HAPPY NEW YEAR! Here's January's news & diary dates from our network
December's meeting (14th)took place just 2 days after Shaftesbury Town Council decided they needed more time to understand the detail of the plan produced by their Sustainable Shaftesbury Working Group before deciding whether they could adopt it. A number of those who contributed to the working group were present at our meeting. We agreed to continue to support Councillors as appropriate to 'get the plan landed' and to embark on the development of a strategy for community engagement around the plan's themes. Specific minutes were:
Lobby individual Councillors in support of the plan. Lucy Young offered to provide background notes to the report and its main themes. Diana Harris offered to compile background notes (based on the town's own website) for reference by those who haven't previously engaged with our Councillors.
Encourage more people to attend the next town council meeting when adoption of the town sustainability, climate, biodiversity plan will be discussed, and encourage those who are willing to speak on that occasion (1 minute statement).
Use next meeting to determine which of the themes in the Sustainable Shaftesbury report PS would like to work on. The meeting will take place on Thursday 18th January at 7.30pm in the snug (to left of the entrance) at The Grosvenor Arms. Open to all. (You can find the December version of the detailed Action Plan arranged in 10 themes here.)
Keep the newsletter format and production under review. This first newsletter for 2024 marks a change in style - a quicker read limited to our own news and events. Expect to see it at least once, and no more than twice, per month. Individuals and groups in the Planet Shaftesbury network can send contributions to planetshaftesbury@gmail.com.
Reading the Land, March 2024: This will be the second Shaftesbury book festival celebrating the best of nature writing. Planet Shaftesbury has received donations to enable us to sponsor author Chris Smaje presenting his book, Saying No to a Farm-Free Future.
Wednesday 17th January, 6-7.30pm, Online, 5th in the series of county-wide meetings examining local food resilience and working towards building a Dorset food partnership considers what can be learnt from Bridport Food Matters. Open to all. See details and register from here.
