– Below you can read an excerpt from the Transition Chepstow May 2016 Newsletter –
Transition Chepstow AGM
The Annual General Meeting was held on 22nd March 2016 at the Beaufort Hotel. The following officers were elected, as well as other steering group members:
Coordinator : Tim Melville
Secretary: John Waters took over from Nigel Lees who was thanked for his excellent work as Secretary over the last few years.
Treasurer: Glyn Parkhouse gave notice that he would step down next year so anyone interested in getting involved is most welcome to contact and shadow Glyn.
Communications Officer: Zsófia Forró
We are organising a Members Meeting in September to allow members to interact and bring up questions and feedback – you are all warmly welcome!
Wildlife Group update
We will be working on a big project with the food group this year as a result of our successful grant application for our community orchards. There is a strong wildlife element to this project so it is our plan to continue with the wildlife agenda through the food group from now on. The wildlife group will therefore no longer stay as a stand-alone group, however we will continue to work in close partnership with other local wildlife interest groups, especially the Friends of Chepstow Meadows, Gwent Wildlife Trust & Bee Friendly Monmouthshire.
Sustaining local renewable energy
The government has imposed the new Feed-In Tariff conditions on renewables and as predicted installations have tailed off. Our energy group has had several lively meetings with a new member, Hilary Bown, who has made some very useful contributions helping us to make a proposal to Welsh Government to fund a battery storage tariff to encourage uptake. Our main project on battery storage for surplus solar power is making good progress. We have several systems installed, showing exceptional results on electricity bill savings for people.
Join us at an Energy Group meeting on the first Wednesday of every month at 7.30 pm at The Beaufort Hotel, Chepstow. For more details you can contact Phil at: energy@transitionchepstow.org.uk.
Litter picks
We organised two litter picks this spring together with other local groups. Both events were well attended and dozens of bags of rubbish and recycling were collected in the local area, including on the Wales Coast Path. Thank you to all volunteers who participated. To find out first about upcoming litter picks, contact Paul to join the mailing list: litter@transitionchepstow.org.uk.
The Environment (Wales) Act
The Environment (Wales) Act became law in Wales on 21 March 2016. We can expect this legislation to help strengthen our case with public bodies across a range of interest areas and projects. Amongst other highlights, the Bill includes provision for:
Education and Sustainability
Visit a new page on our website that links to resources exploring the role of education in the transition to a low-carbon society: http://www.transitionchepstow.org.uk/groups/education/
See Upcoming Events
If you would like to find out more about our projects or events, or to get involved, please get in touch!