The Old Post Office (TOPO)

Join the discussion here

Listen to a very good Kingston Green Radio discussion on the project here.

"Part 5 Chapter 3 of the Localism Act 2011 provides for a scheme called ‘assets of community value’. Part of the Government’s community empowerment agenda, it requires a local council to maintain a list of ‘community assets’. Nominations for community assets can be made by parish councils or by groups with a connection with the community. Individuals cannot nominate community assets. If the nomination is accepted, the group will be given time to come up with a bid for the asset when it is sold. The right to bid only applies when an asset’s owner decides to dispose of it. There is no compulsion on the owner of that asset to sell it. The scheme does not give first refusal to the community group, unlike the equivalent scheme in Scotland; and it is not a community right to buy the asset, just to bid. This means that in some instances the local community bid may not be the successful one."

"The new Community Right to Bid will come into force in autumn 2012. It aims to keep valued land and buildings in community use by giving local people the chance to bid to buy them, if and when they come onto the market. Once in place, you will have the opportunity to nominate public and private land and buildings to be part of a register of ‘assets of community value’. If something on this register is offered for sale, the Right is triggered. You will then have up to six months to prepare a bid and compete to buy it. In the meantime, you can contact us through the advice service to access support about acquiring assets of community value, and apply for grants to build your capacity to prepare a bid to buy land and buildings of community value."

The Homes and Communities Agency "is committed to supporting communities to deliver their own local housing and regeneration solutions. The HCA can support these bodies and schemes through our enabling role, and in some circumstances through our funding and land programmes..."

The Community Organisers programme will create a new home-grown movement of community organising for the 21st century.

Works to promote, develop and unite co-operative enterprises.

Developing and supporting organisations so they can deliver better services to the local community, particularly those that are disadvantaged

A Plain English Guide to the Act published by the Department for Local Communities and Government.

The UK's leading network for community-led organisations

Introduces public & private sector owners of land and buildings to social entrepreneurs with ideas for transforming their local area.

A network of co-operatives working for social change.

We bring finance, knowledge and expertise to help civil society organisations thrive – improving their infrastructure, increasing their capacity, helping them win public service contracts

The Communitybuilders Fund invests in organisations that help bring local people together.

Three part series from specialists at Co-operatives UK

...for a social enterprise: "Got a great idea but don't know how to get it off the ground? Getting funding for a new social or non for profit enterprise can be difficult but new ways are emerging that can help budding entrepreneurs. Add your ideas to this guide."

Restore historic places into active and relevant community assets.

"There's more to life (and to our ailing high streets) than shopping. Whatever the reasons for the demise of HMV and others, Britain's shopping habits are now so radically altered that shoppers, councils and businesses need to rethink the whole purpose of our high streets..." A useful summary of much recent comment on the changing face of the high streest in The Observer, 20/1/12.

Reports and presentations from Kingston University conference on "The Future of Town Centres: Death or Evolution?" on 10 September 2012.

'What happens when local authorities ask “what if the economic situation doesn’t get better?” by Fiona Ward of Transition Network’s REconomy Project.

Kingston revamped its website recently (summer 2013) so the best way to find relevant Council info (such as K+20, the Area Action Plan for Kingston Town Centre adopted by Council in July 2008 which provided the framework for future development, or the planning brief and conditions for the Post Office site)is to search for it at http://www.kingston.gov.uk/

Where England Began - the ASK plans are well ahead of TOPO, but with a rather different focus, so TOPO's plans would be complementary, not competition.

A collection of visions for Kingston collected at a TTK public event at All Saints Kingston in 2009.

Community share offer to purchase the The Old Cardigan Police Station and Court House. Another opportunity for local people to shape the future of Cardigan town.

The Future of Town Centres: Death or Evolution, conference at Kingston University, September 2012 - presentations and delegate list

Nice example of new use for an old building in The Observer of 15/7/12.

Co-op social enterprise / meeting place / veggie restaurant.

'Stories.coop is the world’s first global, digital campaign to spread the benefits of cooperation through the tradition of story-telling.Stories connect people through the power of words and the power of pictures. Stories tell the facts and they connect to our emotions, so your story of cooperation can make a lasting impact. Stories.coop delivers the UN’s message “Cooperative enterprises build a better world” to the global public in International Year of Cooperatives 2012.'

"CREATIVE YOUTH is a charity born from The International Youth Arts Festival (IYAF) which was established in 2008 with the ambition to create a festival of national importance, showcasing youth arts (5-26yrs) of the highest quality. In just over three years, we have made considerable strides in achieving this goal. In late 2010, the charity changed its name to reflect the year-long programme of work we now undertake, culminating and celebrated in the annual International Youth Arts Festival."

A local anti-waste campaign, particularly anti plastic waste. We'd love to see TOPO as a base for environmental information and exchange.

KEC would like a new home in the centre of Kingston, where passers-by could drop in and find out about environmental activities in Kingston.

RISE

Links to historic news items

2010 news item: "A £500m bid to make Kingston’s retail quarter rival the West End with a revamp has collapsed at the 11th hour. Developer Hammerson had promised to rejuvenate Eden Quarter and turn it into a big draw for shoppers, with 3,000 jobs promised and a boost for the local economy. But the seven-year negotiations fell through at a meeting behind closed doors on September 29 after last-minute disagreements over the size of the redevelopment. Kingston Council had wanted a new two-level shopping street, the pedestrianisation of Eden Street, 250 new homes and a public square, car park and bus station. But talks floundered when Hammerson cut the area it would develop by 60 per cent..."