Whose land is it anyway? Brighton's Greenspeak
1 June 2008
It’s the second in the new Greenspeak series on Tuesday 10 June 2008. Brighton & Hove's public forum, all very welcome: 7pm for 7.30pm start at The Old Market, Upper Market Street, Hove, with socialising before and after.
Whose land is it anyway?
...Reconnecting Land with People and Communities
Speakers: Martin Large, Chair of the Community Land Trust National Demonstration Project at Salford University, and a pioneer of the land for people movement
Neil Ravenscroft, Professor of Cultural Policy at the University of Brighton, and Director of Tablehurst Farm Ltd
As Peak Oil pushes up food prices, concern for food security and food poverty rises.
Farmers markets, community supported farms and veg-box schemes proliferate, whilst the Transition Town movement is also gaining momentum.
People are developing localised, sustainable food systems such as community gardens, allotments, city farms, smallholdings, community-supported agricultural (CSA) schemes and land trusts.
These initiatives also create new opportunities for enjoying nature, forest schools, health, care farms and much more as they transform the rural/urban split.
At the same time there is a need for new affordable housing, a push towards low-carbon green architecture and many people are looking for ways to bring new sustainable settlements and communities into being.
The most common problem faced by these initiatives is how to gain secure access to suitable land.
On the 10th June Greenspeak is asking …..
* What is affecting food, food security, food sovereignty and food poverty?
* What is Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA), and what can we learn from Tablehurst and Plaw Hatch Community Farms in East Sussex and Stroud CSA?
* How does Brighton and Hove City Council manage and make use of its 11,000 acre farm estate and what plans are there for the future? Where is the land that the Council owns?
* How do we put a value on farmland? How can potential benefits for society – education, healthcare, reduced carbon emissions, community cohesion – be factored in to land valuation?
* How can Community Land Trusts (CLTs) provide permanently affordable homes in green neighbourhoods? How do we balance the need for affordable housing with the need for increased local food sourcing?
* How can we make the most of the land around Brighton and in particular the farm estate? Who decides and what do you think?
Greenspeak co-organiser Ian Lawton said "Greenspeak is about encouraging community participation in the issues that affect us.
It's really relaxed, sociable, informative and fun. Whether you are passionate about this topic or know nothing about it, come down, learn more and have your say.
The bar will be open from 7.00pm and you're welcome to stay around after for a bit of socialising."
link www.greenspeak.org.uk
Notes to editors:
For further information contact Martin Grimshaw 07891 571739.Martin Large is Chair of the CLT National Demonstration Project, and a pioneer of the land for people movement. He facilitated the community buy out of Fordhall Farm, with 8300 Coop members.
He is a member of Stroud Community Farm, a Community Supported Agriculture project owned and managed by a community of members who support the farm and share the produce.
SCA employs two full time farmers on 50 acres of land and provides 180 local households with vegetables, salads, eggs, flowers and meat.
More details on www.stroudcommunityagriculture.org and www.stroudcommonwealth.org.uk, wwwcommunitylandtrust.org.uk
Neil Ravenscroft is Professor of Cultural Policy at the University of Brighton, a Governor of Plumpton College and a Director of Tablehurst Farm Ltd, a community-owned farming business in Forest Row.
Together with Old Plaw Hatch Farm, also in Forest Row, Tablehurst Farm is owned by a co-operative of nearly 450 members. It extends to over 400 acres, which it rents from a number of different landlords.
Tablehurst Farm sells its organic and biodynamic meat through a farm shop and butchery. Old Plaw Hatch farm - owned by the same co-operative, has an organic dairy herd and a market garden, and sells a full range of dairy produce and vegetables through its farm shop.
Both shops are open to the public, and both farms also supply produce to local schools, hostels and restaurants. More details are at www.tablehurstandplawhatch.co.uk
Background: over the last two decades the agricultural sector in the UK has been severely battered. In response, the Curry Commission report called for food producers to ‘reconnect’ to their markets and consumers.
While the very nature of mainstream food chains limits opportunities for such reconnection, alternative developments such as farmers markets, community supported farms, box schemes, local food fairs and internet marketing have helped to reinvigorate local food networks in some areas.
Some observers suggest that initiatives such as these, which begin to (re-) localise food production and processing, will become increasingly important in the face of climate change, the imperative to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and rising fuel prices.
The public profile of ‘local’ food has risen beyond all expectation, helped in part by initiatives to increase local sourcing of food within public sector institutions such as schools and hospitals.
Further, the major supermarkets have now seen the marketing and corporate social responsibility advantages of an enhanced local food offer.
At the other end of the spectrum, individuals and groups seek opportunities to develop more localised and sustainable food systems.
These take a wide range of forms – from allotments and city farms through smallholdings, community-supported agricultural (CSA) schemes and land trusts.
These initiatives, in addition to producing and distributing local food, can also create new opportunities for the understanding and enjoyment of nature and the outdoors, including physical exercise for all ages.
The most common problem faced by these initiatives is how to gain secure access to suitable land.
The Land
From the point of view of local and sustainable food initiatives the county council farm estates are of greatest immediate interest. Brighton and Hove Council own 11,000 acres.
Most counties have maintained farm estates since 1907 with the objective of providing opportunities for new entrants to become established in farming.
So, on the one hand there is an increasing demand for agricultural land for activities .
These include those that unambiguously push a number of important public policy buttons, from reconnecting people with their food, food poverty and the reduction of carbon emissions to local economic development, community cohesion, health, education and outdoor exercise.
On the other hand, there is a significant bank of agricultural land around many towns and cities, Brighton and Hove included, that is already in the public domain.
This Greenspeak hopes to be a small part of the awareness raising process that the local community must go through as part of the move towards a more sustainable society and in preparation for a reduced carbon future.
As well as offering models of community land use and community land ownership, the aim of the meeting is to try and bring some awareness to the way in which the land around Brighton and Hove is managed and valued, as well as to look for a future vision.
Our local community and community leaders can then begin to ask questions about land use - are we satisfied, for instance with the way the existing Farm Estates are run for the benefit of entrant farmers?
Or is there interest in further widening and integrating the Farm Estates with other council policies, such as promoting the wider environmental, social and economic well-being of residents?
By Ian Lawton with Martin Grimshaw
Coming up: Tue 8th July 'The DIY Guide to Change' at The Old Market, Tue 9th September 'Taking Liberties and Stealing Identity', Thur 16 Oct 'Climate Change and Well Being'.
Speakers may be contacted for further comment, for further information, contact Martin Grimshaw 01273 202339 / 07891 571739. Please note new email / web address: martin@greenspeak.org.uk - www.greenspeak.org.uk
Greenspeak is organised by Martin Grimshaw & team in association with Brighton & Hove Green Party, aiming to be welcoming to all and focussed on the issues.
(www.brightonandhovegreenparty.org.uk / 01273 766670 - promoted by Nigel Tart on behalf of B&H Green Party, 39-41 Surrey St, Brighton).
Want to talk to national Green Party principal spokespersons Caroline Lucas or Derek Wall? Contact the press office - Tel: 0207 561 0282 : press@greenparty.org.uk
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