25/07/2014 Andy Schofield (Director, East London CLT) Cr Rachel Saunders (Councillor and Leader of the Labour Group, Tower Hamlets Council) Discussions about the East London CLT and Council’s support for it. See section 6.2.2. 28/07/2014 Mark Ogden (Relationship Manager, Triodos Bank) Triodos is a Dutch Bank with an ethical approach to banking and a strong engagement in community, environmental and sustainability issues. They have funded a number of UK CLTs. Discussions revolved around financing CLTs. 29/07/2014 Fiona Brown (CLT Officer, Cherwell District Council) Cr Nigel Randall (Councillor, member of the Planning Committee and council representative on the CLT) Sheena Gow (Cherwell District Council CLT Chair) Meeting at Cherwell District Council. Cherwell DC have provided £7 mill (approx. AUD $12.5 million) to fund self-build CLTs in its municipal area. The meeting was followed by a site visit in the town of Bicester. See section 6.1.1. 1/08/2014 Ian Bailey (Chair, Brighton and Hove CLT) Helen Russell (Director, Brighton and Hove CLT) Cr Bill Randall (Deputy Mayor and Chair of Housing Committee, Brighton and Hove Council) Meeting with Brighton and Hove CLT to discuss their current stage and gain an understanding on their set up and relationship to Council. The Council were looking at urban fringe sites for CLTs (30-40 units) and were developing a new housing strategy for next year (elections were in May 2015). See section 6.2.3.
Accessibility to services and amenities Local Councillor / Officer involvement This would enable the first stage of a community engagement process to take place. This could be realised through a series of community events, newsletters and social media, with follow-up surveys. Develop a Steering Committee Should there be sufficient interest from the engagement period then Council would have to facilitate the setting up of a Steering Committee with a Terms of Reference. The Steering Committee would then set out its aims and key performance indicators for the future. Set-up the CLT The CLT must be a legal entity, with a bank account, to ensure it can attract funding and partners, and to also maintain credibility with Council. Governance structures must be robust and the CLT must have a Board which has the required skill set for a well-functioning organisation. CLTs in England were membership organisations to get buy in from residents. They were usually set at a minimal cost (e.g. $1) a share. This was primarily to maximise community participation, ensure parity and fairness – one member one vote, and to ensure accountability. Increase the Membership Base The membership needs to be strong in order to get the appropriate community buy-in and to increase it, the CLT would need to go out to the community again to garner their interest and participation. This is really an on-going step, as the CLT will require renewed membership as members move on from the CLT. Set Funding Opportunities Funding for a CLT can come from many sources. There would need to be concerted efforts in finding financiers to help get the projects off the ground. The CLT should always be creative in how it accesses funds, uses in-kind support and how it develops the land or assets. A feasibility study, together with a business plan, will be necessary. It would be ideal to have construction finance from at this stage. Lenders such as Social Enterprise Finance Australia Ltd (SEFA) would be an example of construction financing if they were attracted to fund the development. Housing Tenure Options The CLT would need to decide the best way in which their development could be administered to its members. As previously stated each CLT is unique and the options open to it are for members to rent, sell, self-build or have a shared ownership of the development. Succession