Newsletter - Autumn 2007
Gwent Wildlife Trust - Wyeswood Common
Gwent Wildlife Trust has launched an appeal to help an ambitious and ground-breaking conservation project in Monmouthshire. The Trust needs to raise £550,000 by Christmas to buy 104 acres of farmland next to their Pentwyn Farm Nature Reserve at Penallt, just south of Monmouth. The farmland will be returned to a condition that would have been recognised by our stone age ancestors, when it would have been managed as wood pasture. This would benefit a wide range of species, including dormouse, hawfinch, lesser horseshoe bat, shrill carder bee and green winged orchid. The project does not stop there, as the acquisition would enable the Wildlife Trust, Woodland Trust and other conservation bodies to realise an ambitious vision of a whole network of wildlife habitats from Wentwood Forest and the River Usk, across the Trellech Plateau and Wye Valley woodlands to the Forest of Dean. This would help local wildlife to adapt to climate change, providing more opportunities for numerous species to survive and thrive.
More details of the appeal is available in the pdf that can be downloaded here, or by visiting the Gwent Wildlife Trust web site.
Julian Branscombe, Director of the Gwent Wildlife Trust can be heard talking about the opportunity that this purchase represents at various venues across Monmouthshire during November. All talks are free, and will express something of the excitement there is about the huge potential of this project.
The Bridges Community Centre, MONMOUTH, Friday 16th November, 7pm
The Priory Centre, ABERGAVENNY, 7pm, Monday 19th November
The Glen yr Afon Hotel, USK, 7.30pm, Tuesday 20th November
The Boardroom, Allt-yr-Yn Campus, UWCN, NEWPORT, 7.30pm, Thursday 22nd November
Christian Aid ‘Cut the Carbon’ marchers welcomed in Chepstow
At the beginning of September the Christian Aid 1000-mile ‘Cut the Carbon’ march arrived in Chepstow en route to London. To mark the occasion, Christian Aid (CA) and Friends of the Earth (FoE) held a free showing of Al Gore’s much-acclaimed film on climate change, ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ at the Chepstow Methodist Church Hall.
The film was followed by a lively question and answer session with the ‘Cut the Carbon’ marchers. Aled Pickard of Christian Aid urged everyone to join the marchers’ call for government action by signing a CA postcard. The marchers explained the need for a strong climate change bill to be passed by Parliament this autumn and encouraged everyone to lobby their MP. Marcus Perrin of Friends of the Earth urged people to take action locally by joining the Transition Towns initiative being developed in Chepstow by the Town Council and FoE. The initial meeting for ‘Transition Town Chepstow’ was held on 21st September. Its aim is to make Chepstow a lower-carbon, more self-reliant community.
Christian Aid’s Cut the Carbon march has been organised to raise awareness of Climate Change. The march lasted eleven weeks starting in Northern Ireland on 14 July and ending at the London Stock Exchange on 2 October. It raised awareness all over the UK and Ireland that climate change is not just a future problem: it is a current crisis for millions of poor people. The march left Chepstow heading for Dursley in Gloucestershire.
Christian Aid and Friends of the Earth are both working to raise people’s awareness of Climate Change. As well as urging individuals to take action, they are calling on the Government to ensure the Climate Change Bill (to be put before Parliament this autumn) is an effective tool with robust powers and meaningful targets. The groups are campaigning for the bill to include:
For more information, please contact: Janet Rawlings, Chepstow FoE (01291 625977) or Aled Pickard, CA (07868 656242).
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Local Hydro-Power Schemes
The Annual General Meeting of the Lower Wye Valley Society had an environmental theme this year, when members at the event at Redbrook village hall held in September heard presentations from two hydro electric projects.
Richard Drover, a hydro engineer with extensive experience installing small scale hydro electric turbines throughout the UK, described progress on a 3kw turbine he is currently constructing in Whitebrook on the site of a former paper mill. The domestic installation will provide sufficient power for two to three homes and replaces a similar system installed in the 1920s which was removed thirty years later when the national grid arrived in the remoter corners of Monmouthshire.
The meeting was interested to hear that modern day projects have to be far more mindful of environmental impact than was the case in the past. The Whitebrook project will remove only a portion of the flow of the stream for a distance of 300 yards before the water is returned. Modern intake screens ensure that wildlife does not enter the pipeline and turbine.
A presentation was also made by Chris Rastall of the Tintern Angiddy Project (TAP), a community based organisation which aims to generate up to 30kw from a 1km pipeline utilising some of the flow of the Angiddy river. The project has the potential to generate sufficient electricity for up to 40 homes, and if completed, revenue generated from the sale of electricity will be spent on local community based projects.
