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Community Land Trust - 2008/09/24 09:31At last Lewes is getting its own Community Land Trust.
This will compete with private developers to purchase suitable sites and then develop them on a not-for-profit basis, creating developments that the town needs and wants, with genuine sustainable (in the truest sense of the word)mixed development, low cost housing that won’t flood, parks, sports facilities, etc.
If only the Land Trust had been up and running several years ago, it might now be in a position to pose a creditable alternative to the scale and size of the development proposals submitted by Angel Property for the Phoenix.
But all may not yet be lost. Hopefully, Lewes CLT will be able to assist our District and Town Councils by taking over their not inconsiderable assetts on the west side of North Street and then developing and managing them on a not for profit basis for the benefit of the people.
Government is encouraging local authorities up and down the land to transfer assets into the Community.
Other sites present different opportunities. Harvey's former Depot in Pinwell Road, The Bus Station, which surely must be restored as a bus station, the Police Station in West St., the Canon O'Donnell Community Hall at the top of the town are just four. And of course other sites that we don't yet know about.
Running a successful Community Land Trust will require a massive and continuing commitment from several people. It also requires a degree of commitment from everyone. All of us who live in and care about Lewes.
So I ask -
Do you want Lewes to have a flourishing community land trust, ready and able to take on and beat private developers, creating developments that Lewes can enjoy and be proud of?
Would you be prepared to purchase a £10 share in the Trust (this would not commit you to any further financial involvement)?
LCLT is keen to find out what support there is in Lewes for a Community Land Trust and has recently sent a survey questionnaire out to every home in Lewes. Hopefully this will begin to demonstrate a good level of support. So please complete your survey, if you have been sent one.
In the meantime if anyone would like to know more about Lewes Community Land Trust, its aims and the way it is being set up, please email: ajdicks@hotmail.com
But just as important, use this forum to tell us what you think.
Anthony
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Paul
Re:Community Land Trust - 2008/11/24 14:08I really struggle to see the point of a community land trust. Does Lewes need another Railway Land, which is mostly used as a dog toilet? The reaction against developers on the grounds that they make a profit (although I doubt that many do currently) just smacks of envy. The majority of the built environment in Lewes, which everyone professes to love so much, was created by or for commercial developers and wealthy landowners. I am sure that in common with most towns, if one were to examine the archive records for buildings the same names would crop up many times in their role as landowner or developer.
Quite how a small under-funded group with no commercial experience is going to compete to purchase land and create high quality development is unknown.
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Harry
Re:Community Land Trust - 2008/11/25 13:55Paul: 'The reaction against developers on the grounds that they make a profit (although I doubt that many do currently) just smacks of envy.'
I'm not an expert on Freud's theories but this sounds like a case of reverse projection. Because developers are solely concerned with profit that doesn't mean that people who have an objection to, for example, building homes for families on a flood plain, are motivated by envy of the developer. Outrage, perhaps, but not envy.
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Paul
Re:Community Land Trust - 2008/11/27 00:31I did a quick search on this forum. The word "profit" had 46 hits compared to only 28 for the word "architecture". The merits and shortcomings of this scheme or any have nothing to do with profit. I am sure there are many loss making developments that are horrendous as well as profit making ones that are sublime - and vice versa.
The focus on profit aversion does nothing to further the debate as to the future of this development and in many ways undermines the often valid points made by contributors.
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Harry
Re:Community Land Trust - 2008/11/27 18:22Paul: Is the main problem with the community land trust that it is on a not-for-profit basis?
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Paul
Re:Community Land Trust - 2008/11/28 11:02No. I don't see the need for yet another (taxpayer funded?) organisation to be involved in housing / land management in addition to the 2000 housing associations, the local authorities, private developers, existing not-for-profit organisations. The Community Land Trust seems like yet another largely unproven government initiative and nothing suggests to me that it will deliver better or more cost effective solutions than the above.
If there is a slice of, say, LDC developable land up for grabs I would sooner it went to a decent housing association with a reputation for delivering high quality development and professional ongoing management, with the caveat that there could be some community input regarding design, facilities and so on. I would prefer this to handing it to a group of inexperienced local people who may have various agendas.
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