Minutes of meeting 2 April 2008

Agenda:

  • debriefing from meeting with Lindsay Frost and Peter Gardiner
  • next steps

debriefing

  • we gave a professional impression ¡V were a great team!
  • a positive, cooperative meeting, identifying bridges between TTL and the District Council
  • noted a wide gap in thinking on rural communities and food
  • noted the necessity for council planning to be evidence based with valid planning points
  • the Local Development Framework could cite being a pioneering transition initiative as reason for more ambitious targets with regard to climate change and peak oil, if the transition initiative was district-wide

next steps

  • possibility of a Transition District Lewes
    • TTL originally set up with the district in mind, not just Lewes, as the issues require a wider approach
    • subscribers to the TTL bulletin are not only from Lewes
    • there are people "mulling" becoming transition initiatives in other parts of the district, eg Seaford and Newhaven
    • noted that different transition initiatives are necessary and valuable from neighbourhoods, through towns, to district and regional networks, in terms of ownership of the initiative as well as working together
    • there are moves to create a south east transition hub
    • another district-wide perspective are the Town Partnerships were set up by councils and are the council link to voluntary services, business and groups; each town in the district has a Town Partnership and they are beginning to link together
  • next TTL meeting with the Planning Department
    • Peter Gardiner had expressed interest in TTL's position on the North Street development: on the one hand, it was felt it would be good to engage on specific planning applications when they are particularly relevant for the development of a transition town, also to increase awareness of transition issues amongst councillors and council officers when engaging on a specific planning application, on the other hand there have been decisions in the past within TTL not to engage on a campaigning level, rather work cooperatively with council on a strategic level
    • a meeting organised by TTL on floodplain development was proposed, at a strategic level, rather than about specific developments, but this being an issue where there is a shared concern between the council and TTL, inviting district council and other potentially interested parties as well as stakeholders in the proposed developments at Newhaven
    • touched on was the idea of a presentation to the District Council about peak oil and climate change
    • noted that TTL has experts in participatory processes which may be useful to share with the council to bridge the clash of TTL and council culture
  • developing emergency plans
    • noted we would like to engage with Ian Hodgson, Resilience (Emergency Planning) Officer for the District Council and East Sussex County Council on the development of emergency planning

Actions:

  • next meeting with the District Council: perhaps in "world cafe" form, John and Kate will discuss possibilities with Zoe
  • find out existing subscribers to the TTL bulletin and those who are "mulling" being a transition initiative: Adrienne
  • support other towns and villages to become transition initiatives by informing and encouraging, giving talks, etc
  • regional hub meeting in Lewes: South East Transition Initiatives ¡V SETI ¡V will meet 23rd April at 6pm at Lewes New School
  • developing transition initiatives and the Town Partnerships: John, Adrienne, Kate and Chloe will meet
  • engaging with the Local Development Framework: Chloe will contact Lindsay Frost and Sue Harvey about possibilities, the current status of the framework also request TTL be invited to consultation events
  • weekly digest of current planning applications is sent out by Ruth O'Keefe to interested people: Adrienne will ask to be put on that email list
  • contact Ian Hodgson regarding current policies on emergency planning: Chloe

Get involved: contact one of the Group contacts on the Groups page