Community Land Advisory Service

Overview:

The concept of a Community Land Advisory Service (CLAS) is simple: to make more land available, and to facilitate access to that land, for use by community gardening and food growing groups across the UK. The service will act as a trusted intermediary and broker between landowners and community groups and will complement, support and enhance existing local and regional initiatives.  During its three-year development stage it will be project managed by the Federation of City Farms and Community Gardens.

The Community Land Advisory Service concept has been developed to help combat the lack of available land for community gardening and associated green space activities. Demand for land from the community sector for food growing and horticultural activities has outstripped traditional sources of supply in recent years. For example there are fewer than 300,000 statutory allotment plots nationally, and local authority waiting lists are reported to be over 100,000.  In some cities the wait is reported to equate to 10 years.

In 2009-2010, Government departments DEFRA and DCLG commissioned the Federation to investigate ways to address this situation and to bring more underused land into productive community use. 

Initial research found that often the supply of land is less of a problem than negotiating its use on a temporary or long term basis. Landowners are often cautious about letting community groups use their land, while community groups often lack technical skills and expertise to negotiate with landowners (eg around leases and other legal issues, including planning). 

However, there is also widespread goodwill from landowners to turn unused land over for cultivation and plenty of enthusiasm from local communities to find land, not just for food growing, but also for positive purposes such as therapy, education and creating havens for wildlife. The missing link is a trusted intermediary to broker acceptable tenure terms and conditions between landowners and community gardening groups - a role the Community Land Advisory Service could fill.

The research identified complementary land initiatives being developed by other organisations including Locality (formerly the Development Trusts Association), LandShare, the Land Trust, the National Trust and the Transition Network.  However, none of these organisations currently has the skills or capacity to offer detailed, one-to-one technical advice or support to community groups or landowners looking for help in accessing or releasing land for community growing projects.

Latest Developments:

After studying the results of the research carried out during 2010 and a further round of consultation with stakeholders in May 2011, the Community Land Advisory Service has been developed to act as a realistic response to the intense demand for community growing spaces. It will work in two main ways - direct support through a small team of specialist staff to directly help in negotiations and support between landholders and community groups. Also through online information services.

CLAS is intended to act as a trusted intermediary and broker between landowners and community groups. To avoid duplication of effort it will complement, support and enhance existing local, regional and national initiatives, including Landshare and The Place Station. CLAS will aim to work:

• Locally by providing direct advice and support to landowners and community groups in order to secure land access on fair terms that meet the needs of both parties.
• UK-wide through a centre of expertise, guidance and support that accommodates the different contexts and legal structures in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

A Land Advisor has now been appointed in Scotland (see below) and further appointments will be made in Scotland and England in due course. Discussions are underway with the Welsh Government and the Northern Ireland Assembly to ensure that a coherent model can be developed across the UK, which takes account of the different contexts and different legal structures in each country.

CLAS Contact Details

Scotland:

Sheila Hobbs
Scotland Community Land Advisor
0131 225 2080
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

England:

TBC

Further Information:

Community Land Bank Report (Stage 2 Executive Summary)

A summary of the second stage report for the Community Land Advisory Service concept. It sets out the current situation regarding use of land for community food growing and other gardening activities, the needs of community groups and land owners, as well as recommendations on how to take the service further through a National Demonstration Project. A full copy of the report is available on request from FCFCG. See the More Information Section below.

 CLB Report Stage 2 Exec Summary

Preliminary Research (Stage 1 Executive Summary)

FCFCG conducted preliminary research into a Community Land Advisory Service idea (originally called Community Land Bank) which showed broad support for the idea. A number of stakeholders agreed it would also have a useful role in mediating between the suppliers and users of land, especially in negotiating quality leases and ensuring that management issues would be dealt with. This would create security and confidence in the lease process for all.

The research also found that public sector bodies and social landlords would not want to release land purely for private use, but would want the use of the land to fit in with their own objectives, such as health or education.

For more details, the executive summary of the research is available to download below:

Community Land Bank initial research report

Contacts:

If you have an interest in the Advisory Service, for example if you are an organisation or landowner wishing to make land available for community growing, then please email Jeremy Iles at: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it