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Schoolchildren’s View of Haslemere in 2030?

Oct 26th, 2010 by

Winning Exhibit in Transition Haslemere Competition

What will a sustainable Haslemere look like in 2030?

This is a question that Transition Haslemere asked of pupils at Camelsdale School recently. Their response was encouragingly optimistic. The children built a model of how they thought their school would look in 20 years time. he cardboard model, which is now on show at Haslemere Museum, shows a variety of measures the children think could be put in place over that time. These include triple-glazed windows, thick ceiling insulation and a ‘green roof’ planted with sedum and wildflowers. Water butts collect rainwater for irrigating the school’s vegetable garden, which supplies the kitchen for healthy school dinners. Compost bins recycle waste. 

 here are solar panels on the school roof for water heating and in the corner of the grounds stands a wind turbine. Now it may turn out that the school is not well sited for a wind turbine but there is no doubt that Camelsdale School and other buildings in Haslemere will need to shift to more renewable sources of energy over the next 20 years, and where possible, local sources. 

The children’s model of the future is not one of austerity and gloom. Instead, it gives a picture of a thriving and more self-sufficient institution. By growing its own vegetables, the school will not only lower its carbon footprint, but save money and provide an outdoor classroom for biology and ecology lessons.The children’s proposals are also notable for their practicality. In fact, the model sets an example of things that many of us can start to do in our own homes. However, when we look at things like insulation, double glazing and solar panels we are faced with a number of questions. Given that most of us have limited time and budgets, what should be our priorities? Which will cut our energy bills the most? How long will loft insulation take to pay for itself compared with double glazing? Solar panels look like a good idea for heating water, but are they a good idea for generating electricity? What will have the most impact on our carbon footprint? 

Local engineer Sandy Polack has made a detailed study of these issues and answered these questions and others in a talk titled “Cost-effective ways to reduce your carbon footprint”. You can see his presentation here and read his article here.

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Cost Effective Ways to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint

Oct 17th, 2010 by

In the last of the 2010 series of Transition Haslemere Evenings Sandy Polak gave us a useful and interesting talk on the practical things we can do to reduce our Carbon Footprint while, at the same time, saving us money.

A copy of Sandy’s presentation is available here if you want to know more.

Transition Haslemere Evenings will be back in March 2011 with a new and exciting programme of monthly evening talks, films and other events. For more news keep an eye on the website and of course the newsletters.

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DIY Food – Saturday 18th September

Sep 5th, 2010 by

DIY Food Event at Haslemere Museum Sept 18th

As part of the food festival Transition Haslemere are celebrating Do-It-Yourself foods.

Come and see at the Haslemere Museum on Saturday September 18th between 12.00 and 4.00 pm.

There are talks on bee keeping at 12.30, how to get more out of your food and waste less at 1.30 and all you need to know about keeping chickens at 2.30.

As well as the talks there are stands and demonstrations on ginger beer making, herbal teas and tinctures, how to grind your own oats and the many things you can do with the humble blackberry. You can get to taste the wonderful Lurgashall wines and the produce from our Community Garden run at Lower Roundhurst Farm by the Transition Haslemere Landshare team.

And finally come and make your own smoothie on our cycle-powered smoothie maker!

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Transition Haslemere Film – Wednesday August 25th

Aug 12th, 2010 by

On Wednesday August 25th at 7.30 pm we are showing the inspirational film “Rebecca’s Wild Farm” at the Haslemere Museum.

The  film was made by the BBC Natural World and looks at how traditional and ecological farming methods can compete in the 20th century and how they will be essential as we enter a period of reducing availability of oil.

Wildlife filmmaker Rebecca Hosking investigates how to transform her family’s farm in Devon into a low energy farm for the future, and discovers that nature holds the key.

With her father close to retirement, Rebecca returns to her family’s wildlife-friendly farm in Devon, to become the next generation to farm the land. Realising that all food production in the UK is completely dependent on abundant cheap fossil fuel, particularly oil, she sets out to discover just how secure this oil supply is.

