Feature image: Hastings Commons CLT
Authored by: Beth Boorman, Campaigns and Business Development Manager at the Community Land Trust Network
Community Land Trusts are a global thing. From Girdwood Anchorage CLT in Alaska, USA to Byron Shire Community Housing in New South Wales, Australia, over 600 CLTs across the world are making their mark.
I’m writing from Hastings on the south-east coast of England where I am lucky to be surrounded by CLTs and emerging CLTs – Hastings Commons, Hastings Older Womens’ Cohousing CLT, Black Butterfly, Bexhill, Icklesham, Marsham and Ore. And I’m proud to sit on the Hastings Commons’ board.
This World CLT Day I joined some of the Hastings Commons team at a pop-up event in the town centre to mark the global celebration and raise awareness of the neighbourhood transformation that is taking place in the town.
What is World CLT Day?
World CLT Day is a celebration of a global movement – they exist on every continent! – that’s steadily transforming places and shifting power. You can read more about World CLT Day over on the WCLTD website.
Working at the Community Land Trust Network and volunteering at Hastings Commons means I get to see both the deep, local roots and the national and global advance of the movement. It’s a privilege.
Whilst at the pop-up I got to speak with lots of people, mostly local residents but also some day trippers and some hopeful future Hastings residents. What struck me was how each person had their own story that showcased a real passion for the area. For some, particularly the local residents this was mixed with nostalgia and concern.
There was genuine intrigue in what the CLT was doing – for many the conversations provided explanation and insight into work and activity they had seen happening, but either had no idea that it was a community-led organisation doing the work or were unsure what it all meant. Conversations like these really matter and I was delighted to see the stash of membership forms getting dished out.
Why this all matters
Spending a couple of hours to talk to people face-to-face about what the Commons is doing was a powerful reminder of why this model works. People want something different — something lasting and fair. But they don’t alway know it is possible.
CLTs across the world are proving it is. Every conversation we have, every membership pound we collect, every building or space we bring into community ownership — it all adds up. It builds trust. It builds power.
To all the CLTs marking World CLT Day in your own ways — here’s to the work, the people and the future we’re building together!