news

Litter picking on 26th August

Tue, 14 Aug 2012 20:00:41 +0100

Dear All

We will be Litter Picking on Sunday 26th August from 2-4pm., meeting at Bath Lane Car Park at 2pm and moving towards the Gosport Road and Salterns depending on the amount of litter we find. Gloves, Litter Pickers, Bags and Tabards will be provided.

Hope you can make it.

John & Esme

New Venue for Green Drinks

Tue, 24 Jul 2012 23:20:30 +0100

As you may well know by now we have to have a new venue for Green Drinks. Esme and I went and had a look in the Market Tavern in West St. and they said it is fine for us to have our Green Drinks there. So I suggest we try it out this Wednesday the 25th July from 7.30pm. Come in and turn left we will be in the little room next to the bar.

Hope you can come.

John Vivan

Litter Pick in Fareham, this Sunday

Thu, 21 Jun 2012 14:00:45 +0100

Transition Fareham will be conducting a litter pick in Bath Lane Fareham this coming Sunday, 24th June, at 2pm. If you can come please meet at the car park in Bath Lane just before the underpass leading to the recreation ground. We hope to work along the edge of the recreation ground and along the shore line as far as we can.

Fareham Borough Council will be providing bags, gloves and litter pickers but please bring your own if you have them. They also provide insurance but PLEASE DO NOT PICK UP ANY NEEDLES. We just need to alert the council on Monday if we do find any.

Hope you can make it,

John & Esme

Books for Free project up and running

Mon, 28 May 2012 22:07:55 +0100

Transition Fareham have taken a new imitative which helps us develop we will be running a shop with Healthy Planet and will need volunteers to spend some time in the shop from Monday to Saturday 10am to 3pm all day or just a couple of hours will help. We will be promoting the Books for Free and other ecological projects such as plants and seed swaps and giving out general information. Contact us by calling in the shop or ring John on 01329 319301, or email john.vivian@ntlworld.com. for information on what we will be doing as volunteers. Below is information about Healthy Planet. Healthy Planet is an on-line charity which supports conservation of land, environmental issues and promotes a healthier planet. A low-cost FREE educational programme is available for schools and the prevention of landfill is high on Healthy Planet’s agenda, through its Books for Free initiative thousands of books have been prevented from landfill. Healthy Planet’s registered office is at 349 King Street, London W6 9NH, charity number 1122475. www.healthyplanet.org

Come for a protest walk on Monday!!

Sun, 06 May 2012 08:21:36 +0100

Dear All,

An easy Bank Holiday afternoon stroll around Fareham Common to see just how much countryside will be swallowed up by the SDA planned 7,000 housing development.

Meet outside the Miners Arms at 2:00pm Monday. Easy walking, buggy friendly, 1 to 1&1/2 hour stroll in pleasant company with like minded people. Might even be tempted into a pint at the miners afterwards. Love to see you all there,

Love and Peace

Jim

Solar panel tariff appeal loss for governmen

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 16:08:38 +0100

The government has failed to get permission to appeal to the Supreme Court over its plan to cut subsidies for solar panels on homes.

The UK's highest court said it could not challenge a High Court ruling that blocked the halving of payments to households generating solar energy.

Critics argued the plan to bring the lower rate in in December was too short notice and lacked proper consultation.

The lower tariff will now apply to panels installed after 1 April.

Campaigners argued that the plans had caused huge uncertainty in the industry, which employs tens of thousands of people.

Friends of the Earth's executive director Andy Atkins described the ruling as "a landmark decision which will prevent ministers causing industry chaos with similar subsidy cuts in future".

The government said the court's decision drew a line under the case.

"We will now focus all our efforts on ensuring the future stability and cost effectiveness of solar and other microgeneration technologies for the many, not the few," said Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Davey.

Under the feed-in tariffs programme, people in the UK with solar panels are paid for the electricity they generate.

The new tariff of 21p per kilowatt hour, down from the current 43.3p/kwh, had been expected to come into effect for panels finished after 1 April, but in October the government said it would be paid to anyone who installed their solar panels after 12 December 2011.

The government announced a consultation on the proposals which closed on 23 December.

