Festival International Rio : 24 hours of possibility

Totnes participated in the Festival of Transition-

"On 20th June 2012, the longest day of the year and the day the UN Earth Summit in Rio begins, you’re invited to conduct your own real life experiment in living differently, in showing what's possible. Experiments could involve family, friends, work colleagues, fellow students or even people you’ve never met before. They could involve the whole town or they could be more personal."

Well, the event I went to was 3 hours of  'sharing the square'-  a pop-up style get together that mixed free tea, skill sharing, credit union, story telling, bycyle servicing, a gift exchange table, giant snakes and ladders and crafty fun...

the best comment of the afternoon must have been - 'I wish the square was like this everyday'- it reminded me of Totnes Occupy- another community experiment which claimed shared space and filled it up with the opportunity to grow stronger, get along better, discuss ideas, options and hopes and fears, as well as a place to watch the children play, eat cake and drink tea...

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The evening continued with a Transition Youth Theatre performance at KEVIC - a performance called 'We're All In This Together....  Aren't We?' 

I took my own kid- whatever exposure I can allow her to cool, bright, pushy, articulate teenagers is a good thing- the role models found in pop culture are really rather lame, and I'm very keen she see her own contemporaries daring to be thought-provoking, ask creative questions, and seek answers. The youth performance was very inspiring- brave, funny -  and as amazing as youth theatre always is when young people get to develop their own voices and share what moves them....   AMAZING.....  there are no cliches when everything is being discovered - and definitely, sometimes a teenager cuts to the bone of a thing in a way a adult can no longer do. Awen liked it- she reckoned it could have been flasher, but that 'the stories were right.'

Kudos to all involved- (and hopefully, a Soundart Radio show about the performance some time soon too....)

Locality... or not

I saw this, I got really really excited, I saw the price, added that to travel to London, staying over in London, travel round London, and saw that it was impossible to go. I reflected on the feeling of disappointment, (especially following the news that Locality are facilitating the spending of £17 MILLION on supporting community purchase bids / take-overs/ builds) - and came to the conclusion that if they can't even make the tickets free, it must just be a scene for do-good weathy people that misses the point about voluntary work and public activism. Is that a bit harsh? Maybe....    

'Community' is a interesting word- I guess there are as many applications as there are individuals - but in this instance, and with that amount of public money to spend, I really worry about the propagation of a society that invests repeatedly in the social fabric /movers and shakers/ rights and power being only in the domain of people with the money to forward their (community minded, socially spirited) voices and agendas (ooooo yes- maybe have a consultation later in the process! people love that! But the planning and vision belongs to the management- same as it ever was...- most other people want to stay home and watch Eastenders, and its not like the meetings are very interesting anyway....

so there, I 've had a little moan- I guess I'm sore about feeling 'doing' is so attached to 'having'. Locality- you made me feel sad, dejected, and hopeless.  Maybe the venue should have given me a clue? Maybe I should have got in contact to blag myself a concessionary bursary ticket? Maybe I should have mugged a granny and used her pension to ensure at least one unexpected attendee attended, at the very least to raise the question about who and how it manages itself regarding Making Localism Work in the first place.

Its hard to write about these things- there is a lot of shame in admitting you cannot do what it is you wish you could, and that your own 'value' is not equal to admittance to discussion on issues that concern us all.

Making Localism Work

Symposium: 12 June 2012, 2pm - 5pm

Drinks reception from 5pm
Venue: The Auditorium, Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc, 280 Bishopsgate, London EC2M 4RB

Visit our website to book your place.

How can we make Loalism work in practice?
How can government, local authorities, community groups – and others – stimulate more self-help and community-led action?

This symposium will exchange practical ideas and experiences about:

How we can make the new Community Rights to Bid, Build and Challenge work best
Collaborative consumption (e.g. lending and re-use, time-banking, local currencies)
Better buying (e.g. community purchasing, local food schemes)
Widening our horizons – thinking big and being more ambitious

Ticket prices
£50 for non-members and £25 for Locality members
Find out more and book your place online at: locality.org.uk/symposium

Making Localism Work « Locality

locality.org.uk

In these difficult times, how can government, local authorities, community groups stimulate more self-help and community-led action?

