The Country Land and Business Association (CLA) is a membership organisation for owners of land, property and businesses in rural England and Wales. It was until quite recently called the Country Landowners' Association.

Membership

CLA members own or manage 10 million acres, over 50% of the rural land in England and Wales. Its 30,000-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.

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 teams of rural surveyors and advisers 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 A pamphlet is an unbound book (that is, without a hard cover or binding). Pamphlets may consist of a single sheet of paper that is printed on both sides and folded in half, in thirds, or in fourths, called a ''leaflet'' or it may consist of a ...

called "The Land and the Social Problem" was published by Algernon Tumor, a high-ranking

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

and former private secretary to

Benjamin Disraeli Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, (21 December 1804 – 19 April 1881) was a British statesman and Conservative politician who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He played a central role in the creation o ...

, advocating the co-operation of owners, tenants and workers in the countryside for their common interests. The organisation celebrated its centenary in 2007. Journalist Charles Clover wrote ''The History of the CLA'' to celebrate the anniversary.

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: *

Midlands The Midlands (also referred to as Central England) are a part of England that broadly correspond to the Kingdom of Mercia of the Early Middle Ages, bordered by Wales, Northern England and Southern England. The Midlands were important in the Ind ...

* East *

South East The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

South West The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

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."

References

External links

Official website of the CLAFlooding in Lincolnshire in July 2007Livestock in July 2004Postcards in February 2002
{{Authority control 1907 establishments in the United Kingdom Agricultural organisations based in the United Kingdom Landowners' organizations Organizations established in 1907 Business organisations based in the United Kingdom