Transition Steering Group
Wednesday 9th October, 7.00
Black Horse Pub, Station Road
Shipston group launches self-build housing project
Local
people in Shipston are being asked to come along to the launch of a
group who hope to build their own homes. Founder Mike Ashton said:
”There are many local planning applications from developers that
offer new homes to locals that they might not be able to afford. I
want to see if there is a need for local people to develop their own
homes without having to move out of the area or take on a mortgage
they can’t afford.” The group will look at finding a suitable
site, planning applications and method of building their homes.
“Whilst it can be daunting to think about building a house from
scratch, by combining skills and making the best use of local
resources, we can build homes that are energy efficient and
comfortable.” If you’d like to find out more information,
contribute some ideas and maybe become a self builder, the group will
meet at the Black Horse in Shipston on Tuesday 3rd
September at 7.30 pm.
Transition Streets (& Villages)
Transition
Shipston is hoping to set up some Transition Streets (& village)
groups.
How Transition Streets works:
Groups
of friends and neighbours meet every few weeks with a practical
workbook to make easy changes in how they use energy, water, food,
packaging and transport. Transition Streets groups explain what it’s
like to take part, in this video ‘The power’s in your hands’.
Transition
Streets was set up by Totnes charity Transition
Town Totnes
(TTT) in 2009. The idea behind Transition Streets is to engage
our local community – many of whom don’t see themselves as
‘green’ – in living more sustainably in response to
diminishing fossil fuel supplies and climate change.
http://www.transitiontogether.org.uk/totnes-streets/.
Winner
of a 2011 Ashden Award in the behaviour change category, Transition
Streets is one of nearly 40 local TTT projects that see fuel price
rises, economic uncertainty and climate change as opportunities to
increase personal and community well-being, expand our local economy
and find more sustainable ways of living. More information can be
found on http://www.transitiontowntotnes.org/ website.
If
you are interested in helping set up a Transition Street in a street
or village around Shipston contact Geri Hunting geri@horsejoy.com
Queen's
Avenue Play Area - Update
With
an extra £5000 from Shipston Town Council coming in during August
the total raised for the play equipment now stands at £62000!
Polly has now placed the order for the first phase which should be
going in over the next 4 weeks. A celebration and apple day is
planned in the park on Saturday 19th
October.
Shipston Food Festival – Update
We will be running a seed swap, a food / cookery book
swap and plant swap on the Transition Shipston stall at the
festival. If you have things to swap please bring them along. We
will also be pressing apples to raise funds. If you have any spare
apples that need picking please let us know.
Event Programme for the Food Festival
Sunday 29th September:
0900
– Competition area open for entries
1000
– Event officially opens for visitors
1000
– Raffle tickets on sale
1000
– Competition entries close, and judging begins
1100
– 1130 First cookery demonstration
1230
– 1300 Second cookery demonstration
1400
– 1430 Third cookery demonstration
1545
– Raffle draw
1555
– Winner of Best Local Producer announced
1600
- Close
Chipping
Campden – “Macerator” Visit
Our
friends in Transition Chipping Campden group recently went to visit
the “Macerator” that is in a quarry up on the top of the hill
just above Campden. This is the report from their newsletter:
This
beast devours waste organically and in doing so generates useful
energy. For the technical details, read on:
Northwick
Power operate a 2000 kW Anaerobic Digestion plant in the heart of
the North Cotswolds. The power from this plant is distributed from
Northwick’s own substation to the local power distribution
network, from where the power will be used to supply up to 1500
homes.
What
is Anaerobic Digestion?
Put
simply, it is the de-composition of organic material in the absence
of oxygen. In reality it is a complex series of biological activity
decomposing organic material in a series of stages.
Northwick
Power built a state of the art German manufactured plant to manage
the process of decomposition as these stages are happening
simultaneously and continually within the concrete biological tanks.
The plant produces a constant supply of methane which is used to
fuel two V20 generation sets producing ‘green’ electricity.
The
supply of organic matter is derived from farming waste, such as from
the mucking our of cattle sheds, as well as from food not fit for
human consumption. The latter supply is processed on site to remove
packaging and is then pasteurised to kill off harmful bacteria.
The
organic matter, or ‘feedstock’ is fed into the plant at a
constant rate of circa 100 tonnes per day to ensure the bacteria are
nourished and the biological process kept alive.
Nothing
is wasted as the fully de-composed organic matter is retained in a
storage tank and then used as an alternative to non-organic
fertiliser on crops. This material, rich in nitrogen and other
elements provides an attractive alternative to man made fertilisers.
