Country Land and Business Association

CLA
Formation 1907
Legal status Membership organisation
Purpose Represent the interests of landowners and rural business owners; champion the rural economy
Location
Region served
England and Wales
Membership
33,000 members in England and Wales
Director General
 Helen Woolley
Main organ
 CLA Council
Website CLA

The Country Land and Business Association (CLA) is a membership organisation for owners of land, property and businesses in rural England and Wales.

Membership

CLA members own or manage over 50% of the rural land in England and Wales. The 33,000-strong membership includes landowners, farmers and rural businesses.

Function

The CLA states that it "is the only organisation dedicated to defending your interests as a landowner and is your only truly independent and authoritative source of advice." It offers members a support and advice network through a free in-house policy, legal, and tax advisory service, as well as offering networking opportunities for landowners and rural businesses.

The CLA lobbies to protect its members' interests in relation to rural issues at local, national and EU levels.[1]

Activities

The Policy team, based in the London office, offers advice on tax and legal, environment and conservation, agriculture and land management, as well as planning, housing and heritage. This includes issues such as the right to roam, reform of the EU Common Agricultural Policy, heritage, rural housing, renewable energy and taxation.

Six regional offices include teas of rural surveyors and advisors for local branch members.

The CLA publishes the monthly Land and Business magazine. This is available to all members as a part of their membership subscription.

History

The CLA was founded in 1907 after a pamphlet named The Land and the Social Problem was published by Algernon Tumor, a high-ranking civil servant and former private secretary to Benjamin Disraeli, advocating the co-operation of owners, tenants and workers in the countryside for their common interests.[2]

The organisation celebrated its centenary in 2007. Journalist Charles Clover wrote The History of the CLA to celebrate the anniversary.[2]

Structure

The CLA is governed by a Council structure reflecting the breadth of the CLA's work. Council works to guide the organisation through shaping policy development and inspiring support within the membership.

There is a small board of directors that is responsible for the running of the CLA and for making sure that the organisation works as well as possible to deliver its core purposes.

There is a main corporate office based in London and also six regional offices:

CLA Game Fair

The CLA no longer runs the CLA Game Fair. It announced in September 2015 that it "could no longer ask CLA members to allow their membership subscriptions to underwrite the losses the event makes."[3]


See also

References

  1. ↑ "Lobbying". CLA. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  2. 1 2 "History of the CLA". CLA. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  3. ↑ http://www.cla.org.uk/latest/news/statement-future-cla-game-fair

External links

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