Transition Town Totnes Bulletin 28 - February 2010
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1. Introduction* 2. Transition Streets* 3. Back from Copenhagen* 4. Civic Hall Retrofit* 5. Rob Meets Portillo* 6. Become a TTT Supporter* 7. Longing to get growing?* 8. Recycling Presentation* 9. Recycling Batteries Locally?*
10. TTT Christmas Tree* 11. Upcoming Events*
1. Introduction
Welcome
back to what looks to be an incredibly exciting new year for TTT! News of the
succesful bid to the Department of Environment and Climate Change,
announced just before the Christmas break, has been spreading like
wildfire through the town and beyond.
As news of this came after our December bulletin - so here is a catch-up of what has been going on...
We were delighted to announce that just before Christmas we learnt of some
great news for both TTT and for Totnes. On december 19th TTT was
announced as one of 10 communities across England and Wales to be chosen as a 'Low Carbon Community', and awarded £625,000, specifically for a project called 'Transition Streets'. You can read more about the grant, and about the Transition Streets proposal here.
The announcement was made at the TTT Christmas party on Friday evening
(thanks to everyone who came for making it such a great evening), you
can see the moment the announcement was made here.
The news has appeared in most of the local press, including in an extraordinary editorial in the Western Morning News entitled 'Hippy Town Comes of Age', which includes the following, "in an interesting twist to the climate change debate, communities and
individuals once seen as quaintly idiosyncratic for their way-out views have now become mainstream and may yet provide some of the answers to
the biggest questions we all face. Totnes, which has been drawing
free-thinkers with serious concerns about the environment for decades,
now appears to have a concentration of like-minded individuals in the
right place at the right time".
It does also assert that Totnes is renowned for its 'soap carving',
something I have to say that in my time here has thus far passed me
by. It also featured heavily on BBC Radio Devon this morning (the bid
that is, not soap carving).
Back to the here and now...
The
TTT
phone has been ringing off the hook with groups of
householders across Totnes forming teams to start
the Transition Together programme in their streets. So if you are
thinking that a 'Transition Streets' set of grants and the free
Transition Together programme sounds 'right up your street' (sorry) do
get in touch as soon as you can- and we can get you started the
moment you fix the date of your first meeting with your neighbours.
What could be simpler?
For a more detailed update on Transition Streets see Rob's update below.
Also new for 2010, we are
launching the ‘TTT Supporters’ Programme. In order to 
become less financially dependent on Charitable Trusts, which take
valuable time and effort to apply and qualify for, we are trying to
work towards a more self-reliant way to find our core costs at TTT. To
do this we are hoping to raise our funds from the now wide base of
support that we have within our local community. From each 'TTT
Supporter’, we will asking for a monthly minimum donation of £5. We
have only just completed the forms, and already had the first few
people have started siging up...which has been really great. We will
be aiming for around 300 supporters over the next year, so don't
hesitate to get in contact if you feel you would be able to support TTT
in this generous way. Please do contact the office for more
information, or see us at any of the 
TTT
events this year. We have all the forms you will need, and we will also
soon have them available from the website. Thank you to all those of
you who have signed up so far...(See Hal's article below for more
info.)
Of course there is also a brand new season of TTT events coming up, kicking off with a participatory discussion called 'Beyond Copenhagen' on the 29th of January - see details below. Psychologist, activist and author Tim Kasser will be talking about the real cost of our consumerism, in a evening organised together with Schumacher College. There is a practical eco-building taster day, a talk from world-renowned activist Vandana Shiva, a Slow Food Feast, an aboriginal film event, an election hustings evening, a wild tree food harvest, as well as the annual Edible Garden Crawl - this time around Dartington.
My
favourite TTT annual event is coming up at the end of February...the
Seedy Sisters Seed-Swapping day. It's a Seedy Sunday of browsing
through whole rooms of seeds, at Birdwood, from locally-saved
nasturtiums and red mustard salads, to heritage varieties of pumpkin
and sweetcorn. With a wealth of knowledge and expertise on-hand from
the venerable Seedy Sisters, there are copious amounts of tea, cakes,
workshops, and even a Gardener's Questiontime. I typically always 
think
I am going for an hour or so...and spend the entire day there, coming
away with a head full of shared gardening tips and ideas, a bag
brimming with enough seeds to go self-sufficient, and a happy heart,
full of inspiration and energy for the next growing year. If you've
never grown a blue ballet squash, a puppy-sized parsnip, or a local red
sweetcorn, you really should get over to the bustling seed-swap day and
get your elbows out with the hundreds of us that cram in to Birdwood
for a serious seedy throng.
