Community Action
Recently Lightfoot has worked on a Powys Transition Low Carbon Communities grant supporting Community Action on transport, food, energy efficiency in the home and biodiversity in the Welsh borders.
Community Action
Recently Lightfoot has worked on a Powys Transition Low Carbon Communities grant supporting Community Action on transport, food, energy efficiency in the home and biodiversity in the Welsh borders.
About Community Action
The Local Area Action Plan (LEAP) encouraged and helped implemented the following areas: the biodiversity of verges (Presteigne), decarbonising transport (Llandrindod Wells), local food and sustainability (Knighton), energy efficiency in the home (Newtown).
Presteigne Guerrilla Gardeners
Presteigne Guerrilla Gardeners group was formed to spruce up neglected pockets of land in Presteigne town centre. The group was initially set up, and continues to be supported, by Presteigne Area Community Development Group* (PACDG).
In 2019 a small group of concerned and motivated residents came together and agreed to volunteer for gardening activities once a week. It works in co-operation with other groups, also set up by PACDG, involved with roadside boundary management and daffodil bulb planting (Presteigne has a heritage of daffodil growing).
What is the aim of the group?
To promote the importance of green spaces, however small, to provide opportunities for green education, and to improve the appearance of the town for residents and visitors. It also seeks to find spaces for planted containers and edibles at suitable locations, which passers-by will be encouraged to sample. The wider emphasis is on wildlife-friendly planting in order to enhance our town’s amazing biodiversity, including slow worms, swifts, and orchids. To date all the work has been done with minimal funds, with volunteers using their own tools and donated plants.
What has the funding provided?
The funding received from Lightfoot has provided us with the opportunity to develop the education angle, purchase much needed, more robust tools, which coincides with an offer of shared storage space at the BRING recycling site – together facilitating our ambitions. Lightfoot funding has also enabled us to purchase a pavement sign which will be displayed when the team are out working to show just who is looking after the green amenities; the sign reads “Guerrilla Gardeners – Caring for our Community”. Residents are always supportive of our activities and the hope is that by promoting Guerrilla Gardeners as a dedicated group, more people from the community will come forward to assist – the more folk we have, the more impact we can make’.
Decarbonising transport now and into the future
Trawsnewid Transition Llandrindod Transition technology group.
‘Decarbonising transport now and into the future’ is the transport project and began with a fair at the Metropole Hotel, Llandrindod Wells on Sunday 17th November 2019. Event organiser, Dave Thomlinson, said, “The event we are putting on is about decarbonising transport: how we want the future to be and what we can do now to get there”. There was a display of electric vehicles and cycles and opportunities for rides in zero emissions vehicles or trying out electric cycles. The Riversimple Rasa hydrogen fuel cell car was also be on display. Stalls featured trains, buses, cycles, vehicles etc. There was an action planning workshop where participants were invited to draft an action plan for decarbonising transport in Llandrindod, Powys, and the wider region. From cycle paths to trolley buses to hydrogen fuel cell trains to cutting fossil fuel subsidies, everything was up for discussion, including input from the Trawsnewid Transition Llandrindod Transition technology group.
Knighton Sustainable Food group
A project focussing on local food and sustainability is being carried out by working with the Knighton Sustainable Food group. A public meeting was held on September 19th in Knighton to discuss some of the issues around sustainable and local food. Since the meeting the group has discussed the next step, with the conclusion that we need to involve local food producers of all kinds to talk about food security and sustainability. The event was set for 1 st April 2020, which hadn to be postponed because of the Covid 19 lockdown. However, the group plans to procede when they are next able. A tentative title for the event is “Eat Well for the Future”. With the possible sub-title “Towards a local food security strategy”. It is envisaged that food producers and growers, from allotment growers to organic, non-organic and intensive farmers, would be invited, as well as local politicians. The aims of the community meal are specifically:
- To promote locally produced food by allowing members of the community to sample the best of produce from within a 30-mile radius.
- To encourage and take part in a constructive dialogue between all kinds of
food producers to ascertain what sustainable food means to the local
community.
Hoped-for outcomes from the meal include developing a local food strategy emphasising the lowering of the carbon footprint for food supply and laying the foundations for a local food festival, both obviously very ambitious targets.
