High Wycombe is in Great Britain half-way between
Oxford & London:
A Town's Proud Past
"LILI" = "The Low-Impact Living Initiative"
Redfield Community Winslow, Bucks
MK18 3LZ
01296 714184
www.lowimpact.org
lili@lowimpact.org
For courses on everything from
Photovoltaics to Permaculture.
We support the
and
Buy the Books
Borrow the movies:
To borrow any of the books or DVD's referenced here please contact us.
Big Society:
The Future is Local
Why
should life in High Wycombe fall apart after a drop of snow or a
fuel blockade? How is it that international economic problems or
somebody else's war can bring us to our knees? There really is a
better way. The days of cheap energy have now gone and with them
goes the days of cheap food & local economic security. But there
is hope for the future. A Transition initiative is here to help.
We are
big society and the
future is now local. Let's talk.
TRANSITION is a powerful & positive vision of a happy,
adaptable
& prosperous
High Wycombe abundant in local jobs, food and power, where all our
children eat healthily, dad has a job and our pensioners are warm through the
winter. Inspiring
solutions. A future to look forward to..... but it needs
everyone. It needs change. A transition. A Transition Town.
Transition
Town High Wycombe
is a Community Action Group gently pulling the Town towards its
inevitable localised, resilient & low-carbon future. It is a
place for people to come together, discuss, roll up their
sleeves and make it happen. It is open to all and run by the
Community - for the Community. Are you concerned about your
future? Wondering what you should do to secure your family? Or
just want advice about choosing solar panels? Then talk to us.
We aim to move our communities off an addiction to dirty, old-fashioned, fossil fuels
and on to...
Local energy, energy security,
home insulation, energy efficiency, energy saving, renewables for home
heating, microgeneration for power - fossil fuels are the
problem, not a solution, lets ditch them
Local food production for food
security, health and well-being, allotments and gardens for
all, creating an edible landscape, promoting permaculture,
organic, seasonal & sustainable food - free of fossil
fuels
Local money, local jobs, local
business - for local people - free of our energy & economic
legacy
Community cohesion, adaptability &wellbeing, the "better way",
community resilience-building, ie, combating fuel poverty,
improving food security, ending economic insecurity &
vulnerability
Education on the local impacts of
climate change and the depletion of fossil fuels - education
on economics & financial sustainability, promoting local
abundance over global insecurity - education on the wider
damage fossil fuel exploitation causes our society via war,
terrorism, pollution and human-rights violations
Energy-transition
action planning, consultations with Wycombe
District Council, the Strategic Partnership, the Local
Community Partnership and local Business on future local
economic prosperity. Overcoming obstacles, bureaucracy and
resistance to change. Adapting to change in advance. Supporting local businesses &
networking within local civic society.
We are not an environmental group nor do we
campaign against anything. We promote a brighter future through
original thinking. Forewarned is forearmed.
What are we doing?
We are affiliated with the High Wycombe
Society and we are on the Wycombe Strategic Partnership's
Environment Sub-group. We are working with our partners for:
Garden Swap Scheme (BareGardens &
GrowZones)
Local Food Directory (£1275-worth of grants awarded)
Energy Saving Kits from the
Library (£500 grant awarded)
Renewable Energy buying group (Wycombe
Home Power)
Post Carbon Home - demo home
(post-carbon-living.com)
..and potential future projects:
Wycombe District Council's "Carbon
Reduction Framework"
Thermal imaging Street Surveys
Community Allotments, Vegetable Gardens
or Orchards
Fruit Tree Planting around town
Energy Road Show
Future Buildings weekend
Interested? Please let us know.
What's on:
Pann Mill
Open Day - Sunday 12th September from 11am to 5pm
TBD - The
Autumn Season is being discussed with a potential events
including something interesting with Steve Baker MP (maybe),
a joint film show with other groups, and a free talk on
composting and food waste. Wach this space.
Local
Community Partnership Meeting - 13th October 2010 at 7pm
- tbd
What have we done?
Join in: Local Food Directory
Grants
totalling £1275 have now been awarded to TTHW to produce a Local Food Directory. We need
volunteers to liaise with local suppliers to raise further sponsorship to
cover the rest of the costs. We also need people to compile the actual
directory and someone of suitable time & talent to lay it out for us.
Can you help? Then please contact the Project Coordinator - Celia Carter
(contact E:Mail below).
MAKE
MONEY FROM THE SUN! Welcome to our group-buying club for renewable
energy. We work with suppliers to bring you the best deals for High Wycombe
residents and businesses. Get a great service, a good choice and save money
with us. So let's get together. We are aiming for 500 Solar Roofs in High Wycombe. Click
here
for more information or download our brochure
here.
HOW
TO MAKE THAT MONEY. Government "Feed in Tariffs" ("FIT") for domestic
renewable energy start in April 2010 & earn 41.3p/KWh for Photovoltaics ("PV") - the
solar panels that generate electricity. This is in addition to the
electricity you save and in addition to the money you earn from
exporting your electricity to the Grid. What is more this rate is
linked to inflation and is Tax-FREE! You will earn £hundreds every
year for 25 years with payback in 15 years. All the money you earn
after that is pure profit. Learn more here.
HOW
TO MAKE EVEN MORE MONEY. From April 2011 (details in the 2010 Budget)
you will earn money from your Solar Thermal ("ST") panels that make
hot water. This will be priced at 18p/KwH for 20 years. A typical ST system
is rated at 2000kWh/year. This is in addition to the savings you make
in heating your water, ie, with Gas. The system will payback in under 10
years so all the money after that is pure profit. To learn more click
here.
To sign up for Wycombe HomePower click here. You can E:Mail
us to ask questions &/or sign-up by clicking
The 21st Century: a century of declining resources
Regardless of the occasional BBC News Report suggesting that
"peak oil" is a "theory" we need only listen to the Oil
Companies to learn what is going on. In 2005, Chevron's CEO
announced to the world that the era of easy oil was over and
went on a major advertising campaign to announce its solutions.
In 2007, Total's CEO stated "we have all been too optimistic
about the geology..." and went on to state that he couldn't
see world supply ever going any higher than 100 million barrels
per day. Also in 2007, the former CEO of Talisman stated "I
think it's fair to say that the era of cheap energy is over."
Then in early 2008, Shell CEO Jeroen van der Veer issued a
public email that stated "Shell estimates that after 2015
supplies of easy-to-access oil and gas will no longer keep up
with demand." Everyone from the President of the United
States down to the humble Times Newspaper agree: there are
troubled times ahead:
"...what
we must do now, for the sake of our economy, our security, and
the future of our planet, we must end the age of oil in our
time... If anyone tries to tell you otherwise, they are
either fooling themselves, or they're trying to fool you."
US President
Barack Obama (in 2008)
These troubled times are dictated by a fact: we use four times
more oil than we find. We are living on borrowed time.
Oil Discovery Versus Oil Consumption
Note: we consume three times more oil than we
discover
Its is NOT that we are running out of
oil, gas or coal - it is simply that supply cannot keep up with
demand. Bang goes your cheap energy and our whole way of life.
Where did it all go? Before the industrial revolution there were
580 billion tons of carbon in the atmosphere. Today there is 750
billion tons. The evidence (that our Government uses) suggests that fossil fuel
use should be curtailed for reasons of energy security, foreign
policy and the risk of man-made climate change. Hence Governments will do what
Governments do
- they will tax, price and ration fossil fuels. Then they will
hope that the markets get the message in time - and that we can
all adapt. The market will be the least of our problems:
removing fossil fuels from our society is like weaning a junkie
off drugs. This will hurt and will take between 20 to 40 years.
However this is a prize worth fighting for. There isn't an
alternative. A decarbonised society really will be a better one.
There is a better way. Read about it here.
So forget about filling your car and
think about how you will keep warm. Think about what you will
eat when the factory food system turns ten calories of oil into
just one calorie of food. The end of cheap oil & gas is the end
of cheap food. Resilience, decarbonisation and localisation
are the new keys to our security... Getting there is going to be
the greatest adventure in human experience. Join us and be
witness to an economic and cultural renaissance the
likes-of-which we have never seen.
The Challenge of Climate Change
Climate
Change is a genuine phenomenon, and there is a non-trivial risk
of major consequences. However there is no 100% consensus on how
high the risk is, or how soon it is likely to materialise. We
just know it is possible & probable. We mitigate risk. It really doesn't
matter if the Climate Change is caused by humans or not. It
doesn't matter if it is warming or cooling. We are vulnerable
in all circumstances. A community that is unable to cope
with global food shortages or extreme weather is at risk in a
changing world.
Transition Town High Wycombe
"...plugging into local abundance..."
This transition is a civic union between local Civil Society and
Local Government. The plan is to promote a community transition
to a life without cheap energy and food. Instead of global
scarcity we'll be plugging into local abundance. It addresses
topics of food, waste, energy, education, youth, money,
economics, transport, water, etc., through the mechanism of the
Sustainable Communities Act 2007, an “Energy Descent Plan” and
the ‘great reskilling’. Everybody, everywhere will be doing
this. It is a Plan that the Community will build and implement.
And if you don't like it - then join in and change it.
To learn more about this initiative go to
www.transitiontowns.org or contact a
member of the Steering Group. Get on board - don't get left
behind...
You can E:Mail us directly by clicking
Phone us on 01494 858390 or write to us at:
TTHW c/o, Krofire House, 5 Richard Gardens,
High Wycombe, Bucks HP13 7LT
Alternatively please E:Mail one of the
Management Committee Officers listed below:
Want to help?
We always need more self-motivated volunteers. Passionate & driven people who
can run projects and apply for grants. Experience with charities or in the
commercial sector would be really helpful. You need enthusiasm and a bit of
spare time. Or feel free to donate some money to the cause - whatever you
can afford.
Why not donate?
If you are too busy to help then maybe you could help pay for our work?
Your money helps our work continue. It can make the post-carbon future happen. We have almost no overheads so the money
goes towards projects such as those listed above. Projects are part-funded
by grants but we could always do with a little extra help for printing
brochures and educational material. We welcome sponsorship and have a number
of opportunities connected with Local Food and Local (Renewable) Energy that
you or your Company/Employer can get itself associated with.
What's with the big words?
"Transition" = (literally)
'change' or adaptation. A positive vision of a future and the building of
the roadmap to get there. A change engineered at a
grassroots level by volunteers (but implemented in
partnership with others, ie, local Government). Emphasis on the pre-emptive
adaptation to a future world with less conventional sources
of energy & food. A philosophy & a new way of thinking.
Encompasses localisation, resilience & decarbonisation.
"Localisation" = the
building of community resilience, spirit & cohesion. The
shortening of supply chains for food, work and energy to
break the reliance upon fossil fuels. Exploitation of local
abundance and the avoidance of vulnerability to global
scarcity. Not the rejection of globalisation but rather a
rebalancing so we have diversity and choice based upon long
term security requirements.
"Resilience" = the ability
to withstand shock from the outside. For example, the
ability to maintain a working local economy in the face of
prolonged severe weather, fuel blockades, natural disaster, civil
disturbance, disruption to energy supplies, economic
problems and loss of global food sources. Building a
permanent culture.
"Decarbonisation" =
reduction in carbon footprints. Movement towards a low &
post-carbon society. Achievable via a mix of technology,
economic and cultural changes.
It's NEW Thinking
So what will Transition Initiatives do that
cannot be achieved by National and Local Government action?
Empowerment of individuals who
would otherwise feel despair and lack of influence over
world events. YOU can take part in Transition and get
involved. YOU can make a difference. Think Global. Act
Local.
Positive thinking. Original thinking.
Tomorrow can be better than today but only if we avoid
dead-end paths of development. Create something inspiring.
Reject negativity.
Re-imagining the future. Future
thinking - the modelling of a High Wycombe that we would
wish to live in in 2050 or even sooner! Awareness of the challenge.
Local decision making. The needs
of High Wycombe decided by the people of the town.
Peer-to-peer communication with other members of the public. Your
neighbour will respect your view more than that of the
Council. We get people talking. We are a forum.
Shining examples, within
communities and neighbourhoods, of positive action.
Promoting Local over Global rather
than simply what is the cheapest. Bring a new mix with
diversity & security. 'Supply chains in depth'. Mixing food sources so
70% is local, 20% national & 10% international rather than
reverse. Or energy that is 50% from your roof, 30% from your
county, 10% from your country and 10% from abroad.
Garnering public support for
relocalised food and energy sources such as fruit tree
planting in public places, wind-turbines, solar panels, and
so on... that might otherwise be rejected by communities.
Changing society group-think:
rational personal spending habits & investment decisions.
Let's get everyone insulating their homes, buying local food
and investing in micro-generation. These investments
pay-back!
Building cultural change: offering
better alternatives to short term unsustainable lifestyles.
Promotion of metrics for well-being that go beyond money in
the bank. Rejection of sustainable living as a "lifestyle
choice" but acceptance of it as the inevitable future. Build
a permanent culture through permaculture thinking. We are
CITIZENS NOT CONSUMERS.
FUN! More party than protest.
Downloads
To learn more about Transition Town High Wycombe....
If you wish to have this presented to your
group, as a PowerPoint + TTHW Speaker, please contact us by
clicking
.
From the Chair
What have you got planned for this year? A nice foreign holiday?
New kitchen or bathroom? Maybe a new car? In a few years these
things are worth nothing & they never pay for themselves.
Domestic Renewable Energy does! You can install cheap Solar Panels in 2010 with the
High Wycombe Renewable Energy Club. We'll work with suppliers to
get you the best possible deal. Contact us if you are interested.
Mark Brown, Chairman Transition Town High Wycombe, March 2010
Transition Network News
The Better Way:
Localisation, resilience & security
Things
can only get better when we get rid of fossil fuels. Relax. You
DO have a choice. An easy choice. You could work over-time to
afford car maintenance & petrol. You could eat a tonne of
fast-food then pay a gym so you can work it off. You could work
a long way from your family just to have enough money to take a
foreign holiday - where you can spend your time at an airport or
shoe-horned into economy class. Is this the better way? Is that
even a holiday? Sure? It is a lifestyle and it can't last. It is
now so 'normal' that to challenge it is to question people's
deeply held beliefs. It has a religious quality. But it is
irrational. During the fuel blockade in the year 2000 our shops
came within days of running out of bread. We have forgotten what
it is like to have a life without endless cheap energy and food
trucked in from the other side of the planet. Our security has
gone. It makes us ill-at-ease. We are vulnerable. We no longer
eat properly or get the right amount of exercise.
"...get a life not a lifestyle..."
Instead, let's clean up. Get a life not a lifestyle. Don't
follow the herd. Be an individual. Set new trends. Spend more time with your
family. Save your money and pay off debts. Keep fit by working
in the garden, cycling or walking. Grow your own food, cook it
and eat it......
...save money now...
.....Recycle more and insulate your home to the max. Heat your
house and hot water with a mix of wood, solar energy and a
ground/air-source heat pumps. Add value to your home & save
money now. Get energy security and insulate yourself from energy
price instability. Set yourself free of the system by generating
your own electricity with solar power & wind. Benefit
financially from lower food & energy bills. Gain even more from
Government incentives such as 'feed-in tariffs' for getting your
power from your own renewables. You stand to be rewarded
handsomely and you'll have something just a bit special. Your
neighbours will envy you. Be at the leading edge of new trends.
...get back in
control...
We know you have no time to listen to the lecturing of people
trying to convince you of your guilt for the "environment" or
"CO2 emissions". This isn't about the environment at all. It's
about YOUR life and your future. This is an investment. Give it
a go. Call it enlightened self-interest. Consume less, live
more. Be happier. Stop wasting your time. Dirty high polluting
lifestyles are daft and unfashionable. Cutting out your fossil
fuel addiction is desirable and gets you back in control. Early
adopters will be those best rewarded. Who wants to
be a fossil? The "better way" is a local life. It
embraces your local community as a treasure we have simply
forgotten....but why "Transition"?
"...the best possible of all times..."
"Green lifestyles" and traditional "eco" messages make us only
think about "cutting back". We feel bad for a while but then
move on.. Afterall, who really wants to have less? There is
always somebody else to free-ride on our sacrifice. We need to
stop thinking about 'sacrifice' and think more about
'substitution' and change. What we forget is that we live in the best
possible of all times and we would like to preserve a decent standard
of living. This preservation of human well-being is core to
Transition. "Transition" is a bright and vibrant vision of a
fossil-fuel free society. A vision of healthy, localised,
decarbonised and resilient communities. We can ALL contribute to that better future. We know the
challenge. Our domestic Oil & Gas
supplies are in decline. We now buy it in from remotest Russia or
the troubled middle east. These are not secure supplies.
Scarcity makes the price of fossil fuels rise leading
to fuel poverty. We respond by ripping off mountain tops for
their coal or digging up beautiful areas of Canada for their tar
sands. These are dirty and inefficient responses. We are smarter
than that.
"...a buried bounty..."
The exploitation of fossil fuels around the world has
bought untold misery to millions, not only through war and
terrorism, but through human-rights violations. Fossil fuels
were a one-off buried bounty of chemical energy. A gift
that gave us plastics, cars, air transport, technology, medicine
& all modernity. But when the cheap oil, gas & coal are
gone - what then? We need to recognise the
benefits and preserve them. Then we must recognise the terrible
costs and eliminate them. High Wycombe can do this.
We have all the know-how, technology and expertise. We only lack the will because we think this is an
'environmental problem' rather than a socio-economic
opportunity. A local future is
not sacrifice, it is a substitution. It's a change. A change for
the better. We'll forsake the
insecurity and scarcity out THERE with the security and
abundance we have in HERE. It will be fun. An adventure. A better life
not a lifestyle.
From 'not bothered' to 'empowered'
"...the sky is falling..."
It is tempting to dismiss Transition as just another modern
eco-fad. Just another bunch of liberal, white, middle-class,
doom-mongers telling you the sky is falling. You may even feel
that the transition is a curtailment of your freedoms... The
trouble with that is that we aren't asking anyone to undergo
some weird religious experience or have some strange "faith" in
something we cannot demonstrate. We are not
dogmatically-eco-anything. 'Freedom' comes with responsibility.
We should be pragmatic. We only ask that you watch the TV news,
read the papers and take note of Government reports. Make your
own objective assessment. If we do not engage in the
decarbonisation of our society then we will fall a victim of it.
It will simply be imposed upon us by some big government. The change will
be easier if you accept a slightly different future from the one
you have been sold up until now.
"...what will happen tomorrow?"
We didn't move out of the stone age for lack of stones. We
stopped using whale oil to light our homes when kerosene was
found to be cheaper. The 'coal age' arrived in Europe because wood
became scarce. At first people hated coal because it was so
polluting. But then came the industrial revolution and our world
turned upside down. In the 1980's onwards we started to phase
out coal in favour of gas. Change is always occurring around us
and we need only open a history book to learn about it. Who
knows what will happen tomorrow? Your Transition Town High
Wycombe team have had a glimpse over that mountain. We have an
idea as to what will transpire.
"...substitute something better..."
So, do you like a hot shower in the morning? Do you like TV &
gadgets? Do you like crisps? It would bother you if you had to
start sacrificing these things. BUT YOU DO NOT HAVE TO. That is
the point of transition. We'll change, We'll substitute something BETTER. It
needs a team effort. Change is very rewarding for those who are
up for it. The Government is putting in place various schemes to reward people for adopting renewable energy. We can
be the community that wins. We can come out on top. The quicker
the community embraces this change the better it is for
everyone. We must all give our leaders the mandate they need to
make change happen... But we can also do so much ourselves. We
are now empowered.
Ministry of Food exhibition - Imperial War Museum
from now until the 3rd Jan 2011. Go
here.
