The Inverclyde Shed has been the only organisation in Inverclyde to successfully navigate the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015.

We used the legislation to successfully negotiate a 25-year lease on our main workshop at East Blackhall Street, Greenock, a few years ago and more recently used it again to agree a five year lease for our walled garden growing project at Gourock Park.

Ownership or control through lease of land and buildings is a powerful tool for communities to drive change and long term financial sustainability.

It provides a base for activities that might not otherwise be accessible to members of a particular community, and can provide jobs, training and bring income to the local area.

The Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 introduced a right for community bodies to make requests to all local authorities and a wide-ranging list of public bodies, for any land or buildings they feel they could make better use of.

Community bodies can request ownership, lease or other rights, as they wish. The Act requires those public authorities to assess requests transparently against a specified list of criteria, and to agree the request unless there are reasonable grounds for refusal.

In addition to long term control and responsibility for an asset, community groups need to carefully consider the liabilities and maintenance of assets.

Map of Community Asset Transfers (Image: Inverclyde SHED)

The installation of renewables can significantly reduce the running costs and like the shed’s workshop effectively wipe out utility overheads forever whilst having a significant environmental impact in terms of reduced carbon emissions.

Local Energy Scotland (localenergy.scot/) manage CARES - the Scottish Government's Community and Renewable Energy Scheme which can assist with covering some of the costs of things like heat pumps.

The local council assets are contained on a register on their website but The Inverclyde Shed has produced a map version of their data - which can be found at https://www.tinyurl.com/inverclydeCAT - where all of the council’s leisure, industrial, office, community and land assets are listed.

An initial approach to the council can be made through their website here. 

Community groups can also contact The Inverclyde Shed direct for advice on early stage technical feasibility and potential asset control models.

Outright ownership is not always the best option for every group and communities can look at a range of options to reduce liability and enable regeneration from long term lease to license to occupy.