Don’t Extract, Redistribute! How to Co-Own Your Local Economy
An extraordinary campaign by local residents and supporters, which led to Coin Street’s purchase and redevelopment of a 13-acre site on the southbank of the Thames. Group Director Iain Tuckett opened up the history of Coin Street at ‘Don’t Extract, Redistribute!’.
Don’t Extract, Redistribute! How to Co-Own Your Local Economy
1st and 2nd June 2023
Too often the economy is seen as something over which we have no control. Yet around the UK communities are creating the kind of local economies that will make and sustain the places they care about.
We set up ‘Don’t Extract, Redistribute! How to Co-Own Your Local Economy’ to hear the stories of community-led initiatives – both long established and newer – and engage with policy leaders’ and funders’ perspectives on the next directions for economies that create the homes and neighbourhoods we need and build community wealth.
The event was made up of three separate sessions – and the questions raised found deeper and lateral connections as the three sessions progressed. Thanks to all the speakers and everyone who came.
Below a short overview of the talks, followed by some personal reflections from people who took part.
40 years of Coin Street, the London community group with a commercial head and social heart , 1st June, 7.30-8.45
Slides from Iain Tuckett’s presentation showing how Coin Street have created a redistributive economy and advice for ‘building communities from the inside out’.
Coin Street Group Director, Iain Tuckett, kicked off the event with lessons to be learned from creating a thriving and inclusive community on London’s South Bank. In particular Iain focused on how embracing commercial opportunities has provided funding to transform the area into a wonderful place to live, work and play.
From the perspective of YoCo (in the early days of our work as we are) we noted some of the approaches Coin Street used in their early days. The most crucial step in the early formation of Coin Street was preparing their own scheme – creating a positive vision rather than simply objecting to others’ proposals. In terms of building the economic model they used meanwhile projects to cheaply test ideas at Gabriel’s Wharf which has led to the complex, redistributive economic design of Coin Street today. They also built deep community relationships by running festivals as a way of initially bringing people in – but then pivoted to doing longer term community-based work as the local population grew. Coin Street has also created an inspiring redistributive economic model in a very expensive city, making money from commercial enterprise and spending it on housing and community.
Local Economic Co-Ownership In Practice, 2nd June, 10.30-11.45
Calder Valley Community Land Trust both focus on community-led affordable housing and hold land and buildings for the community.
Paul Brannigan, Executive Manager, Calder Valley Community Land Trust told a compelling story of how responding to local opportunities has pieced together an economic model that is addressing systemic housing inequality.
In terms of how they are structured, Calder Valley Community Land Trust has a large membership (300+), 13 trustees and an advisory panel of 10. They also hold regular public meetings (quarterly) to maintain open discussion with public – under the title: Housing – It’s an Issue! Paul described an improvisatory approach, taking up opportunities as they arose and carefully balancing local funding (via community share issues and taking up local offers) with national funding.
Rhoda Meek, Founder/Director, Isle Develop CIC, Tiree focused how to co-own a local economy heavily shaped by tourism and second homes. Rhoda opened up the complexity in the Tiree local economy. Returning buildings to housing for local people who need them has knock on impacts in terms of reducing the availability of facilities for tourism – there is pressure both ways. Isle Develop CIC takes an experimental approach loop continuously around Build Measure Learn, as a way of creating rapid responses and quick adjustments.
Paul Oster, Mayday Saxonvale based in Frome talked about the pragmatics of bringing forward a new community-led development model that puts the community in the driving seat. Paul emphasised the importance of enabling a ‘weekday economy’ – the ongoing generation of money by providing for a mixed neighbourhood where people come to work. Paul drew attention to the importance of establishing a joint venture with Stories as their preferred development partner which brings credibility and expertise. They are creating funding via a community bond with a substantial return – expected to be around 5%.
Natasha Almond, Good Organisation, York talked about the different approaches they have taken to how tourism wealth can be captured and redistributed in a heritage city. This has included supporting people who have experienced street homeless to create tours for tourists on topics that matter to them. Natasha also spoke about recent work on the underlying system failures that cause the city’s spiralling housing inequality, not least the economics of land and property ownership in the city – and just how untransparent ownership is.
