A NEW West Somerset community organisation to provide affordable homes has been launched in Minehead.
Around 40 people gathered to officially launch the West Somerset Community Land Trust (WSCLT) at the Beach Hotel and hear presentations about affordable and sustainable housing on Tuesday November 1.
“It went very well,” said Maureen Smith, secretary of the interim board, and a founding member of the WSCLT, as well as a current Minehead town councillor and former district councillor.
“We’ve now done all the nuts and bolts of bank accounts, funding for development, and are registered with the Financial Conduct Authority as a company of community benefit.
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“We have been really strongly supported by the district council and Exmoor National Park, and it’s lovely that we are all working closely,” she said.
The launch meeting heard about new ideas in sustainable home build and design in a presentation by architect and TV presenter Piers Taylor, who is working on the regeneration of East Quay in Watchet.
Attendees also heard about the Government’s Home Building Fund, for which the new WSCLT is now working on funding applications, and about the National CLT Network, which is now in almost every part of the country.