PLYMOUTH FRIENDS OF THE EARTH MEETING TONIGHT!

Reminder: Plymouth FoE monthly meeting on Tuesday 23 November, 7.30pm, Unitarian Church Hall, Notte St

Meet other group members and hear from Jackie Young, Sustainability Officer at Plymouth City Council, what they are doing to tackle climate change

Hello everyone!

I’m the Network Developer for the South West Region and I work in our London offices supporting our marvelous local groups’ network. I’ve been helping Plymouth Friends of the Earth over the past few months with various bits and bobs given that the absolutely amazing Sheila Evans took the well-earned decision to step down as Coordinator of the group and devote her passion and energy to a few other interests. I’m so impressed with how committed she’s been to the group and I’m sure you will join me in wishing her all the best as she steps down and take a bit of a break!

For the next few months I’ve agreed to act as the main point of contact for the group for anyone getting in touch, and to likewise send a little reminder about meetings to the wider membership.

I am very sorry that this one comes a little a late! I’m afraid I got ill, just before going on annual leave and I am only now catching up with myself.

The meeting is going ahead tomorrow night, from 7.30pm at the Unitarian Church Hall on Notte St.

Jackie Young, Sustainability Officer at Plymouth Council, will be talking to the group about Local Carbon Frameworks – how they work and what the council is doing to involve the wider community in Plymouth to help the city reduce its CO2 emissions (the council have a target of 60% reduction by 2020).

As background reading, you may be interested in our latest briefing on our campaign calling on the Government to introduce Local Carbon Budgets:http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/briefings/local_carbon_budgets.pdf

We discussed at the last meeting setting up a blog to help raise the profile of the group, as well as an email list to allow members to communicate with each other directly. So watch this space!

Also, I’m excited to let you know that we are organizing our next South West Local Groups Get-together (for all groups in the region) in Plymouth on the 15 January at the Babbage building )part of Plymouth University) so keep the date in your diary and keep an eye out on the Community website here for more details and a programme:http://www.foe.co.uk/get_involved/community.html

I hope some of you can make it tomorrow,

All the best,

Katie

Flooding in Cornwall: Don't worry though, next year the Big Society will step in.

It was great to see David Cameron offering his support to those affected by the first major flash floods of this winter. It is just a shame that this support is nothing more than empty rhetoric.

Speaking in Parliament today he said the government would do all it could to help those affected.

What the government is doing is the following.

Cutting DEFRA's budget of £3bn by £700m by the end of the spending review in 2015.(1)

Defra's biggest cuts in money terms are in resource spending for administration and front-line services, which will be reduced by 29%, from £2.3bn this year to £1.8bn in 2014-15 – the third highest reduction in percentage terms of any government department. (2)

Capital spending, mostly on flood defences, will drop from £600m this year to £400m each year. Added up over the four years of the spending review, the department and its agencies will spend £2bn less than it would have, not accounting for the effect of inflation.(3)

There seems to be increasingly more floods each year. A debate continues over whether there is more flooding or simply higher levels of observation combined with development on flood planes. Whatever the truth of this it remains that at the moment we don't seem to be able to deal effectively with the current level of flooding. If we continue to develop on flood planes and levels of flooding increase this can only lead to a greater need for support and infrastructure to be in place to deal with it.

I have yet to hear a convincing argument as to how exactly volunteers will succeed in building and maintaining their own flood defences.

It is surely in the interests of a country to have effective flood defences, as it effects not only those directly hit by flooding but also emergency services and the wider economy.

Now I must get back to seeing what is happening with the Royal Wedding. Will Kate break tradition and have a strapless wedding dress?

(1), (2),(3), Juliette Jowit, The Guardian, 20th October 2010,

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• http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/oct/20/spending-review-cuts-environment

Foraging while you walk.

Foraging seems to be one of the latest 'discoveries' amongst eco-friendly minded folk, with courses even being run in central London. I'm not sure how tasty a blackberry from Hyde Park would taste but you never know!

I would imagine my grand parents would find this 'new' fad quite amusing, since they could identify trees, fruit, berries and other such now arcane knowledge without having to refer to a foraging guide. It is a shame that more people don't have a wider knowledge, but then again it makes the pickings richer for anyone willing to invest a few minutes searching online or in a foraging guide.

The best of the wild mushrooms have now gone but there are plenty of Sweet Chestnuts on the ground just waiting to be picked up. This last weekend I was up in Rame Woods near Cawsand where there are a number of trees. In a few minutes of picking while we walked we managed to collect enough for a snack. While they were pretty small compared to the nuts you might see in the supermarket they tasted just as good.

You can learn how to identify a Sweet Chestnut here, and there is far more information than I possess in this excellent article but you need to be quick.

There is even a growing online map of places to forage called forage.rs. Personally I enjoy the idea of getting out and seeing what you can find or simply fall up on; sometimes things will literally fall on you! Just remember to gain permission if your going on to somebodies property and make sure your picking Sweet Chestnuts and not Conkers!