We’re in this for the Long Term
Our partnership is a team, combining the vision and social values to create a successful community with the skills and experience needed to make it happen.
As the North Barnes Farm Partnership, we believe that development and housebuilding shouldn’t just be about extracting value. It must be about creating a legacy and social value for the widest group of people, whilst protecting and enhancing the environment for generations to come.
It should also be a process and approach that engages local people and businesses, and leaves a place better than it was before. At North Barnes Farm we have the opportunity to do better and be better, by creating a place that improves and benefits, not reduces or damages whilst still making a profit. This is known as Financial First Impact Investing.
As the North Barnes Farm Partnership we are committed to this different approach.
Our Partners are:
A landowner, Eton College, with a strong sense of social responsibility, committed to long-term community stewardship
Welbeck Land, experienced property professionals who have a passion for doing the right thing alongside the ability to deliver a major project
Our Advisors are:
The Plunkett Foundation, a charity that supports the development of community-owned business UK-wide, is offering advice to the partnership as to how this form of business could be utilised in the context of a new development
People and businesses with vision and conscience
Local people who believe that there is a better way of solving our current problems
The North Barnes Farm Manifesto
We have created the North Barnes Farm Manifesto to show how we’ll do things differently. The Manifesto sets out our ambitions, our promises, our commitment. We can work together to deliver something that brings lasting benefits to as many people as possible. Together we can ensure that what is promised is what is delivered.
1
Planning for future generations not “I’m alright, thanks”
This is a 21st-Century response to the pressing issues facing all of us. Whilst we focus on the needs of Lewes District, East Sussex, we must also look to the wider world and create a place that carries social and environmental benefits for many generations to come.
2
Putting the environment first
We can only solve the housing crisis and create a secure future for future generations if we also respond to the climate crisis and minimise the impact of human activities on our environment. We’re going to bring nature and biodiversity into this market town and we’re going to protect the existing ancient woodland and hedgerows whilst enhancing treescapes and improving waterways.
3
Somewhere, not anywhere
North Barnes Farm should reflect its location and be embodied with a ‘Sense of Place’. We believe that the only way to make a real difference is through vision, collaboration and intention, not through ad hoc, disconnected and thoughtless development.
4
A community ecosystem not just a collection of buildings
We will ensure homes, jobs and social infrastructure arrive at the same time, creating a genuine, successful community which could one day become a thriving Sussex market town.
5
A place to grow food, plants and people
We are working together towards a small market town – a resilient, responsible and thoughtful settlement based around food, wellbeing, landscape and sustainability, that builds on the history of North Barnes Farm and its landscape.
6
Values, not valu£
‘Business as usual’ is not an option anymore. The historic economic system, of profit without responsibility, is broken. We will demonstrate that you can do the right thing, in the right way – benefiting all stakeholders and contributing to solutions – whilst being a profitable and responsible business.
7
Enabling local talent and creating jobs and opportunity
We’re focused on economic development – supporting, creating and investing in local businesses, linking education and training to employment opportunities, and improving the life chances of local people.
8
An evolving settlement not dropped all in one go
This place will only grow if it is successful – if we do what we say we are going to do, and if it is loved and supported by local communities as well as its future inhabitants.
9
Legacy and excellence not short-term for a quick profit
We are thinking through and implementing a genuinely different approach, that results in a fundamentally better outcome, to make sure we share prosperity properly.