Recently by Tracey Todhunter

Friday 5th June is World Environment Day and I'll be in London representing the Low Carbon Communities Network at a Climate Change Summit, meanwhile Cheshire West and Chester Council are marking the day with a special screening of the British climate change documentary Age of Stupid at the University of Chester.
The event begins at 1pm with the film, followed by a debate (at this time the speakers have not been confirmed) and ends at 4pm. There are still some seats left, although you need to register in advance to be sure of a seat. To register you can email Stefania Isbell (stefania.isbell@cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk). If you missed the film's premiere at Cheshire Oaks back in March, now is your opportunity to see the film and decide for yourself what action you will take to reduce your own consumption of the earth's finite resources.
If you would like to get involved in community events in Cheshire. take a look at the Low Carbon Cheshire website where you can read about the local activities some Low Carbon Communities Network members are involved in.

FREE POWER FOR PIONEERING VILLAGE HALL

Bickerton Village Hall has become the first village hall in Cheshire to receive 100% funding to install electricity producing solar panels on its roof, supplying green electricity to the National Grid and free power for the hall.

The installation by local company, The Green Electrician, of 27 photovoltaic panels will provide the village hall with an estimated 4,100kW per year, 80% of the hall's current electricity usage. The hall committee plan to make this 100% by introducing new energy efficient measures. Any electricity produced when the hall is not in use will be exported to green energy supplier, Southern Electric for 28p per kWh.

"We believe we are the first village hall in Cheshire to generate electricity for the National Grid. The contractors for the project are a local company and the panels were made locally too, we believe it will encourage our community to look at cleaner ways to power their homes and businesses. If this project could be reproduced in buildings throughout the country, the combined impact would be huge." Carol Shadbolt, Managing Trustee, Bickerton Village Hall.

Carol Shadbolt secured 100% funding for the £30,389 project from the Government's Low Carbon Buildings Programme, Community Sustainable Fund (Big Lottery Fund) and Foundation, a new northwest climate fund launched in April 2009, backed by the Northwest Regional Development Agency.

Bickerton Village Hall has a public display inside the entrance so that hall users and local school children can monitor the amount of electricity being produced and CO2 saved at any time, a figure estimated to reach 1,793kg a year.

Stephen Davies of Tushingham company The Green Electrician, said: "To get 100% funding for this community project has meant that the village hall gets free electricity and an income from the moment we connected the panels. Not only are they quietly and discreetly producing green energy, but they are also demonstrating an environmental commitment to the wider community, encouraging others to do the same."

While other villages talk about renewables projects to reduce carbon emissions, Bickerton has led the way, securing funding and advice from local professionals. Their achievement will hopefully inspire more local communities and households to investigate renewable power.

On 5th May I'll be heading off to London for Unltd World's first birthday party. I've been nominated for an award too - in the Environmental category. It's always nice to have your work recognised, but the really award belongs to all the Low Carbon Communities Network members across the UK who support each other through their membership of the LCCN. We have over 200 members in England alone and over 15 member groups in Cheshire (unfortunately Ashton Hayes Going Carbon Neutral isn't one of them, which seems a shame when you consider that our office is right in the heart of the village).
LCCN community groups are run by volunteers giving free advice to their friends and neighbours to help them reduce their use of the earth's finite resources (such as coal, oil and gas). The LCCN has members who will visit your home and give you one-to-one advice on how to reduce your energy bills and give you honest advice about how to make smarter choices in the ways you use and generate power in your own home. Later this week I have a meeting with the Department for Energy and Climate Change and Dept for Communities and Local Government, we'll be discussing how all of us can work together to reduce domestic energy demand - they know our members are already reducing domestic carbon emissions by up to 80% - because they want to - not because they're told to. If the Government are serious about their "Great British Refurb" plans then they need to work with groups like ours to get their message across and support those of us who are already making plans to adapt to our changing climate and mitigate against the future effects we might face as carbon emissions continue to rise. Low carbon communities are smart communities and no-one is better placed to help you make informed choices about how to heat and power your home than ordinary people who have done it for themselves.