Happy New Year!
Lou Brown - TTT Admin & Gardenshare
2. Transition Streets, an Update...
As you will by now hopefully have heard, TTT was one of 10 'first
movers' to be given grants of £625,000 by the Department of Energy and
Climate Change as part of its 'Low Carbon Communities Challenge. The
project, Transition Streets, brought a range of diverse partners,
including South Hams District Council, Devon County Council and Totnes
Town Council, together to focus on behaviour change on a
street-by-street level, building on the work TTT has done so far. You
can read more about the application, and about Transition Streets, here.
Clearly this news and this scheme has created a big buzz around the
town, and lots of people have been stopping those of us involved in the
bid to ask what happens next. So here is an update, and a summary of
where Transition Streets is at.
Last week, interviews took place to appoint the team to manage the
Transition Streets. Emerging from a very strong field of candidates,
we can now confirm that the project will be managed by Fiona Ward,
working with Adrian Porter. Both of them will be familiar to many of
you, Fiona through her active involvement with many areas of TTT for
the last 3 years, including developing the Transition Together
programme upon which Transition Streets is based. Adrian has been very
active within the Building and Housing group, and in the drafting of
TTT's response to the DPD last year. Both are passionate about and
dedicated to Transition, and we are very lucky to be able to bring
their expertise to the project. They will be starting work this week,
and moving the project along at speed.
In terms of how the process will work, it will go something like
this. We are looking for 15
Transition Streets to be the first phase.
There are already 5 Transition Together groups that formed before
Christmas and so we are treating them as 'early adopters'. The process
of seeking the other 10 will start in February. Already another 5 new
Transition Together groups have formed, and many of you are out
knocking on doors in your street, starting groups which is brilliant.
What we are looking for for the first round of Transition Streets
(there will be subsequent ones) is 15 streets that best represent
Totnes in a microcosm, a representative cross-section of demographics,
income groups, housing types, etc etc. We want to create a bundle of
groups that offer the best learning opportunities in terms of Totnes as
a whole. More details will follow in February. As you will
appreciate, while being a tremendous opportunity, it is also vital that
we get this right, and do the right thinking and planning at the
beginning.
3. Back from Copenhagen: a few thoughts...
56
newspapers worldwide billed it as “14 days to seal history’s judgement
on this generation.” The event I am talking about is, of course, the
Copenhagen summit. It ended in failure. I was there, along with a small
group of others from Totnes. It became apparent to me after several
days that despite all the hype we do not have governments and we do not
have a system for living that is ‘fit for the purpose’ of 21st century
life. We cannot make the sort of about face that a legally binding
treaty to reduce co2 to the levels that would protect us from dangerous
climate change would require. A failure of this proportion will send
shock waves through out our civilisation for years to come and its
consequences cannot be underestimated. We are hosting an evening in the Totnes Methodist Hall on the
29th of January to explore Beyond Copenhagen, see below for details. (NB. Date changed from the 27th!)
I
returned from disappointment of Copenhagen to the astonishing news that
we had been 
selected to be one of 8 winning bids (out of 500) in the
Low Carbon Communities challenge to the tune of ½ million pounds. This
grant proposal will kick start the process of making Totnes ‘fit for
the purpose’ of 21st century life. Of course we would not be where we
are without all the hard work and awareness raising and community
outreach work we have done over the last 4 years. By doing that work we
have laid the foundations for what is now emerging. We can now get on
with the job of building resilience to the multiple challenges posed by
peak oil and climate change, house by house, and allotment by
allotment, and in all the other ways we will have to.
As the Western Morning News said the following day, Hippy Town comes of age. Indeed.
Naresh Giangrande -TTT Energy Group & Transition Network Trainer
4. 'Transition Streets' to retrofit the Civic Hall
A really important part of the Transition Streets project is the grant for
installation of renewables and major improvements to the energy
efficiency of the Civic Hall. Councillor Tony Whitty, the Deputy leader
of the council, commented: “this grant of £625000 is really welcome and
will benefit the whole community of Totnes. Set right in the heart of
our town, the civic hall is used by over 60,000 people. It is however
extremely costly and inefficient in its uses of energy. It needs major
attention in order to make sure it is properly insulated! On the back
of this grant we have already applied for additional funds to match it
and we will keep trying! Love it or hate it for its 60s style, it’s
the best we have got.