Alarmed by the answers, she explores ways of farming without using fossil fuel. With the help of pioneering farmers and growers, Rebecca learns that it is actually nature that holds the key to farming in a low-energy future

No reservations are necessary; entrance is free (but doations are welcome)

For more information see here

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TH Helps Museum Improve Sustainability

Aug 12th, 2010 by

Haslemere Museum is committed to reducing its ecological footprint and improving its sustainability and recently asked Transition Haslemere if it could help. In July, Naomi Clarke and Clive Davidson meet Julia Tanner, the museum curator, to discuss ideas and see if there were areas where we could work together. 

The museum has already taken a number of steps towards improving its sustainability, including drafting an environmental policy and inviting TH member Sandy Polack to undertake an energy audit of the buildings.

At the meeting, Naomi and Clive made a number of suggestions for further action the museum could take, including switching to more environmentally friendly consumable products such as recycled paper and eco cleaning products, looking at staff transport and ideas such as car sharing, and publicising the museum’s efforts on a ‘green notice board’. Areas where TH and the museum will investigate cooperating include using the museum as a venue for vegetable and general swap-it events.

Haslemere Museum has ambitions to build its reputation as a green institution and a centre of excellence in museum environmental matters.

TH applauds these goals and is offering its full support.

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Help Us To Shape Haslemere's Public Transport

Jul 23rd, 2010 by

We are conducting a survey about transport issues in the Haslemere area, let us have your thoughts and views by completing the questionnaire. It will only take 3 to 4 minutes to fill in.

Just click on the picture in the sidebar, complete the survey and have a chance to win an energy monitor or fresh food hamper.

We will be using the findings to help us in a public meeting that we are planning to hold in September. At the meeting we will be discussing various options for the future of transport in Haslemere.

Tell us your views and be part of the future for Haslemere.

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How to Survive without Oil – A Case Study!

Jul 19th, 2010 by

On Wednesday July 28th at 7.30 pm we are showing the enlightening film “The Power of Community” at the Haslemere Museum. This is a very useful pointer for us all as we tackle the twin threats of Climate Change and Peak oil.
When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1990, Cuba’s economy went into a tailspin. With imports of oil cut by more than half – and food by 80 percent – people were desperate. This film tells of the hardships and struggles as well as the community and creativity of the Cuban people during this difficult time. Cubans share how they transitioned from a highly mechanized, industrial agricultural system to one using organic methods of farming and local, urban gardens. It is an unusual look into the Cuban culture during this economic crisis, which they call “The Special Period.” The film opens with a short history of Peak Oil, a term for the time in our history when world oil production will reach its all-time peak and begin to decline forever. Cuba, the only country that has faced such a crisis – the massive reduction of fossil fuels – is an example of options and hope.

No reservations are necessary; entrance is £2.50 (pay at the door).

For more information see here

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Rob Hopkins Presentation Now Available

Jul 5th, 2010 by

The presentation that Rob Hopkins gave in Godalming in June is now available  and can be seen here

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Transition Haslemere June 23rd Talk

Jun 8th, 2010 by

Colin Butfield from WWF is our next speaker in the Transition Haslemere Evenings Series on Wednesday June 23rd at 7.30pm in the Haslmere Museum. (Entry £2.50 on the door)

Colin is Head of Campaigns at WWF-UK where he manages a team working on everything from stopping illegal logging, to tackling climate change, to making UK homes more sustainable.

Our homes are the front line of sustainability. They account for 27% of the UK’s carbon emissions, use 55% of all timber used in UK and a huge amount of freshwater – in short we cannot make the UK sustainable without making our homes sustainable.  This talk is about one man’s experience trying to turn a very typical 1930s house in Haslemere into an ecohome.

To see copies of previous talks click on the posters below (be aware these are large files and will take a couple of minutes to open):

   

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Rob Hopkins Comes to Town

Jun 8th, 2010 by

He did not actually come to Haslemere but Rob Hopkins came to Godalming last night (June 7th) in a joint event organised by Transition Haslemere, Transition Farnham and Transition Godalming. Our thanks to Chris in Godalming and Finn in Farnham and for their parts in the organisation. Particular thanks go to Debs at WWF who invited Rob to talk to WWF which enabled us to follow on.

