Call for greater guidance over bids to protect community assets

CAMPAIGNERS ACROSS Yorkshire have been hailed as standing at the forefront of community movements over recent years, as a succession of co-operatives were created across the county.

Figures from The Plunkett Foundation, promoting social enterprise, revealed in 2016 there were 44 community-run pubs, with two more now nearing fruition.

Communities were “fighting back”, chief executive Peter Couchman told The Yorkshire Post, with so many pubs and services being lost across the country.

“Yorkshire has a proud tradition of valuing and saving their local,” he added.

But, following an initial flush of applications, interest does appear to have since waned.

Analysis of 19 available registers for local authorities across Yorkshire has found that there were just 39 bids to create Assets of Community Value last year, compared to 482 since the legislation started to come in five years ago. Last year, the number of bids fell nearly two thirds from a peak in 2015.

There may be many reasons for this, the Campaign for Real Ale said. In 2017, pubs were granted greater protection measures, meaning the organisation itself no longer relies on the legislation.

But the scheme, launched with great fanfare, it said, has seen that initial flush of enthusiasm now wane. More could be done to promote it, while guidance over for both communities and councils lacks clarity.

“As well as the possibilities around bidding, it is now clear that being ACV listed helps facilities if they are threatened by an unwanted planning application – because ACV listing demonstrates that they’re valued by local people,” said Paul Ainsworth, the chairman of Camra’s pub campaigns committee.