Come and help at Whitstable’s new Stream Walk Community Garden

Volunteer Gardening!

Come and help create a fruit and vegetable garden from scratch at Whitstable’s new Stream Walk Community Garden.

Appleseed’s team will be at Stream Walk on the 3rd Saturday of every month (and a few more in April to get started) and every Tuesday to lead the work and make you welcome. Everyone is free to join in and to bring your ideas. Bring a spade and wear strong boots and gloves. Tea provided.

Dates:

Saturday April 9th 10 – 3. Planting the jam, jellies and chutney hedge

Saturday April 16th 10am – 3pm. Building raised beds and filling them with compost. Planting fruit bushes.

April 23rd 10am – 3pm. Planting the beds with vegetable seeds and plants.

Other work this season will focus on vegetable growing, building a compost toilet, creating a pond, jam making and caring for young fruit bushes.

Appleseed is part of Kent Enterprise Trust– Improving lives by creating opportunities in the community.Phone 01227 844500 or email.

More info.

Permaculture Design Course May to July 2011

Southend in Transition are running a Permaculture Design Course May to July on alternate weekends. This is an excellent opportunity for anyone interested in sustainable living in tune with nature’s patterns and systems.

The course will cover:  Permaculture design methods • Surveying skills • Soils • Kitchen gardening • Climate and microclimate • Forest gardening • Bioregionalism • Community development • Systems thinking • Transition Towns • Green economics • Sustainable building, energy and transport • Urban permaculture • Plus much more…

The course will be held in a straw bale building at Growing Together, a community gardening project in Southend. The main course tutor is Graham Burnett, an established Permaculture expert as well as experienced teachers James Taylor and Claire White. Participants can get OCN accreditation for this course.

You can find out much more about the course here:
http://www.spiralseed.co.uk/westcliffpdc.html

They are offering 2 places for the price of 1 for like-minded organisations, making this a great value opportunity!

Crab and Winkle cycle line bridges approved

The Crab & Winkle Way bridges, which enable the popular cycling and walking route to extend through to Whitstable harbour, have been granted planning permission.

Background information about the plans can be found in the Crab & Winkle Way Extension portion of Spokes Future Routes pages. Information on the decision taken by councillors on 8th March can be found here.

Amazing summer volunteering opportunity

Gear up for a two-wheeled revolution – join a 2011 Otesha UK cycle tour!

Do something worthwhile with your summer! Join an Otesha summer cycle tour, deliver workshops and perform a play about environmental and social sustainability in schools and youth clubs as you cycle across the UK. There are two tours to choose from: Northern Soul (10th June – 23rd July) and Tartan Trail (5th August – 17th September).

We’ll be taking in the delights of the UK from our saddles, performing a play, making the world a better place, learning new skills (bike maintenance, theatre, consensus decision-making, sustainable and group living… the list goes on), meeting new friends, and generally making mischief.

If you’re 18 to 28 and passionate about creating a sustainable future, then come ride with us. Find out more at www.otesha.org.uk/cycletours. Places are first come, first served, so get your skates on!

If you have any questions or would just like to have a chat about it, then give us a call on 0207 377 2109 or email.

Kentish Flats Windfarm Extension – Have your say

Please see below for information on the consultation exercise on the proposed extension to the Kentish Flats Windfarm.

“As you may know, Vattenfall is in the process of putting together an application to add up to 17 wind turbines to the existing 30 turbines at the five-year old Kentish Flats wind farm.  It’s really important that the community and all those with an interest in our proposal to extend Kentish Flats get involved and tell us what they think.

From 31 January until 4 March 2011 Vattenfall is conducting a community consultation regarding the proposed extension which is located off the coast near Herne Bay and Whitstable.

There will be two public consultation events in February in Herne Bay and Whitstable and we encourage as many people as possible to come along:

 

Wednesday 23 February        Thursday 24 February

2pm – 8pm                              2pm – 8pm

Kings Hall                                Whitstable Castle

Beacon Hill                              Tower Hill

Herne Bay                               Whitstable

 

At the consultation events there will be a display about the proposal, key members of staff will be available to talk to and you will have the opportunity to leave written comments.

You can also find out more about our proposal to extend the Kentish Flats scheme by:

Visiting our website: www.vattenfall.co.uk/en/kentish-flats-extension.htm

Emailing: mandy.broughton@vattenfall.com

Calling: (0)7545 339 299

Writing to us at: FREEPOST RSLS-GEUJ-CBXL, Mandy Broughton, Kentish Flats Extension, Vattenfall Wind Power, 10 Greycoat Place, London, SW1P 1SB.

We would really appreciate hearing your comments.

 

Regards

Goran Loman, Project Director”

Visit the Permaculture Project at Rifleman’s Cottage

Jo Barker is organising a trip to the Permaculture Project at Riflemans Cottage, near Faversham, on Sunday 13th March. Please email us if you are interested in coming along.

 

Mobilising the ‘home front’ to fight climate change

“When it comes to tackling climate change, there are many lessons we can learn from the wartime generation”, Caroline Lucas MP tells us in the Guardian today.

 

The Imperial War Museum in London may seem like a strange place to launch a report on climate change. But that’s where I am this morning, along with speakers from the Tyndall Centre for Climate Research, the Women’s Institute and the museum itself.

Why? Two reasons. First, climate change is one of the greatest threats to our country since the last world war. It’s not only environmentalists who are saying this. Business leaders, prime ministers, major charities and generals have all recognised the level of risk.

Second, if we are to overcome this threat – and the alternative is simply too awful to contemplate – then we need to mobilise as a nation in a way we haven’t seen since 1945.

The new report – entitled The New Home Front – looks at the wartime experience of those on the “home front” in Britain and the lessons we can learn in facing today’s threats from climate change and the looming energy and resources crisis.

A greener economy: time for change?

C4B and the Canterbury Partnership Environment Group are jointly holding a ‘green’ conference and exhibition at Augustine House, Rhodaus Town, Canterbury, on Wednesday, 23 February, from 8.30am to 1.30pm. The event, entitled ‘A greener economy: time for change?’, will include presentations on sustainable transport and development, tax breaks for businesses, and building a greener economy in the district.

Seats are limited and will be allocated on a strictly first come, first served basis, so if you are interested in attending, please email events@canterbury.gov.uk to reserve a place.

For further information please see the flyer or visit the website at www.canterbury.gov.uk/canterburypartnership.

Carbon Free World Concert comes to Deal

 

The Zero Carbon Concert is a series of concerts taking place worldwide on the weekend of 27 and 28 November, just before the next UN climate summit begins in Mexico on 29 November 2010. The event will show the politicians negotiating in Mexico that it’s possible to have a zero carbon world. The intention is have fun while minimising the amount of carbon. There is an impressive list of events and concerts around the world …

ending with one in Deal organised by our friends in Transition Deal on Sunday 28th November between 2pm -10pm at the Astor Community Theatre, Stanhope Road, Deal CT14 6AB.

Clean up Coal

In February Conservative and Lib Dem MPs backed plans to set limits in CO2 emission standards from new coal fired power stations. Now they are planning to break this promise. Currently there are no minimum standards for how clean these power stations should be. But energy companies can charge customers extra to pay for building new ‘cleaner’ coal-fired power stations. That’s a bit like saying you want more efficient cars, but forgetting to say how many miles to the gallon they should do. It takes 2 minutes to send an e-mail to your MP and demand they support new rules. Take action today.