Looting — small community needs new start (7)
I believe the answer is:
pillage
'looting' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
I don't understand how the rest of the clue works.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for pillage that I've seen before include "Violent stealing" , "Sacking" , "Rob with violence" , "Loot" , "Plunder, sack" .)