Community Land Trusts 10.28. Community Land Trusts10 are a mechanism for the democratic ownership of land by the local community for the benefit of present and future generations. The land is taken out of the market and impact of land appreciation removed which enables long term sustainable and affordable development. 10.29. The Trusts can develop affordable housing and commercial units, maintain community services and facilities, and manage greenspaces and conservation areas. They also support community cohesion by including residents in all aspects of the Trust. 10.30. Organisations such as Groundwork, the Wildlife Trusts, BTCV or Civic Trusts can join community group/LA partnerships to provide specialist experience and advice. Strengths of Community Involvement •
A greater sense of ownership and the involvement of young people have been shown to help decrease vandalism and anti-social behaviour, with increased selfpolicing (Groundwork, 2006).
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Local community groups can access funds not available to Local Authorities, such as the Landfill Tax Credit Scheme, National Lottery grants, ‘It’s your community’ grants, etc.
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Charities and not-for-profit organisations get tax-relief benefits.
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Provides activities for all sections of society and contributes towards improving health, well being, and a sense of community. It can also provide training, for example in conservation techniques from BTCV.
Weaknesses of Community Involvement
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Fundraising provides well for short term projects but not longer term revenue funding.
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Funding for not-for-profits schemes is not always constant and reliable.
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Lack of cohesion if residents pull out of groups/leave the area.
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Sometimes groups can fail due to lack of support and advice from councils/experts.
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Generally these community trusts operate of a relatively small scale. The exception to this being Milton Keynes which generates significant income revenue from rental income.
http://www.communitylandtrust.org.uk/
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