I posted this to facebook and had a few comments worth passing on -

Quite agree Jenster - another indication that the time of relying on outside agencies is OVER. Even ones that have perfectly tailored pitch suited to the collective orthodoxies of the day. If one wants community, be community minded. Clue is in the word Localism - the last three letters.    KD

The biggest problem that good ideas run up against is the way they are soon subject to networks organised by CEOs, enterprise people, national associations full of pushy people, and the jargon of funding gobbledygook.    SR

‎I had hoped Locality might assist with Rushbrook http://tq9.tv/services/workspacenetwork/rushbrook/ ... I'll go play with the estate kids down in the car park for a hour, clam down, and maybe consider if there is use in pursuing it further.
 

As the kids outside often say 'do you want to play?' testing water, getting involved, - this is all good...

there is always the Locality annual get-together:

Who should attend?

Locality ‘12 is a ‘must go’ event for all Locality members and anyone else who is transforming, or looking to transform, their local area through community enterprise, social action and community asset ownership and development.

Whole convention delegate fees
Locality full members £150 + VAT Locality full members £150 + VAT
Locality associate members: not-for-profit and individual categories £175 + VAT Locality associate members: not-for-profit and individual categories £175 + VAT
Locality associate members: business, statutory and consultant categories £320 + VAT Locality associate members: business, statutory and consultant categories £320 + VAT
Non-members: not-for-profit bodies £320 + VAT Non-members: not-for-profit bodies £320 + VAT
Non-members: business and statutory bodies £420 + VAT Non-members: business and statutory bodies £420 + VAT 

I mean please don't get me wrong, 'community' is only a word, and those people with the money to go to this kind of thing are only able to go because they've invested what ever it is they have have had, and they probably know and even represent some poor people... but the fact that it is an expensive event menas that it is a exclusive event. Which when using the word 'community' is a bit worrying.   

 

 

 

 

this mornings' top tune Little Lion Man

and this morning's commotion : did the Totnes Town Council refuse to entertain Mumford and Sons recent request that they include a Totnes date in their Gentlemen of the Road tour?

From Mumford and Sons website:

We are very pleased to announce details of a series of ‘Gentlemen of the Road Stopover…’ shows this Summer. To explain more, here's word from the band themselves:

“The Gentlemen of the Road Stopover is based loosely upon our favourite festivals like Colorado’s Telluride Bluegrass and Scotland's Loopallu Festivals.

We want to stop off in towns not usually heavily toured by bands, and celebrate the people, food and music that inhabit them. We’re keen to promote the town’s local businesses, and we’ll be using the local bars and venues for aftershow parties, whilst working closely with the local people to get everyone involved in making these shows spectacular.

There will be a host of our friends playing too, and the vibe falls somewhere between ‘travelling Victorian circus’ and ‘Victorian travelling circus’. It should be a whole lot of fun.”

The one-day outdoor events will tour globally and will be headlined and curated by Mumford & Sons, with heavy involvement from local communities, from the produce sold on the sites, to engaging visitors with the towns as a whole.

In addition to the 2 confirmed Stopover shows, the band will also play a series of evening gigs preceding and in between, with the support acts selected from the summer show line-ups. Here are the dates and venues.

and comment  from the faceboook group : 

The council denied request to perform in Totnes Park at the end of May, without seeking the opinions of the citizens of Totnes. With reasons such as: "where would all these people park?" and "How will we get toilets to the park?" and " what if its noisy?". Have they thought about this at all?

a tragic situation, the town councillors I asked had not heard of the tour manager's interest, so maybe it was just a informal enquiry, but, what a shame- would have been amazing for Totnes....  Its already June, so old news, but still new news to me...


 

 

KEVIC - not a uniform PA meeting :-)

I've just got home from (via the Bay Horse's excellent ale its true) a very very good meeting-
King Edward IV Community College Parent Association Special General Meeting- a exceptional experience, which, for a graduate of KEVIC herself (class of '96 yo), was a lot less daunting and a lot more dynamic and positive than I had feared.

Going along as a radio maker helped me be objective - and being in a room I was not taught in helped steer me clear of fond reverie...... ah!- those wonderful times- oops! Although I did no recording I listened to the discussion with wide open ears and was impressed with the passion and clarity of argument that the parents bought before the principal, vice principal and the Parents Association.

