April 2012 Newsletter

Contents:

STOP THE SUPERMARKET – Part Two

Shipston Town Council Rejects Supermarket Proposal

When Supermarkets Move In...

See through the spin and really go Green

Rob Hopkins April Podcast

Stop The Supermarket Part Two

Save Shipston Town Centre Campaign Meeting Thursday 22nd March - report from Trev Trevithick...
This was the follow on meeting from the one at the Townsend Hall when 120 people filled the hall but many could not get in. There had been rumours that the pro-supermarket campaign had organised a mob to disrupt the meeting and there were a good number of supermarket supporters there, but in the event it all went off very peacefully. I suspect about a hundred people turned up all told, it half-filled the Sheldon Bosley Hub hall.

Paul Rathkey, the mayor, chaired the meeting, Helen started the discussion and other speakers included Richard Cheney and Jonathan Gullis, the district councillors, and Kate King from the traders, before the meeting was opened for public discussion. Paul took questions and comments from those who had not been able to get in to the last meeting or who had not spoken at the last meeting as far as possible, but in fact most people got a say. It was generally a much less antagonistic meeting than the first one.

Comments ranged from one lady who had done a comparison shop between Tescos in Stratford and the Coop, which was £30-£40 more expensive in Shipston (Helen countered with the Transitiion Shipston comparison survey done a couple of years ago, its recent update and an independent on-line comparison of common household purchases. In each case Shipston came out £2-£3 more expensive, but this was before travelling time and expenses were taken into account); Mark Wildish, involved in the Pettifer's Garage development, pointed out that the greenfield site application was an outline application only, if agreed in outline then the full application may have a bigger supermarket, a smaller one - or none at all. He said the supermarkets' general policy was to get the principle of development agreed and then expand their plans, in this case he was concerned that if the outline plan was agreed then an application for a bigger supermarket on the Norgren site would be not far behind and very hard to resist. One young man said he had recently moved in to Shipston, moving his young family off a crime-ridden drug estate. He loved living here and was delighted his children were going through the town's schools, however he was very concerned about the future. He had been working at one of the local businesses, but had recently lost his job because the owner felt that business was dropping off and the future looked bleak - and this was before the supermarket application was decided, so could not be considered a factor. One lady who lives opposite the proposed site was very concerned about increased traffic, visual impact and the fact that the supermarket would be brightly lit possibly for 24 hours a day but certainly for very long periods of time.

Of particular interest were the comments from three separate young people. They all said that the town had to develop and move forward. Each said how much they valued the community and living here and why couldn't the energy being used to oppose the supermarket and the energy expended in supporting it be combined to come up with a plan to develop the town centre? One older person said that the town centre was like a supermarket, you just had to go in and out of shops instead of wandering to different departments. In general, the idea of developing the town centre received a huge amount of support.

We collected a significant number of signatures on the petition and many people took individual forms to oppose the application. In addition a collection at the end to help off set the cost of hiring the hall was well supported. A display of before and after pictures of towns suffering from supermarket development and various news stories and internet comments attracted a lot of attention.

After the meeting closed about 25 anti-supermarket supporters went upstairs to the bar and broke up into the three groups again - but this time each table was packed, there was a lot of support and I was delighted that a lot of young people came up to join in.


Shipston Town Council Rejects Supermarket Proposal
Here is an extract from the Town Council's response to the District Council strategy for the town:
Firstly, that there is not a need for a large out-of-town retail development as indicated in previous drafts. The town council welcomes the down-scaling of retail provision to a store (retail provision) of some 410 sq ms (net) within the town centre and the principle that developments over 1000 sq ms are not appropriate for market towns such as Shipston. Secondly, the principle of keeping new housing estates below 2% of the existing residential stock (46 units in the case of Shipston) is deemed appropriate for Shipston to meet its targets of 140-220 new dwellings by 2028. Small-scale (15-45 units) developments spread around the town and over a number of years is the only way forward in limiting the effects on an already over-strained infrastructure, which is in itself in need of improvements.” For more see... http://shipstonblog.org.uk/draft-core-strategy/

When Supermarkets Move In...
A report from Lewis of what can happen when supermarkets take over...
Today, in Lewes, we spend about fifty million pounds a year on food and drink and most of that – at least forty million – is spent in our three supermarkets: Tesco, Waitrose and Aldi. In those hundred years - and especially the last fifty years since I was born - we've managed to let all this natural capital be diverted into the hands of a few multinational corporations. Our local food economies have dried up; local money no longer circulates around and about the town, building wealth and relationships as it goes. A tenner spent locally multiplies many times over as it circulates. Spent in a supermarket, that tenner goes straight out of town and into the hands of Tesco and co, and its shareholders.
As a direct result, the local economy in Lewes is struggling. There are no more bakers in Lewes. We have one greengrocer, at the top of town where the rents are affordable, and only two butchers are left. Just in the last five years, according to the new economics foundation, Lewes has gone from being a 'home town' with a wide mix of independent shops supporting a strong local economy, to a borderline clone town. The independent shops we once were so proud of are now either chains or strange chi-chi shops selling expensive string, as the joke goes round hereMore... http://www.transitionnetwork.org/stories/adrienne-campbell/2012-03/goodbye-supermarkets

