Frequently Asked Questions
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The land is owned by a family in Berkeley. It is for sale via the agents Bruton Knowles, Gloucester.
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If we are successful and buy the land, these invasive, non-native species will be eradicated using professional contractors.
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It will be about access on foot for informal recreation. Brown’s Piece has three rights of way running across it and is already connected to local walking routes. One of the rights of way has become over-grown and is no longer usable. If we are successful, we will improve the rights of way as a priority, including reopening the lost route. Depending on what we all decide together, we will probably create new paths through the site and provided it is safe, the whole site will be open for people to enjoy.
We will also do our best to make as much of the site as we can accessible for all, perhaps along part of the top path from Brown’s Piece itself and into part of the site from the bottom path.
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You can get to land at Brown’s Piece from the centre of Wotton, from the corner of Clarence Road and Symn Lane or from the southern end of Water Lane. It is the land on the slope above Bearlands at the end of Water Lane, running up to the edge of the fields next to Blue Coat School grounds. Many local residents know it as Hack Hill.
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Land at Brown’s Piece is 4.5ha or 11 acres. Imagine 4 or 5 football pitches stuck together in a line. On an interesting and complex terraced slope, covered with growing trees and lovely old oaks, with patches of brambles, blackthorn and other vegetation and a beautiful hidden meadow at one end.
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To buy the land, cover the administrative costs, such as legal fees and landowner's insurance, and do the initial essential works, such as tree safety, boundary works, Japanese knotweed eradication, and footpath improvement, it will cost around £175,000.
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We will raise the money via pledges of donations and by submitting applications to local businesses, high net worth individuals, and grant giving organisations. Until we have the whole target we are looking for pledges of funding, which will be drawn down only if we are successful.
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Please pledge a donation via our online form (details are on our website). Please become a member of Wotton Community Land Trust Ltd. It's £1 for life per member and you can apply using the online form on our website. Please spread the word and tell your friends, family, neighbours, local businesses and anyone else you can think of about the campaign. If we are successful then there will be lots of fun work to do on the site! Or just go and visit the site, but please take care and stick to the rights of way. If we are successful, then the whole site will be open to enjoy.
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The best way of stopping anti-social behaviour is to show that the site is well cared for and for more people to frequently use it for legitimate purposes. We have already been talking to local youth groups and schools to get them involved. Some younger people use the site at the moment for what some would feel is anti-social behaviour, but when the land is better managed things will improve. But even if such use continues, provided all who use the space behave reasonably and clear up after themselves then it will probably be OK. If not, we will report matters to our local Police.
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As for lots of places, we would rely on the fact that most people are responsible most of the time. There are council managed bins close to the site. The best way of getting folk to use them is a notice at the entrances saying where they are. Some parts of the site are a real state at the moment, with lots of drinks cans and bottles, so we envisage a major litter pick early on. From then on, we believe that more obvious care, local involvement, and regular working parties will keep on top of the problem.
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The community land trust movement is about community owned affordable housing and also about community owned land for local environmental and social benefit. The main point of them is to provide a vehicle for local community empowerment in what happens to land. WCLT Ltd is about community ownership of land for nature, climate, and local access, not about housing. If you read our rules in detail you will find that there are some references to affordable housing, but this is because we have used the model rules for land trusts. Our objectives set out clearly what we are about, not housing!
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As an organisation we do not have a position on housing development in and of itself. We want land at Brown’s Piece to stay undeveloped and managed for environmental and social benefit, but we do not campaign for or against development in general. We do want our local community to have the power to determine what happens in our local area.
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We have had a Phase 1 Contaminated Land Survey done by Ecologica, generously donated by RJS Limited. This shows that while there were industrial sites close to the land in the relatively recent past none of them were actually on the land, it has been agricultural land for as far back as records go. Therefore, the chances of contamination are remote. Furthermore, if there is any contamination because of the drainage patterns on the land, it is unlikely to cause any problems.
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The asking price was originally £250,000. The price we have offered and had accepted, subject to fund-raising, was informed by a formal Red Data Book valuation and is much less than the initial asking price. Areas of land on the edge of thriving communities like Wotton do tend to go for high prices. That a private individual is also trying to buy the land, in their case for a large new private home, illustrates why such land can be costly.