Lobby Our MP to Support a Safe Climate

25 Wednesday Nov 2015

Posted by Julian Ashworth in Climate change, Politics

The governments of more than 190 nations gather in Paris in late November to discuss a global agreement on climate change.

Scientists have warned that unless greenhouse gas emissions start to fall, we will exceed a temperature rise of 2 degrees C above pre-industrial levels. Above this rise, global warming will become catastrophic and irreversible.

However, the UK and other nations with the biggest greenhouse gas emissions are likely to make commitments in Paris that will not be enough to keep the temperature rise within 2 degrees.

We have joined with Sustainable Hayfield in sending letters to our MP, Andrew Bingham, asking him to use his influence in parliament to work towards implementing a greater reduction in CO2 emissions in the UK and a transition from fossil fuels to renewables

Please sign our letter and send or email it to him by 10th December 2015.

Climate Change Letter to Andrew Bingham

If you would like to sign an online petition on this issue you can do so here

We will be in New Mills town centre, on the Prom and in The Torrs Butterfly Café between 10:30 and 12:00 on Saturday 28th November, to ask people to contact Andrew Bingham. If you can help at all with handing out leaflets or staffing the stall, please let us know at transition.newmills@gmail.com

There will also be a party going to the Climate Summit event in Sheffield on Saturday afternoon – meet at New Mills Central Station for the 12:17 train.

A Triumph for Trees!

21 Saturday Nov 2015

Posted by Julian Ashworth in Biodiversity, Events, Plants

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biodiversity, conservation

Thanks to you all for a brilliant effort. Around 400 trees were planted on and around the Derby Road playing fields in New Mills on Sunday and Monday, in a joint project between Transition New Mills and Thornsett School.

Thank you to everyone who cleared the ground, put out the marker canes, planted trees, put on and checked the guards, contributed cakes and made tea. Also thank you to those of you who turned up after we had finished on Sunday – sorry our volunteers were so efficient – and to those who expressed their interest and support but couldn’t help on the day.

Thank you to the head, staff, children and parents at Thornsett School. We hope you are proud of your contribution and excited about the prospect of watching the trees grow and seeing the wildlife thrive as a result. We are relying on you to keep an eye out for the trees and to help make the whole of your local community feel that the trees belong to them.

We hope that this is just the beginning of bring more trees back to the area. The Woodland Trust is giving away nearly 5 million trees to community and school groups in the UK over the next 3 years. We would be happy to bid for more trees and organise another event next Autumn.

All we need is some land – so if you have spare land yourself, or know someone who does, or can suggest a suitable plot, please let us know.

Christine Moore chrism44ind@yahoo.com

Jane Ayres janecampaign@gmail.com

Jill Hulme jillhulme@gmail.com

Why the Paris talks are vital…

15 Sunday Nov 2015

Posted by janederbyshire in Uncategorized

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This is a seriously hard-hitting video, not for the faint-hearted, children, or anyone who wants to sleep at night.

TREE PLANTING THIS SUNDAY!

10 Tuesday Nov 2015

Posted by Julian Ashworth in Biodiversity, Events, Plants

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biodiversity, conservation

SUNDAY 15^TH NOVEMBER 10.00 – 3.00 AT DERBY ROAD PLAYING FIELD.

The trees have arrived and are eager to be planted in their new home, in a joint project between Transition New Mills and Thornsett Primary School!

Thank you to all who have offered to help. Anyone else who is free for an hour or so on Sunday, please come along. Please bring you own spade and gardening gloves if you have them.

Tea and coffee and cakes will be provided. Contributions of cake will be very welcome.

Derby Rd playing fields are at the end of Portland Rd (where there is some parking). If you are coming along High Hill Rd from Hayfield Rd, Portland Rd is the first right turn after the mini-roundabout.

The trees which have been provided by the Woodland Trust are oak, hawthorn, rowan, blackthorn, silver birch and hazel. These species have been selected to provide a range of food sources and habitats in order to increase biodiversity.

If you have any queries please contact one of us

Chris Moore chrism44ind@yahoo.com 07860834908

Jane Ayres janecampaign@gmail.com

Jill Hulme jillhulme@gmail.com

Divest Derbyshire

10 Tuesday Nov 2015

Posted by Michael Daw in Uncategorized

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Please sign this petition (of which Transition New Mills is a named supporter) to urge Derbyshire County Council to divest from fossil fuels and join the new zeitgeist…

https://campaigns.gofossilfree.org/petitions/divest-derbyshire

Derbyshire County Council Pension Fund has £290 million invested in fossil fuel industries, including Royal Dutch Shell, BP and Rio Tinto. Fossil fuel industries make up nearly 6% of the pension fund.