There was a good turn out of about 80 people; young and old coming from afar as Chichester, Portsmouth, Guildford, Woking and in one case Edinburgh.

Rob talked with his usual enthusiasm, insight and clarity for about one hour on the Transition Process and the reasons why we need to transition.

It has now been four years since the Transition process started and progress has been staggering. As a result of all the developments the Transition Network are working on updating their handbook. It was good to see how progress was being made, how the process is being simplified and how much support is available to us. You will be able to see his presentation in full here (link will be installed in a couple of days when we have a copy of the presentation).

Just as good was the wide ranging question and answer session that had to be curtailed after one hour, it could have gone on far longer. We covered the full spectrum of topics from the macro to the micro and those of us from Transition Haslemere came away buzzing with ideas and suggestions for projects.

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Waverley Borough Council Meets Transition Towns

May 9th, 2010 by

Following a meeting between Haslemere, Farnham and Godalming transition groups and Waverley Borough Council, Waverley arranged a ‘market stall’ event where the council’s various services departments could set out displays of their activities and answer questions. The transition groups were invited to do the same. The event took place from 6 to 9pm on Thursday 22 April.

Present for Waverley were heads of departments plus staff members, as well as strategic director Steve Thwaites and Councillor John Sandy who is responsible for environmental matters.

Clive Davidson and Adrian Wimbush attended for Haslemere. Farnham and Godalming transition groups, Greening Godalming and Friends of the Earth also attended.

The overall impression talking to Waverley people was that they are mostly aware of and understand the concept of sustainability, and in a number of cases are quite advanced in embedding it in their activities. Several staff spoke with considerable commitment and passion about their green efforts. For example, IT services have a programme of replacing their servers with more energy efficient devices and have developed a web conferencing platform aimed at reducing the need for council officials to travel to meetings.

Some departments are constrained by regulation as to what they can do in pursuing sustainable practice. Building services can only enforce the minimum regulations for energy efficiency in new buildings, but say they try to encourage builders to exceed these wherever possible.

Below, Finn Jackson of Transition Farnham gives more detail of Waverley actions on sustainability.

The event was about sharing information and getting to know one another. There was no formal goal for the event, but most participants seemed to find it positive and useful in that it increased our knowledge and mutual understanding of each other. No follow up has been planned as yet, but no doubt this will happen in due course. The event took place in the context of all levels of government having increasingly stringent carbon reduction targets. To meet the targets, Waverley will have to engage the community more fully in its efforts, which is where the link with our transition groups comes in. It is in all our interests for us to work together.

Finn Jackson, Farnham:

I didn’t manage to talk to everyone, but some of the things I picked up during the evening (and can still remember) are:

  • Waverley is going to install two recharging points for electric vehicles in Central Car Park in Farnham
  • They will also be introducing in June a pilot scheme for collecting household waste.
    (They will be taking it to Slyfield in Guildford to be composted instead of using anaerobic digestion to make natural gas from it, but that’s maybe something for the full scheme.) The pilot will run in Farnham, Godalming, Haslemere and Cranleigh
  • They are improving local democracy by screening videos of council meetings on the web
  • They will be introducing a local e-petition service so that, as we already can sign petitions to Number 10, we will be able to petition the council about issues we care about, and if enough people sign then the council will have to reply within a certain number of days
  • They are introducing an on-line business directory which is aimed at improving business to business trade within Waverley
  • The council buildings in Godalming already have solar panels heating all their hot water
  • They investigating/planning to install more on some of their outlying buildings, in some cases using the hot water to heat the (small) building as well
  • Waverley is the most wooded borough in the most wooded county in Britain. “We don’t want to plant any more trees — just leave a patch of land bare for a few years and trees will appear.” This means their focus is currently on removing trees to protect heathland, but it is good news when the time comes for us to grow trees for energy, and food.
  • They are already involving businesses in sponsoring events that promote and enhance community
  • They already run training schemes across the Borough that could be useful in re-skilling our population
  • And when I talked about having a local currency for Waverley, they didn’t run screaming from the building! (To me it would be stronger than a currency for a single town — and surely the reason Waverley exists as a Borough at all is because historically our towns and villages traded together and formed some kind of unit, separate from the towns around us?)