Heat from the engines is used to pasteurise the food waste derived
organic matter as well as keeping the biological tanks at 40 Deg
Centigrade.
Anaerobic
Digestion is a sustainable alternative for processing waste food in
the UK. McCain, for example, are completely self sufficient in
energy and Coca Cola have reduced their fuel costs by almost 13% by
utilising biomethane. Plants, such as the one at Northwick Estate,
are having a significant impact on the amount of ‘green’
electricity generated and are helping the UK to meet its tough
renewable targets.
William
Fellows, Plant Manager Northwick Biogas Plant
This is to inform you
that a new website www.energysavinghomes.org.uk
is now available to residents of Warwickshire and Coventry to help
them identify ways to save energy at home. It has been developed by
Act on Energy, the energy efficiency advice service for the area
with the help of funding from the Department for Energy and Climate
Change.
The
new site includes a NHER SAP2009 calculator that will give you an
indication of potential improvement measures for your home. Minimal
information is needed for an initial assessment, but more
information can be added to give a more accurate assessment,
including approximate costs and savings for appropriate improvement
measures. You can register your details on the site so that you can
return to it at a later date - for example, after making an
improvement to see what the benefits have been achieved and what
they you might do next.
A
key feature of the site is a link to local contractors. There are
details of around 40 contractors who are based in or near the area,
giving details of the type of work they carry out, with a map which
shows their location. The site also provides an opportunity for
customers to provide feedback on how a contractor performed: this is
displayed with stars against each contractor. There are also
numerous pages providing dedicated information about measures,
grants, and local community groups – including Community Energy
Warwickshire.
Another
valuable feature are individual case studies of local homes, which
outlines the actual improvements made and the contractors who did
them, with a link to a map showing where they are located. Thanks to
all those Community Energy Warwickshire members who offered
their home as a case study for the site! Act on Energy plans to add
more case studies over time to provide examples of all the potential
improvement measures, so if you have improved the energy efficiency
of your home and are prepared to tell others about it, let Act on
Energy know.
The
website currently only covers Warwickshire and Coventry, and
although it can be accessed from anywhere, it only recognises post
codes in or near to that area. Those entering a post code outside
the area will get a message saying “you are outside the area”
but they can still use the site’s facilities. Ultimately, Act on
Energy hope other areas will request access to the site, so that its
advice and information can spread across the country.
If
you have any comments on or questions about the site, or want to
suggest your home as an improvement case study, or notice any bugs
–it’s still a very new site! – contact David Jullien, Chief
Executive of Act on Energy at david@actonenergy.org.uk.
For more information about Act on Energy’s other work, see
www.actonenergy.org.uk.
Zero
Waste Week
Zero
Waste Week 2013 runs from Monday 2 September to Sunday 8 September.
Now in its sixth year, this time round Zero Waste Week is
concentrating on reducing food waste.
Check
out the Zero Waste Week website at
http://www.zerowasteweek.co.uk/ for
tips on ways to avoid food waste when shopping, in the kitchen and
at work and school. There is also a range of "use-it-up"
recipes to help you make the most of any leftovers.
Like
the Plastic Challenge organised by Transition Stratford it doesn't
set you targets, but you can set your own personal goals for
reducing food waste. So if you sign up to support the week, why not
let us know here at Transition Stratford and we'll see what we can
do together!
Roger
Matthews
Transition
Stratford
A
Girl called Jack
Jack Monroe, who writes
the blog A
Girl Called Jack,
discusses how she became a popular austerity cook and food blogger
while living below the poverty line, and demonstrates how to cook
one of her signature dishes:
the carrot, cumin and kidney
bean burger. A selection of recipes from A
Girl Called Jack
are to be published next year in a book of the same name
http://agirlcalledjack.com/
Armscote
Manor Lecture Series 2013 - 7th
to 11th
October
eighth
series of garden lectures and workshops at Armscote Manor.
http://www.armscotemanor.co.uk/lecture_series.html
There
is an interesting and varied week planned and end on a high note
with the wonderful Orchestra of the Swan conducted by the
charismatic David Curtis.
Whichford
Pottery and Neal's Yard will have stalls throughout the week and
Armscote Manor pots, flower bricks, honey, tulips and wool will also
be available.
Bablake
Wines have very kindly and generously agreed to provide a glass of
wine for all our guests again this year. A ticket order form and
gift aid form can be downloaded from our website:-
www.armscotemanor.co.uk
All
monies raised during the week are donated to Shipston Home Nursing.
