AVA Magazine - February 2022

16 AVA | February 2022
Member Spotlight| Tarland
Community Housing
Tarland Community Housing has recently secured funding to
support two interns to do some research as part of their thinking
for new housing in the Deeside village of Tarland. Our own
Aileen Longino is one of the Trustees and explains a bit about
the project and the new term ‘Smart Clachans’.
housing and shared facilities which enable new
households to remain, return and settle.
Smart Clachan takes the build form of a clachan
and utilises community-led/cooperative
housing models like co-housing or collective
self-builds to create modern affordable
homes. The community/cooperative ethos is
fostered through a range of shared services
and facilities to enhance community and
connectivity, including a community work hub
to enable households to establish their own
business or work remotely for local, national
and international companies.
Aileen Longino
AVA Development Officer
specialising in Social Enterprise
A
clachan is a traditional Scottish hamlet
consisting of a few houses, with farm
outhouses such as byres and barns,
kailyards, and walled areas for growing
vegetables. Clachans were close knit
communities often working cooperatively on
shared land.
Smart Clachan are a 21st Century revival of a
clachan. They are community-based initiatives
to support repopulation by creating affordable
Other shared elements could include shared
workshops, cooperative growing space/poly
tunnels, community renewables, district heating
systems, and shared electric vehicles.
Tarland Community Housing realised after
doing needs analysis that many young people
who grew up in the area had to leave the area
for work and to find suitable housing. The idea
behind Smart Clachans is that they combine
both of these needs.
Find out more about Tarland
Community Housing on Facebook or
by visiting their website at:
www.tarlandcommunityhousing.org.uk
or by emailing
hello@tarlandcommunityhousing.org.uk