However, the project has already stirred local controversy, with some residents concerned that the flow in the Angiddy will be significantly reduced. TAP is currently commissioning an array of reports which will address the issues of environmental impact and industrial archaeology in at attempt to lay concerns to rest.
Perhaps the most interesting fact that emerged was that in nearly all cases where Richard Drover has installed hydro turbines, householders have cut their electricity consumption in half by taking simple measures, e.g. low energy lightbulbs, running large appliances on an economy 7 tariff and switching all appliances off at the wall overnight. For example, a 100 watt bulb run for six hours a day over the course of a year will cost £21.90, replaced with a 15 watt low energy bulb, the cost drops to £3.28. Back to news index
Energy Saving Week is upon us!
If you haven't got round to thinking about the energy you use at home or in your life (and the bills along with it), now is a good time to start! October 22nd - 28th is Energy Saving Week; you could start with a few really easy changes like switching your lightbulbs to energy saving bulbs, or make a big difference by taking the train next time instead of a car or flight. Call the Energy Efficiency Advice Centre on 0800 512 012 for help or look at www.homegrants.org.uk/energysaving.php for how to get started!
Loft or cavity insulation down to £150! The price of insulating your home recently fell to £150 for most households in Monmouthshire and the rest of South East Wales. The low price is due to a grant-assisted discount available to everyone. Anyone receiving qualifying benefits or tax credits can usually have the work done for free. Along with making you feel warmer, insulating your loft saves you about £110 a year, and your walls £90 a year off your heating bills. Insulating is also the biggest single thing you can do within your home to help stop climate change.
You can apply for insulation through the Energy Efficiency Advice Centre on 0800 512 012 or online at www.homegrants.org.uk Back to news index
St Arvans - Zero Waste Community
A pioneering partnership in St Arvans is proving very successful in recycling nearly everything the village throws out, getting nearly all of the residents involved, and changing attitudes.
The Zero Waste Village project, a wide partnership including MCR (Monmouthshire Community Recycling), Monmouthshire County Council and a number of local groups, was officially launched in St Arvans in June this year. Residents are offered weekly kerbside collections of paper, glass, cans, foil, textiles, plastics, tetrapak cartons, green waste and food waste, and a local site to take any surplus recycling during the week. In the most recent measurement 95% of the village were using these services, which is much higher than average.
The St Arvans recycling site takes a range of materials including tetrapaks – the first in Monmouthshire to do so. It is hosted by the Piercefield Hotel, where the Zero Waste Village launch took place, drawing in over 100 people and generating a lot of interest, including BBC Wales coverage.
The residents of St Arvans have been surveyed, consulted at meetings, and given feedback on the project. Several have signed Zero Waste pledges, and taken information back to friends and neighbours. On one week, nearly half the village avoided putting out any rubbish at all, and in an average week as much as 80% is going to recycling or composting.
The Summers family, who volunteered to be ‘Zero Waste Family’, have been leading waste awareness advocates in St Arvans. Louise Summers commented: “Since we started having plastics and tetrapaks recycling in St Arvans, there is not a lot left in our bin, we don’t even fill one black bag a week. We’re a family of five so you might think we’d find it harder to recycle. In fact the boys are really on the ball, and they want to find a use for everything. We do think differently about what we buy these days, and avoid any packaging that would have to go to landfill. There’s a lot of awareness in the village, and people are starting to realise that it’s one of the ways they can fight climate change –cutting down methane from landfill, which is a powerful greenhouse gas, and saving energy needed to make new products.”
The Zero Waste Village project will run for five years in total, and is supported by Environment Wales with funding from the Welsh Assembly Government, and by Monmouthshire County Council’s Community Economic Development Scheme. The project is also developing reuse and reduce initiatives, including a home composting promotion in the north of the county and a ‘swap shop’ style event planned for the new year. Back to news index
Community Recycling costs just peanuts!
A report has been released by the Welsh Assembly Government showing the massive difference between the public money going into various recycling services. Monmouthshire has come out of this very well. Monmouthshire Community Recycling was the most cost effective service provider for any rural authority, and the second cheapest in all Wales. The cost quoted was 24p per household per week - equivalent to a packet of peanuts!
One of the reasons why the service is so cost effective is the exceptionally high levels of participation in it locally, 68% of households use the service generally in the County, but in some communities - like St Arvans, participation is up to 95%.
