SIR — The lead story in last week's Free Press highlighted the desperate need for really affordable housing in West Somerset, the lack of which is driving our young people away from the district. It is evident that the market does not provide sufficient affordable housing and other means have to be considered. Nationally, there is a growing movement to establish Community Land Trusts to provide permanently affordable housing to people in their local areas. Following initial research and investigation, which was funded by Forum 21, a group formed by Transition Minehead and Alcombe has joined the National Community Land Trust Network as a Start Up and received a grant from them to run a workshop to assess the feasibility of a West Somerset Land Trust. The proposed mission statement is: "WSCLT will provide genuinely low cost housing for people who live in the district of West Somerset by building or refurbishing a supply of high standard, sustainable homes, to Passive House Standard or similar, which will be appropriate to the area and in which the local community will maintain a permanent stake." If this is of interest to your readers, the group can be contacted on Facebook (West Somerset Community Land Trust), by email at [email protected]">[email protected] or by calling 01643 709478 for more information. Maureen Smith, Transition Minehead and Alcombe.
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