My daughter will attend KEVIC in September and it gave me great hope for her future to be in a room of intelligent and engaged parents of that school. I had attended with a two-pointed interest- for Town Crier's article on the uniform issue next Thursday, and for myself as a prospective parent to take the lay of the land as it were with a mind on getting involved next term (PA's have been unfortunately stereotyped as cake baking cliques...)  My own stand on the KEVIC uniform is that of most parents I have spoken to about the issue- I voted against it, but would accept it if the decision to reintroduce it had been a democratic one, but it had not been, and now the issue is not in the (almost full black, synthetic, expensive, imported) uniform, but the conduct of the school throughout the process. The  document below is the Transition Survey results- perhaps the research the KEVIC governing body decided to use as there permission to reintroduce the uniform?


 Research from independent bodies show there is no measurable improvement to student morale, teaching, academic achievement or community good feeling by the introduction of uniform (I'll reference that info as soon as I locate the link...) Improvement comes from investing in building student morale, improving teaching, supporting academic achievement and working on community good feeling.....Most of the rest of Europe teaches its children in non uniform- to great results.... Maybe in this case, the reintroduction of uniform, which is considered a regressive step by many parents and teachers, is undermining those things, instead of building upon them. A good feeling toward KEVIC- and its non-uniform status-  felt by its kids and community is the greatest asset the Governing Body should wish to promote.

Representing several hundred  concerned parents and other community interests and children at KEVIC, the majority of the 34 people at the meeting had come to discuss agenda item 3:

'To discuss how the Association acting by its committee and its regular meetings may be more effective in promoting a partnership which helps the college listen and deal with parents' concerns'

 or maybe, it was agenda item 4:

Committee feedback on ways the association has worked with the school to promote the school aims: to help advance the education of the students at the college in particular by:

a) Developing effective relationships between the staff, parents and others associated with the college

b) Engaging in activities or providing facilities or equipment which support the college and advance the education of the students

Either way, and between the lines, the meeting was mainly called to begin to find a communication strategy that could successfully deal with the many parent's strong dissatisfaction with the process of 'consultation' that school and PA had carried out, and their wish that that process be openly re-addressed....     still some way to go- but there is reason to hope.....

The meeting touched on:

• the meaning (within statute law) of the word 'consultation'
• Ms Mason's soon to be distributed 'uniform introduction summary' document
• the use of the uniform experience as a learning opportunity for KEVIC students to gain insight into democracy, rather than feudal governance (issue was raised around students being disciplined for wearing badges and teeshirts supporting no uniform campaign)
• the Governing Bodies' procedure to decisions, and it's obligations regarding involving parents
• the role of the PA regarding representing parents to the Governing Body

 and about 100 other valid and pertinent points....

Here is some documentation from the facebook group:


The ale's got to me- ah! I need to go to bed- ...

Here is the campaign facebook group, here the minutes of KEVIC PA meetings  but not up to date yet - the meeting of May 9th is worth a read when it comes available, and through this link you can hear the AMAZING TOTNES MONSTER uniform special....       g' night!

Totnes Town Council Public Meetings ONLINE

Thanks so much to the 30 towns' folks that signed the petition taken to the council requesting permission to record the meetings for broadcast, and to the 7 out of 13 councillors that responded positively and chose to see this project as a good idea, and to the recent unanimous decision to allow the broadcasts to become an online archive.

Totnes Town Council is the parish authority for the town of Totnes. It is the third tier of local government, after South Hams District Council and Devon County Council. Its legal powers are granted to it and regulated by various government acts.

The town population is approximately 8000. The Town Council supplements the provision of local government services in Totnes and provides a range of social and recreational facilities, while promoting and representing the town with other national and statutory bodies.

This is a resource for anyone interested in hearing Council news from the horses' mouths... Once called 'the worlds' most boring radio show' on a forum (but not even followed by an award?!), these meeting recordings offer a fascinating 2 hour window into Town Council discussions, campaigns and actions.

The Town Council acts as a consultee and lobbying force with both the county and district councils, and both regional and national government, putting forward the wishes and needs of the local community. 

Each meeting begins with a minutes silence, and then public speaking time - 15 minutes for town's people to address the council and raise a issue, or  a question, or make an announcement. This is followed by district and county councillor reports, and then the meeting itself...

