Transition Island Blog

The Conference is a great success! Well-designed, well-attended and well-addressed by relevant speakers.

Organised by the Island Strategic Partnership (ISP) to launch the Eco-Isle Vision, their many speakers repeatedly brought the message home - we WILL get there.

journey planning

Setting the scene were David Pugh, speaking as leader of the Isle of Wight Council, and John Owen, Chair of the ISP. They reminded us that we have to commit to our destination before we plan the journey. And what an ambitious destination!

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Two public meetings are avalable for Isle of Wight people to find out more about the Eco-Isle vision for a sustainable future.

The Isle of Wight Council has organised a free Conference on March 26 to explain their Sustainable Community Strategy.

It will set out their vision for 2020 and plans for how a low carbon community will be achieved. The Strategy is the product of the Island Strategic Partnership, a multi-agency team of representatives from the public, business, voluntary and community sectors.

The morning will allow a variety of speakers to present relevant ideas from international competition, the Eden Project, Sustainable Energy Ireland, University Innovations and the new green design champion commission.

There is also an afternoon session for operations and business managers who would like to get practical advice about reducing the carbon footprint of their business. For more information about the content of this session, please call Pippa Howlett on 01983 823 693 or 07807 159 635.

A bigger event provided for the residents of the island is organised for the end of may, called the Big Green Picnic.

This will be held on Church Litten Park in Newport town centre on May 24 and 25.

Low carbon and sustainable lifestyles will be highlighted by the following features and activities that will be present throughout the whole weekend:

• Bicycle racks
• Discounted buses to Newport
• Electric Vehicle Exhibition including - Prius, Smart, Electric scooters, Segway
• Library exhibitions inside
• Council Tent - including - composting, solar car heats, future of eco-island exhibition plus… to be confirmed
• Quay Arts Tent - including - Straw bale housing, footprint pledge project
• Making bags - Ventbag - with our exhibit on banning plastic bags and our jute bags to buy…
• Making Bunting
• Mobile phone recycle unit
• Cinema tent - Green videos etc
• Health and Beauty Area
• Bandstand - Local talent and performers - from Green Storytelling to local bands
• Refreshments (WI and FM to be confirmed - more details later)
• Island Waste
• Games
• Workshops…

and much more still to be confirmed!!    

Litter louts, illegal smokers and graffiti vandals, will soon be fined on-­the-spot around the Island.

In response to public con­cern, from April 2, the IW Council introduces this new initiative. Built on the Clean Neighbourhood and Environ­ment Act 2005, it allows fines from £30 to £300 to be imposed by fixed penalty notice.

Offences will include dropping litter, includ­ing cigarette butts, spraying graffiti, fly posting or leaving refuse outside their homes  too far in advance of collec­tion day.

It will be similar to the Council’s strategy with dog owners who fail to clean up after their dog.

The fines will not be used to gen­erate income, as the Council has been accused to profiting from car-park charges, and the Government from speeding fines.

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Many Islanders can no longer look after their gardens due to ill health or old age.

Volunteers to assist with this growing problem are hard to come by, but ironically there is an increased interest in gardening amongst younger people, many of whom have small gardens or no gardens at all. There is also a waiting list of over 500 people for Council allotments.

This innovative pilot scheme by the Footprint Trust on the Isle of Wight seeks to marry these two groups.

The person who has a garden they can no longer look after and the individual who wants a growing space. The householder will get their garden looked after for free and the gardener gets a free allotment in return. No money exchanges hands and either party can give six weeks notice at any time.

The scheme is being launched in February 2008.

We wish the Footprint Trust every success with this wonderful scheme.

Action
Do you know a suitable volunteer or garden-owner?

Rural schools, like rural Post Offices, are social centres for scattered comunities.

They provide a venue for meetings, a place for information and a timetable for activities. They are more important in rural environments than in town centres.And yet, because they cost more to maintain, the Government is forcing them to close them. This is done by legislation, budget changes and ‘guidance’ in the name of cost-efficiency.

But is quality of service as important? Not the service provided by the core business, but the quality of service received by the community - a different measure altogether. How much would it cost to replace these ‘peripheral’ services to the community?

The divide between urban life and rural life seems to widen when abstract edicts cut swathes through country life. And yet most towns-people want to experience the countryside at the weekend. It’s not that they hate it - perhaps more that they don’t understand it, a famous biologist once told me.