Demographic Survey #1 Feb 2020

In September 2019, Chorlton CLT was one of sixteen community land trusts to be awarded a share of £329,000 to strengthen their membership base and be champions of inclusivity, equality and diversity.

Polly Adams-Felton, Project Manager at the National CLT Network, said:

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Ryebank Fields Update

Chorlton CLT has been invited, along with other community groups, to make written representations about Ryebank Fields to landowner MMU’s Board of Governors which meets in March.  We have decided not to write in at this point.  We don’t want our position to interpreted as simply being “pro development” and in opposition to groups who don’t want any development at all.  If these groups are successful in convincing MMU not to sell the land the CLT will be happy to accept this position.

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Great News. We’ve been given a Lifeline by The Co-op

We are delighted by The Co-op’s decision, communicated this week, to give us 6 months to develop our bid and ensure that we can meet their requirements.  This includes working alongside a commercial partner, paying £2.2m for the building and ensuring that the redevelopment benefits the community.  Come to our public meeting on Thursday 30th at 7.00pm at Oswald Road Primary School to help plan the next steps. Our press release is below.

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A Sad Tale of a Community Led Development and Frustrated Plans to Revitalise a High Street

Here’s the full story of our bid to save the former Gaumont Cinema for the community. Come to our public meeting on 30th January 2020 at Oswald Rd School to find out next steps.

We have a large former cinema building in the heart of our high street in Chorlton. It has sat there for 100 years and still has plenty of life left in it. It is structurally sound; the roof is in good nick and it retains many of its original art deco features. This is Chorlton in Manchester, the home of the Co-operative Group and where the movement was founded. What was the Gaumont Cinema has been operating as a Co-op Funeralcare outlet for the last 40 years.

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Stayin’ Alive – Co-op rejects community-led bid

Dear Supporters,

It is with great disappointment that I am writing to let everyone who supported the Stayin’ Alive campaign know that the Co-op has rejected our community-led bid to save the old picture house in Chorlton.

Representatives of Chorlton Community Land Trust met with the Co-op this week. We were told that their Board has decided to sell the building and land to Churchill Retirement Living, a developer of private retirement flats. I’m sure many will have no objection in principle to more homes for older people in Chorlton, but surely not at the expense of a historic building with such huge potential to revitalise our neighbourhood.

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Ryebank Fields: To Build or not to Build?

Ryebank Fields are a part of my life. For the last decade, I have run, picked blackberries, played with my son and walked my dog there. I have watched as the oaks have grown and the aspen grove has spread. Arriving today to find brambles cleared, a new steel gate, men in high vis jackets and geotechnical survey rigs at work was a shock and, I have to admit, felt like a violation. So why have I not opposed development on the site?

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Conversations Autumn 2019

Chorlton Community Land Trust delivered 7 conversation workshops for members between September and November 2019. All took place in Chorlton Library on a range of days and times. 37 people attended across all the sessions and their contributions were much appreciated. These are the notes of those discussions.

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Stayin’ Alive – Thank You to all our supporters!

A huge thank you to each and every one of our fantastic supporters.

Image: Editional Studio

We made it to £360k by Sunday evening and secured support from over 1,100 investors in just 18 days. We received some large £1,000 plus pledges, a lot of pledges around the £50 mark and a large number of smaller pledges under £100. Most of the money has come from UK supporters especially locally from around South Manchester, but we also received support from Australia, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Isle of Man, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, Thailand, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates and the United States.

We took our proposal to the team at Co-operative HQ in Manchester on Monday morning. They received our proposal with a great deal of interest. We have given them something to really think about and the decision is now going up to the Co-op Board for consideration. This is entirely down to the support we have been able to generate through the media.

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