Paper given to British sociological Association conference,12/04/2018.
Rates of asset transfer from local authority to community control have increased in recent years. This trend raises
important questions around the impact of transfers on local communities, and how they manage these new
responsibilities. This research project sought to answer two questions: how do local communities define what
constitutes a community asset; and, once transferred to community ownership, what are the conditions and resources
required for sustainable and successful community assets? Two districts in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, were
selected as examples where local authority assets have been transferred into community control. Community asset
maps were produced for each district using GIS mapping technology and qualitative case studies were developed
based on interviews and questionnaires in each area. Our findings suggest that community stakeholders define
community assets as buildings, open spaces or amenities. Such physical locations will provide a facilitative role in
relation to 'social infrastructure' that can connect various parts of the community. Such assets, however, must, be
open and available to the whole community in order to be regarded as legitimate community assets. Where assets
transfers had taken place, there was an increase in community use and, often, the range of activities available. In order for asset transfers to have sustainable success, it was found that that a pool of capital -human,
social, physical, and financial - was available to that community