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Green Fair Success

Apr 17th, 2010 by

Transition Haslemere Cake by Yours Tastefully

Transition Haslemere celebrated their official “unleashing” at the Green Fair on Sat 27th March at the Haslemere Museum. The ”unleashing” was marked by the cutting of a fantastic cake, donated by local cake maker Yours Tastefully and a speech by Mayor Melanie Odell and Transition Haslemere core member Adrian Wimbush.  

Over 550 people attended the Green Fair which was held in Haslemere Museum. They were informed and entertained by a wide variety of environmental displays, retailers and children’s activities as well as being serenaded the Haslemere Town Band. 

For more pictures of the Green Fair click here

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Haslemere Supports Earth Hour 2010

Apr 17th, 2010 by

Haslemere again joined communities around the world in supporting Earth Hour on Saturday 27th March; spearheaded by the Beacon Hill community.  Hundreds of businesses, schools, residents and local landmarks took part by switching off their lights for one hour.

Mayor Melanie Odell led the Haslemere big switch off at Hindhead Furnishings in Beacon Hill and special candlelit dinners were held in restaurants across the area – including Amalfi, Trattoria, The Woodcock pub and Pizza Express.

More than 50 people donned brightly coloured costumes at the Apple Tree in Haslemere the previous week to kick off the WWF Earth Hour celebrations in the themed pub.

School children took part in Earth Hour events the week before the switch off including those from St Bartholomew’s, Camelsdale, Beacon Hill, Grayswood and Shottermill primary schools to learn about climate change and discuss ideas for tackling it.

Lights were turned off in Haslemere Town Hall, Surrey County Hall and Waverley Borough Council Hall.

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Transition Haslemere Monthly Herald Column – April 2010

Apr 2nd, 2010 by

http://s3.mediauk.com/logos/50/41740.png

Responding to climate change can benefit the community

This is the first in a series of monthly columns by Transition Haslemere, a community group developing local responses to the long-term threats of climate change and the decline of cheap oil (known as ‘peak oil’).

Recently, the Haslemere Herald has carried a series of letters debating whether climate change is real and man-made. Many readers who have looked at the science will have concluded that the evidence is overwhelming. Others may harbour doubts, but believe that the risks are serious and therefore we should err on the side of caution. The question then is what can we do? The Government is taking a number of steps, but many argue that they are too little, and politicians are too distracted by other issues. Individually, we can install energy efficient light bulbs and insulate our lofts, but these can seem tiny efforts in the face of a huge problem.

The ‘transition town’ movement – a worldwide network of grassroots groups of which Transition Haslemere is part – looks at the problem from another angle. Within our community there is an enormous wealth of creativity, expertise and energy that we can tap into, and that if we work together we can find the best solutions for our particular town that make the most of our particular talents and resources.

Transition Haslemere has been going for just 18 months, but already we have a number of projects under way. On Saturday 27 March, we organised the first Haslemere Green Fair. Talking to many of the 550 visitors to the fair, it was clear that people are deeply concerned about the future their children or grandchildren will face. They wanted to know what actions they could take. We had stalls on home composting, bee and chicken keeping, home energy efficiency and more.  And we were able to tell them about the community garden we have recently started on land donated by Lower Roundhurst Farm, about the research we have done with the Council for the Protection of Rural England on our local food network, about the dialogue that Transition Farnham, Transition Godalming and ourselves have begun with Waverley Borough Council on how we might work together on sustainability issues. Meanwhile, pupils from Woolmer Hill School, which already has an Eco-Schools Bronze Award, asked us if we could help them achieve a Silver Award – one of several projects we have with local schools.

Climate change and peak oil are major long-term challenges to Haslemere, Britain and the world. But we don’t have to wait for governments to respond, nor do we have to feel isolated and ineffective. We can get together and create our own solutions. It’s not just doom and gloom. The Green Fair was fun. The Town Band generously gave of their time to play for us in between the rain showers. Children ran around with painted faces eating locally made ice cream. And there was a real sense of a community taking responsibility for its future, and enjoying itself in the process.

