Calder Valley Community Land Trust celebrates its first birthday
Tuesday, 29 September 2015
The Calder Valley Community Land Trust is a volunteer-led charity which is working to bring more affordable housing to the Upper Valley, and to provide a way of holding local land and buildings in perpetuity on behalf of the community.
The Land Trust will be reporting a good first year at their AGM, which is on Saturday October 17th at the Fielden Centre in Todmorden (11am-1pm). All will be welcome and they are hoping for an enjoyable and stimulating morning.
When the Land Trust launched last year, they said their aim was to meet housing need by utilising land that had once upon a time had housing, as opposed to using green field sites. They hoped to explore the possibility of bringing back some housing to the now deserted High Street (above Bridge Lanes) in Hebden Bridge. They are very pleased to be able to report that they have received a grant to undertake some pre-feasibility work here and four small test digs will be conducted early in October (probably Oct 10) to assess the land condition. Anxious readers who notice the digger should be re-assured that the Trust is not looking for oil or planning to start fracking!
They won't know until after these tests and other surveys are completed whether the High Street land is at all possible for reusing for housing, and they would obviously only contemplate buildings that are compatible with the surroundings, and that the community as a whole supports. The current thought is that the site may be suitable for housing for local young people unable at present to afford to stay in the town.
The Community Land Trust is also actively exploring the prospect of new older peoples' housing in Todmorden. More details will be made available at the AGM on the 17th October.
See also
Calder Valley Community Land Trust website
HebWeb Forum: Community Land Trust