CVCLT news December 2024     

We have been pushing at numerous doors all year and finally, in December a lot of them have opened, and it is time to share those achievements with you.

 Fielden Hall is about to become very energy efficient

We were successful in our application for planning permission for insulation, solar panels, heat pumps, heat recovery, secondary glazing. Planning can be tricky with grade II listed buildings, but early conversations with CMBC’s Planning & Conservation teams helped shape an application that worked for both parties.

This week are finalising a contract with a construction company who aim to start the works in January and complete in March.

The Hall is really about the people who use it, and with that in mind we have worked with Todmorden Town Deal to create a film about the energy improvements and the experiences of those who use the building. Thank you to Music for the Many, Vocal Highs choir and U3A craft group. We hope to share the film with you in January.

Once complete, it is predicted that energy bills will reduce by 54%, energy use by 27% and CO2 emissions by 75%.

UK government funding from the Towns Fund and the Community Ownership Fund along with National Lottery Funding have enabled us to bring this project to life.

 A secure affordable tenancy in Hebden Bridge

 We did it! We worked with the owner, and their home is now a community owned home giving security of tenancy at an affordable rent.

 After years living in a lounge, our new tenant finally has somewhere to call home. It has made a huge difference to this family.

 A big thank you to Homes England and Hebden Bridge Town Council for supporting our project.

 Jerusalem Farm Cottage

 Another tenant! We hope to have our first tenant move in next month.

 Another labour of love with plenty of challenges met and dispensed with. Empty for over 6 years, we have taken on a 20-year lease from Calderdale Council to create another community asset.

 Another funding jigsaw this one, and credit goes to the local people and Calderdale Council who lent us money,  and we are grateful for grants from Homes England and the Community Foundation for Calderdale, and especially to Sally, our trustee, who has poured her heart and soul into this one.

 Heptonstall

 And onto the next one! We are working with a homeowner in Heptonstall to create another secure affordable tenancy and prevent the creation of another holiday let in the village.  This intervention supports the existing health of the local community.

 With the support of Co-operatives UK we have produced our Community Share Offer documents and secured a community shares investment from Co-operatives UK. Our trustee, Richard, who has worked incredibly hard to get us to this point.

 In 2025 you will be able to help create this community asset through an investment in community shares. This short video introduces community shares.

 Sold out: Rentier Valley public meeting

 90 people attended our 10^th birthday celebration and Rentier Valley public meeting.

 Isaac Rose and Pam Warhurst led this lively and informative meeting.

 This was billed as the journey from slums to social housing to right to buy to expensive rents, but it became apparent on the night that this was actually about the importance of place and the need to build strong social fabric as a means to address challenges like housing affordability in places like the Calder Valley.

 Isaac’s book, The Rentier City: Manchester and the Making of the Neoliberal Metropolis is reviewed here.

 Having read this far, if you are inspired, please become a member of your local land trust for £1. Each membership helps us obtain funding. Join here.

 Ferney Lee enterprise centre and housing

 We are working in close partnership with Connect Housing to begin building 19 Passivhaus homes in Todmorden in January. Together we turned a £3.8m grant and Homes England funding into an £8m project that includes a 23-office enterprise centre.

 The custodian of the site is Calderdale Council. The process of gaining a lease, so we can build these homes, has been complex and time consuming but we are now very close to an agreement that will enable us to appoint a contractor to build the project.

 We hope that in the next newsletter we will have a lease, a contractor and an active building site.

 Refugee homes in Hebden Bridge

 The 2 empty properties above One Stop in Hebden Bridge have funding to bring them back into use as affordable rented homes for refugees. The finishing touches are being added to the lease and we are waiting for the grant agreement. Once these are signed, we can begin the renovation and retrofit that will enable refugees to have a home.

 To our regular readers, yes it does take a long, long time to get from an opportunity to a person enjoying the security of a tenancy with the Community Land Trust. We have perseverance in spades!

 We have met with Calderdale Valley of Sanctuary and hope to arrange a public meeting in the summer themed Housing It’s An Issue: Refugees and Housing.

 Should they cease to be needed to house people with refugee status, these homes will become available to house other local residents.

 Advisory Panel

 If you have experience of applying for grants and/or fundraising and would like to give something back to the upper valley community please drop our Chair Simon Brearley a line at simon.brearley@caldervalleyclt.org.uk or give our manager Paul a call on 07942 361205.

 Any other skills and experience are most welcome.

 Signal Box

 The wheels are still grinding forward on the lease that will enable us to create a heritage centre and holiday accommodation in Hebden Bridge Signal Box.

 We are looking for someone to take on a 6-month paid role to deliver the heritage aspect of the Signal Box. If you have previous experience on similar projects, please get in touch.

 Wishing you the best Christmas

 From all of us at CVCLT.

 Thank you for reading, each reader inspires us to do more.

 Every new member makes a difference. To take the next step from newsletter reader to member please Click or scan.

 Patient Capital

 If you’re in a position to be patient about getting a quick return or even no return on your money, and you want to put that money to work in the community then Patient Capital could be for you.

 Patient Capital can take the following forms:

• Low interest loans
• 0% loans
• Purchase of Calder Valley Community Land Trust community shares
• Donations

 Contact Paul, our Executive Manager, if you would like to explore helping to create affordable homes in this way.

 Interested in investing?

We are now keeping a waiting list of people potentially interested in investing in the CLT in the future.  If you are interested in being added to this list, please contact our Exec Manager Paul on manager@caldervalleyclt.org.uk.  (‘Without obligation’, as they say!)

ARCHIVE OF PRESS RELEASES:

2022: Mar 8: Mayor of West Yorkshire visits CVCLT development

2021: Sep 13: Calder Valley CLT appoints its first Executive Manager

2021: June 6 Major grant will help save Hebden Bridge’s Signal Box

2021: May 26: Community-based trust is ready to recruit

2021: Feb 17: Community-led charity to receive national lottery funding

2021: Jan 13: Community trust pulls off successful community share issue

2020: Dec 8: Todmorden’s community share offer hits a key milestone

Oct 26: Todmorden community to come together to secure the future of a historic hall and affordable housing

Mar 1: First partnership between almshouse trust and CLT reaches successful conclusion

Jan 1: Wanted! Local charities’ independent-living bungalows need first residents

2019: Mar 4: Building work starts on six new bungalows for local older people

Feb 5: Statement from board of trustees following planning decision

2018: April 1: Local charity’s plans to bring back a lost Hebden Bridge street

2017: Jan 1: Community-led housing charity receives major grant for its ‘Big Potential’

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