Home Energy Efficiency Project
Lightfoot worked with Open Newtown to put on an event targeting the Maesyrhandir estate in Newtown, on March 12th 2020, at Newtown High School. Helen Fairweather co-ordinated on behalf of Lightfoot, with Jeremy Thorp from Open Newtown. Open Newtown’s vision is for all Newtown homes to be retrofitted to high energy efficiency standards. Some of the homes on the estate have had energy surveys carried out previously by Lightfoot, and much of the work that needs to be done to make them more energy efficient has already been assessed by Dave Green, an Energy consultant who has worked with Lightfoot over many years.
More information about the surveys
Before the event Dave surveyed three more homes, noting different kinds and levels of energy efficiency measures carried out in those homes and on the estate as a whole. He gave a comprehensive presentation of findings, the effectiveness and otherwise of all relevant retrofit measures to improve warmth and energy efficiency, and the average costs. Measures ranged from the very simple and affordable, such as effective draught excluders and radiator shields, to the most effective but expensive renewables, such as ground source heat pumps. He also presented the available routes to making the more expensive measures affordable, particularly working with Robert Owen community bank, which offers low or zero interest loans for financing the work to be done.
The audience was small but interested and well-informed. Unfortunately, no-one from the Maesyrhandir estate came, disappointing but not unexpected. It was a wild night and the beginning of the Covid-19 outbreak.
What help is available?
We have top-quality advice and information available, and the challenge is to get it to the people who need it most. Open Newtown want to reach the private tenants and owner-occupiers on the estate who are missing out on, for example, external insulation applied to social housing. We will be considering the next steps, and in the meantime Dave’s presentation will be made available on Lightfoot’s website.
What else is going on?
As this work was solely in Wales, we are intending to work in these areas on the English side of the border. Biodiversity of verges is already active around Bishops Castle, and Clun shortly. The availability of electric charging points in the area is increasing and plans are afoot to widen accessibility, along with plans for car sharing. A Marches Grow Local group has been formed following some sharing of the splendid work of Tamar Grow Local, and a questionnaire has been designed and circulated by Middle Marches Community Land Trust. Lightfoot continues to offer energy surveys with its experienced surveyors and energy experts. Work continues with Marches Energy Agency and others on reducing fuel poverty and encourage sustainable forms of energy where possible. We work closely with the Bishops Castle Climate and Ecological Action Group.
Presteigne Guerrilla Gardeners
Presteigne Guerrilla Gardeners group was formed in response to the ongoing spending cuts by Powys County Council which resulted in the Presteigne town centre looking rather neglected. The group was initially set up, and continues to be supported, by Presteigne Area Community Development Group* (PACDG).
In 2019 a small group of concerned and motivated residents came together and agreed to volunteer for gardening activities once a week. It works in co-operation with other groups, also set up by PACDG, involved with roadside boundary management and daffodil bulb planting (Presteigne has a heritage of daffodil growing).
What is the aim of the group?
To promote the importance of our green spaces, however small, to provide opportunities for green education, and to improve the appearance of the town for residents and visitors by enhancing areas that PCC no longer have the finances to care for. It also seeks to find spaces for planted containers and edibles at suitable locations, which passers-by will be encouraged to sample. The wider emphasis is on wildlife-friendly planting in order to enhance our town’s amazing biodiversity, including slow worms, swifts, and orchids. To date all the work has been done with minimal funds, with volunteers using their own tools and donated plants.
What has the funding provided?
The funding received from Lightfoot has provided us with the opportunity to develop the education angle, purchase much needed, more robust tools, which coincides with an offer of shared storage space at the BRING recycling site – together facilitating our ambitions. Lightfoot funding has also enabled us to purchase a pavement sign which will be displayed when the team are out working to show just who is looking after the green amenities; the sign reads “Guerrilla Gardeners – Caring for our Community”. Residents are always supportive of our activities and the hope is that by promoting Guerrilla Gardeners as a dedicated group, more people from the community will come forward to assist – the more folk we have, the more impact we can make’.
