Community economic regeneration
The use of community ownership structures has been widely used for the
purposes of community regeneration; for example through the development or
restoration of community centres, provision of workspace including hot desks or
shared equipment, local community-owned shops, and retail space.
These sorts of community activity can help make the local community more
sustainable and viable. The Poundbury extension to Dorchester for example has
had a target of providing for at least one job for each house built and this
would be an excellent minimum target for almost every community.
If you are considering community regeneration then you ought to approach the
Development Trusts Association. Development Trusts are similar to CLTs in that
they are community-owned and aim to cultivate community enterprise and develop
community assets. There may be an existing Development Trust in your area. The
DTA, which is a nationwide umbrella body to support smaller trusts, can also
provide guidance and expertise to people wishing to set up a trust for community
benefit. See
http://www.dta.org.uk/ for an array of valuable resources and advice on how
to approach and join the DTA.
Community Assets
The Plunkett Foundation provide a guide on
Building Community Assets based on the experiences of several community
organisations who received funding to set up various projects ranging from
social care support and community centres to business incubation units and
renewable energy schemes. The guide considers the process of development these
organisations underwent, including the difficulties they faced, and provides an
introduction to what is involved in developing a community economic regeneration
plan. The Development Trust's
Advancing Assets campaign can offer similar practical advice and experience.
Business in the Community
has a rural regeneration team and is aiming to bring together examples of good
practice and sources of advice for making communities more sustainable.
Parish and town plans and Community Plans prepared by Local Strategic
Partnerships should make reference to these issues and may provide supportive
evidence of need which will be useful when identifying the resources needed to
implement schemes.
Community Workspace
The provision of community-owned workspace may be part of your organisation's
remit. Many communities have identified a lack of affordable workspace for local
businesses and have seen a CLT structure as a route to overcoming this,
providing workspace at affordable rates to help stimulate the local economy. A
case study of this is
the development at Foundation East CLT in Suffolk, which created 8 units of
managed workspace to lease at affordable rates to an array of local businesses.
Further case studies can be found in the DTA's
Developing An Asset Base guide for community organisations.
Community Shops
Community shops can often be important. Operating a shop for community
benefit or creating a local food shop which aims to trade with local food
producers can help regenerate the local economy and benefit your wider
community, especially those with limited access to their own transport. As of
February 2010 there were over 230 community-owned rural shops, many of which
have been supported by the Plunkett Foundation who offer
guidance and comprehensive advice sheets on opening community shops. These
include legal structures, model rules, sources of funding, and advice on
customer service and relevant legislation retail shops must abide by. A common
structure is for a CLT to own the shop premises, preventing it from being sold
or converted into housing, while the shop itself is run under a management
agreement either by an individual or by a group of volunteers or a mixture.
Asset Transfer
A key challenge for community groups would be the acquisition of land and
property to pursue community economic regeneration activity. A possible method
of overcoming this may be through the Asset Transfer Unit which aims to assist
local people and organisations in taking control of land and buildings from the
public sector. The ATU can provide expertise and support in helping achieve
community ownership in this way. See
http://atu.org.uk for an array of resources which can help inform this
process. A strong partnership between local authorities and your community
organisation will be necessary if this is to be achieved, therefore building
these partnerships as early as possible can help garner public support and
strengthen your group's case for community ownership.
This partnership routemap developed by Community Matters, a national
federation for community organisations, can help clarify effective methods of
public communication and partnership building.