All Blog Posts (87)

A leafier Lewes with more friuit to enjoy.



Mark Ridgewell of Octoberfeast has asked me to pass on details of this Friends of Lewes and Octoberfeast project hoping to raise  South Downs National Park funding for the creation of an urban arboretum:

To map the town’s apple and other fruit trees, to discover where the ancient Sussex species exist, which have disappeared and which could be reintroduced

To discover where apple and other fruit go to waste so that, with the…

I was recently invited on behalf of OVCN to contribute ideas for an Action In Rural Sussex/Lewes District Council/Community 21/Newhaven Community Development Association bid for a "Communities Living Sustainably" Lottery fund application.  I was impressed at the range of very good ideas from all the organisations represented at this meeting.  The following resume of the proposed positive benefits from the promotion of the Ouse Valley Cycle Network for local sustainable communites was…

The South Downs Way Ahead project, led by the South Downs National Park Authority on behalf of  27-strong partnership, will trail blaze the Government’s new Nature Improvement Area scheme to protect habitats and the economic and social benefits they bring.

The Nature Improvement Areas grant scheme, supported by Defra, DCLG, Environment Agency, Forestry Commission and Natural England will operate over three years from 2012 to 2015. Its aim is to create more, bigger and better…

Dismayed and confused by a rather unedifying debate about the benefits/dangers of nuclear power in the final five minutes of the Radio 4 Today programmme seemingly devoted to sound bite discussion of huge world scale issues... I found a little more detail in the following Guardian article ... 

Fukushima residents plagued by health fears of nuclear threat in their midst - A year after the power plant's triple meltdown, conflicting official information leaves families confused and…

Ouse Valley Cycle Network

During the last year a group of very committed people from a diverse range of local organisations and with representation from local towns and Ouse valley parishes have worked with the support of the South Downs National Park Authority to raise the profile of the real need for a network of safe, shared sustainable village connections for cyclists and walkers in the Ouse valley.



We have formed a constituted group, consulted widely…

I have just posted the following reply to Allison Thorpe of SDNPA who has asked for comments about sustainable transport and invited forum members to contribute to an on line survey @ http://southdownsforum.ning.com/forum/topics/survey-on-sustainable-.... There is a question about sustainable access to the South Downs National Park... Please join the forum and contribute if you can since this is very…

The Ouse Valley Cycle Network Moving Planet walk was promoted through Viva Lewes, Village Connections, Cycle Seahaven, Transition Lewes and at the Newhaven Mayor's quiz night!   As you can see from the happy waving walkers... we moved our tiny bit of the planet and our walk was well supported on a fine September day!

Around twenty people, several dogs and a heron joined the walk, enjoying the beautiful riverside scenery with wonderful panoramic views of surrounding…

The Stop Climate Chaos - Big Climate Reconnection public meeting in Uckfield last week was a perfect opportunity to engage with those who are in a position to make real changes which will have a direct impact on local people it included prestentations by the DECC minister Charles Hendry and project coordinators of WWF, RSPB, CAFOD and Transition Forest Row.   This initiative involved countrywide meetings with climate ministers.  For detailed responses by the member organisations see…

Thanks to the new Community Strategy team of the new South Downs National Park who hosted our first public meeting in the new Linklater pavillion to discuss the development of an Ouse Valley Cycling network.  An integrated South Downs cycle network is being considered as part of a possible application for Sustainable Transport…

The Powering Lewes discussion at the Linklater last night was very well attended and outlined details of some very inspiring local developments:

These include: the Rampion offshore windfarm, the Ovesco/Harveys solar roof, LDC plans for photovoltaics for local social housing and a planning application for an anaerobic disgester to deliver local energy to schools and leisure buildings from local restaurant and other waste.. the fertiliser by product enriching our local…

Finally the moment of truth arrived as we opened the tearoom last weekend for the first time, a practice run lets call it for the grand reopening on the first weekend in April.  With minimal fanfare and advertising the moment arrived, the sun was out and the paragliders up in the air, we could not have asked for more.  Saturday was fairly…

Ovesco The Ouse Valley Energy Supply Company have been running the LDC grant scheme for domestic renewables for the last four years as part of the Low Carbon Building Programme.  Fresh focus on developing community energy projects has led to ambitious plans to build the first community owned solar power station. Ovesco are currently examining the feasibility of installing a 98kW solar photovoltaic array on the roof of Harveys’ main storage and distribution warehouse…

We're getting close to opening the Caburn Tea Room here at Ranscombe Farm and we've been preparing this week with a good old deep clean of the lovely farmhouse kitchen.  The outdoor wooden tables and seating for the tearoom garden have been treated along with the plant tables and the arbour.  We've been visiting some local suppliers including a trip round Downsview dairy Farm to see the holstein cows, milk parlour and ice cream making.  Also popped in to Lewes Food…

"The plastic bag is the ultimate symbol of our throw away lifestyle" 

A new Lewes District Council Sustainability Centre campaign to say NO to the plastic bag has already received a great response as the majority of of Lewes shops, including one of the supermarkets, have agreed to seriously consider offering alternatives.   Shops in the coastal towns and villages will be visited soon.  LDC are teaming up with local residents, Town and Parish…