Canterbury Looks Forward to the Future

Get over to Canterbury for 'Preparing for a Sustainable Future’. It's set to be a really inspiring evening with top speakers and lively discussion. Take the opportunity to meet up with the members of Transition City Canterbury.

Speakers:

Caroline Lucas MEP and leader of the Green Party

Ben Stewart of Greenpeace on Kingsnorth

Patrick Holden of the Soil Association

Paul Mobbs on Peak Oil

7.00 p.m. 18th May 2009

St. Peter’s Methodist Church, High Street, Canterbury
(near Oxfam bookshop)

http://www.transitioncitycanterbury.blogspot.com/

Transition Times

Click on the image to read a recent article from The Times on one man's journey to Transition.

Green new deal?

Below is a shortened version of an article from yesterday's Guardian by Andrew Simms, author of 'Do Good Lives Have To Cost The Earth' and Policy Director and head of the New Economic Foundation's Climate Change programme. Click on the title to see the full article.

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The UK economy faces a triple crunch: a recession triggered by a major credit crisis, the looming reality of runaway climate change and critical resource depletion. As a result we face serious challenges to our livelihoods and increasing threats to our fuel and food security.

Whatever the mistakes that allowed this situation to arise, there is growing international consensus that the best way out is via a green new deal policy package. Parts of the UK economy are in freefall with unemployment rising rapidly. At the same time, with less than 100 months to go before the world enters a new, more dangerous phase of global warming, there is an urgent need for the rapid environmental transformation of the economy.

A green new deal demands a comprehensive array of new checks and balances on the financial sector and a range of new economic instruments ranging from new bonds to business incentives and taxes.

But what is the government actually doing that is new and additional to stimulate the economy by spending on the environment? Spending included in the green stimulus package of the government's pre-budget report of £100m is astonishingly small compared with other recent spending commitments, at just 0.6% of the UK's £20bn recovery plan. This key element makes up just 0.0083% of UK GDP. In stark contrast, in the wake of the banking crisis nearly 20% of UK GDP has been provided to support the financial sector and the stimulus package allocates £2.3bn to the car industry.

Estimates for necessary new annual spending on environmental economic stimulus and transformation range from £11bn, according to Lord Stern, to £50bn, according to the Green New Deal Group.

With the G20 taking place at the moment, the government needs to understand that true international leadership means putting the UK on course to climate safety. That will deliver inspiration to other countries, make the necessary changes and help ensure the UK's own climate and energy security.

The overwhelming benefits of this course makes the government's reluctance to act hard to understand. How often in politics does a triple win opportunity emerge? If they don't take it, they really are not fit to govern.

10 Ways to save the world

Click on the title to see last Sunday's article from The Independant.

Poetry in Transition

Poet and broadcaster Matt Harvey takes a sympathetic look at the Transition Town movement. He talks to Transition Town movers and shakers in Totnes, Stroud and Brixton, including Rob Hopkins, author of the Transition Town Handbook, and shares his discoveries with a live Wondermentalist audience in Totnes...

Keep It Local

A spoof Tesco ad from Friends of the Earth highlighting the destructive effect of supermarkets on local shops.

'Sustainable Communities Explored'

On Wednesday 8th April the Carbon Free Group will host the 'Sustainable Communities Explored' event at the Pines Calyx, an award-winning eco conference centre situated in a stunning cliff-top garden location near Dover in Kent.

There has been a lot of talk in the past 12 months about building sustainable communities, particularly as food and fuel prices steadily escalate, but the realities of the challenges involved are rarely addressed in any depth. This event is about learning from people with real-life experience of creating sustainable communities; it is about understanding what works and what doesn't; it is about sharing pragmatic solutions and it's about being inspired by what has already been achieved by others.

The day will focus on examples of successful sustainable community development in the UK. Topics to be explored include local economic systems and currencies, housing/community building, co-housing, rural sustainable land use and food cultivation training. A number of communities will also be looked at from the perspective of how they function, how they are managed, what they are like to actually live in and what they can teach us. St Margaret's-at-Cliffe, the village where the event is being held, will be discussed as a case study of a community transitioning to a sustainable future.