The High Court ruled that changing the tariffs before the end of an official consultation period was "legally flawed".

Upholding that ruling, the Supreme Court said the government's appeal "does not raise an arguable point of law of general public importance which ought to be considered by the Supreme Court at this time".

The court's decision now means that all domestic installations finished before 3 March this year will still get the higher 43.3p rate.

Installations finished between 3 March and 31 March temporarily get the old higher rate until 1 April then it is reduced to 21p.

The legal challenge was initiated by Friends of the Earth and two solar firms, Solarcentury and HomeSun.

Caroline Flint MP, Labour's shadow energy and climate change secretary, said: "Today's ruling proves, once and for all, that the government's cuts to solar power are not just bad for the public, bad for jobs and growth, and bad for the environment, but unlawful."

Was all the green talk just hot air (adding to global warming...)?

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 09:30:25 +0100

Just 2% believe coalition is 'greenest government', survey suggests

Comments (105)

By Richard Black Environment correspondent

Mr Cameron famously went to a glacier early in his tenure - but have his green credentials melted?

Just 2% of the UK public believe they live under the "greenest government ever", according to an opinion poll.

And only 4% want to see laws protecting the countryside weakened, as the government is expected to do this week.

Prime Minister David Cameron pledged to lead the "greenest government ever" on taking office in 2010.

Critics say that recent decisions on climate change, forests, badger culling, urban pollution and nature protection have undermined the claim.

But a government spokesman said it was "firmly committed" to being the greenest government ever and wanted to be judged on actions.

Environmental groups are particularly highlighting an announcement made on Saturday that will allow gas-fired power stations to continue emitting carbon dioxide at their current rate until 2045.

The poll, commissioned by Greenpeace and the RSPB from YouGov, shows that 53% of the UK electorate believes the government is about average on green issues, while 10% say it is greener than average.

Only 3% of Conservative voters say it lives up to the "greenest ever" tag. The figure for Lib Dems is 0%.

Prime Minister David Cameron held a photo-opportunity with huskies on a glacier in 2006, when he described climate change as "one of the biggest threats facing the world" and called for "a much greater sense of urgency" in tackling it.

But Greenpeace's chief policy adviser Ruth Davis said the poll showed the British public "can't be duped by catchphrases or husky-hugging".

"However, it's not too late for David Cameron to turn this around and leave an environmental legacy he can be proud of," she said.

"He can start by reining in his chancellor, who seems hell-bent on trashing the environment."

'Sums wrong'

“Start Quote

The Budget this week has the potential to be a 'Black Wednesday' for the environment”

End Quote Mike Clarke RSPB

Does gas policy mean and end to climate targets?

In December, Chancellor George Osborne told MPs he wanted to make sure that "gold plating of EU rules on things like habitats" were not putting "ridiculous costs" on firms.

The government is expected to publish new rules on planning this week, which will make it easier for developers to exploit green spaces and important ecological areas.

The poll showed that only 4% of the electorate backs these planning moves - but 40% would like protection strengthened.

RSPB chief executive Mike Clarke said the chancellor had got his economic sums wrong.

"There is no evidence whatsoever to suggest protection of the environment is a barrier to economic growth, but plenty to suggest smart regulation is actually a stimulus to growth," he said.

"Because of this lack of understanding, the Budget this week has the potential to be a 'Black Wednesday' for the environment."

Gas and carbon

Mr Osborne is also being slated by environment groups over an announcement made jointly by the Treasury and the Department for Energy and Climate Change (Decc) on Saturday.

It will allow gas-fired power stations to emit the same amount of carbon dioxide as they do now until 2045.

Mr Osborne said the move "provides certainty to businesses that want to invest in gas".

However, the Committee on Climate Change, the government's statutory advisers, say that in order to meet long-term climate targets, the electricity generating sector should be "virtually decarbonised" by 2030.

That would mean a mixture of renewables, nuclear, and fossil fuel power stations that capture and store the carbon dioxide they produce.

Analysts say that in order to meet the 2030 target - which Mr Cameron said he "basically endorsed" last year - only about 10% of UK electricity can come from gas-fired power stations emitting at current levels.

