Transition News
Join in with Be the Start this May!
News from Start UK
'Be the Start you want to see in the world... Join in with Be the Start this May!
Be the Start is a month long campaign throughout May celebrating the idea of sustainable living and what a rewarding and meaningful way of life it is.
From ideas for finding happiness in unexpected places, to discovering new ways to do your daily commute, from building a bee cafe in your garden, to setting up a sharing circle in your neighbourhood, there’s something different everyday that you can be the start of.
Visit www.bethestart.org and use the hashtag #bethestart'
Renewable Energy trip to Germany
Transition Towns visit Germany
Chris and Tom are back from Germany where they went to find out more about renewable
energy - take a look at their blog to follow their week.
 |
The
one week trip started with a train journey on the 20th April to Frankfurt, arranged by Dirk Bischof from Embrace Cooperation Ltd. Chris Rowland is a director of Ovesco and supporter of the Transition Town Lewes Energy Group and Tom Broughton is a key contact for Transition Town Chichester. Read their blog about the trip to find out more about how they deploy renewable energy in Germany. Chris & Tom's BLOG... |
Transition Free Press - New edition
A sparkling new summer edition of Transition Free Press is out now. As well as news, reviews and interviews on all transition subjects under the sun, this edition includes a 'Lewes in Transition' special with features on the Lewes Pound, the North Street development and fracking.
 |
TFP costs £1 and is available to buy at the Friday Food Market, the monthly Farmers Market and also Pleasant Stores and The Buttercup Cafe. To request copies or discuss advertising contact Alexis |
Wind-energy talk fuels debate
Wind turbines are the most practical and cost-efficient source of renewable energy available to the UK. That was the message of a recent talk by Marcus Trinick QC, hosted by Transition Town Lewes at the Elephant and Castle in April.
 |
Trinick, a leading lawyer in renewable energy, explained in his talk – Growing Turbines: Planning for Windfarms – that the sums for generating energy don’t add up without wind. EU law means that the UK will effectively need to more than double its renewable electricity share to 30 per cent by 2020, with the bulk likely to come from onshore and offshore windfarms, he said. |
Marcus Trinick QC outlines the case for windfarms.
Onshore wind is one of the cheapest renewable sources available, costing £80 per megawatt hour compared to £140 for nuclear power, for example (not to mention the far shorter lead times for setting up a windfarm compared to a nuclear power station). More...
New Directors for Lewes Food Market
 |
|
LEWES FOOD MARKET is looking for new Directors to support the Board in the development of Lewes Local Community Interest Company. Lewes Local CIC have been successfully running the weekly Lewes Food Market for almost three years and are currently looking to recruit new directors. |
The board oversees the running, promotion and direction of the market. If you are committed to the sustainable production and distribution of local food and have an interest in working in your community, we would like to hear from you.
Contact: Polly Senter 01273 480787 / polly.senter@gmail.com for more information and to arrange an informal meeting.
Notice of Planning Application & Public Consultation
 |
TTL should be aware of the planning application for 15 MW of PV array at Upper Stoneham Farm. |
To find out more visit the South Downs National Park planning application page and attend one of two public consultation events: Monday 29th April 2013 at Lewes Town Hall between 3 and 8 pm, and Wednesday 8th May 2013 at Ringmer Village Hall - also between 3 and 8 pm. more...
Jon's Monthly Gardening Tips for Transitioners: May
 |
In May you can sow, or plant out: beans, dwarf and runner: beet, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrot, and cauliflower: courgettes, cucumber, and kale: marrows, melons, parsnips, peas, pumpkins, radishes, spinach, spring onions, squash, sweetcorn, swiss chard, turnips, and watercress. But sort the weeds out first, please. MORE... |
A Civic Award for Polly
Lewes Town Council has presented Polly Senter, founder of Lewes Food Market, with a civic award for her contribution to our community. Polly was nominated by her fellow directors at Lewes Local CIC for her drive and determination in setting up and running the market.
 |
" I want to thank all our volunteers, and customers for their work and their loyalty. Lewes has so few independent food shops now so by providing both a regular place to buy local food and an outlet for producers, Lewes Food Market is supporting our struggling food culture." Polly |
PV Array Plan for Upper Stoneham Farm
Vogt solar UK has put forward plans for a 15MHp solar farm at Upper Stoneham Farm, between Lewes and Ringmer. The site, which is said to be relatively low-quality (level 2 or 3) agricultural land, is currently used for grazing.
The scheme would produce an estimated 14MHw of electricity a year, about half the amount used in Lewes homes. There would be c. 60,000–75,000 panels, depending on their size, and the scheme would cover about 24ha between the A26 and the B2192.
Sheep are known to be comfortable about sharing their space with solar field arrays, so the site would be maintained and enhanced as grazing land that could be returned to agricultural purposes at the end of the 25-year life of the panels. A nearby sub-station would provide the connection to the National Grid.
