Sustainable development events at Shaftesbury School; Land-based opportunities; Trees & hedgerows; Planet Shaftesbury shapes up; Other news in brief |
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Shaftesbury School events this spring Alex More of Shaftesbury School has refined his ideas for a student event focusing on the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) - especially 7, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14/15 (see graphic above). Invites will go to up to 17 different Dorset schools. He proposes a single day of workshops and TEDX-style presentations for students aged 9-14 years and has identified some of his potential speakers already (including a couple of volunteers from our network). There are opportunities to join in as Alex prepares for the event - as a sounding board, or to help with a workshop or offer a presentation on the day. The event is now likely to take place on Wednesday 11th May. Planet Shaftesbury has been invited to host a follow-up evening event for others - older students, parents and people from the wider community - probably a few days after the student event. We can use the school's extensive facilities. With several large halls and multiple classrooms we would be able to accommodate many more people than would be the case at the Town Hall. How can we make best use of the opportunity? We'll be discussing this, and eliciting support for the earlier student event, at our next (online) meeting on 3rd February. Joining details are included on our website. If you want to engage with planning the event but can't make the meeting please email karen@karenwimhurst.co.uk See the foot of the newsletter for link to a UK government website that provides indicators and graphics showing performance against the SDGs. |
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Opportunities from allotments to small farmers Shaftesbury Homegrown, the community farm off Breach Lane, produces eggs, fruit and veg; hosts some sheep (for grazing); and is nature-friendly. There are small greenhouses, a polytunnel, and a compost toilet. Those involved work collectively, like sharing a large allotment, and receive a discount on produce proportional to the work they've put in. There are opportunities to join them (the current working sessions could be extended), or to work alongside them (using some of the land which isn't used for growing at present). To find out if this is for you: contact Helen English on 07789845498 or by email: englishhv49@gmail.com Eco-Farm Future is a project being developed by Cordelia Rowlatt & Chris Smaje. Cordelia (runs Vallis Veg on the outskirts of Frome), and Chris (author of the acclaimed book 'A Small Farm Future') are looking for a group of people who already want to start new eco-farms of their own, who have the practical farming skills and motivation but don’t have what they need in terms of money, building skills, off-grid living skills or who might be put off by the diverse organisational challenges involved in setting a farm up from scratch. They're offering access to land and support. See links below. Could we create similar opportunities in Dorset? Watch out for details of an opportunity to meet Cordelia for informal discussions of veg growing, the eco-farm future project, and more, during her forthcoming visit to Shaftesbury Homegrown, likely to be end February or early March. |
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Trees & hedgerows Planting is under way with Shaftesbury Tree Group organising volunteers to implement the 2nd phase of the 5-year planting plan for the town. The hedgerow along the Christy's Lane boundary of Cockrams Field (running north from the youth club) is now all in place. Other planting is adding young tree or hedgerow plants at Ash Close Play Area, Barton Hill Rec and Castle Hill. The planting at Wincombe Rec has been delayed so that Persimmon can disturb the ground whilst they resolve drainage issues that affect recent building. The Gert Big Dorset Hedge is a Dorset climate action network project to map hedgerows, collate information on hedging grants & other local hedging projects, and connect people who just want to plant hedges! There's a meeting (online) on 26th January (7pm), all welcome, details on our website. Hedgerows at the Spring Countryside Show? Several people have expressed interest in supporting a Planet Shaftesbury presence at the showground on 23/24th April and one suggestion is that we focus on hedgerows. To connect with those planning our involvement or to join us at the show please email planetshaftesbury@gmail.com |
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Shaping our future Permaculture, Transition & Planet Shaftesbury was the topic for our online meeting on 20th January. It became clear that this was just the start of our exploration of what we can learn from permaculturists and from experiences by some of us and by others within the Transition Network. The information brought to this meeting has been documented in a blog post on the website where it will be useful to all those who get involved in further stages of the exploration. Supporting Planet Shaftesbury: What would you like to help us do to increase our impact? Anyone who plays (or wants to play) a part in supporting our network (website, meetings, co-ordinating projects, newsletter, social media etc) is invited to join a covid-cautious in-person meeting at the Quaker Meeting House on the evening of Thursday 27th January. For full details and so that we can manage numbers please email Rachel.Bodle@gmail.com |
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Other Shaftesbury News in Brief Cycle path: Brie Logan, who works for Shaftesbury Town Council is hosting a meeting with Dorset's Walking & Cycling Officer on Tuesday 25th January (am). If you are a keen cyclist who would like to see and comment on plans for an extension to the 'Lidl' cycleway with others from Planet Shaftesbury please email planetshaftesbury@gmail.com for an invitation. Petition on behalf of pedestrians: Local resident David Harvey has set up a petition asking for the convenient short cut between Lidl's and Tesco's stores to be opened to the public. Link below. Vintage / Sustainable Fashion Fair is taking place at the Town Hall on Saturday 29th January. |
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Dorset Deserves Better: The campaign to secure a re-think of Dorset's Local Plan was launched with an open letter sent to Dorset Council on 17th January. The campaign has wide and growing support to achieve a plan that meets the real needs of local people and contributes to implementing Dorset's strategy for the climate and ecological emergency. Updates on the campaign will be posted to our website. |
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Open Greener Homes: When we joined in with last year's Dorset-wide event it proved useful to have a range of participating homes and different energy-saving or sustainable living practices on view. Both hosts and visitors appreciated the conversations they got into and have been keen to see the event repeated. We hope to have more homes across the Shaftesbury Area in 2022 (as well as better weather!). There is to be an initial meeting in early February for local co-ordinators to consider ways of extending the spread of properties that join in and agree the dates for this year's event. To get the joining link for this meeting, or to offer comments or a property for the event, please email planetshaftesbury@gmail.com |
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Puddletown Oil Drilling: The planning application has not gone away. 6 new documents which include a new climate change assessment, ecological survey and a restoration scheme are open for consultation until 9th February. Please read and comment/object - a link to the paperwork is included below. |
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Sustainable Dorset AGM is to be held online, afternoon of Saturday 29th January. Details on our website. This year there are a couple of talks relevant to boosting the sustainability of a business. |
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Dorset Local Nature Partnership is recruiting up to 5 new members for their Board. Are you passionate about Dorset's environment? Would you like to influence decision-making about the natural world? Closing date for applications is 31st January, full details are on their website (link below). |
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Web links - as referred to above & more - Puddletown oil drilling: the paperwork for the planning application (application number WD/D/19/002866) is available here. The documents dated 2022 are the ones open for comment.
- Charles Eisenstein interesting post deals with experiencing mood volatility at this time
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The next monthly newsletter will appear around the end of the 3rd week of February. If you have news to share please send it to planetshaftesbury@gmail.com |
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