Monmouth Civic Society Opens Doors to Heritage
The Civic Society is now engaged in setting up a 'Blue Plaque' project in Monmouth. The finance will be provided by Monmouth Town Council and in the first phase eleven buildings have been identified of being worthy to have Blue Plaques attached to front elevations. The wording on the plaques will be in English and Welsh. Permission is being requested from the owners, CADW and the Planning Authority.
New Flora of Monmouthshire published
An important and exciting new book by Trevor Evans, is due out this autumn. Trevor who is the Monmouthshire Meadows Group’s President, has been the BSBI (Botanical Society for the British Isles) recorder for Monmouthshire vice-county 35 since 1972. Nobody knows more than him about the vice-county’s plants.
This new comprehensive work updates the last Flora of Monmouthshire by Arthur Wade in 1970, since when there have been huge changes. It maps the distribution of all species (except very common ones) found in five or more tetrads (2km x 2km squares) and provides information on all of these and of rarer species, both native and alien. There is also a foreword by Tim Rich, a profile of Trevor by Elsa Wood, chapters on geology by Naylor Firth and on habitats in Monmouthshire by Stephanie Tyler and George Peterken as well as important chapters by the author on botanical sites and changes in the flora of the vice-county, especially over the last 40 years.
Trevor has completed a mammoth task in writing the texts and collating so much information. Numerous volunteers, listed in the book, also contributed records of plants for the maps.
With over 600 pages, including numerous colour plates and black and white sketches, the Flora is a bargain at £15 provided you buy one before 31 March 2008 and collect it from Trevor at La Cuesta, Mounton Road, Chepstow NP16 5BS. Copies will also be available from the Gwent Wildlife Trust office at Seddon House, Dingestow or from Stephanie Tyler at Yew Tree Cottage, Lone Lane, Penallt near Monmouth Tel. 01600 719890. If you want a copy sent through the post then the price will be £19.50. Please write to Trevor for one and make sure you put in your cheque and postal address.
After 31 March 2008 the Flora will cost £25. All cheques payable please to ‘Monmouthshire Flora’.
News in Brief
The Gilwern Eagles have been busy this year, installing a new park in the common park area and raising funds for a shelter and for new trees that have been planted. We are very grateful to Monmouthshire CC for their help and support having recieved a CEDS grant and to the Rotary club Abergavenny who supported us with a donation towards park equipment. we are still looking for volunteers so please get in touch - Sara Vaisey
The Bryn Y Cwm Yirgacheffe Link
The Bryn y Cwm area of Monmouthshire, centred on Abergavenny and its surrounding villages and countryside, has established a link with the town and surrounding region of Yirgacheffe in south west Ethiopia. This is a grassroots initiative, one of only five such links chosen in Wales to be part of the UN Gold Star Communities Award Scheme. Opportunities exist for organizations, churches and other faith based groups, businesses, schools, community groups and individuals to get involved directly or indirectly. Since the start of the scheme King Henry V School and Cantref Primary School have begun the process of creating links with counterparts in Yirgacheffe. Trinity Church, Abergavenny is also beginning the process of identifying a potential partner. We encourage as many organisations as possible who think they may be able to make a positive contribution to the link, or who would like to receive more information, to contact members of the Bryn y Cwm group to discuss their ideas.
Yirgacheffe is a town of approximately 20,000 people, the majority of whom are coffee farmers. However, Ethiopia is one of the poorest countries in the world and the need to try to overcome chronic poverty and improve basic services such as water, health and education is of paramount importance. The power of community to community links is that at this scale we can see how our input improves the lives of impoverished people who become known individuals and friends, not just abstract statistics. It also helps to overcome the question of ‘how can my small efforts make any difference to global poverty when the problem is so great?’ because at this scale any well planned input is likely to provide significant improvements to the lives of the poor.
In November, five volunteers will travel to Yirgacheffe from the Abergavenny area to establish more formal links, identify and cost a number of projects and then prioritise them in conjunction with our partners in Yirgacheffe. We will subsequently aim to work with pre-existing organizations in Yirgacheffe to deliver what may be small scale, but are potentially highly significant improvements to peoples’ lives. However, we don’t see the link as only one way. We expect it will create significant opportunities for our young people to benefit whether through improved educational opportunities or in the future, with visits, whilst opportunities exist for cultural benefits and mutual learning across a wide range of issues.
Further information can be obtained from: Ron Bell: One Stop Shop Abergavenny Tel. 01873 735800 Email: ronbell@monmouthshire.gov.uk Alan Terry Email: Alan.Terry@uwe.ac.uk Jo Keen: Email: Jo@JoKeen.co.uk
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