FAQs

Drone use on our Land

Drones, or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) are becoming increasingly popular with professional and amateur enthusiasts. In light of recent media coverage about their use in public areas and a number of landowners banning them, the Land Trust is currently considering its policy.

In the meantime operators must follow the Dronecode set out by the Civil Aviation Authority and ensure that they do not fly in prohibited, restricted or controlled airspace (i.e. close to airports or military zones).The website noflydrones.co.uk provides an easy to use map of restricted areas.

Permission must be obtained from the Land Trust or the site ranger.

Always remember:

• You are responsible for each flight
• Before each flight, check drone for damage
• Drone is in sight at all times
• YOU are responsible for avoiding collisions
• Keep your distance
• Consider rights of privacy
• Permission to use drones for paid work

Click here to see full details of the rules

Anyone using a UAV recreationally can also seek advice from established model aircraft clubs who will have detailed local knowledge of airspace restrictions. Go to www.bmfa.org for more information.

More information on the regulation of UAVs, including a list of operators with permission to fly UAVs for commercial use, is available at www.caa.co.uk/uas

Yes, when the Trust has been involved with a project early in the planning stages, our expertise has often been able to reduce the restoration cost and redirect the saving to the endowment.

Yes! We welcome individuals, community groups and corporate volunteers on all our sites.

We offer a wide range of opportunities for volunteers across all our sites. Specific activities vary depending on the site and season but might include trimming hedges, clearing paths or building fences.

If you would like to get involved with an existing volunteer programme, or have a great idea for a new project or scheme to benefit your local green space, we would love to hear from you.

To find out more about volunteering opportunities at your local green space, give us a call on 01925 207010, or email enquiries@thelandtrust.org.uk and we’ll be delighted to help.

The Land Trust takes ownership and responsibility for the long term sustainable management of any public open space including, but not exclusively:

• Country parks
• Nature reserves
• Green infrastructure
• Play areas
• Playing fields
• Formerly contaminated or neglected lan

We will consider any open space that can address our charitable objectives of improving health, encouraging social cohesion, providing educational resources, creating environmental improvements and enabling communities to thrive through an uplifted economy.

Whether through service charges or an endowment, the Land Trust calculates the long term maintenance cost of the site each year by taking into account:

• Annual site management operations, such as grass cutting
• One off short term costs such as tree establishment, notice boards and barriers
• Capital replacement of site structures such as benches, fences and steps
• Staff costs – rangers services
• Residual environmental risk liability
• The Land Trust’s management charge

Yes the endowment can also be supplemented by other income such as:

• Service charges from residents/businesses
• Commercial uses of sites e.g. golf course
• Renewable energy e.g. wind farm
• Rental income e.g. agricultural land
• Others e.g. car parking charges, concessions

Endowments represent excellent value for money, and over the long term prove to be much more cost effective than alternative ways of funding.

The total cost of a space managed by endowment may seem higher than others, however, it is important to compare like with like; the figure for an endowment funded project is a final cost whereas a project funded by three, five or twenty years will incur future costs they may even need significant capital costs for future restoration.

Endowment funding represents the best value in the longer term by offering landowners a clean and sustainable exit from the land, removing maintenance liability and protecting the money invested in restoring/creating the space.

In basic terms an endowment is a sum of money given to the Trust alongside the ownership of the land. The endowment is added to the Trust’s investment portfolio. The interest earned on this investment covers the maintenance of the site in perpetuity.

No, we do not provide funding.

We source sufficient funds to secure each site in perpetuity – through endowments, grants and other revenue streams. This capital is invested securely, and a nominated amount is released each year to cover the cost of site maintenance, rangers services and special events and activities. This annual sum is paid to our managing agents to maintain open spaces on our behalf.

Although open space in its many forms delivers a multitude of benefits it more often that not represents an ongoing liability to the owner. This may be because of former contamination or just simply in terms of maintenance and management costs.

The Land Trust addresses a simple problem. Over the years, many millions of pounds of public and private money has been spent clearing up derelict and neglected land, but too often maintenance plans don’t match the committment of the original clean-up. The huge one-off costs of land restoration have often proven easier to consider than the steady ongoing costs of maintenance, which tends to be an afterthought.

The Land Trust designs and manages sustainable funding solutions in order to guarantee long term maintenance and community engagement, and secure the future of the site in perpetuity.