The Steering Group are meeting monthly and making good progress. So far, they have:-

• Successfully applied to the National CLT Network for Set Up funding of £4000. This is to cover legal incorporation, community engagement, feasibility study of potential site and business plan development.
• Set up a bank account for the CLT.
• Agreed on the legal form being a Community Benefits Society and agreed, following the last meeting, to proceed with the legal incorporation using the National CLT Network Non-Charitable model rules. The non-charitable status gives a little more flexibility and that it does not have to report to the Charities Commission. Using the model rules means that no legal assistance is required at this stage.
• Published an article updating residents about the CLT and enclosing an Expression of Interest form. We have received a small number of responses so far.

At the last meeting we agreed to appoint Action in Rural Sussex (AiRS) to undertake a Housing Needs Survey for Aldingbourne, Eastergate and Barnham parishes for a fee of £7621.34, provided that funding can be obtained from Arun District Council to cover this. AiRS are currently seeking the funding on our behalf. This will include a postal 8 page survey to every household in the 3 parishes and is scheduled to happen early 2019.

We have booked the evening of 11th February at Eastergate Parish Hall at 7.45pm for our next public meeting, so that we can inform residents of our progress and seek further recruits to join the Steering Group, particularly any from Barnham and Eastergate parishes. We are currently investigating options for appointing someone to assist with community engagement, particularly through social media. In the meantime, there is a link to information about the CLT on the Aldingbourne Parish website.

We have started and scheduled a series of meetings (over the next few months) with a number of Housing Associations who may be interested in partnering with us on our first project.

We are currently monitoring two potential planning applications where the CLT could possibly work in partnership with a Housing Association to take some of the affordable dwellings provided through developer funding. We have made contact with both agents and are waiting for further news from them with a view to meeting when and if things progress.

Our current focus is to become legally incorporated and complete our series of meetings with Housing Associations. Shortly, we will start an assessment of further sites to see if this brings forwards any opportunities. www.aldingbourne-pc.gov.uk