The petition calls on DCC to immediately freeze any new investments in fossil fuels and divest from direct ownership and any commingled funds that include fossil fuel public equities and corporate bonds within 5 years.

Climate change expert lecture in Hayfield

04 Wednesday Nov 2015

Posted by Michael Daw in Uncategorized

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Kevin Anderson poster

A message from Laurie James, Sustainable Hayfield…

Later this month, the world’s leaders will start 2 weeks of talks in Paris about how best to limit greenhouse gas emissions and avoid the risk of irreversible climate change. Many headlines will be written and hard negotiations undertaken. Now there’s an almost unique chance to hear locally what’s at stake, and what’s possible.

We’re delighted to invite you, THURSDAY NOVEMBER 12TH, to an expert presentation at the Royal Hotel, Hayfield, on the impact and challenges of climate change by Professor Kevin Anderson, Professor of Energy and Climate Change at theSchool of Mechanical, Aeronautical and Civil Engineering at Manchester University. He is also Deputy Director of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, one of the UK’s leading research institutes in this field.

Professor Anderson is a scientific advisor to the Welsh Government’s climate change commission, reports on shale gas and aviation-related emissions to the UK and EU Parliaments, and advises the Prime Minister’s office on carbon trading and the development of national carbon budgets. An engineer by training, his industrial experience has been mainly in the petrochemical industry.

It’s a privilege to have such expertise, honed from practical skills in industry, available to us. We hope this interests you too. His talk ‘Ostrich or Phoenix? – Climate Change, Facts and Futures’, is hugely topical and relevant. You are warmly invited to this open event, which is free to all. Professor Anderson will give his illustrated presentation from 7.30p.m., for about an hour, and then take questions. We hope to see you there.

Discussion on The Viable Economy

04 Wednesday Nov 2015

Posted by Michael Daw in Uncategorized

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The next meeting of the Transition discussion group is 8pm Monday 30th November in Marple Bridge.

The ‘reading’ for this meeting is a short pamplet The Viable Economy by Steady State Manchester. We have 2 copies to pass round and you can also find it at https://steadystatemanchester.files.wordpress.com/2014/11/the-viable-economy-master-document-v4-final.pdf

Please let Sue Cooper (suecoopernewmills@hotmail.com) know if you want to co-ordinate transport from New Mills to Marple Bridge and also let her know if you are coming.

Balsam 2015 – here’s what we did

02 Monday Nov 2015

Posted by Julian Ashworth in Biodiversity, Plants

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The balsam bashing season is over for 2015, and thanks to our wonderful volunteers, a Derbyshire County Council grant, and donations from local businesses, it was the best one yet!

Here’s the year in (if anything, under-estimated) statistics:
•17 organised events (including one intrepid abseiling session)
•over 30 known volunteers
•an estimated over 100 hours of volunteer time on organised bashes, – estimated value of around £700 (based on min wage)
•£500 DCC Greenwatch Action Grant, spent mainly in local shops and businesses

The areas we focussed on were The Torrs (Sett Valley from trail to Archie), Goytside(from Archie to railway viaduct), Mousley Bottom (around riverbanks and on DCC land), and The Picker. River levels were quite low, which helped us safely access the banks. The Torrs, Mousley Bottom and Goytside had been tackled last year also, and much less balsam was noted in these areas. We were able to extend clearance further up the riverbanks in Mousley Bottom, and DCC/NMTC undertook some brushcutting which greatly helped tackle some of the large swathes choking the meadows. The Picker was a new area for us and, with the permission of the landowner, we took on a demanding task; there are an abundance of wild plants and picking individual balsam plants colonising new areas was hard going. The area was alive with insect life so this deserves to be an area we continue to give more attention to to keep the balsam at bay.

We would especially like to thank:

all the volunteers and supporters
Derbyshire County Council (for Greenwatch Action Grant and help from Countryside Section)
New Mills Town Council
landowners
our generous sponsors: Butterfly Cafe, Llamedos, Pulse, Manchester Giants basketball team, and Spring Bank film club, for donating prizes to the raffle that every volunteer was entered into
New Mills Festival (for help arranging the insurance).

Things to look out for next year include:

DCC have offered Health and & Safety training for brushcutting
the involvement of more groups, for example the Scouts, who have expressed interest
a new pocket guide to balsam bashing

Hope to see you then!

Finally, here’s some photos: