Bulletin March 2007
Welcome to the March bulletin of Transition Town Lewes, in which we will keep you informed about Lewes's response to the challenges of climate change and peak oil. Please forward this to friends who might be interested in hearing about what's happening. Unsubscribe information is at the end.
THE STORY SO FAR
Lewes Town Council Meeting. A group of Transition Town Lewes members attended their first ever Town Council meeting on 22 February, during which Cllr. John Webber requested a working group be set up to look at the availability of land for allotments in the town, as demand far outstrips supply. This working group was agreed to and their first meeting will be on Monday 19th March. This is good news for those wanting to apply for an allotment. Following this, the district council was asked to consider requiring allotment provision as part of new development schemes. Town Council meetings are open to the public; this is an important way for citizens to support these monthly meetings.
The Power of Community at the All Saints Cinema on 25 February in association with Lewes Cinema. The showing of did much to unleash heartfelt emotion and pragmatism among the packed audience of 170 at the All Saints Centre. The post-it note exercise generated hundreds of creative and practical solutions to the problems facing us. You can view them by following the link below.
Post-its from people who came to Power of Community.
TTL works with Priory School. On 27 February a team of us attended an assembly of 240 year 10 students. They loved Keith's short film and then engaged noisily in two-by-two discussions before breaking up into class groups. We conducted a post-it note exercise where they suggested ways in which they could help their school reduce its fossil fuel consumption. A week later, on 6th March, a smaller group of TTL facilitators brought together 16 ambassadors – two from each class - to create a mind-map of the problems facing their school and all conceivable solutions. We will meet again with these Priory School youth next term, and look forward to continuing our visioning process with them.
Along with 350 other townsfolk, a TTL group attended the Phoenix Action, Lewes Flood Action & Malling Residents Association Public Meeting on 5 March at the Town Hall. A unanimous vote at the end of the meeting called for Lewes District Council to consider all proposed redevelopment sites in terms of the whole town plan rather than in isolation.
The 5th March was also an historic day for the Transition Town movement – it was the day David Miliband, Secretary of State for the Environment, food and rural affairs, delivered a speech entitled, ' The Transition Economy, a future beyond oil'. He identifies the need for the UK's transition to a post-oil economy – "I believe that energy security and climate change objectives mean the time is right to look at what it would mean for the UK to create over a period of 15-20 years a post-oil economy – a declaration less of 'oil independence' and more the end of oil dependence." Follow the link below for the full the full text of his speech.
David Milliband on post-oil economy
TTL was well represented at a public debate, 'Climate change, the consumer and the citizen', held on 13 March at the Jubilee Library in Brighton and hosted by the Sussex Energy Group, part of the University of Sussex. The Sussex Energy Group will be in Lewes in June to talk about Energy transitioning.
Lewes Climate Concern. On 15 March our sister organisation launched its initiative to get half the residents of Lewes to watch An Inconvenient Truth. All the local dignatories were there including John Webber talking about Transition Town Lewes. To find out how to get involved in this awareness-raising campaign, please visit their web site.
Transition Village Forest Row could be an initiative resulting from following a one-day event on 17 March in Forest Row by Changing Worlds, at which Transition Town Lewes made a presentation.
IT'S NOT ALL DOOM AND GLOOM!
Climate Change does make some things easier...
COMING EVENTS
Jeremy Leggett talk: Peak Oil and Climate Change – Renaissance or Dislocation? Pelham House, Thursday 29 March 8pm. Transition Town Lewes will soon be hosting an evening with Jeremy Leggett, an award-winning scientist, oil-industry consultant, Greenpeace campaigner and CEO of solarcentury, the largest renewable energy company in the UK. He is also a member of the UK Government's Renewables Advisory Board. His first book, "The Carbon War" was described by the Sunday Times as the "best book yet on the politics of global warming." His second book, "Half Gone" focuses on how we will run out of oil sooner than we think, and how burning what's left of our oil resources will warm our planet to a catastrophic level. The talk will cost £3, and as places are limited, it would be best to arrive early.
Full Town Council Meeting, Thursday 5 April, 7:30pm, Council Chamber, Town Hall
Caroline Lucas MEP talk: The impact of Peak Oil on Food Security at Pelham House, Thursday 12 April, 8pm. Caroline Lucas is the Green Party Member of the European Parliament for the South East. TTL will be hosting this authoritative and passionate voice of the environmental movement, with an introduction by Norman Baker MP. Caroline will speak about her recent report to the European Parliament, which highlights our extraordinary over-dependence on oil for food and agriculture, the vulnerabilities associated with the situation, and the urgent need to relocalise food production. She will also talk about the close relationship between climate change and fossil fuel dependence and explore energy transition as a solution. £3 on the door – space is limited, so please arrive early.
Growing Your Own Food – Saturday, 14 April 10-4pm. A one-day workshop for the novice, with Nir Halfon, a biodynamic horticulturalist and permaculture designer in association with Transition Town Lewes. Based at Lewes New School. For more information, and to book a place, please contact Nir on 0781 503 5262.
FINAL WORDS
We'd like to thank Mamta Patel for collecting £100 for Transition Town Lewes at an impromptu fund-raising event.
TTL is looking for a photographer who would be interested in assisting us with visually documenting our transition process. If you're interested, please email us.
Well, as you can see, there's a busy month ahead, and with our Unleashing at the Town Hall on 24 April, and plans for exciting Post-Unleashing Programme May and June, it's going to get a lot busier! If you can help in any way, please contact us, via our wiki website, which is designed to evolve and grow with the project.
Get involved: contact one of the Group contacts on the Groups page
