Dartington inspires new Land Partnerships Handbook

A new publication was launched on the 3rd January at the Oxford Farming Conference, having in part been inspired by Dartington’s use of land. With the subtitle ‘A new approach – using land to unlock business innovation’, the Land Partnerships Handbook aims to encourage innovation in land use.

The Handbook offers a simple, structured approach to creating collaborative, mutually profitable partnerships between landowners and would-be entrepreneurs. Endorsed by organisations including the National Trust, the CLA and the Tenant Farmers Association, it sets out a five-step process to forming a Land Partnership, summarising the main issues to consider and spelling out what’s involved.

The Land Partnerships initiative has its roots in two practical estate diversification projects, FarmStep in Oxfordshire and LandScope on the Dartington Hall Estate in Devon. These formed the basis for a national conference held at Dartington in 2010, during which the Land Partnerships initiative was established. The Handbook is the first major step in a plan to promote and provide technical support for Land Partnerships.

Dame Fiona Reynolds DBE, Director-General National Trust said
‘We need smart land management that balances social, environmental and economic needs – now and in the future. This Land Partnerships Handbook sets out that approach.’

John Channon, Land Manager at Dartington said

‘For some years now, it has been our practice to offer small parcels of land to rent for innovative or experimental uses to local groups or individuals. Through our Land Use Review this is an area of our work which will grow significantly over the coming years so we very much hope that the Land Partnerships Handbook will be useful to potential tenants and partners in explaining the issues involved / unravelling some of the more complex issues.’

Electronic copies of the Land Partnerships Handbook are available at
http://www.landpartnerships.org

Land Partnerships is itself the product of a strong partnership. Inspired by LandShare CIC and Dartington Hall Trust, the team includes LandWise, Blake Lapthorn Solicitors, National Trust, Fresh Start, Landshare.net, James Copeman and Co and the Ernest Cook Trust.