Frequently Asked Questions

The land  was for sale from a family in Berkeley via the agents Bruton Knowles, Gloucester.  Now the sale is completed, the land is owned by Wotton Community Land Trust Ltd.

WCLT have contracted Japanese Knotweed Ltd and you may see their operatives around from April as the first job is to come in and cut back last years canes (which are now dead). This has to be done before this years growth (which has already started) gets too tall. Once the plant is well grown in the summer they will come back and spray at least once and possible twice. This will then be repeated next year and possibly the following year. They will then keep a watching brief on the plant for the next eight years and treat as necessary

It is about access on foot for informal recreation. Brown’s Piece has three rights of way running across it and is already connected to local walking routes. One of the rights of way has become over-grown and is no longer usable. We are improving the rights of way as a priority, including reopening the lost route. Depending on what we all decide together, we will probably create new paths through the site and provided it is safe, much of site will be open for people to enjoy.

We will also do our best to make as much of the site as we can accessible for all, perhaps along part of the top path from Brown’s Piece itself and into part of the site from the bottom path.

You can get to land at Brown’s Piece from the centre of Wotton, from the corner of Clarence Road and Symn Lane or from the southern end of Water Lane. It is the land on the slope above Bearlands at the end of Water Lane, running up to the edge of the fields next to Blue Coat School grounds.

Land at Brown’s Piece is 4.5ha or 11 acres. Imagine 4 or 5 football pitches stuck together in a line. On an interesting and complex terraced slope, covered with growing trees and lovely old oaks, with patches of brambles, blackthorn and other vegetation and a beautiful hidden meadow at one end.

To buy the land, cover the administrative costs, such as legal fees and landowner's insurance, and do the initial essential works, such as tree safety, boundary works, Japanese knotweed eradication, and footpath improvement will cost around £200,000.

Please make a donation via our online form (details are on our website). If you would like to make a regular donation please become a Friend of Brown’s piece.

You can also become a member of Wotton Community Land Trust Ltd. It's £1 for life per member and you can apply using the online form on our website.

We welcome volunteers and hold regular working parties at brown’s Piece.

You can sign up to any of these be visiting the Get Involved section of our website.

The best way of stopping anti-social behaviour is to show that the site is well cared for and for more people to frequently use it for legitimate purposes. We have already been talking to local youth groups and schools to get them involved. Some younger people use the site at the moment for what some would feel is anti-social behaviour, but when the land is better managed things will improve. But even if such use continues, provided all who use the space behave reasonably and clear up after themselves then it will probably be OK. If not, we will report matters to our local Police.

As for lots of places, we would rely on the fact that most people are responsible most of the time. There are council managed bins close to the site. The best way of getting folk to use them is a notice at the entrances saying where they are. Some parts of the site are a real state at the moment, with lots of drinks cans and bottles, so we envisage a major litter pick early on. From then on, we believe that more obvious care, local involvement, and regular working parties will keep on top of the problem.

The community land trust movement is about community owned affordable housing and also about community owned land for local environmental and social benefit. The main point of them is to provide a vehicle for local community empowerment in what happens to land. WCLT Ltd is about community ownership of land for nature, climate, and local access, not about housing. If you read our rules in detail you will find that there are some references to affordable housing, but this is because we have used the model rules for land trusts. Our objectives set out clearly what we are about, not housing!

As an organisation we do not have a position on housing development in and of itself. We want land at Brown’s Piece to stay undeveloped and managed for environmental and social benefit, but we do not campaign for or against development in general. We do want our local community to have the power to determine what happens in our local area.

We have had a Phase 1 Contaminated Land Survey done by Ecologica, generously donated by RJS Limited. This shows that while there were industrial sites close to the land in the relatively recent past none of them were actually on the land, it has been agricultural land for as far back as records go. Therefore, the chances of contamination are remote. Furthermore, if there is any contamination because of the drainage patterns on the land, it is unlikely to cause any problems.

The asking price was originally £250,000. The price we paid was informed by a formal Red Data Book valuation and is less than the initial asking price. Areas of land on the edge of thriving communities like Wotton do tend to go for high prices. That a private individual also tried to buy the land, in their case for a large new private home, illustrates why such land can be costly.

Gift Aid is a government scheme that allows us to reclaim the basic rate tax you pay as a UK taxpayer.  It means that we can claim 25p of tax for every £1 you donate at no extra cost to you.  We will only claim Gift Aid once we are successful.

Donations will be held in WCLT Ltd’s business bank account and ring fenced for the purpose of the donation, all activities being to benefit wildlife, the environment and the local community.  When making a donation via online transfer (our preferred method), the bank will check the account details so that you know the account is genuine.  Our accounts are audited each year and reported to the Annual General Meeting.

The loan was made by an anonymous local benefactor to enable us to purchase land at Browns Piece.  It is interest free for a multi-year term with favourable conditions for us backed by a legal agreement made with advice from our solicitor.  We do have to pay off the loan so we will be fund-raising for that over the coming years along with raising money for management of the site, which we believe we can achieve.  At the Annual General Meeting in 2024 we received a strong mandate from our members to pursue the purchase of the land by creative means, including, for example, by taking out a loan with interest.  The loan we have received is within that mandate. 

This is a common feature of land sale where development may be an option.  It means that if planning consent were granted for anything other than private equestrian or agricultural use within 25 years the vendors will benefit at 25% of the enhanced value.  The objectives of WCLT Ltd are clearly set out to protect the area for nature and wildlife as a community asset.  Therefore there can be no development of the land by WCLT Ltd and so the overage clause is not a concern.  But it does demonstrate that any alternative buyer would probably try for development.

We continue to keep on raising funds to cover our costs for as long as we own the land, which will be in perpetuity.  Much of the practical work is done by volunteers.  We raise money through grants, local fund-raising campaigns including setting up some way for people to provide regular support, business sponsorship and other business opportunities consistent with our aims, such as corporate training days or produce sales.