Community Right to Buy Update : Prohibition on sale served

Campaign update #11

Hi there! This is the latest from the campaign for the community ownership of the bowling green on Randolph road. This newsletter went out to over 630 local residents. If this newsletter was forwarded on, you can sign up here:

A Heartfelt Thank You for Your Support

We extend our deepest gratitude to everyone who has supported our cause to date. Your overwhelming support resulted in nearly 600 signatures collected during the Community right to buy campaign, completely blowing our target out of the water. Each signature was meticulously verified against the electoral roll, and we completed the campaign with 526 valid signatures. This represents a remarkable 20.14% of our community's electors. Your signatures will serve to demonstrate to Scottish Ministers that our community strongly supports our endeavours.

Naseby Park Family Fun Day: A Resounding Success

We'd like to express our sincere thanks to everyone who joined us for the Naseby Park Family Fun Day. A special shout-out goes to our friends at Broomhill Out of School Care Association (BOSCA) for their enthusiastic participation, making it a memorable highlight of the summer. Stay tuned for more exciting events this autumn as we move forward with consultations based on the results of our options appraisal. (Mark your calendars for the Friends of Naseby Park's AGM on Thursday, 28th of September at Broomhill Primary School, starting at 7 pm.)

As a side note, the feedback from our recent consultation highlighted the strong desire for a community garden. We were equally thrilled to see the interest in establishing a zero-waste tool library/library of things. Our consultants have now completed their feasibility plan, and we'll be reaching out to you, our community, this autumn to share the results. Keep an eye out for our future emails with more details.

Exciting News: Community Right to Buy Application

We are delighted to announce that we've submitted an application to register our interest in the Jordanhill Bowling Club under the Community Right to Buy (CRTB). The CRTB empowers communities to take ownership of assets that matter most to them. Our application was submitted as a ‘late’ application in the process in the process, this is because the trustees of the JBC had already taken steps to sell the club, as indeed they did in 2021. There are substantial issues in the legislation about being a late application and want to be upfront about the challenges this poses. The legislation places a greater emphasis on demonstrating the community benefit and the potential harm in case of non-approval. Naturally, Scottish Ministers do not want to be meddling in the land market where they can avoid it.

We're confident that our application is robust and we have made credible arguments answering why Ministers should intervene in our case. We have been informed today that the JBC trustees should received in the post today a prohibition of sale notice on the site while our application undergoes evaluation. They will have 21 days to respond formally, and we will have the same duration to counter-respond. For an in-depth guide on CRTB, please refer to the roadmap in this link. That said it is not guaranteed to be accepted and there is risk that Scottish Ministers will not approve our registration for the site.

The Registration Process in a Nutshell

We've taken a significant step by submitting our interest in the Jordanhill Bowling Club under the Community Right to Buy. Here's a quick overview of the process: First, we submitted our application, and Scottish Ministers initiated the registration process. They have invited the landowner and any creditors to share their views and placed restrictions on land transactions. Following this, there's a 21-day response period for the landowner and creditors. If comments are received, we'll have 21 days to respond. Then, Scottish Ministers will take up to 63 days to decide whether to register our interest. It's a crucial stage. Once registered, our interest will remain in effect for five years. If there are any disputes or appeals, they can be made within specified timeframes. We're on a path to secure community ownership, and this process is a significant part of our journey. If we are successful we will need to begin fundraising to purchase the site. The good news is that 95% of the valuation of the site would be funded by the Scottish Land Fund via a stage 2 application. But we would still need to raise some funds (<10K) from the local community.

Join Us: Broomhill Community Hub Trust

We invite each and every one of you to become a member of the Broomhill Community Hub Trust, and the best part is, it's absolutely free. We're actively searching for new directors, and if you possess experience in organisational leadership, we'd love to hear from you. As we aim to achieve gender balance on our board, your involvement is especially valuable in helping us shape the future of our community. Thank you for being an essential part of our journey towards a thriving Broomhill community. Together, we can make remarkable changes!