Transition Town Louth, Lincolnshire.

Council Matters

Louth Area Committee

"As Louth looks to its sustainability as a key market town in East Lindsey and its viability as an economic centre for the area, there has been discussion about how the increasing interest in locally produced, good quality foods could be supported. The debate around the future of the Cattle Market, for example, has, among other things, prompted discussion about potential opportunities in this respect.

"You are invited to a Special Meeting of Louth Area Committee, to be held at The Pavilion, London Road, Louth on Monday 2nd March 2009 at 7.30 p.m., to take part in an open discussion about what ideas local people and businesses have in relation to this – this might include identifying how locally produced food is already marketed in the area and what the barriers and opportunities are for promoting it, and whether it is a good idea!" Lesley.

OK so a few of us went to the meeting last night - LAC open meeting, agenda - 'Local food for Louth', I thought I'd just share my thoughts on how it went.

Actual agenda

How to make Louth more attractive for tourists - carparking, support of local business, improving the markets.
Making use of the rural community grant funding bodies to do this.
Useful input from three farmers:
- Don't idolise reverting to small holdings - 'unremitting slavery'.
- The cattle market - good modern market, brought down by foot and mouth and never quit recovered - how to make the market more viable as a cattle market.
- The council stating a rather confusing position that the cattle market was a private business like any other, but they had rights to the land.
- How supermarkets drain the local economy and whether the council can put a veto on any supermarkets entering Louth.
The council's response - if a supermarket offers a large pot of money to put back into the town - should they seriously think about that?

Subjects that TTL raised that never quite got discussed (but did get studiously written down)

Biff raised 'making food local' and other schemes to bring about more local food being produced, supplied and consumed in Louth, brought from an environmental and economic perspective
I raised the issue between supporting local business and local food - a present conflict - getting local businesses to work with local produce on a much larger scale
All in all a meeting about local food for Louth didn't quite happen.
Interesting comment from Nigel Howell - 'I dont want this to get into a big debate on oil - some people believe it, others don't' - should we be pushing the idea that this peak oil business is fact, rather than opinion?

I firmly believe that, as pointless as some of these meetings seem, we need to be there for all of them, and figuring out ways to discuss our thoughts on community initiatives, education and post consumerism in a relevant, concise way. I feel once we figure that out we could turn these meetings around. Nisha

Further reading:

Here is the ELDC version of the minutes Agenda and Draft Minutes, Special Louth Area Committee Monday, 2nd March, 2009 7.30 pm

"Climate Change and Fuel – Members were reminded of the importance of addressing climate change, the scarcity of fuel and the resulting effect on the economy. These contributory factors should form part of any forward plan. The Chief Executive acknowledged the challenges from climate change"

03 March 2009 10:30
Thanks for the run down Nisha. Sorry we couldn't make it.
At least Nigel Howell is accepting there is an issue about oil.I agree Nisha that we should push for doing some peak oil awareness raising directly with councillors. If people do not accept that peak oil is happening then schemes that we may put forward will not seem logical. Probably why the second step of any Transition Initiative should be awareness raising. Maybe we can put together a presentation specifically about peak oil and how other local governments are dealing with the issue and show it to the council. What do you think Biff?(resident peak oil expert)
Nick

03 March 2009 15:02
The whole meeting was allowed to be hi-jacked by the "keep Louth nice and cuddly" brigade. Local food and farming in the context of peak oil was completely and deliberately ignored (despite local food being the sole agenda item). The NFU guy's comment that technology will tackle the oil issue sometime in the future and Nigel Howells' refusal to enter into a debate about peak oil were particularly worrying. I agree with Nick that TTL should prioritise spreading awareness on this issue but it is also equally clear that the local populus and politicians do not not want it pushed down their throats. Yes, we do need to have a presence in wider community partnerships but we also need an awareness-raising strategy that will bring other groups with us, not set them against us.
Bob.

03 March 2009 17:12
I have to agree with Bob, the meeting wasn't what I was expecting either, but then it's easy to assume that the need for food to be produced and distributed locally is on everyone's radar. I think the smaller group to be created as a result of this meeting, which will sift through the differing ideas and opinions, should be a bit more constructive. At least it will give us the opportunity to restate the logic behind transition.
James

05 March 2009 08:44
Don't be too hard on yourselves - or on the others at the meeting. It was a good meeting. We were all invited and acknowledged - this is a very important point, don't overlook it. Thanks to Cllr Lesley Koumi for her hard work - especially in trying to coax the ordinary guy to speak.
I expect that someone from TTL will be invited to be involved in the small group. This was a first meeting, people were honest about their positions. If you listened you will know who the important people are that you need to speak to / inform. Some are not aware of the severity of the situation and spoke in ignorance but they are not the movers and shakers. Look to who you need to work with. There was a lot of good comments. Eric Clark spoke well and has an East Midlands platform. Nigel Howells needs to hear the argument - He is a good man, he just has a lot of people to keep on the right side of. If the loudest, clearest argument is for change then he has to listen and he has the capacity to do something. He has stated his support of the Fairtrade Steering Groups desire for a conference (or something) that informs about the morality and benefit of local 'fairtrade'.
Saw a great film at the Sustainable Schools Showcase yesterday (Lincolnshire County Council have to be applauded for this event. Here were regional & national speakers calling for a significant change in our use of fossil fuels) It was called One Planet and comes from the Soil Association / Food For Life Partnership. We have signed up Lacey Gardens to the partnership and will therefore get a copy of the film to show. Keep going.
David

05 March 2009 17:22
Well said.
Nisha

08 March 2009 08:58
Thanks for offering to pull the 'spearhead group' together. A few people have mentioned to me that they would like to be involved - Biff Vernon (Transition Town) Peta Hill (Deanery Community Worker, Anglican Churches) David Newlove (Methodist Minister' Fairtrade Steering Group)
Lesley

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