Nick Sherwood is the chair of Hereford Community Land Trust. The CLT came together after Hereford Council announced a massive housing project to increase the housing capacity in Herefordshire. The CLT has latched on to one aspect of that and it is aiming to establish a model development as a stepping stone to show that things can be done differently.
I like to be part of progressive movements and this seems to be a progressive movement that’s about to flourish. Where else would you want to be?
What’s your name?
My name is Nick Sherwood. I’m an environmental professional and these days I work in the voluntary sector in Hereford. I’ve lived just outside Hereford for 35 years. It’s very rural, it’s a backwater. It has all the advantages and disadvantages of that kind of place. It has some very interesting people, it’s very beautiful, but it can feel like it’s a very long way away from elsewhere.
When did you decide to get involved with CLTs?
This is something that developed for me personally over quite a long time. Eighteen months ago there was an initiative to bring volume house building to Hereford in order to satisfy tenures of requirements. I went along to some of the public consultations and became interested in what I heard because it sounded like there was some room for optimism, but only if we got involved.
Before that I’d already moved into a sustainable housing, which from my environmental background was important to me. Then I saw the opportunities that could come from this kind of living. I got in touch with a couple of other people and saw that if we put our shoulders to the wheel, something useful could happen.
What’s been your proudest moment so far?
We don’t have any major achievements so far but we have had a series of positive meetings with people. It’s finding that door after door after door have been opened to us and none have been closed, and that certainly makes me feel good, because there has been a long lead up to this point.
And the hardest?
We’re aware that we see potential where others see dangers and risks. That remains the hardest thing to bridge between the potential that we’re grasping onto and recognizing with sincerity and humility that there are people who are not going to see any changes for quite some time.
I don’t live next to the development site, I live 10 miles away. So we need to be sensitive to other people’s concerns and bring the community with all of its people along with us, recognizing there are always early and late adopters.
What keeps you going?
First of all, the sense on a personal level that there is an accumulation of knowledge and skills that I’ve built up over a number of years that makes me think I can bring something two this.
Second of all, look around, housing is a national if not international crisis, it exemplifies things to do with the environment that I have been concerned about, such as wastefulness and climate change.
I feel pretty solid that there is some pretty bad housing going on and surely we can do better than that.
What’s the next step for your project?
Our project has developed in an unusual way. Half a dozen of us have steered this so far. We don’t own any property yet and we’re not within a long way of that yet.
The next step is to share our project with enough people that this becomes a genuine community initiative.
How did you vote in the EU referendum and why?
I voted to remain in Europe. Coming from an environmental background, most people from my background would find it hard to disagree that Europe has done a huge amount for us in that regard.
That’s not the only thing. There are all sorts of opportunities for progressive alliance in Europe.
And the final thing is, look at the people who voted the other way! I really don’t want to be in with them thank you very much. They’re not my kind of people, they don’t exemplify my values, if it’s a choice of going with them or not I’d rather be in the EU.
Will it affect the CLT?
I don’t know the answer to that question.
What advice would you give someone who wanted to get involved?
All the buzz I’ve got since getting in touch with the CLT network nine months ago is, particularly from the conference and coming here, there is a really good feel-good factor and lots of energy around.
So if you’re someone who wants to be somewhere near the cutting edge of addressing social problems like housing, for goodness sakes, being part of the CLT movement is a good place to be.
I love the history, coming out of civil rights in the US. I like to be part of progressive movements and this seems to be a progressive movement that’s about to flourish. Where else would you want to be?