Its location also makes it a great place to tell the whole community
what we are doing and as things progress we hope that everyone can see
and feel the progress and really share in the successful reduction in
our use of energy.
The council has been trying to get major improvements to this building
for a long time. The DECC bid has galvanised our spirits and “renewed
our energy!” to make things happen” Really well done to all for this
achievement.
5. Rob Meets Portillo
You may remember from a previous TTT Bulletin that last September Michael Portillo passed through Totnes as part of filming for his new series of 'Great British Railway Journeys'. The resultant programme, in which he gets a ride in a biodiesel rickshaw, spends Totnes Pounds and hangs out with me in the graveyard, will be shown on this Wednesday on BBC2 at 6.30pm. Speculation is rife as to whether or not the final sequence will include Pete Ryland telling Portillo "I've had far more famous people than you in the back of this rickshaw Michael"! If you miss the programme, you'll be able to see it on BBC iPlayer for the next 7 days.
Rob Hopkins
6. Support from our local community...
Invest in our community - and become a ‘TTT Supporter’
Step one in the
three-year plan to TTT becoming self-financing:
Up until December last year, we conservatively estimated that TTT had generated roughly £236,000 for the town and district. We thought that was pretty good going but being awarded £500,000 in one whack really does trump the figures.
As highlighted elsewhere in this bulletin, the DECC-funding is fantastic news and will enable us to make significant progress. Among all the jubilation, it is worth observing that the funding for this project is understandably, heavily ring-fenced. Just for the record, TTT has not just suddenly become horribly rich! Funding TTT’s core costs remains an outstanding priority for all of us.
We have a strong case
to put to funders. After all, if we have achieved all this with
so 
little, imagine what we can achieve with a little more! However,
while some funders do seem keen to support us, the messages regarding
the terms under which they will do so are becoming clear and consistent.
1. Totnes needs to be demonstrating itself as a hub of pioneering social enterprise.‘Transition in Action’. If EDAP is the new community plan, we need to develop the businesses and community services in order to implement it effectively. The value of ambitiously piloting this process on a community scale cannot be underestimated. No one else is doing it yet and with severe public service cuts on the cards in the near future, many people will be looking to us for ideas and examples. Developing appropriate social enterprise and investment models is necessary for the implementation of EDAP – ‘EDAP Phase 2’, if you like - what we are calling
Transition Streets
is but one of several catalytic project that is underway or gathering
on the horizon. We will be featuring others through this
bulletin in the forthcoming months, looking forwards to how and when
all our work on ‘Transition in Action’ will be having significant
impact on the infrastructure and social fabric of the town and district.
2. TTT needs to become self-financing. Funders do not have a habit of writing cheques to fund the same thing year on year. Quite understandably, they want to see benchmark achievements and they want to see an end-point, when their financial support is no longer needed, ideally through the emergence of a self-financing, economically-robust venture.
We reckon the DECC
award and publication of EDAP represent some pretty outstanding 
benchmark
achievements. So we now need to show that we are emerging as a
self-financing venture.
As we are currently submitting bids for further funding, we are doing so by demonstrating that we have a clear route to TTT becoming self-financing in three years. It is ambitious but realistic and, at the end of the day, absolutely necessary to TTT’s ongoing survival. There are a couple of key threads to this journey - one being our ability to raise financial support from our supporters. So, yep, you’ve guessed it. Here is the big ask!
New for 2010, we are launching the ‘TTT Supporters’ programme. In order to become an official ‘TTT Supporter’, we are asking that people set up a standing order monthly payment to TTT of a minimum of £5. We are aiming for 300 TTT Supporters over the next year.
So expect to see Lou, I and maybe one or two other volunteers out and about at forthcoming events. We will have all the information and forms you need and youcan get them from the website, or download one here, and send in to us at 43 Fore Street, Totnes, TQ9 5HN. Don’t be shy – this could be one of the wisest investments you’ll ever make!
Many thanks for all your support and energy!
