About CCDT

Carnoustie Community Development Trust (CCDT) was set up in the Spring of 2016 to work to bring to fruition the projects identified as important to the residents of Carnoustie via the town charrette held in 2015 – The Big Carnoustie Conversation.

Discussions at The Big Carnoustie Conversation

Over 650 people took the trouble to take part in a week long programme of workshops and walkabouts to identify Carnoustie’s strengths and weaknesses, and to inform the development of a Report identifying key projects which could contribute to the environment, infrastructure, economy, and wellbeing of Carnoustie ( click here for the full Report – PDF file).

The week’s activities were facilitated by a small team of professionals from the fields of architecture, planning, and town centre management, and jointly funded by the Scottish Government and Angus Council. Town charrettes have now been held in most of the Angus towns.

Local communities across Scotland have been taking action at community level to initiate improvements to infrastructure, and to organise events aimed at improving community life and wellbeing, as well as attracting inward investment in the shape of grants and business revenue to support a wide range of projects. Community Development Trusts have been established in a wide range of towns, villages, and neighbourhoods to drive forward this work. There are around 240 Development Trusts across Scotland at the time of drafting this information, and the number is growing steadily. Most are members of Development Trusts Association Scotland (DTAS), a body supported by the Scottish Government to provide independent advice and support to Development Trusts to ensure communities get the maximum benefit from their local trust. (click here for DTAS website)

What is a Development Trust?

Development trusts are community organisations which:

  • are owned and managed by the local community
  • aim to achieve the sustainable regeneration of a community or address a range of economic, social,environmental and cultural issues within a community
  • are independent but seek to work in partnership with other private, public and third sector organisations
  • aim to attract inward investment via grants, etc. and where possible to generate income. Trading surpluses are principally reinvested in the organisation or the community.

Find out more here

The body set up to promote the interests of Carnoustie and District, Carnoustie Community Development Trust, has been established as a not-for profit Limited Company with its own Articles and Memorandum of Association setting out its constitution ( click here to view the full Articles of Association), which provides for a full Board of up to 12 Directors. To allow it to be formally established, it was necessary to create an Interim Board of volunteer Directors (click here for details of CCDT’s Board of Directors).

To support the growth of this grassroots movement, the Scottish Government has enacted the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015, the broad purpose of which is to empower communities and community bodies by strengthening their voices in decisions about public services, and by creating the opportunity for them to to take ownership or control of land and buildings (Community Asset Transfer) (click here for a link to the Scottish Government FAQ on the Community Empowerment Act). Councils are required to involve community bodies at all stages of community planning via Local Community Planning Partnerships (CPP’S), and CCDT is a member of the Angus LCPP.