If the figure ends up being closer to 50%, which some analysts believe likely, long-term climate targets will be much more difficult to achieve.

In response to the poll results, a government spokesman said: "We are firmly committed to being the greenest government ever and want to be judged on actions.

"We have delivered an ambitious programme of policies to protect and enhance our natural environment, including the first Natural Environment White Paper in 20 years and a Water White Paper to ensure a secure, affordable and sustainable future water supply."

The Green Investment Bank, securing investment in low-carbon energy, and tree-planting were among the other government successes, he said.

YouGov polled 1,738 adults on 13-14 March 2012. The figures were weighted to be representative of all GB adults.

Is our goverment failing us on green issues?

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 09:28:57 +0100

Conservation groups attack government green pledges

Conservation groups say the state of the economy may lead ministers to ignore wildlife

Ministers are failing to keep to most of their promises to help wildlife, leading nature groups have said.

Failures include culling badgers to tackle bovine TB and attempts to sell off publicly-owned forests in England to businesses.

The group of 29 of the UK's leading environmental groups say just two out of 16 key commitments made by the government are being fully met.

These are opposition to commercial whaling and moves to ban ivory sales.

Martin Harper, conservation director of the RSPB, one of the groups involved, says in tough economic times ministers may be tempted to ignore the needs of wildlife.

"But this kind of short-termist attitude won't wash with a British public which expects the government to protect the countryside and wildlife we all hold dear," he said.

'Greenest ever'

Other promises the group says the government has failed to honour include reforming the planning system to give neighbourhoods a greater say and preventing unnecessary building in areas of high flood risk.

Partial success has been achieved in tackle the smuggling and illegal trade in wildlife and making the import or possession of illegal timber a criminal offence, they add.

But a spokesman for the environment department Defra said the government is committed to being the greenest ever.

"The government is working on an ambitious programme of policies to protect and enhance our natural environment and we've made good progress across many areas.

"We're providing new opportunities for local people to play a bigger role in protecting and improving the environment in their areas."

COME ALONG FOR A SLOW FOOD EVENING IN FAREHAM!

Sun, 11 Mar 2012 15:16:18 +0100

Nicola has posted this:

I'm organising an event in La Saletta which you may be interested in - see below for more information!

Bored of the same old cookery books? Come along to our cookbook swap with a cookbook that you no longer use and swap it for a different one...a great way to refresh your cookbook collection, find some new recipes and do your bit for the environment!

AGM
The cookbook swap will be run along side the Slow Food Solent Annual General Meeting. Please come along to find out what we have been up to in the past year, what we have planned for the coming year and to take part in the committee elections (members only for the election).

26th March, 7.30pm
La Saletta, 6 West Street, Fareham.

Slow Food Solent aims to promote good, clean and fair food. We believe that the food we eat should taste good; that it should be produced in a clean way that does not harm the environment, animal welfare or our health; and that food producers should receive fair compensation for their work. Through tastings, food demonstrations and visits to farms, producers and restaurants we aim to raise awareness of good, clean and fair food and encourage people to and seek out and enjoy the abundant, varied, locally produced food.

Committee nominations
We are now accepting nominations to the Slow Food Solent committee. If you would like to be considered for a post in the election (committee members must be fully paid members of Slow Food UK), please complete the form which is available on our website and email it to us by the 12th March at the latest.

The election will be carried out via a secret ballot, unless no seats are contested, in which case voting will be via a show of hands. The positions on the committee are: Leader, Vice-leader, Secretary, Treasurer, Event coordinator, Communications and marketing secretary, Membership secretary, General committee member.

For more information: www.slowfoodsolent.org.uk

New trek date!

Sat, 10 Mar 2012 22:44:41 +0100

Mayday bank-holiday afternoon will find Transition Town Fareham members meandering around Fareham Common before the proposed development of 7,000 houses makes it impossible. An hours gentle stroll will be followed by a picnic in Funtley rec. or a pint in the Miners Arms, depending on preference.

If you are interested in joining in to see just how much land will be swallowed up, find out more about the Transition movement, or just to enjoy a walk in the country while it's still possible, meet outside the Miners Arms at 2:00 on Monday 7th May.