Totnes is a wonderful place to live- and the Totnes Town Councils' hard work contributes to ensure that it remains so.


Generally this monthly meeting takes 2 hours- it serves as the event at which full council answer the previous month's enquiries and vote upon recommendations that have been discussed in detail at the council's focused group meetings: policy development committee, planning committee, financial scrutiny committee etc- and the various working groups, for instance the Civic Hall working group, and the Castle Meadow working group.

Usually an editor would decide which part of any meeting is to be publicised through their publication, and then digest it into 'soundbites' (or textbytes) for the public's consumption. That is a lot of responsibility for a individual- I may be sceptical but our local paper funds itself mainly through house sales via estate agent advertising, so has a vested interest in a attactive public image, and as we see on the international scale, media tends to come with an agenda which is not always a commitment to clarity and education...

Broadcasting in the form of a whole and unabridged programme allows that listeners may well have different ideas about what is important in a meeting, and want to hear with their own ears what and how the council's town business is discussed. The difficulty of involving the public in government is well documented- but on a very simple level, ensuring information is shared openly encourages participation-

"It is not the function of the government to keep the citizen from falling into error; it is the function of the citizen to keep the government from falling into error." Justice Robert Jackson (Nuremburg Trial Judge)

Soundart Radio broadcasting on FM, and the library holding recordings on DVD, and now a online archive ensure that 'access' and 'transparency' are not just words to be heard once a month if you have the time and ability to attend the live meeting   :-)

Listen here - Totnes Town Council Meetings on Mixcloud

Totnes Town Council voted in 2011 to allow local community radio station Soundart Radio 102.5fm to broadcast the monthly public meetings. In 2012 they voted to allow a online archive of those recordings :-)

Meetings start at 7pm, first Monday of each month - all welcome.

Minutes of previous meetings, agendas and more info is available from the website:

www.totnestowncouncil.gov.uk

The recordings are broadcast the morning following the meetings 10am on 102.5fm and at

www.soundartradio.org.uk

-and are also held on DVD at Totnes Town Library (please provide your own earplugs if you wish to use this service, for health and safety reasons).

Broadcasting allows towns people that could not otherwise attend a meeting to hear the proceedings and be informed as to the work of the elected representatives of the town.

Each recording is a meeting in full- the only editorial work is on the volume levels of sneezes, applause, laughter etc. 

WIND POWER

Here's some research on Tresoc and renewable energy... and some of my own thoughts too..




I made a hour of radio on TRESOC. I had kinda expected that I  knew lots about the subject of renewable energy (and it's surrounding arguments) - Turns out, as I researched in the run up to this show, I found I know very little and that the subject is ABSOLUTELY MASSIVE - from international politics, to technical and social innovations, through ecological sciences, to local agendas and personal ascetics.... quite a lot to cover in 1 hour....

I took the below quote from the  Harbertonfold Village website, following the discussion forum regarding the proposed turbines. this one post highlights the issue relating to reporting on contentious projects:

It is very easy to restrict our thoughts to a small area – geographically, politically, and more importantly, with our choice of knowledge sources. This is a well known issue within psychology, named the ‘confirmation bias’; in other words, we unconsciously look for, prioritise and interpret information, that agrees with our previous experiences and beliefs.This realisation is challenging, particularly when it is combined with a media that is deeply politically motivated, and sensationalises stories to sell.

In regards to Town Crier, I make no claims to impartiality- I would much rather have a turbine on my doorstep than gas piped in from Russia or more nuclear power stations.


TRESOC is fascinating because it is proposing a future-positive development right on our doorstep, and operates in a way that is remarkable because of its commitment to local community and the local economy. They are proposing a exciting portfolio of green power stations (covering wind, hydro, solar, anaerobic digestion): renewable energy solutions developed and run by a local company, with profits being shared by local shareholders, to provide for the power needs of the local community, and in a way that empowers the community to make the most of its natural assets, and invest in its own sustainability. So- really very cool!

