Community ownership: case studies

Kilfinan Community Forest

Asset: Acharachan Forest, 1067 acres purchased from the Forestry Commission in 2010 and 2015 

Website: http://www.kilfinancommunityforest.com/

Contact: Nikki Brown, Director – nikki@kilfinancommunityforest.com

Scottish Land Fund Grant: £750,000

https://youtu.be/WayhsspPMH8

Current projects and activities:

• Sawmill operation providing rough sawn and planed timber to the local community and beyond
• Community allotments managed by Kyles Allotment Group
• Timber harvesting operation delivering vital investment income 
• Community activities, events and volunteering
• Workshop rental to local woodworkers and craftsmen
• Development of a forest playground
• Three woodland crofts now registered and in development
• New ‘hot tunnel’ to be built to grow out of season produce utilising sawmill waste as an innovative heating system
• Aspirations of woodland burials, event space and camping area
• Affordable housing plots
• Summer Forest School
• multi purpose facility funded by HIE and the Climate Challenge Fun, intended to be used as a space for training, community events and a forest nursery 
• Youth forest skills development programme
• Path improvement and promotion of walking routes
• Forest hydro-electric scheme – generates revenue 
• Local woodfuel sales and delivery service
• Community composting facility

Main successes so far,

• Now a sustainable community enterprise which employs staff and supports a wide range of community activities;
• Established a successful volunteering programme which involves diverse groups of people from all corners of the community; includes workshops and training events which enhance people’s skills and encourage new hobbies.
• Became the first community organisation to successfully complete two community buyouts via the National Forest Land Scheme and the Scottish Land Fund;
• Has now registered three woodland crofts, with crofting families living locally and starting to develop their crofts. 
• Now a producer of renewable energy, having installed a 70kW micro-hydro scheme using in-house expertise to keep installation costs down. 
• Has supported five annual youth skills development programmes, giving young people useful skills for their personal development; 
• Award winning enterprise, having won Scotland’s Finest Woods Awards twice, been shortlisted for Social Enterprise of the Year, and won various other accolades, including an award for supporting volunteers.

Challenges

• Cash flow is often tight and good financial discipline is required to manage the finances effectively and ensure that several months of cash reserves for salaries can be maintained. 
• Lack of succession planning to replace key staff / Board members.
• West Coast weather when trying to complete building projects!
• Getting the community onside.
• Difficulty in assigning operational duties to non-revenue generating activity, e.g. amenity improvements.
• Small team of staff managing multi-faceted business; limited time/resources to complete projects and develop new initiatives.

Advice for other groups looking to buy land?    

• Develop a good feasibility study, business plan and community consultation (seek external consultancy where necessary), which reflect the aspirations of the community; the outcome must be focused and realistic goals to work towards. There is no use producing aspirational documents if the resources aren’t there to deliver; think about your community, where the gaps are, and where skills and expertise exist to make a difference. 
• Develop and maintain a five year development plan so you know you are on track to reaching your goals.
• Seek diverse skillsets from within the community to form your volunteer board – e.g. HR, finance, operations, fundraising. Encourage your board members to focus on different areas of the enterprise, but remember that a board member must have an ability to see the overall picture.
• Look to raise funding for a development post from the outset – with the best will in the world, you cannot rely on volunteer boards to manage the day to day of a community enterprise. 
• Communicate with your community on a regular basis (e.g. via newsletters/ social media), and encourage people to join your membership – good community backing is vital. Also request a pledge of support from your local community council and development trust (if there is one). Ensure your goals are closely in line with theirs.
• Don’t spread yourself too thin – focus on key activities which fulfil your social goals, and put everything else on the backburner.