Celebrate Community Land Week

Community groups across Scotland are holding events from 10 to 18 August to celebrate Community Land Week.

Forty-five projects are taking part in the week-long celebration of all things community ownership this year -- three times as many as in 2018! 

Projects celebrating Community Land Week include Lews Castle Grounds in Stornoway in the Western Isles, the new Iona Village Hall where construction has just begun, new Passivhaus standard energy efficient homes which will be affordable homes in Closeburn, and the arts and crafts centre in Sanquhar both in Dumfries & Galloway, and Fittie Community Hall beside Aberdeen Harbour.

The Scottish Rural Network will be highlighting Community Land Week on our social media channels, through the website and our newsletter during the celebrations. Members of the team will also be taking part in a couple of events. Lorraine and Norette will be at the Pairc Trust house warming event on 14 August, while Kirsty will be heading to the Lochcarron Community Development Company Volunteer Celebration on 16 August. Follow us @scotruralnet on Twitter, check out our Facebook page or follow us @scottishruralnetwork on Instagram. 

Community Land Week is run by Community Land Scotland (CLS) in partnership with Scottish Government.

Linsay Chalmers, Development Manager Community Land Scotland said:

"When communities purchase the land on which their people live and work, they have the tools to reinvigorate their areas and improve the prospects of future generations.

"This week of celebration is justly deserved. A huge number of people across diverse areas of Scotland have put in enormous effort to get to this point. Community land purchase is the start of a long journey often to reverse many years of decline. The purchase quickly stimulates confidence which empowers communities to develop economic opportunities, enable the development of vital housing, building on a growing awareness of environment and heritage to enliven the social life of its people.  We also want to show case how it can be done to potential new groups.

"It’s often a crisis which triggers interest in the community land purchase. It could be because young people are migrating away from rural areas of Scotland seeking affordable housing or employment elsewhere – where a project could generate jobs and develop new homes. This has happened successfully at Machrihanish, where over 220 jobs have resulted from the community purchase of the land which has become an airport and business park. It could be the need to save vital services such as shops or community space, to bring life back to failing town centres or to create much needed green in densely populated urban areas."

Visit the Community Land Scotland website to get a full list of events taking place.