Members of the Low Carbon Communities Network in Cheshire now have their own website where they can share news and resources. Supported by Cheshire West and Chester and Cheshire East Councils, Cheshire and Warrington Low Carbon Communities hold regular networking events to get groups together and promote low carbon living.
Members include Bollington Carbon Revolution, who are finalists in the 2009 Future Friendly Awards. You can watch a short video about their activiites here and vote for your favourite shortlisted community - but we hope you'll "vote local" and support Bollington's plans to use the prize money to refurbish a local building to use as an eco advice centre for local residents. Local volunteers Nicola and Warren Percival have been working hard to promote their competition chances and have even set up a facebook page to keep local people informed about their progress.
"We want everyone in Bollington to benefit, there is loads going on in our town and if we all work together there is so much more we could achieve".

Last week I was fortunate enough to spend time with some of the representatives of low carbon community groups in Cheshire and Warrington. I heard some amazing stories of community activism which inspiring and quite astounding in their ambition. You'll be able to hear more about these communities at the Sustainable Cheshire Forum meeting on 10th December 2008 at Crewe Alexandra Football Ground. You can get full details by contacting the Sustainable Cheshire Forum
I hope you'll be able to join us in a celebration of some of the best sustainability projects Cheshire has to offer.

Today is Blog Action Day and so I'm going to say a few words about how climate change impacts the world's poor.
Poverty is not just a problem in the developing world, but right here at home and the UK's poorest continue to be the most socially excluded and disenfranchised group, the last to be listened to, the last to be consulted.
My feeling is that many of us have grown up in a world where we have absorbed messages such as "growth is good..more is better...faster is glamorous" . Far from making us happy this has led to many of us feeling unfulfilled and isolated. It has also had a negative impact on the world's poor.
Climate change is a real threat, I've been to several workshops and seminars recently where the talk has been about "mitigation and adaptation" or developing "climate resilience". I have heard little about environmental justice. Yet, "affordable" homes continue to be built on floodplains, and Oxfam's research shows that those with the smallest carbon footprints are paying the human and social costs for choices made by those with the biggest carbon footprints.
Environmental justice links to many concerns. Housing, urban regeneration and local service provision all affect quality of life. Public spending on these issues is likely to increase or decrease inequalities depending on where and how policies are developed and managed.
There has been some research recently which asks if it is possible to tackle social exclusion and environmental problems through integrated policies and developments.
I recently visited the Seedley and Langworthy Trust just outside Manchester. SALT has developed a strong track record of working directly with the community, responding to individual and group needs in a compassionate and understanding way. One of the main aims of SALT has been to make sure that local people's views, thoughts, fears and aspirations for the future are listened to at the most influential levels. Here in Chester the residents of Blacon were shortlisted in Nesta's Big Green Challenege for environmental plans which grew out of social regeneration. In both cases strong community cohesion grew as members of the community began to trust and respect each other. This led to projects such as development of safe play areas, which in turn led to reduced carbon emissions.
Environmental justice is about equity, I would define it as the fair treatment of people regardless of race, colour, national origin or income. Nobody should have to suffer a disproportionate share of the negative environmental consequences which result from social, industrial or commercial growth.
Oxfam may tell stories of women in Bangladesh who are directly feeling the impacts of climate change, but we hear little on the news of impacts closer to home such as the gas pipeline development in Rossport County Mayo, where one resident was driven to hunger strike before the world's media began to take notice of the social and environmental impacts of Shell's plans to increase the UK's "fuel security".
So, while pop stars may continue to sing about saving the planet, I'm for saving the people and I hope that more of us will consider the social impacts of our behaviours and lifestyle aspirations from now on.

The last few weeks have been busier than ever as we prepared for the Low Carbon Communities Conference in Llangollen last weekend.
But, it has been worth it as delegates voted overwhelmingly to support a network organised by and for grass roots low carbon communities.
Of course this probably means my workload is going to increase, but how exciting to think that Chester will be the home of the first network to support community groups working in partnership to communicate the benefits of a low carbon lifestyle and the need to support governments as they create robust climate change policy.
There were several Cheshire groups represented at the conference, including Nicola Percival from Bollington Carbon Revolution who spoke to a packed hall about the need for community groups to be informed and consulted by policy makers. It was a shame no formal representative from Ashton Hayes Going Carbon Neutral could attend, but those of us who live in the village were able to share some news with other community groups and we promised to keep everyone informed of progress on the microgrid as we hear. Of course, no-one in the village really knows what's in store, but the planning applications that went in last month for 10 metre high weather measurement equipment would seem to hint that wind turbines could be part of the solution. Chatting to other residents in the village it would appear that there is some confusion about what a microgrid is and what it will do - the important thing is that the technological innovations it promises are accompanied by significant carbon reduction by residents.
Straight after the conference I travelled to Oxford University to take part in workshops on the theme of "Engaging the Public in Climate Change and Energy Demand Reduction". I came away with plenty of food for thought, particularly about the kind of language community groups use to communicate the threats we face as our climate changes. I'm going to be far more careful about using "carbon jargon" in future and make sure that the opportunities for living a more fulfilled and meaningful life are communicated by us all as we try to plan for what the Government is now calling a "climate resilient" society.
And if you have any ideas about how that might look leave a comment here. I have 2 copies of George Marshall's Carbon Detox" to give away to the most imaginative responses.

