Community Ownership – Shaping the Future of Our Towns
Following our January 2021 event, Pippa Coutts, Policy and Development Manager, Carnegie UK Trust wrote a blog highlighting the key messages from the conversation.
Growing Community Ownership in towns and cities
Communities in towns and cities across Scotland have long been interested in owning buildings and land.
When the rights and funding for land buy outs were applied across Scotland in 2016, Community Land Scotland saw an increase in communities seeking ownership of land and land assets to catalyse regeneration across urban areas in Scotland.
Since 2018 we have been working to support urban groups. We address the challenges that are specific to urban areas, while building momentum in urban community landownership. An overview of our urban community ownership work is below.
From Barmulloch to Bonnymuir Green – This is not just a rural story
In 2021, we published a report presenting the fact that 20% of all community owned assets are now urban. This change came about following the Community Right to Buy extended to cover urban areas in 2016, and is a remarkable achievement in that short time. Almost £7m of funding was provided by the Scottish Land Fund to enable these buy-outs.
Land Reform is a story about all of Scotland. Community ownership is now established across Scotland – and in five years has grown exponentially across urban Scotland in particular. Scotland is leading the way internationally in community led urban regeneration delivered by communities owning and controlling important local assets.
From Dumfries to Aberdeen, people have been using the new powers and funding made available to them by the Scottish Government since 2016 to buy and run shops, redundant churches, community centres, High Street buildings, woodland, parks, pubs and bowling greens. All are places and facilities loved by their communities and all have people prepared to commit considerable amounts of volunteer time and energy to save them. People and what they can achieve when they work together are at the heart of this fantastic success story for Scotland.
Have a look at our Members in Towns and Cities
News from Towns and Cities
‘Our Glen’ bought by the locals
The Viewpark Conservation Group and its 2,200 members has successfully completed a community buy out of the land which is the Historic Douglas Support Estate in Lanarkshire, fondly known as ‘Our Glen’ by locals, and a treasured green space.
Community landownership has the potential to create better towns and cities
COMMUNITY LANDOWNERSHIP HAS THE POTENTIAL TO CREATE BETTER TOWNS AND CITIES Community landownership will create places that people want to make their home in the long term On the 16th