Decarbonising transport now and into the future
‘Decarbonising transport now and into the future’ is the transport project and began with a fair at the Metropole Hotel, Llandrindod Wells on Sunday 17th November. Event organiser, Dave Thomlinson, said, “The event we are putting on is about decarbonising transport: how we want the future to be and what we can do now to get there”. There was a display of electric vehicles and cycles and opportunities for rides in zero emissions vehicles or trying out electric cycles. The Riversimple Rasa hydrogen fuel cell car was also be on display. Stalls featured trains, buses, cycles, vehicles etc. There was an action planning workshop where participants were invited to draft an action plan for decarbonising transport in Llandrindod, Powys, and the wider region. From cycle paths to trolley buses to hydrogen fuel cell trains to cutting fossil fuel subsidies, everything was up for discussion, including input from the Trawsnewid Transition Llandrindod Transition technology group.
Knighton Sustainable Food group
A project focussing on local food and sustainability is being carried out by working with the Knighton Sustainable Food group. A public meeting was held on September 19th in Knighton to discuss some of the issues around sustainable and local food. Since the meeting the group has discussed the next step, with the conclusion that we need to involve local food producers of all kinds to talk about food security and sustainability. The event was set for 1 st April 2020, and we have an invoice from them (enclosed). This has obviously now been postponed because of the Covid 19 lockdown, so the group have the money for when things ease up. A tentative title for the event is “Eat Well for the Future”. With the possible sub-title “Towards a local food security strategy”. It is envisaged that food producers and growers, from allotment growers to organic, non-organic and intensive farmers, would be invited, as well as local politicians. The aims of the community meal are
specifically:
- To promote locally produced food by allowing members of the community to sample the best of produce from within a 30-mile radius.
- To encourage and take part in a constructive dialogue between all kinds of
food producers to ascertain what sustainable food means to the local
community.
Hoped-for outcomes from the meal include developing a local food strategy emphasising the lowering of the carbon footprint for food supply and laying the foundations for a local food festival, both obviously very ambitious targets.
Home Energy Efficiency Project
Lightfoot worked with Open Newtown to put on an event targeting the Maesyrhandir estate in Newtown, on March 12th 2020, at Newtown High School. Helen Fairweather co-ordinated on behalf of Lightfoot, with Jeremy Thorp from Open Newtown. Open Newtown’s vision is for all Newtown homes to be retrofitted to high energy efficiency standards. Some of the homes on the estate have had energy surveys carried out previously by Lightfoot, and much of the work that needs to be done to make them more energy efficient has already been assessed by Dave Green, an Energy consultant who has worked with Lightfoot over many years.
More information about the surveys
Before the event Dave surveyed three more homes, noting different kinds and levels of energy efficiency measures carried out in those homes and on the estate as a whole. He gave a comprehensive presentation of findings, the effectiveness and otherwise of all relevant retrofit measures to improve warmth and energy efficiency, and the average costs. Measures ranged from the very simple and affordable, such as effective draught excluders and radiator shields, to the most effective but expensive renewables, such as ground source heat pumps. He also presented the available routes to making the more expensive measures affordable, particularly working with Robert Owen community bank, which offers low or zero interest loans for financing the work to be done.
The audience was small but interested and well-informed. Unfortunately, no-one from the Maesyrhandir estate came, disappointing but not unexpected. It was a wild night and the beginning of the Covid-19 outbreak.
What help is available?
We have top-quality advice and information available, and the challenge is to get it to the people who need it most. Open Newtown want to reach the private tenants and owner-occupiers on the estate who are missing out on, for example, external insulation applied to social housing. We will be considering the next steps, and in the meantime Dave’s presentation will be made available on Lightfoot’s website.
What else is going on?
As this work was solely in Wales, we are intending to work in these areas on the English side of the border. Biodiversity of verges is already active around BC, and will be in Clun shortly. The availability of electric charging points in the area is increasing and plans are afoot to widen accessibility, along with plans for car sharing. A Marches Grow Local group has been formed following some sharing of the splendid work of Tamar Grow Local, and a questionnaire has been designed and circulated by Middle Marches Community Land Trust. Lightfoot continues to offer energy surveys with its experienced surveyors and energy experts, and would like to work on means delivering these for free. Work continues with Marches Energy Agency and others on reducing fuel poverty and encourage sustainable forms of energy where possible. We work closely with the Bishops Castle Climate and Ecological Action Group.