Community Assets

All facilities that are owned and managed by rural communities are classed as community assets.  The best known community asset is usually the village hall held on a charitable trust and managed by a committee of volunteers followed closely by the local playing field. Another asset could be the children’s play area – designed by local children in a competition, funded with a grant from the local authority and thereafter maintained by the parish council using the parish precept.  The parish council may also take financial responsibility for assets such as the bus stop or plots of land, whether the village green or the playing field. 

Hornby Community Resource Centre, near Lancaster, encourages cycling and installed bike racks at the hall. The committee also successfully negotiated for a bus stop to be placed right outside the hall. The drop-in centre in the hall serves tea and coffee so that people can wait in comfort for the bus!

The Department for Communities and Local Government commissioned an independent review that looked at community management and ownership of assets and the barriers which may stand in the way of owning assets.  Led by Barry Quirk, Lewisham Council’s Chief Executive Officer, it mainly considered local authority owned facilities that could be transferred to community organisations or managed in partnership with the local authority.  Click here to download report   This model works well in urban areas where local authorities have the statutory powers, experience and professional capacity to support communities through a transfer and the organisations have a remit to engage and empower their communities. 

Local authority owned assets as described in the Quirk Review are little known in rural areas.   ACRE has been working with National Association of Local Councils (NALC) to develop the parish partnership model which explains and recognises the unique role that the parish council takes in rural areas. The ‘Parish partnership’ model of an effective community anchor

Community Sustainable Energy Programme (CSEP)

The CSEP is an open grants programme and is run by the Building Research Establishment (BRE), an award partner of the Big Lottery Fund.  BRE carries out research, consultancy, training and testing to help create better buildings and communities.

The CSEP Programme will provide 8milliion to community based organisations for the installation of microgeneration technologies.  It will also provide £1 million for development grants that will help community organisation carry out a feasibility study with regard to energy efficiency.  It has been set up to help community based organisations in England to reduce their energy bills and environmental impact.  The scheme is also designed to raise public awareness of the social and environmental advantages to reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions in order to combat climate change.

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Applicants may need to supply an environmental policy for their building.  For a model please contact your local RCAN member

Publication

Your Community Building Counts - This publication is an ACRE document in conjunction with the Every Action Counts programme which is funded by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

The programme is aimed at engaging national and local voluntary and community sector organisations across England in work to protect and improve our environment and to deliver sustainable development.

Community buildings are important centres for community activity and provide a great resource for local people. By hosting a range of local groups and activities they can have an infl uence far beyond the people that manage and run them by demonstrating to local communities the changes that anyone can make.

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