Hal Gilmore
Interim Manager and Fundraiser7. Longing to get growing?....are you ready for the local 2010 harvest!
TTT Gardenshare
is about to start up its 3rd season, with well over 30 growers , new
and old, ready to embark on another season of veggies and gardening
activity.
The scheme works by matching local keen growers with people who live near them who have a garden they aren't using, but would be happy to share.
If you are a grower with no space, or a you have too much space to garden and would like to lend the space, long-term, to a dedicated grower in return for regualr veggies then do get in touch with Lou on 01803 867358 or at transitiontowntotnes@gmail.com
Click here to see the Gardenshare Scheme as featured by the Open University.
8. Recycling Presentation
Andy Barron, the SHDC Waste Minimization and Recycling officer, gave a
visual presentation on 11 Jan to TTT. He and his colleague Ruth Edwards
were very welcoming and supportive of our interest and energy for
recycling. The talk was extremely informative, and many ideas came out
of the discussion.
A TTT Recycling Group is to be formed to keep the momentum of this
discussion going and to follow up some of the ideas which came up. One
event which is being considered for the Spring or Summer is a
Composting Skillshare, where we may visit a local Community Composting
site, where people can bring their wormeries and composting systems to
show others, and it may be possible to show a video about a local
composting guru! Any other activities which people would like to share
would be very welcome!
If you’re interested in having more information, please send an email to Eleanor Chandler on echandler66@yahoo.co.uk
9. Recycling Batteries Locally?
If we can get either SHDC or Devon CC to agree
to set up the scheme, or at least a pilot scheme in the Totnes area, then a group of volunteers could undertake to place and
service the battery collection tubes in schools, shops, village halls, etc.
They do need to be under cover, so can’t just be placed in car parks like
bottle banks. Torbay Council has already agreed to set up 
the scheme in their neck of the woods...
In December, 2007, having lived in Germany for 12 years, Mark Hatwood became concerned about the way used batteries were being dealt with in the UK. He decided to ring his local council to ask permission to collect batteries on behalf of my village. They said it wasn’t possible, but after six weeks negotiation with the Council and Environment Agency, he was given dispensation to have a recycling unit in his village on a trial basis. He went to the press with the initiative and this saw a stream of other like-minded individuals from other areas contact him to ask how he did it.
Having subsequently helped them install collection units in
their precycling unit was and to
encourage other volunteers to
come forward if there wasn’t one in their area.
Cornwall County Council and SITA Cornwall soon saw the worth in the CoBRA scheme and decided to back it by stockpiling more collection tubes. 20 months on, Cornwall has recycled over 28 tonnes of batteries, with the estimated total by the end of the 24 month trial scheme reaching in excess of 36 tonnes.
He can now offer this simple community led scheme to other councils for free and the figures show that it is almost as successful as the best test government ran schemes, but instead of the heady £340,000 set-up and running costs the government schemes hold, CoBRA is totally free.
Being a member of Transition Roseland (and understanding that many transition groups in Cornwall are already servicing collection tubes in their area) he was hoping that other transition groups throughout the UK could be encouraged to pressurize their councils into taking on this simple scheme, and even offering to service some of the collection tubes themselves once the council has agreed to do so.
In the mean time, more information about Cornwall’s success can be seen on his website here. Also see here. Contact the TTT Recycling group (see above) if you are interested.
Funny quote from afar...
"I am treasurer of a church in Cumbria and we have received a Totnes Pound note in our collection box. Is it worth anything or do we just throw it away?"
10. TTT Christmas Tree at St Mary's 2009 Tree Festival, Totnes
St Mary's Church second Xmas Tree Festival (7th Dec to Jan 5th,
organised by Friends of Rowcroft) hosted 30 community groups, each of
whom decorated a tree in some way that reflected their interests;
Rowcroft provided the trees & donations were split between Rowcroft
and the community groups.
A Rainbow Path of Transformation
emerged as our theme to co-ordinate the tree decorations, and we made
a start with tissue, cardboard, glitter, wool....it was fun; we worked
with anything natural, recycled, discarded, unwanted, ....clothes pegs,
wool, string, paint, glitter, coloured card, old toys..
Feedback has been great:
"I thought the tree looked great in the end, one of the best in the
church." "I was inspired by all the community groups represented there
and totally inspired not to buy Xmas decorations again why would we
when homemade things are so much more beautiful!"