A small number of places for this event are available at the special rate of £65+VAT to Deal With It members. If you are interested in attending at a reduced cost please contact dealwithittoday@yahoo.co.uk in the first instance. The event is aimed at both those with professional involvement in the field of sustainability, and also individuals interested in learning more about a topic that has increasing relevance in all aspects of today's society.

Dover and Out

Opposition to Dover District Council’s plans to build 14,000 new homes continues to gather momentum.

A well-attended meeting at Studdal Community Hall on Friday, March 6th led to calls for a Vote of No Confidence in Dover District Council.

Time is now short, with the deadline for submitting any more objections to the Council’s plans set for March 25.

The meeting began with a well put together presentation from Whitfield Action Group’s Jeff Goodsell.

Also speaking at the meeting convened by Kent County Councillor Eileen Rowbotham were Brian Lloyd of the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE) and Rosie Rechter from the “Deal With It” group.

An hour from the trio was followed by an hour’s questions and answers.

Jeff put forward a compelling case against the District Council’s plans.

The Whitfield Parish Councillor questioned the sense of building so many houses when existing major employers such as Pfizer and the Port of Dover were shedding jobs.

Highlighting the Council’s decision to ignore the strength of opposition, he said just 32 people out of over 11,000 favoured the council’s preferred Option 4, with 1,594 supporting Option 1 (for 6,100 homes).

To widespread agreement, he said the council’s strategy was not thought through properly.

As he put it: “The Council’s plans will move the population and economic base out of the town. But you have to ask the question: what will attract people into Dover?”

Brian Lloyd of CPRE called the Local Development Framework “High-risk, undeliverable and inappropriate.” He explained that the plans unbalanced the overall development strategy for the South East, and questioned how many people would be willing to move to this area.

Rosie Rechter of ‘Deal With IT’ called the latest LDF document ‘intimidating’ and pointed out how DDC is completely ignoring the opinions of most of the people it consulted. She spoke of “serious anxieties” surrounding the plans and mentioned the amount of derelict land in Dover Town Centre – seven per cent – as against zero per cent in Canterbury.

She meanwhile pointed out the fragmentation of the existing town’s communities, owing to the geography of Dover. She believes planned new housing over four miles from the town centre will only make things worse. To loud applause she concluded: “We should all support the campaign Jeff Goodsell has been running.”

Questions from audience raised numerous points of concern. These were not revolutionaries by any stretch of the imagination, but solid, civilised citizens, representing many Town and Parish Councils and other community groups throughout Dover District, united by their passionate concern for the future of the District. People who simply want the best for the area and share the belief that DDC’s plans will not deliver it.

One member of the audience summed up the mood when she asked: “What sanction do we have against a District Council which is ignoring public opinion?” She went on to ask about a Vote of No Confidence in the Council.

Charlie Elphicke, the District’s Prospective Conservative Parliamentary Candidate, thanked Eileen Rowbotham for holding the meeting and raising the issues. He urged everyone to work together against the plans and said “I feel we should be creating jobs and prosperity, not building houses.”

Kent County Councillor Mike Eddy explained that something called a Community Call for Action might be possible – in effect, a petition organised by the local population.

Subjects of other questions concerned the problems of putting infrastructure in place - especially water - and the serious environmental impact and loss of Greenfield land.

Whitfield Action Group will meanwhile be convening a public meeting at Whitfield Village Hall at 7-30 on Friday, March 20. All are urged to attend.

Quotable quotes:

“Dover District Council’s 2020 Vision is for a World Class District; what we are getting is a world class ASDA and a world class housing estate.”

“The council is putting the cart before the horse.”

“Fourteen thousand houses represent an unjustified and unexplained change in strategy.”

“Quite frankly it is an unsustainable strategy. Effort should be placed in regenerating the economy of the district.”

“We have a fantastic opportunity. Please let’s not waste it.”

New 'Deal With It' Blogspot

This is the new 'Deal With It' blogspot. It's a first draft so I would be grateful if you could contact me with all your suggestions, questions, corrections, articles and photos.
Thanks