Policy perspectives: Next directions for Local Economics, 2nd June, 12-1.15
Angie Doran, Head of the Self Commissioned Homes Unit, Homes England on how self-commissioned and community-led approaches to housing in mixed-used developments can support community wealth building. Angie set out the many benefits of community-led housing – including creating YIMBYs (Yes, in my backyard!) by giving communities the ability to shape and get benefits from development. The Self Commissioned Homes Unit has a wide brief and holds a government mandate to ‘look more broadly to all forms of self-commissioned homes encompassing self-build, custom build and community led housing’.
Danielle Walker, Friends Provident Foundation explored their 4D Economy Model and how decentralised, democratised, decolonised and decarbonised approaches can enable a fair and sustainable economy, both showing what the 4D model has offered and being honest about possible limitations. Danielle talked about the links between creating a vision for a better future world, and shaping enabling finance and governance. Part of this is noting the systemic blocks to change. “When you are powerful it’s hard to stop being powerful”. Organisations, and individual people, can find change hard even if they want to change because of enduring structures and relationships.
Leah Millthorne, Head of Local Economies, Centre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES) argued for the role of public anchor institutions in building community wealth. For CLES community wealth building has a number of key levers, a key level being public anchor institutions using their procurement power to enable local business and to keep that money local.
Reflections on the event:
Following the event we called out for reflections: What struck you? What would you like to take forward from the event?
Phil Bixby, YoCo:
· Different approaches work – from CVCLT’s pragmatic, responsive approach which explores opportunities and takes them up where feasible, based upon a broad principle of community benefit – through to Mayday Saxonvale’s very strategic approach.
· Local economy is key in all – and it’s clear that community wealth building can be much more than relying on anchor institutions.
· An interesting question in among all this is “where does democracy sit?” – Coin Street and Mayday Saxonvale are both projects where a community went head to head with a “democratically elected” council. We need to be able to see where connections actually are, in order to allow for local action, creativity and engagement without effort being wasted in conflict.
Chris Bailey, YoCo:
Pointing your (radio) telescope at the sky gives you all history in one image - from just after the Big Bang to almost right now. So it was with these three skilfully managed sessions. Coin Street, on the south bank of the Thames, after about 40 years, looks like an origin story for community-built neighbourhoods in the UK, while the Good Organisation, and its aim to capture value from the visitor economy, is a bright young star. Over three sessions speakers gave pin-sharp examples of some things that have worked. Values we should insist on are, for instance, that communities – people – create value, that culture need not be brought – or bought – in and that working with is usually better than working against. Above all, it was inspiring to find that Coin Street, despite its age, is still young - and rebellious - at heart!
Stephan Price, University of Exeter:
It was great to hear more about the inside story of a number of great and absolutely essential projects. But I was surprised to see what seems like a disconnect between those approaching local economies as community work (who were represented at this event) and those who approach local economies as economic systems (who were not represented). Yet there are strong synergies between CICs, community land trusts or community benefits societies that raise funds and intervene to support local housing and businesses, and local economic systems such as local currencies, payment platforms, mutual credit, credit clearing and use/energy credit obligations. I would like to work on drawing these together and would welcome collaborative contacts from anyone who attended this event!
Helen Graham, YoCo:
The event – on the panels and off – was composed of a band of transformative utopian-pragmatists, ideas-into-practicers, idealistic know-howers. More than anything else the event showed what can be made to happen when you start from where you are, always in less-than-ideal circumstances and without any waiting around for the big state fix (…though, of course, some legal/policy fixes might also be helpful…). It made me think of how experimental activity – and actually achieving things – also drives new stories, political theories and emotional arcs. It made me think how these new stories, theories and arcs are also reforming ideas of legitimacy, a newer non-normative legitimacy forged in a pragmatically-ethical carefully-made possible.