Two public consultation meetings will be held, at Lewes Town Hall on Monday 29th April, 3.00–8.00pm, and at Ringmer Village Hall on Wednesday 8th May, also from 3.00–8,.00pm. Views expressed at these meetings will inform a planning application to be submitted to the South Downs National Park Authority (SDNPA). More...
North Street: vision for the future
The prospective redevelopment of the North Street and Phoenix Industrial Estate area of Lewes has fuelled heated debate well before any formal planning application has been put forward. But with a site slap bang in the middle of a National Park, it also offers a golden opportunity to nurture a development that leads the way in environmental, economic and energy resilience. More...
Rubbish
Getting passionate about a load of Rubbish
Transition Network: My previous Transition experience had led me to believe that very few people were really that interested in waste, except for the possibility of upcycling it into something else. My time in Shrewsbury has already proved how wrong I was...
The Rubbish Diet
The Rubbish Diet is really easy to follow. Just keep track of what you throw away and find ways of making waste disappear by recycling, finding other uses for it or never getting it in the first place.
Resilience, North Street & The Lewes Local Plan – Dirk Campbell
The prospective redevelopment of the North Street and Phoenix Industrial Estate has fuelled a heated debate among Lewesians well before the launch of any formal planning application. Many are concerned about what development will bring, but others see a golden opportunity to reshape the centre of Lewes and lead the way in environmental, economic and energy resilience. Dirk Campbell, of the TTL Steering Group, argues here that the site should be left to develop organically.... More...
Richard Heinberg
Richard Heinberg talks about the new book "Energy: Overdevelopment and the Delusion of Endless Growth," a haunting look at our current energy path.
What gives me hope is things like the transition town movement where people are coming together and finding ways to cooperate, to reduce their energy consumption, whether it's with local food or car share programs. Not waiting for government to tell them what to do or to pass legislation to make it easier to do what we need to do which is use less. more...
Jon's Monthly Gardening Tips for Transitioners: April
April, then. Let us hope is is not as cold and dark as March has been. Keep some fleece handy, just in case. You can also use this to protect your carrots from root fly, though they are reasonably safe in raised beds or containers. Time to sow more peas, the last broad beans, and the first runners - but these last are vulnerable to late frosts, so it is perhaps best to start them in pots and plant out in May. Still time to get some onion sets in, and shallots, if you are quick. Easter is the traditional planting date for potatoes, but they are not very fussy. Get them in when and where you can, but don't forget to feed and water. Sow beetroot, chard, perpetual spinach, land cress, rocket and spring onions: plant out spring and summer cabbage, garlic, horseradish, jerusalem artichokes and cauliflowers. More...
Latest News
June
Grow your own food - Jon's tips for June
May
Jon's monthly gardening tips for Transitioners: May
New Directors for Lewes Food Market
A Civic Award for Polly Senter
Switching to Ethical Energy Suppliers
Take a look at this anti-EDF site encouraging people to switch to more ethical energy suppliers.
Also this report from WDM indicating corruption and sleaze in energy policy - a personal interpretation from one of the TTL Steering Group! It's not a surprise, but it's good to have it documented.
Costing the Earth
By The Prince's Accounting For Sustainability Project.
The Costing the Earth film, with Stephen Fry and Al Murray, explains the thoughts behind the need to embed sustainability into organisations' DNA... (YouTube)
TTL March Newsletter
Here's a copy of the latest newsletter from TTL
Subscribe to the Transition Town Lewes monthly newsletter
Round-up of interesting articles from Alexis Rowell
Man bites dog – and planet!
The Berkeley Earth Surface Temperature Study (BEST), a study funded by a notorious US climate sceptic, and conducted by a scientist who had previously questioned climate studies, found that all the rise in temperatures since the industrial revolution had been caused by man and that the 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change had underestimated global warming. Here’s the study... And here’s some analysis of it...
Shale Gas Bubble
The Energy Policy Forum & Post Carbon Institute have released two groundbreaking reports that belie energy industry claims of U.S. energy independence as a result of newly accessible shale gas and shale (tight) oil. The report findings are based on an unprecedented analysis of over 60,000 U.S. shale oil and gas wells and an investigation of the role of Wall Street investment banks in the explosive growth of fracking for natural gas. Here... And here’s some analysis of that analysis... And here’s a piece looking at whether the natural gas bubble in the US was orchestrated by Wall St.
Feminism’s Long March
This is a good review of where feminism has got to after decades of struggle. Not far enough is the conclusion.
Dark Mountain
The Dark Mountain team are always interesting even if I fundamentally disagree with their analysis that collapse is both inevitable and what we need. Here... Here’s another of them on the value of getting a scythe!
Land Value Taxation
This is a piece by George Monbiot on a personal bugbear of mine - land value taxation. Why oh why is this not on the political table rather than Trident renewal, Afghanistan or High Speed Two?
Fantasy or optimism or both?
And finally - a family-oriented nation of fairness, social justice and mutual ownership? It exists – just not all in one place!
Alexis Rowell
News Editor, Transition Free Press
Events
Our news
World news
Supported by:
