Transition Town Louth
Lincolnshire
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Transition Town LouthLincolnshire | |
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Transition Town Louth Constitution 
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Transition Town Louth is an inclusive grouping of people who recognize the reality of Peak Oil
and Climate Change, but are determined not to cry doom and gloom into their beer but rather develop the
transition to a sustainable community, resilient in an uncertain future, where the quality of life in
our lovely town is maintained and improved. To contact Transition Town Louth,Send Mail
 Join the Louth Food Group facebook page |
Louth Christmas Market, Sunday 20th December 2009 |
Next meeting of Transition Town Louth:Next meetings: Thursday 18th March at 7.00pm at the Boar's Head, Newmarket. |
Last meeting?Tuesday 9th February 2010 at the Boar's Head, Newmarket. See The Minutes Page |
Louth NipperA new bus service for Louth starts on Tuesday 6th April. It will be a 16 seat minibus, and will set out from the Bus Station, down Eastgate and along St Bernard's Avenue, past the new Leisure Centre and all the way out to the Garden Centre on Legborne Road. It then returns to town via King Edward's School and back along Wesgate and Mercer Row to the Bus Station. The Louth Nipper then heads down Ramsgate, Victoria Road and the houses north of Keddington Road before returning to Eastfield Road, Park Avenue, Monks Dyke Road and back to the Bus Station. The whole affair is repeated every hour from twenty past seven in the morning till the last trip twenty past five in the afternoon. There will be a flat rate fare of £1 for any journey no matter how long you stay on the bus. This bus route is subsidised by Lincolnshire County Council and will run for an experimental one year. Whether it continues depends on how much it gets used. As the effects of Peak Oil begin to bite, such community bus schemes are going to be ever more vital to all our the well being. Please do whatever you can to tell people about the Louth Nipper, leave cars at home and use the bus.
FEASTCheck out Jackie Vitale's ideas about a Louth FeastLouth Town Centre PartnershipJanuary 20, 2010 Louth Partnership Board agrees its priorities for the next year THE INTERIM Louth Town Centre Partnership Board held its first meeting on Thursday January 14, 2010, when members of the newly formed Board selected priorities for the next 12 months. The Partnership Board covers 16 areas and volunteer Board Members have chosen their specialist field to represent. The aspects of the Community being represented are Faith, Tourism, Crime, Environment and Transport, Education, Town Centre businesses, Commercial, Market, Health, Young people, Public sector, Community groups, Food, Sport and leisure, Art & Music, Heritage and Senior Citizens. Canon Stephen Holdaway, Chairperson of the Partnership, said: “I am very impressed by the positive energy around the table and now the work starts on channelling this for the good of the town.” Town Centre Manager, Mark Barnes, added: “This is a very exciting time for Louth. All of my words, late last year, must now be turned into actions to deliver a Louth that is more vibrant, prosperous and working in a way that is guided and assisted by its businesses and residents.” Mark has asked for people to consider the priorities for this year based on the Town Plan, feedback from last year’s open meetings, media releases and also from a collation of letters and emails that Mark received into his office. This has resulted in the following 10 issues for the Partnership to consider:
Mark, continued: “There are many other issues for consideration but it is essential that the process is as democratic as it can be and this list helps us to understand the major concerns of the people of the town.” It is not too late if you wish to get involved and help shape Louth’s future. The Interim Town Centre Partnership Board is looking for volunteers to advise Board members on any of the above categories. Mark, explained: “Behind every Board Member lies an advisory group and we are looking for more people to offer this support by joining a group” If you feel that you can help advise the Board or have any comments or thoughts then please contact Mark Barnes on 07917 628149 or by email on mark.barnes@e- lindsey.gov.uk Traidcraft Tea Story10:10What can I do? - Click here for 10 ways to reduce by 10%
10:10 unites every sector of British society behind one simple idea: that by working together we can achieve a 10% cut in the UK’s carbon emissions in 2010. 10:10 is the perfect opportunity to discover what’s possible when we work together. Let’s get started. |
What's On(There's more, particularly Horncastle and Lincoln related news and events on the Transition Hornacstle web page. Monday 15th March 7.30pm. Half Moon Hotel, West Street, Alford Saturday 27th March All over the World An evening of music and conviviality, with candles. Tuesday 30th March The EPIC Centre, Lincolnshire Showground 
On all the time
Farmers' Markets are on the second Friday and fourth Wednesday of the month Fridays 10.30am to about 2pm at Holy Trinity each
Listening to David Fleming's talk. |
Biff's recollections of the day
Together with representatives from the Transition Initiatives in Lincoln, Hemswell, Horncastle and Stamford, I attended the conference at EPIC Lincolnshire – ‘Working for a Low Carbon World - After Copenhagen’. About 120 delegates attended, many from Lincolnshire County Council, and from other areas local government, the Environment Agency, other institutions and major businesses. It was good to good to see the Transition Towns so well represented and my thanks go to Lincs County Council for making this possible.
Keynote speeches were given by Professor Lord Anthony Giddens and Hardin Tibbs. Giddens, recently back from Copenhagen where he was part of the Government’s negotiating team, spoke on ‘Copenhagen & the politics of Climate Change’. He painted a bleak picture of the conference, and explained how the process would have to be very different in future if progress was to be made. He was particularly concerned about the impact that the climate change deniers were having, described how the consensus scientific position of the IPPC was necessarily conservative and cautious and that the radical view of scientists like James Hansen who say that the problems are more dangerous and more imminent and that when tipping points are past the climate can change dramatically on a decadal timescale.
Giddens tried to conclude on an upbeat, describing the great resurgence of effort in green growth and calling for a recapturing of imagination to create a kind of utopia with realism, a ‘Utopian Realism’. Transition Towns, he said, were at the heart of the required social transformation.
Hardin Tibbs continued the theme with his talk, ‘The Challenge of Achieving Economic Sustainability in a Low Carbon World’. He spoke of ‘Black Swans’, the unknown surprises, and the potential for peak oil to change. This was clearly news to many in the room if the show of hands when Tibbs asked who was aware of peak oil, is anything to go by. He wove the twin threats of climate change and energy security together and left no doubt that business as usual was not going to be an option. Tibbs also cited the Transition Towns as key to the bottom up approach that would be a part of the solution.
The third talk of the morning, ‘The Lincolnshire Response, How Lincolnshire Organisations and Communities are meeting the Climate Change Challenge’, was given by Richard Belfield of Lincolnshire County Council. Belfield started his talk with an acknowledgement of the presence the various Transition Towns in the county. He described the commitment that Lincolnshire had towards moving to a low carbon future and also raised the difficult issue of rising sea level. Some 40% of Lincolnshire lies close at risk of flooding and the County Council is working with the Environment Agency on plans covering the rest of the 21st century. No longer is five years the planning timeframe; 20, 50 and 80 years are now the considered horizons. Belfield had presented a slide showing that plans were in hand for a 37cm sea level rise, but in the question and answer session, in response to my suggestion that this figure only represented a linear extrapolation of the current trend and did not take into account ice dynamics in the Greenland and West Antarctic Ice Sheets, he admitted that the 37cm figure was just the one on publications. The figure that the technical team were working to was 1.2m by the end of the century. I also reminded him that, despite his assurances that Boston, Skegness and Spalding would not be lost, sea level would not stop rising in the year 2100 but, perhaps justifiably, he replied that getting local government to consider a century long plan was quite an achievement for now!
In the afternoon, delegates split into two out of these six workshops:
I attended those on sustainable buildings and the coastal flooding.
Michael Gadd, from North Kesteven District Council, described the strawbale houses that his Council has built at Waddington.
Steff Wright described how his company, Gusto Homes, is pushing down the carbon emissions of new houses.
And we heard from Rob at Hill Holt Wood about the remarkable building projects in which the young people have converted the local earth and wood found on site into superb buildings, valuable assets for the community.
In my second workshop, we learnt from John Ray of the Environment Agency and David Hickman, Lincolnshire County council, about the efforts being made to defend our shoreline and what might happen in the event of a breach of the defences. Serious questions were raised about public preparedness, warnings, possibilities for evacuation, and the problems of emergency repairs after a disaster in a worst case scenario. As sea level rises through the century the problems get worse. While the strategy is to improve defences to maintain the existing probability of a breach, the consequences of a breach become greater as water depth increases.
In the short plenary session, Joanne Wade, Lincolnshire’s Climate Change Strategy consultant, summed up the day with another commendation of the Transition Towns.