See through the spin and really go Green
That was the message that TV architectural designer Charlie Luxton at the Townsend Hall on Wednesday 21 March, at the Community Energy Fair.
Charlie started by saying that it was essential to improve the energy efficiency of our homes because according to oil experts we are already at world “Peak Oil” production. From now on fossil fuels will become more difficult and expensive to extract leading to sharp increases of the cost of oil and gas.
Houses waste a third of their heat and they produce 27% of UK’s CO2. They use twice the energy for space heating as Nordic houses, taking into account size and temperature. 3 million homes have such low levels of thermal comfort that that are officially a health hazard. He said that the Great British Challenge is to improve 25 million existing houses in the next 40 years.
Charlie showed examples of new “Passivhaus” designs with a projected heating bill of only £90 per year then discussed various ways of insulating, improving air tightness, solar gain and saving electrical consumption
Microgeneration he said should only be installed when all other energy efficiency measure have been taken. For solar PV panels and other forms of renewable electricity generation the government Feed-in Tariff should provide 8% to 10% return on investment. For renewable forms of heat such as wood-pellet boilers and solar hot water the Renewable Heat Incentive due to be implemented next year is aimed at providing 12% return on investment.
He then talked about Hook Norton Low Carbon, a community co-operative that has invested over £400,000 into village-wide carbon reduction schemes. This includes green-furbishing thirty houses, creating a car pool, installing a 12kW solar array on the local school and exploring the potential for a community wind turbine.
Charlie's is currently co-presenting “Brick by Brick: Rebuilding Our Past” on BBC 2 see:
Links...

This Month’s Transition Podcast

The interview Rob Hopkins did recently with Lee Brain one of the founders of Transition Prince Rupert, in British Columbia, Canada, was one of the most inspiring he has yet published. In this installment, he gives a fascinating taste of what it looks like when an emerging Transition group gives over some time to getting the foundations of its work as solid as possible before proceeding any further.

CONNECT THE DOTS

Artists Project Earth www.apeuk.org the locally based environmental charity in association with 350.org are launching a global participatory creative project to show the world that ‘This is Climate Change’ and to highlight the communities that are on the frontlines of the climate crisis. The impacts of climate change are everywhere, but so are we. If your community is affected, this is your day to share the reality of climate change with the world, or to stand in solidarity and share the stories of those who are already impacted. Whether your community is experiencing the effects of the drought in the UK or diminishing harvests in Africa, we’ll use the day to drive home a message to politicians and fossil fuel companies alike: “We're connecting the dots: we know fossil fuels are changing our climate and causing extreme weather conditions. We are standing-up for climate justice!”
Join 350.org on May 5th 2012 to show this world for what it truly is: a deeply beautiful but changing planet, full of people fighting to make it better. It’s time to Connect the Dots.

A Sunday Market for Shipston?
Following the success of last years Harvest Fair and with the controversy over the proposed supermarket Philip Vial has proposed a regular market see the discussion on Philip's blog www.shipstonblog.org.uk

Sustainable Building Centre
This link was sent in by a Transition Shipston supporter:
http://www.sustainablebuildingscentre.org/pages/faq#q1

Stratford Community Radio
Listen again to Val Rainbow's interview about Transition Shipston and the proposed supermarket on the Alternative Show: www.livestream.com/thealternativeshow


Primose organic centre
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=de1ALwFJ9O4&feature=youtu.be
Primose organic centre is flagship model of an ecological an sustainable horticultural food system with very low carbon footprint and operating in a positive relationship with nature.

Pollinators in Gardens (and beyond!) ‘’

A talk by Dr Jeff Ollerton

Wednesday 18th April 2012

7.00 for 7.30pm at Pillerton Priors Village Hall,

Pillerton Priors, Warks. CV35 0PH

Dr Jeff Ollerton appeared on television recently as the adviser on Pollination to Sarah Raven , presenter of ‘Birds, Butterflies and Bees’.

This talk will be tailored towards the interests of Beekeepers, Gardeners and Farmers - - - but also anyone who is interested in the sad plight our pollinators, the effect this will have on us and our food supplies; and what we can do about reversing this situation - - -including advice on planting.

Tickets £4.00, Information and Booking - Tim Newcombe Tel. 07970 037325 E mail tim.newcombe123@btinternet.com

Seating is limited so there is no guarantee of tickets on the night but tickets can be held for you.

Please do inform us as soon as possible if you are unable to attend and your ticket will then be available for someone else.



Contents:

STOP THE SUPERMARKET – Part Two

Shipston Town Council Rejects Supermarket Proposal

When Supermarkets Move In...

See through the spin and really go Green

Rob Hopkins April Podcast