The 2010 UK Permaculture Conference (they call it a
"Convergence") - 3rd to the 5th September at Lambourne End
Outdoor Centre, Essex. Web site
here.
Sustainable Energy for the Home - 9th October at the
Hackney City Farm, London. A LILI course run by Sandra Hayes
of the National Energy Foundation. Web site
here.
Zero Carbon Britain Conf - Saturday 16th October
2010, Bristol Council House. Web site
here.
National News:
Local News:
Saturday 21st August 2010
Energy Saving Kits a Phenomenal Success
If you were down at the Wycombe Town Library
on the third Saturday in August you would have seen multiple
Transition Town members rubbing shoulders with the Leader of the
Council Lesley Clarke. We were there to launch the Energy
Saving Kit for Loan Project. The day was a great success with
all the kits being snapped up far quicker than we expected.
(Pictured above left to right: Lesley Stoner WDC Environment
Officer, Mark Brown, TTHW Chairman & Lesley Clarke. Photo WDC
copyright.)
Thanks to everyone who joined us for
movie-night in High Wycombe in July. We kicked-back and relaxed
over tea & biscuits with the movie "The Turning Point". It
covered the work of the Findhorn Community in Scotland and
included the likes of Rob Hopkins and Richard Heinberg.
Delightful.
Friday 23rd July 2010
Transition Books for the Library
On Friday 23rd July at around 11am the
Transition Team dropped off copies of each of the four
Transition Books (shown above). Each will be brand new. The
donation was agreed with the Library in conjunction with our
work on the Energy Saving Kits. We agreed that it would be
appropriate to have such books available so the public could
learn a more about Transition Towns.
Cold water cooled by the Sun anyone? We had
quite a lot of takers for our special give-away at the Pann Mill
open day. We joined forces with SolaSave for a Photovoltaic
demo. They supplied fridge & bottled water whilst TTHW supplier
solar panels, batteries & inverter. The demo attracted a steady
stream of visitors through the day and was a great success.
Transition Town High Wycombe's Local Food
Group are pleased to announce the awarding of a further
grant. Up to £1000 will now be available to fund the production
of the Local Food Directory. Publication of "Food on our
doorstep" is due sometime this
Autumn. The money is from the Chilterns Conservation Board
Sustainable Development Fund and we wish to thank them for their
help.
Date Announced for the start of Public
lending of Energy Saving Kits
After a successful meeting with the Wycombe
Library we are pleased to announce that the public lending of
Energy Saving Kits will start on Saturday 21st August. The
launch event will be held in the Library Foyer.
Local Community Partnership Action Planning
Workshop
We attended another workshop with the Local
Community Partnership intended to help develop an Action Plan.
We focussed on the "Thriving Economy" because the "Sustainable
Environment" has yet to contain anything to do with either the
environment or sustainability. Until we engage more this isn't
going to change...
Our thanks to the volunteers who manned a
Green Stall (joint TTHW & Wycombe FOE effort - again!) at this
year's Hamilton Primary School Fete. According to Ivan it seems
that Celia' food competition attracted the most interest (see
our Celia in action at the stall - pictured above).
Those of us with very long memories will
remember our consultation with Wycombe District Council on local
Sustainable Economic Prosperity during 2008. Well the result of
our joint toils was published in January 2010. The first we
heard of it was when we were given a copy in June! A browse
suggests they did listen to us. Well, sort of...
The
Bucks New University Gateway Building opened its doors early in
June to the Wycombe Economic Summit. Over 100 attendees from
local Businesses and related organisations attended. TTHW, as a
member of the Strategic Partnership, was there.
Rumours of the demise of the High Wycombe
Farmer's Market have been greatly exaggerated. Despite the trial
period in Frogmoor ending prematurely early this year we have
now been told that the market will return, in a new home, for
the Autumn.
Have you checked out the Summer 2010
Spotlight yet? Landing on doorsteps on the first Sunday in June
this issue is packed with Community News from East Wycombe. In
this edition we get a "Green News" section sponsored by our
friends over at SolaSave. Click on the picture above for the
full read. The top section is our 300 word article submitted
(appropriately enough) on the topic of Feed In Tariffs!
