Emma Foody MP
*The Assets of Community Value (Sports Facilities) Bill – Second Reading due on 11th July
In towns and villages across the country, vital sporting facilities have slowly disappeared. Hundreds of swimming pools, leisure centres and sports clubs have shut their doors, meaning people – especially those living in rural areas – have to travel miles away from home for access to basic leisure facilities, or risk missing out altogether.
These sporting facilities are more than just places to keep fit and healthy. They’re also shared community spaces, places where people can meet and spend time together, build a shared local identity. At a time when people feel more disconnected than ever, these spaces are even more critical.
And so we have to find a way forward that protects these assets, and safeguard them for the future. Labour Coast & Country has rightly emphasised the importance of Labour’s Take Back Control agenda, the devolution powers that allow communities to drive decisions impacting the places they call home. Community ownership gives people the opportunity to save the local assets they value most, bring them into community hands and run them in the interests of locals.
There are already many community-owned sporting facilities of all kinds, not just managing to survive, but thriving because they are uniquely attuned to the needs and wants of local people.
Labour has already committed to introducing a new Community Right to Buy, which will give communities a much better chance at ownership when these assets are available, giving them first right of refusal. For assets to be eligible for this right, they will need to be listed as Assets of Community Value. It’s an important process which allows local councils to identify the assets that matter to the wellbeing of the community, but it can also be complex, inconsistent and time-consuming for groups of volunteers, especially in parts of the country where there aren’t necessarily huge pools of expertise.
That’s why last month I introduced a Bill* to Parliament which speeds up this process for our vital sporting assets. It would ensure that sporting facilities are automatically eligible for community ownership, so that communities face far fewer hurdles in trying to save and own sporting assets. It’s vital we make community ownership as accessible as possible, to all parts of the country, and this Bill is one step in the right direction.
There is so much more we can do to put real power in the hands of local communities. Local places made up of local assets owned by local people – this can be our vision for reshaping communities that are better, stronger and stand the test of time.
Emma Foody is MP for Cramlington and Killingworth, situated across the boundary of Northumberland and Tyne & Wear.
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Included below are some of the resources that can help you secure a local asset in your community:
- How do I make this work in my community? Get your local assets registered as ‘Assets of Community Value’ already. The Co-operative Party has an excellent resource and an offer to help you with preparing a website to promote your campaign locally, have a look at https://party.coop/2020/05/28/four-steps-to-listing-the-places-that-make-your-community-special/
- I want to help you change the law to make this whole process easier, how? Again the Co-operative Party to the rescue! You can watch (and share) their video and sign their petition in support of Emma’s campaign here: https://party.coop/campaign/local-ownership. There’s even a sample motion you can get your local Labour or Co-op party to support!
- Community, Parish, and Town councils can also get involved. Get your local council to start working on what their vision is for their community in the next 25 or 50 years – what assets need to be protected or nurtured? What is the community missing? Clarity on these topics feeds directly into Neighbourhood plans and are excellent “Demand” lists to give to any local developers and help focus Section 106 (and similar) funds on what your community actually needs.
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