A new initiative organised by Transition Chester could mean more indiginous and productive trees planted in the Chester area. In an exciting new project, volunteers hope to plant fruit and nut trees in a city wide initiative and are currently looking for funding to get the project underway. They already have the support of a number of local organisations and will be following in the footsteps of Transition Totnes (the first Transition Town) were dozens of volunteers planted nut trees around the town. Transition Chester hope this project will increase local biodiversity, educate local people about our native trees and provide a valuable edible resource for future generations.

Volunteers have already visited a garden run on permaculture principles in Llangollen and established links with local allotment groups in order to access advice and expertise. If you would be interested in getting involved, or simply finding out more about Transition Chester you can email transitionchester@yahoo.co.uk

Seems like everyone in Chester has been busy gearing up their sustainability projects while I've been away on holiday. Life for me just seems to revolve around last minute promotion for the low carbon communities Conference on 4th October in Llangollen. This week we heard that the fabulous folk band "Seize the Day" have agreed to play at our post conference party. It's a couple of years since I last saw them play live, since then I've had to make do with downloads from their website.
The final list of speakers and presenters has been confirmed and includes the wonderful Penney Poyzer (presenter of BBC's "No Waste Like Home") not to mention George Marshall, Mark Lynas, and a host of really inspiring community projects such as Going Carbon Neutral Stirling who are still celebrating a very successful Big Lottery Award. Rachel Nunn will be telling delegates about the whirlwind year she's had since attending last year's conference hosted by Ashton Hayes Parish Council.
Meanwhile Transition Chester has been busy planning a series of Autumn meetings and talks which promise to raise the level of debate about climate change and peak oil here in Cheshire. Their programme includes a visit from the highly respected John Papworth (one of the original founders of resurgence Magazine). Then we have another meeting of low carbon community groups in Chester and Warrington in Rudheath, if your community group would like to know more about that leave a comment here and tell us all about your project.

The number of low carbon groups establishing in Cheshire continues to grow and last Wednesday's first meeting of the Cheshire and Warrington Low Carbon Communities Network was a great success (at least those of us who debriefed in the pub afterwards thought so!)
Discussions centred around funding, community engagement and access to information. These will all be covered in future meetings of the group.
Supported by Cheshire County Council and chaired by Chris Mahon, Chair of the Sustainable Cheshire Forum this new group follows other successful regional networks such as Shropshire and ClimateX in Oxford. It seems many community groups are now seeing the benefit of working in partnership to share skills and experience. Action Climate Change Tattenhall has produced an excellent leaflet brought along by John Plummer and other groups shared updates of their group's progress. Sonia Mysko from Bollington Carbon Revolution shared news of two successful Eco Teams which have run in the area to support behavioural change among residents (and across Cheshire this initiative, supported by the Cheshire Federation of Womens Institutes has proved very popular).
Roy Alexander from the Ashton Hayes Parish Council Going Carbon Neutral Project sent his apologies as he was attending a public meeting elsewhere in Ashton Hayes to inform residents of plans for a village microgrid. I caught up with him later in the pub where he told me
"It was a great meeting, about 30 people turned up. They asked some interesting questions and there were offers to help with fundrasing and organisation".
These are exciting times for low carbon communities - but particularly for Ashton Hayes Parish Council who have set the bar high - not only will they be raising funds for the village microgrid, but also there are plans to take over the running of the village shop as a community enterprise and buy land to create a recreation field!
Several attendees at our meting on Wednesday have already signed up to attend the Low Carbon Communities Conference in Llangollen in October, here they will have the opportunity to meet with some very successful projects from other parts of the UK and listen to some inspiring stories of what ordinary people can achieve when they work together on a common goal.
I'm off on holiday now, but when I come back I'll have more news on Transition Chester and a sneak preview of an interview with Dave Hampton (Carbon Coach to the rich and famous).