Sunday 18th April 2010
Wycombe Hustings
We gathered in the All Saints Parish Church
late one Sunday evening for a Hustings. With an election only
weeks away it was our chance to grill the four local candidates.
During April High Wycombe's largest domestic
solar power station opened in Totteridge. Transition Town High
Wycombe's Chairman - Mark Brown - was proud to start receiving
free electricity and hot water for a solar array that covers the
roof of his home.
We have a 300 word article in this Spring's
Spotlight paper. We got a slot on the Green Pages. It is
something we hope to do more of if Spotlight are willing...
Saturday 20th March 2010
Eden "Green Day"
Saturday shoppers in the High Wycombe Eden
Shopping Centre have been treated to a range of local 'green'
exhibitors. This included a joint stand between Wycombe Friends
of the Earth and Transition Town High Wycombe. FOE were
promoting their Plastic Bag free day whilst TTHW was promoting
local food and energy initiatives.
The
Wycombe Strategic Partnership has announced grants worth a total
of £1000 for two Transition Town Projects. The first grant of
£500 has gone to the Transition Town High Wycombe project for
Energy Monitors for the lending library. The second grant has
gone to the Solar Club Project run by Transition
Town Marlow ("100SP"). Plans for
how the money will be spent are now to be drawn up. Want to
help?
To learn more about the lending library project please go
here.
Tuesday 2nd March 2010
SPECIAL REPORT:
TTHW at Ecobuild, Earls Court
Two members of Transition Town High Wycombe
paid a special visit to Earls Court to catch up with some of the
seminars at Ecobuild 2010. Although sounding like a get-together
for the building trade, the event actually boasted many
well-known speakers and debates concerning sustainability.
After
yet another successful meeting of the Wycombe Strategic
Partnership Environment Sub-group three projects have been
recommended to be forwarded to the Executive Board. These are
the Solar Project (jointly run with Transition Town Marlow),
"Revive the Wye" and the proposal to get Energy-saving kits to
be loaned from the Library.
The
Local Community Planning event held an early evening slot at The
Hub on Easton Street. It was held so that we could agree the
priorities to go into the Local Area Plan (LAP). Attendees were
split into teams to review a list of between 10 and 20
aspirations across a range of topics from "Sustainable
Environment" to "Thriving Economy".
Local Community Partnership - Wycombe
vulnerable to extreme weather?
Two members of Transition Town High Wycombe
attended the Local Community Partnership Meeting at the Royal
Grammar School this month. The discussions focussed on the
Chiltern Rail plans to upgrade their line and extend through to
Oxford. The handling of recent severe weather conditions, by
local services, was also tackled.
Transitioners from Marlow and High Wycombe
had the great pleasure of presenting to the Wycombe Strategic
Partnership in early December. This was to a meeting of the
Executive Partners. The meeting concluded with an invite from
the Leader of the Council for the Transition Towns to become
full official members within the Environmental sub-group.
Wednesday
night was movie night at the High Wycombe Environment Centre.
Seventy members of the public turned up to see the climate
change blockbuster "The Age of Stupid". The event went down a
storm with a highly positive reaction by all who saw it. We
pulled in an audience for as far afield as Maidenhead and
Oxford.
One wet'n'windy Saturday in November we took
again to the streets of High Wycombe. This time we stood in
support of the new Local Farmers' Market on Frogmoor. It was our
chance to pull in punters for The Age of Stupid movie show on
the following Wednesday.
"Daddy what did you do to stop global warming"
artwork from the book "Acme Climate Action" (reproduced with the
kind permission of Provokateur) - published by 4th Estate, £15.00.
To learn more go to
www.acmeclimateaction.com.
Use of old photo's showing wartime Mosquito
manufacture courtesy of the High Wycombe Museum.
Note: All Banner Adverts on
transition-wycombe.org.uk are free for our friends, members and
affiliates. Contact us to apply for yours.