is not room to swing a cat, never mind host a bicycle shed?

In the original suburbs, gardens are often expansive and surplus to requirements but in new estates, that is far from the case. And their every inch is needed not just to help counteract climate change, but to give children a place to play and families to relax in nature, especially now that so much of their neighbourhood’s green spaces are rezoned for housing.