Newsletter - June 2014 (pt 2) 

In this issue...

• Welcome
• New editor
• New Social Secretary
• Transition Belper Meeting
• Electrical Recycling Event
• Time capsule buried
• Letter to the Future
• Discovery Days 2014
• Ambergate Hydro Update
• Belper Train Station Mosaic project
• Creativity Group
• Food Fair
• Diary
• Transition Belper Facebook Groups
• Contacts

Welcome

Following the huge success of Belper Goes Green we'd like to welcome all new subscribers to our newsletter - we hope you will enjoy being kept informed and will feel motivated to come and join some of our activities and groups. 

New editor
Ed Sills has come forward to volunteer to use his considerable skills to edit the newsletter. You can reach him at edward.sills@gmail.com with any articles, news items etc. Thanks Ed!

New Social Secretary
Adrian Rochford has volunteered to organise social events including the monthly get together in a pub. Thanks Adrian!

Transition Belper Meeting
Wednesday 11th June - 7:30pm at the Strutt's Community Centre

Following the talk on Climate Change by Tony Cooper we will have a quick brainstorm on the Climate Change issues that have an impact on the Meadows Edge development and Outline Planning permission submitted by Spenhill Developments for Tesco, that can be used in the Transition Belper response to the submitted Outline Planning application and future development applications for the site.

Electrical Recycling Event - 14th June

Time capsule buried

On a rainy Wednesday early evening, June 4th 2014, representatives of various local groups, including Transition Belper, gathered in Beaurepaire Gardens, Belper to place their time capsules in a specially designed vault to be opened in fifty years time. 
Local man, Peter Davies MBE, originally came up with the idea and had kindly invited Transition Belper to take part by placing information about our group's work, aims, and objectives, and how we go about trying to achieve them.
In order to do this group member Craig Scott suggested the main content for inclusion could be copies of our webpages -.this was formally agreed by the Core and Trustee groups The content therefore consisted of:

•  A 'Letter to the Future'.
•  Double sided hard copies of our webpages.
•  A flash USB memory stick with all our webpages in two different formats (HTML and PDF) - Also two MP 4 videos ripped from You Tube (Belper Goes Green 2013 and Belper Youth Market 2013).
•  A DVD with complete duplicate memory stick content.
•  A Belper Transition badge, designed by Lynne Henley.
•  All digital content items was wrapped in double self seal plastic bags as an extra precaution.

 Please see photographs of the capsule before and after it was sealed and read the Letter to the Future for a more detailed overview and remit of the project.
 

            

Letter to the Future

This letter and the accompanying website information is addressed to you as a local person of a future generation.  In essence the contents of our time capsule constitutes an attempt to communicate what the Transition Belper group is presently trying to achieve and how we are going about it.  It should also allow you to help gauge how successful we have been locally and how the Transition movement has been as a whole - along with our friends and allies in the broad environmental movement - in achieving their group's aims and aspirations.
As you will see from the copies of the Transition Belper website pages, our two main concerns are that of global climate change and the twin issue of 'Peak Oil'.  We see Peak Oil as basically representing a conceptual spur to help transform our economies from high carbon use to ones that are much lower.  We believe this is very important in order to stop global average temperatures rising though the use of fossil fuels which are presently peaking in their availability and economic extractability.
You will also see from the website pages that our two stated objectives have helped spore a variety of many related local initiatives and projects, ranging from an Energy Decent Action Plan (EDAP), food, gardening, and travel schemes to our annual Eco festival - Belper Goes Green and working to set up community owned hydro schemes on the River Derwent, as well as others you will read about, such as generating local community cohesiveness and resilience to outside negative influences, like those impacting on the local economy.

As an international movement we are presently facing strident opposition from huge vested interests such as the oil and petrochemical companies.  For example, Gazprom the Russian oil and gas giant is, at the time of writing, bringing its first oil shipments to Europe from its drilling platform in the Arctic Ocean.  Recently new unconventional techniques to extract fossil fuels such as fracking in the UK and elsewhere, as well as strip mining for tar sand oil in North America also, we believe, represents a continuing problem for our climate.

International political agreement to tackle climate change also seems moribund, although we are cautiously hopeful of the outcome of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) when they meet in Paris next year (December 2015). 

Hopefully our efforts, along with others, will be seen to have had at least some success in making it a better world for you and your family and friends to be part of - only you reading this now will be able to judge this of course. 
Please read through our website pages and pass on for others to see, by copying them on through use of the thumb flash drive you will have found in the time capsule. 
With very best wishes to you and all your family, friends and colleagues - From all of us at Transition Belper.

June 5th, 2014

Discovery Days 2014 - Belper

Discovery Days, organised by the Derwent Valley Mills world heritage team, is slightly different in 2014 with a weekend focussed on Belper only being arranged for the 19th/20th July. The leaflets of events are now out and available in many outlets in Belper. We will be involved in three events this year.

• Milford Hydro Power - opening of the Milford turbine house 11:30 until 13:00. Free to attend
• Hydro Power in the Derwent Valley - Past, Present & Future Talk at the North Mill 16:00 until 17:00. Free to attend but donations for the Mill welcome. Refreshments will be available. Pre-booking is recommended on 01629 536831 (office hours only).

• Belper Hydro Power - opening of the Belper turbine house 13:30 until 15:00. Free to attend

Belper Train Station Mosaic project

Keep up-to-date with the latest developments and join any discussions on Facebook. Join us here
Belper Goes Green
The shared space for all those involved in organising Belper Goes Green. Join us here
Belper and DE56 Energy Descent Action Plan
The shared space for those involved in developing our EDAP. Join us here
Travel and Transport Belper
Transition Belper group to share ideas, information and resources for travelling more sustainably in and around Belper. Join us here
Belper's fruit and veg grower's forum
There is a Facebook Group locally for exchanging tips and ideas for your garden and anything to do with growing fruit and veg. Join the Forum here
HelpReUpcycleDE56
A Local group to advertise for Recycling, Upcycling, Neighbourly Help & Advice, Lending & Borrowing in the DE56 Area. Join us here
Belper Gardening Club
The Facebook page for members of the Belper Gardening Club - supported by Transition Belper. Join us here
Creativity Group
Facebook for all creatives to share ideas, ask questions - Join us here

Contact
The trustees of Transition Belper are:
Chair - David George
Secretary - Richard Keighley
Treasurer and Social Secretary- Adrian Rochford
Core Group - Craig Scott  
Core Group and Station Crew Co-ordinator - Kate Pudney
Core Group and Transport Group leader - Jennie Lindop
Core Group and Creativity and Wellbeing Group Organiser - Christine Gray