Community empowerment and common good property: consultation on draft guidance

Chapter 2 – Identifying and contacting Community Bodies

1. When the list of property is published, local authorities must invite community councils and other community bodies to consider the list and provide their views.

How to contact Community Bodies

2. The definition of "community bodies" given in section 106 of the Act is quite broad. We recognise that it may be difficult for local authorities to identify every individual group with a potential interest in a piece of common good property. Therefore we recommend that local authorities work with community planning partners and organisations such as Voluntary Action Scotland to help identify relevant groups in the local area. Local authorities should also note that the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 defines specific geographical areas where communities will have an interest in common good property.

3. We expect local authorities to use a variety of methods to reach community bodies and they may find the revised National Standards for Community Engagement helpful when trying to connect with diverse groups of people from across the community. Community councils are already statutory consultees in the planning process and we would recommend that local authorities take advantage of these existing links when notifying community councils about proposals relating to common good property.

QUESTION 4: What, if any, further ways should local authorities use to identify and contact relevant community bodies?