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Green Fair

Mar 20th, 2010 by

Reminder:

Green Fair Haslemere Museum

Don’t forget to visit our Green Fair on Saturday March 27th between 11.00am and 4.00pm.

Lots to see and do….

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Landshare Meeting

Feb 13th, 2010 by

Reminder: Landshare Public Meeting

Thursday 25th February 2010 – in the Town Hall at 7.45pm 

We have two definite offers of quite large plots of land from nearby farms including the use of polytunnel. At present we envisage these being setup as “community” style gardens were work and output is shared amongst those people participating and the landowner. We also have offers of land from at least one individual who may be able to share their garden on a more one to one basis, as well as some other potential offers in the pipeline. At this meeting we hope to be able to match “landowners” with “growers” with the intention of getting some of the projects started this spring.

If you are interested in getting involved in growing organic fruit and vegetables locally and in a family friendly environment then please come and join the meeting.

Even if at this stage you would just like to know more then do come along.

We look forward to seeing you there.

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Transition Haslemere Presents the Haslemere Green Fair

Feb 6th, 2010 by

Haslemere Green Fair

Transition Haslemere are delighted to present the Haslemere Green Fair.

On March 27th 2010 between 11.00am and 4.00pm Haslemere Museum will become a centre of green activity.

For more details see here

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Transition Haslemere is Granted Official Status by the Transition Network

Jan 24th, 2010 by

Transition Haslemere is proud to become an ‘official’ Transition Town, it was announced on January 23rd by the Transition Town Network. There are 272 official transition towns in 16 countries and the list is growing quickly. The complete list is here.

In making the announcement, Ben Brangwyn, co-founder of the Transition Town Network said,

 ”This new set of “official” initiatives is truly wonderful – so many great people, so much excellent work already underway. We’re constantly amazed at the people who are stepping up into the core groups – reading through the biographies is a truly humbling – and inspiring – experience.

Y’know, mebbe we really are going to succeed in creating this ambitious future we’ve all chosen to pursue.

And it’s great to see how you’re addressing all the items in the checklist – congrats on getting so far so quickly. There are some very impressive projects already underway – one thing stood out for me, and that was Haslemere’s collaboration with the local council, detailed here: http://transitiontowns.org/forum/topic/local-council-cooperation-transition-haslemere-shows-how-it-can-be-done “.

A Transition Town becomes ‘official’ after satisfying a set of criteria established by the Transition Town Network to ensure that the initiative is strong and sustainable and that the founding committee respects the principles of sound governance. The full set of criteria is here.

Transition Haslemere is a growing group of concerned and active Haslemere residents who have come together with the shared vision of building resilience and sustainability into our community in response to the challenges of peak oil, accelerating climate change, and global economic instability.

To read the full press release click here

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Message from the Mayor

Jan 19th, 2010 by

“My thanks as Mayor on behalf of the Town for the Steering Group’s unstinting commitment and enthusiasm and for the work that has been done in the last year.

Also congraulations to the whole group for their achievements.  We look forward to the very exciting programme planned for this coming year”

Melanie Odell

Mayor of Haslemere

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Message from the Chairman

Jan 19th, 2010 by

 “Our annual general meeting on 18 January 2010 marked the first year of activities of Transition Haslemere. We have achieved a lot in that time, establishing the foundations of our group and initiating a number of projects. These include a household and schools energy efficiency programme, a community garden, a local food survey and a schools liaison programme.

We held a number of events to raise awareness of the impact of climate change and peak oil and to gain support for our local community response, including a public meeting, a film show, a presence at the monthly farmers’ market and the Christmas Fair, and our very successful Sustainable Harvest Picnic in October.

We have had strong support from Haslemere and Waverley Borough Councils, and we have opened discussion with them and Surrey County Council, as well as our fellow transition groups in Farnham and Godalming, on how we can cooperate in dealing with some of the challenges we face.

