The Community Landlord
Fordhall Community Land Initiative
Allowing YOU to OWN Fordhall Farm
"The Fordhall Community Land Initiative reaffirms the relationship between the landscape and the way it shapes the prosperity of rural communities. It seeks to demonstrate that small-scale farming connected to the local community offers a viable way of life for generations to come."
What's it all about?
The Fordhall Community Land Initiative is an industrial and Provident Society with charitable status. It is currently owned by over 8000 shareholders from across the UK and indeed the world. This society owns Fordhall Organic Farm in its entirety.
Charlotte and Ben Hollins are now tenants of the Fordhall Community Land Initiative. Ben lives in the farmhouse and manages the farmland and the livestock. The farm shop is a commercial business run by Ben, from which he pays the rent and derives his income.
Our Legal Structure
The Fordhall Community Land Initiative is a charitable society set-up for community benefit, established by Sophie Hopkins and Charlotte and Ben Hollins in 2005 alongside many other volunteers to save Fordhall Farm from development, Fordhall had been chemical free for over 65 years.
The initiative is incorporated as an Industrial and Provident Society (IPS).
The IPS structure allows shares to be sold to the general public. The shares are completely non-profit making and cannot be traded on the open market. They can be returned to the initiative or passed down in a Will, but cannot be traded. This makes our society safe and secure to carry out the aims and objectives it was created to do so.
The society has the following aims:
- To ensure permanently affordable access to the farm for farmers and the community
- To advance education and provide facilities for recreation and other leisure time occupation in the interests of social welfare for the inhabitants of Market Drayton and the wider community, in organic farming methods, conservation, biodiversity, health, access, country life, heritage, wildlife and related subjects with the object of improving the conditions of life for the said inhabitants.
- To ensure farmland is managed sustainably for community benefit with the appropriate management for access, and to research sustainable farming through community land trusteeship, public involvement and other methods.
The full society rules can be downloaded by following the link here
A booklet has also been written by Charlotte Hollins highlighting all the key points of the campaign. This is great if you are thinking of doing something similar yourselves and don't know where to start!
CLICK HERE for the 'How to set up a community owned farm' booklet