In due course videos of the keynote lectures will be put on the Epic Lincolnshire website.
The next five years will see us face another crunch - the oil crunch. This time, we do have the chance to prepare. The challenge is to use that time well.
As we reach maximum oil extraction rates, the era of cheap oil is behind us. We must plan for a world in which oil prices are likely to be both higher and more volatile and where oil price shocks have the potential to destabilise economic, political and social activity.
Virtually every sector of our economy is still dependent on oil. This is why it is vital that whichever party forms the next government, they have a coherent set of policies to help the UK adapt. This is especially important for the UK, and other developed economies, which have been so reliant on low-cost oil for decades. There are two challenges for government and policy-makers. Firstly, to recognise the situation we face, and secondly to take action to mitigate the worst implications of the crunch.
Unless we do so, we face a situation during the term of the next government where fuel price unrest could lead to shortages in consumer products and the UK’s energy security will be significantly compromised. This has the potential to hit UK business and commerce as well as the most disadvantaged in society with yet another crisis. While responsibility for addressing these changes must be taken up by government, we must also build a coalition of interests including businesses and the public if we are to implement the changes needed to help us adapt and prosper.
Richard Branson, Founder, Virgin Group Ian Marchant, CEO, Scottish & Southern Energy Brian Souter, CEO, Stagecoach Group Philip Dilley, Chairman, Arup Jeremy Leggett, Chairman, Read the rest of the report here. And read Erica's account of the report's launch on The Oil Drum.|
Transition Town Louth has launched the area's own Freegle group. If you have something to give away or want something for free just sign up and get freegling. Part of The Freegle Association  |
Transition Town Louth is acting as a focus for Landsharers in the area. Let us know if you would like to join Landshare and meet others to share ideas. 
Go places with  For skill sharing.
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Louth Time Bank. |
Join the Transition Town Louth Facebook Group.
Communicate on our Yahoo Message
Group. Follow TTL on 
Other pages on this website:Council Matters is where we report on stuff to do with Louth Town Council and East Lindsey District Council. What's on The Big Ideas Page: Get involved with The Action Page Get gardening with The Eastfield Community Garden Transitition Town Louth Constitution The Minutes Page is where you can read minutes of meetings. The Training Page has information about training for transition. The Archived Stuff is where you can find older stuff What's new on The Opinion Page:
Letters from India Transition Town Louth becomes virtually Twinned with Transition Town Katoomba. Links to Louth based organizations that form parts of The Solution rather than parts of The problem Louth Views Some pictures and films taken in and around Louth. |
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Click here for much larger picture (4Mb). Photo credit: Chris Vernon |
There are now 251 'official' transition towns, Louth being the ninety-eighth. Transition Towns are completely autonomous organizations, linked by the Transition Network, which provides and shares ideas, resources and support. The common thread is a belief that energy security in the time following the peak in oil production and the risk of global warming, present threats so large that we will be forced to make a transition to a very different world from that to which we are accustomed. The Transition movement is driven by optimism and a determination to learn to adjust to whatever the future brings. Preparing in good time to meet the challenges is the wise approach. Our government, driven by the need to address the climate change issue and knowing that fossil fuels will be increasingly hard to come by, has a policy of reducing CO2 emissions by 80% by 2050. Even that drastic change may be understated as we compete for what little fossil fuel remains. This is not a target that can be missed but a reality that we are forced to accept. Indeed, the problems may press harder and faster than the government is prepared, as yet, to admit. It behoves each of us, as individuals or working through community groups and within local government, to accept that reality promptly, and to work together to make the transition as painless as we can, moving positively to a future where life may actually be better. Transition Town Louth is a grassroots grouping of people who share a determination to act. We are not concerned with debating whether global warming caused by man's actions is a problem, nor whether energy security is soon to be the most significant constraint on economic activity. We have accepted the issues, moved beyond debating the realities, and are ready for actions. |
| generate enough electricity from its Fen Farm, Connisholme and Baumber Farm, Mablethorpe wind parks to power about 40% of East Lindsey's homes. |
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To contact Transition Town Louth, Send Mail
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Cornmarket, Louth, Sunday 26th October 2008 |
Town Hall, Louth, Friday 5th December 2008 |
Town Hall, Louth, Saturday 7th March 2009 |