      The Aims of TRESOC are:

	To develop the profitable supply of energy from renewable resources for the benefit of the community, resident within Totnes and 15 surrounding Parishes
	To ensure the democratic control of the renewable energy resources by the local community through the establishment of an extensive membership of the Society
	To ensure that the maximum value from development of these resources shall be retained within the local economy.
	To provide an opportunity for public-spirited people and organisations to contribute financially to the community with the expectation of a social dividend as well as a financial return

The most abundant and cost effective renewable energy resource for the generation of electricity in the Totnes area is wind energy. TRESOC is working with UK based respected partners Infinenergy (who have 51% shares in the turbine project) proposing two 2.3 MW wind turbines on farmland at Luscombe Cross just outside of Totnes. These turbines could provide for the electricity demand of around 2,500 homes per year.

TRESOC commissioned independent experts to carry out extensive (required) testing and surveys regarding the criteria that must be met to satisfy government regulations, such as noise levels and bird and bat surveys, and each test and survey has returned positive if not excellent results showing that the proposed Wind farm complies with government-set standards.

TRESOC have invested significantly in planning and testing etc and have been particularly thorough to ensure that both members and the public are informed, consulted and kept up to date about all the factors involved in the project. TRESOC organised a Luscombe Cross site visit day, and a coach trip to Delabole Wind Farm in Cornwall so that  local people could gain perspective on the proposal(Delabole Wind Farm has recently been repowered, and comprises state of the art wind turbines of the same model and with similar dimensions to those proposed for the Totnes site), as well as organising a Community Open Day and Noise Workshop, and a week long consultation and exhibition at Birdwood House on Totnes High Street.

There are 502 members of TRESOC– the criteria for membership being a main household address within the catchment area of Totnes and 15 surrounding parishes. The last share issue, in 2011, brought in 117 new members- a healthy increase from the 378-strong membership generated from the previous share issue back in 2010. When is the next one planned? Maybe in concert, later this year, with a invitation to invest in the actual construction of the Turbine development ? :-) 11 applications were made for investment in trust for children or grandchildren- a considerate gift considering the health of the planet and the healthy returns on TRESOC as a investment.....

The intensity of our sunshine

The strength of our wind

The abundance of our biomass

The power of our water
 

I myself have a single share in TRESOC- but I'm not looking for it to be providing any kind of retirement nestegg...

For me the investment I'm making is in community-owned business. TRESOC members, regardless of the size of their investment, have equal voting rights in determining how their local renewable energy projects are developed and managed. Someone with a single £20 share is just as welcome, and has just as much influence in TRESOC business, as a investor with £20,000 worth of shares- ensuring the companies' direction is steered by a local majority rather than a wealthy minority. Who says democracy is dead?

The site has been recognised as the Southhams' only possible wind farm site, due to the very specific set of requirements and topography of the area. (tho I did like the suggested idea of putting a turbine on Windmill Down Hill towering over Totnes....!) TRESOC feel confident that their planning application (to be submitted later this summer) will be successful because of the high level of evidence-based research it contains and the high level of support from the larger local community. TRESOC has liaised closely with the Southhams District council and the notes and presentation from their recent meeting together answers a lot of questions.

Tim Padfield writes, 8 February 2012, revised 28th February, 9th post down on the Harberton village website:

Wind power - is it useless, inefficient, expensive, variable, needing 100% backup, subsidised and ugly?

Useless? - not unless there is a prolonged slump in gas price, an unexpected breakthrough in fusion power, or an epidemic that reduces the human race by two thirds. Inefficient? - a meaningless insult unless the measure of efficiency is defined. Expensive? - to begin with yes but in the long run probably not. Variable? - yes but less so as more turbines are installed and long distance load equalisation between nations with different weather patterns becomes better. Requires backup? - yes but not more capacity than we now have. Subsidised? - yes, but all energy sources are subsidised or penalised by political decisions rather than controlled entirely by free market forces. Ugly? - I leave the aesthetic judgement to the individual reader. In the case of the Luscombe Cross wind farm, I see the wind turbines as graceful evidence of human ingenuity added to the drear, almost treeless and flat agricultural landscape of the South Hams high plateau. The piles of silage under black plastic and motor tyres are also evidence of human ingenuity in exploiting the abundant energy from the sun. 

If all this tickles you, and you feel moved (as far as your pen and paper at least!?) to support local renewable energy initiatives, please write a letter in support of TRESOC's proposal !!!!