Carnegie UK Trust was pleased to sponsor the ‘Realising Rural Assets Conference’ on 19th June 2008 at the Royal Welsh Showground, Builth Wells. The event, organised by WCVO welcomed Elin Jones, Rural Affairs Minister and Leighton Andrews, Deputy Minister for Regeneration as guest speakers. Mr Andrews said that the Welsh Assembly Government was taking up the Carnegie challenge about the role of asset building and that community ownership of public buildings can have a positive effect in rural communities. He announced that he was looking to establish a community asset fund to allow communities to take over public buildings.
The Deputy Minister said:
- Community ownership can bring about a range of benefits for the community itself, jobs for local people or the renewed sense of pride the restoration of an iconic or popular local building can bring. Galeri in Caernarfon is an example of how the regeneration of assets could have a multiplier effect, restoring pride and economic prosperity.
- The Quirk review called for governments to introduce measures to encourage asset transfer and which secure public benefit and community ownership in perpetuity. I am here today to tell you that the Welsh Assembly Government will take up this challenge
- I am committed to implementing the findings of the Quirk review in Wales and by this I mean across all of Wales not just the most populated towns and cities. I am also convinced that in Wales part of our approach to regeneration has to be a further transfer of wealth and power to community level, and assets are part of that.
- I want to look at creating a community asset fund which can be used by community organisations to access grants which can be used to make the buildings fit for purpose. I also want the fund to help community organisations to manage the buildings properly to develop them to their full potential