" Our TTT tree positively buzzes with life and energy. What a canvas of
colour - and how about all those linked up people! Worth slowing for a
moment as you rush by St Mary's...."
"Well done all, that's fantastic... are you all free to come round to my house and decorate mine as well?!!!!! :-)"
Many thanks to all who helped, and the children of the Grove School Art
Club... it was such a nice thing to do, hope it becomes a regular part
of the TTT calendar.
Jan O'Highway - TTT Arts group
Beyond Copenhagen: what next? (Note the new date & venue!)
Tonight we want to explore the results of Copenhagen. The questions that have come up for us (and many others we have spoken to) are;
What does it mean that the political agreement reached at Copenha
gen is so weak?How does it feel to watch this process unfold?
Does it change anything about what we are doing locally?
Come Nut Tree Planting!
February 1st - Mulching trees already planted on Longmarsh. This is a
day organised SHDC and Friends of Longmarsh for working on Longmarsh to
maximise its potential as a wild life site as well as a nut tree
growing site. Any TTT volunteers welcomed on this day, specially those
of you who love and use Longmarsh. This is being organised by Keith
Rennells of SHDC, but ring Wendy Stayte for further details. [868305] 
se in
Bridgetown, and spreading out to other parts of Bridgetown. This day
also includes a pruning demonstration by Hiske Buddingh on the young
apple and pear trees planted last year in Meadow close and Elm Walk
[nearby].3rd February. Totnes Methodist Church. 8pm. £5/3
Tim Kasser - The Real Cost of Consumerism: finding inspiring alternatives
The connection between money and happiness at a psychological and a systemic level in our society.
After receiving his Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Rochester, Tim Kasser accepted a position at Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois, where he is currently Professor of Psychology. He has authored over sixty scientific articles and book chapters on materialism, values, goals, and quality of life, among other topics. Tim’s first book, The High Price of Materialism, was published by MIT Press in 2002; his second book (co-edited with Allen D. Kanner), Psychology and Consumer Culture, was released by the American Psychological Association in 2004.
From 2005-2009 Tim served as an Associate Editor at Journal of Personality and Social Psychology: Personality Processes and Individual Differences. He also works with activist groups that try to protect children from commercialization and that encourage a more “inwardly rich” lifestyle than what is offered by consumerism. Tim lives with his wife, two sons, and assorted animals in the Western Illinois countryside.
On the day? Call 01803 865934 to confirm the latest details.
This event is being run alongside the Schumacher course The Economics of Happiness on which Tim Kasser is teaching. Click here for more details.
Seedy Saturday
Vandana Shiva
Indian physicist, philosopher, feminist and tireless environmental activist, Vandana Shiva will explain her understanding of how the food crisis, peak oil, and climate change are inextricably linked. Any attempt to solve one without addressing the others will get us nowhere. Condemning industrial agriculture and industrial biofuels as recipes for ecological and economic disaster, Vandana champions the importance of small, independent farms. What we need most in a time of changing climates and millions hungry, she argues, are sustainable, biologically diverse farms that are more resistant to disease, drought, and flood. Calling for a return to local economies and small-scale food production, she will outline our remaining options and reflect on the extent to which the Copenhagen summit has helped us along the way to a people-centred fossil-fuel-free future, which will offer a decent living for all.
Sat 13th & Sun 14th March. In a barn or outside depending on the weather… 
‘Taster' day with practical sessions on strawbale, cob, rammed earth, clay plastering etc.
from the TTT Building and Housing Group.
Kanyini
Wednesday 21st April .Totnes Methodist Church. 8pm.
'Ask the Candidate'
Spring Wild Tree Food
The First Totnes 'Slow Food Feast'!
A 3 course 'Gourmet but Green' meal followed by entertainment and dancing.
All food from within 5 miles and 363 yards of Totnes and living proof that too many cooks definitely don't spoil the broth!
Dartington Edible Garden Crawl
Walking tour around inspiring edible veggie gardens in Dartington.
To look at all of our previous bulletins please click here. In order to receive this monthly bulletin by email, please register on our website. If you have any problems with the email bulletin please click here - and you will be able to tell us about them.
Please note that the TTT office is open Tues-Thurs 10am-1pm. Thanks. Wishing you all a Happy New Year!
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