New plans for this year include a Green Fair at Haslemere Museum on Saturday 27 March, followed by a series of monthly talks. Our success has been down to the commitment and hard work of many people, and I’d like to thank them and everyone else who has supported Transition Haslemere in its first year.”

Clive Davidson (Chair Transition Haslemere)

The full Chair’s report on 2010 can be veiwed here

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Thank you to Waitrose and their shoppers

Jan 6th, 2010 by

 

Our thanks go to all our supporters who used their green tokens to “vote” for Transition Haslemere during December and indeed to Waitrose and their partners.

We are delighted to confirm that Waitrose are donating £434 to our community project based on the number of tokens.

Thanks to all.

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Something we can aspire to for Haslemere

Dec 18th, 2009 by

monteveglio1

One local authority in Italy has REALLY embraced the Transition Town Culture and has signed up in partnership with their Transition Town Organisation

Click here to read more…the Monteveglio story

…and in case you ask,  this link has already been sent to both Waverley and Surrey Councils by our colleagues at Transition Farnham.

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Copenhagen: Tell them we care…deeply

Nov 27th, 2009 by


Join WWF at The Wave in London on 5 December! The Wave is a fun, family friendly event organised by the Stop Climate Chaos coalition.Come and join the WWF team and tens of thousands of people as we flow through the streets of London and encircle Parliament, all dressed in blue. We’ll be sending a really important message ahead of the UN climate talks in Copenhagen from 7-18 December, that we want the UK and all countries to agree a strong global deal that will avoid the worst impacts of climate change.Meet at 12 midday on Saturday 5 December: WWF will be meeting at the corner of Grosvenor Square and Upper Brook Street (map), by the statue of Eisenhower (outside the US Embassy). Come and say Hi and get a blue WWF flag to carry before we set off along The Wave route to encircle Parliament.How do I get there?
All the information you need is on the Stop Climate Chaos website – including how to book a coach for £2 each way from anywhere on the Megabus network. Help spread the word – join the online Mexican wave by uploading a video of yourself.There’s another way you can help tackle climate change: Vote Earth! Sign our call for a global climate deal.

What are the chances for a good global deal in Copenhagen?
Media reporting has suggested a deal might not be reached in Copenhagen. WWF thinks a fair, ambitious and binding deal in Copenhagen could still be on the table – but only if politicians have the political will to make it happen: Grounds for hope in Copenhagen

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Waitrose

Nov 22nd, 2009 by

Waitrose in West Street, Haslemere is supporting
Transition Town Haslemere

We are delighted that Waitrose have selected Transition Town Haslemere to be one of their three local causes to support in December.

Waitrose donate money to the three causes in proportion to amount of green tokens placed by their customers.

This is a great way for you to support us, please use your green tokens to increase the value fo Waitrose’s donation.

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Tales from The Sustainable Harvest Picnic

Oct 26th, 2009 by

A pumpkin carving competition, apple tasting, a buffet of dishes with local seasonal ingredients and live music all in an historic local barn made for a special occasion when Transition Town Haslemere celebrated its first anniversary with a Sustainable Harvest Picnic.Nearly 90 people attended the celebration held at Imbhams Farm, Haslemere, on Saturday 24 October.

The date was also chosen to coincide with 350 day – a global campaign of action to raise awareness of the need to reduce carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere to 350 parts per million in order to prevent runaway global warming. Transition Town Haslemere’s picnic was one of over 5,000 events held in 181 countries around the world aimed at encouraging politicians meeting in Copenhagen in December to negotiate an effective climate change agreement.

Transition Haslemere, Surrey UK - Sustainable Harvest Picnic 350.org Banner

Local band Boing Boing Zebedee featuring David O’Brien and David Hamilton entertained the partygoers, and the evening concluded with short talks, starting with Transition Town Haslemere Chair Clive Davidson on the group’s progress and plans.

Philip Valentino discussed the significance of 350 day, and lastly Ann Finlayson, education commissioner with the Government’s Sustainable Development Commission and a member of Transition Town Haslemere’s Steering Committee, looked at attitudes to climate change using characters from Winne the Pooh – with some great help from most of the children !

For more pictures of the event please see our flickr gallery (new window).

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