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  • Local Authorities Making Farmland Work for the Public Good
  • About
  • Manifesto: Land in the Public Interest
  • I. Acting as an owner and manager of public land
    • Strategise
    • Manage
    • Invest
    • Share
  • II. Acting as a facilitator of the local land system
    • Provide data
    • Raise awareness
    • Convene
    • Intermediate
  • III. Acting as a regulator and making local land policies
    • Plan
    • Administer
    • Catalyse
    • Advocate
  • Practical resources to get started
    • Some key principles and first steps
    • Surveying and decision-making tools
  • Bibliography
    • France
    • Belgium
    • Spain
    • United Kingdom
    • Germany
    • Romania
  • Case Studies
    • The City of Leuven allocates public land to sustainable farmers
    • The City of Ghent’s vision on public farmland
    • Mouans-Sartoux: from organic food for schools to land and food policy
    • Ohey municipality: distributing public agricultural land more equitably among farmers
    • Inclusive farm to fork food aid in Florennes, Walloon Region
    • The Cooperativa Co.R.Ag.Gio (Cooperativa Romana Agricoltura Giovani) and renewed uses of public farm
    • Red Terrae: the network of municipalities working for sustainable land use
    • Boscos de Pastura: using grazing for wildfire prevention
    • Stewardship and management of common pastures in Romania
    • Glasgow City Council and the Glasgow Community Food Network Case study
    • Cornwall Council’s Farms Strategy
    • The Grenoble Alpes Métropole land policy
    • Remobilising abandoned lands in Moëlan-sur-Mer
    • Acting on farmland at the department level: land banking and plots exchange in Ille-et-Vilaine
    • Agricultural Programme of the City of Hannover - agricultural policy at municipality level
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III. Acting as a regulator and making local land policies

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Last updated 1 year ago

Key messages:

  • Local authorities play a key role in implementing and monitoring land laws locally

  • Local authorities have the responsibility to use regulatory tools available to them to improve land stewardship and land sharing

Food, farming, and environmental policies have become areas of rising interest for local authorities. This responds to the dual pressure of demands from citizens (for local food, responses to climate change, green landscapes, clean air…) and from central governments who ask local authorities to meet objectives around carbon-storing, densified urbanisation, supply of organic food in schools, etc.

Decentralisation processes that occurred in the past 40 years have also transferred new responsibilities to local authorities to address these issues. In most countries, they hold a key role in land use planning and taxation systems. They can also catalyse policies and orient their budgets towards specific territorial development strategies. Efficient regulation for access to land can combine for instance:

  • coherent urban planning documents (with precise zoning to protect land and concrete monitoring);

  • strategic subsidies (to improve local farming infrastructure, training options for new farmers, etc.);

  • tax incentives policies (e.g. providing exemptions for owners who rent farmland)

  • strategic use of public procurement.

Are there regulatory tools to protect farmland locally? How can I create a more enabling policy environment for the development of small-scale agroecological farming? Check the infographic for a quick overview of how to act, and read the sections below for more information on the roles that local authorities can play regarding , , and for sounder land policies.

planning
administering
catalysing
advocating
How can local authorities use their regulatory power to improve access to land? Watch the video for a quick overview and read below for more information!
Infographic: Acting as a regulator and making local land policies
Infographic: Acting as a regulator and making local land policies