South Hams District Council is offering support for both new and existing community compost groups.
Who will be considered?
The scheme encourages applications from communities from which there is not already a community composting scheme in place. The Council is keen to ensure that there is equitable provision of community composting sites across the district. Therefore, applications from areas across the district will be prioritised for funding. This will be verified as part of the eligibility process.
Existing Groups
The Council will support community composting groups with manual labour by providing a resource from the Councils grounds maintenance team to assist with the 'turning and shredding' of the green waste which we know is a substantial expenditure. If successful this will include up to 8 visits per year depending on the size and capacity of the site.
New Groups
The scheme will consider providing funding to contribute towards set up costs for community composting groups to help assist with 'set up' costs such as equipment and stationery.
The Council will support community composting groups with manual labour costs. They will also provide a resource from the Council's grounds maintenance team to assist with the 'turning and shredding' of the green waste which we know is a substantial expense. If successful, this will include up to 8 visits per year depending on the size and capacity of the site.
As part of the application funding process, the group will be required to provide the following documents to support their application.
- Proof of the licences, permits and exemption for this site
- Proof of the Health and Safety documents showing legal compliance
- Public Liability insurance
- Plan of the site to show the maximum operating capacity
- Proof of expenditure to support the costs applied for i.e. start-up costs, permits etc.
- Reference number for the planning application and supporting documentation
How to Apply
Existing Community Composting Groups
Existing community composting groups will need to complete the registration of interest form.
Existing Groups - Register Here
This will outline the groups details and also the frequency of support required to run the site throughout the year.
New Community Composting Groups
It is important that the applicant has checked that there are no existing groups in their immediate local area before starting this process.
The funding for new community composting groups with be dependent on there being no provisions in place already. We are encouraging new groups to join this scheme to provide an easily accessible service across the District for communities to use.
Step 1
New community composting groups need to use the button below to place a 'registration of interest.' South Hams District Council can assess the eligibility of the group. Once a decision has been made, we will write to the group contact within 30 days.
Step 2
Once eligibility has been determined, the application form link will be sent through to the group to complete. All of the supporting documentation must be provided in order to process the application.
Step 3
Application form received and will be reviewed. All documents will be validated to determine if the applicant is eligible and qualifies for the funding. South Hams District Council will notify the nominated contact within 30 days to advise if the application has been successful, and clearly outline the next steps to support them through the process.
Step 4
The payment will be made to the nominated account once all checks have been carried out.
Further Information
If you have any questions about the community composting funding, scheme or require further information or advice, please contact our email.
How the funding is allocated
South Hams District Council Community Composting Scheme is available for a two-year period and will provide:
- Support to new community composting groups that meet the criteria with set up costs on a match fund basis up to £7500 for up to six new community composting sites each year
- Support to the current six community composting sites in the District with manual labour costs such as 'turning and shredding' of the waste.
Monitoring of the scheme
Although the Council is not responsible for the day-to-day running of community sites, it is important that applicants have the correct governance and compliance in place. This is legally essential for both volunteers and visitors.
To measure the success of this scheme we will contact each group annually to request data. This could include tonnages generated, other credits/funding received and operating times. Each group can gather this data from their first operational day. More information will be made available on this page shortly.