NOTICE
TURN LYME GREEN ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
The postponed AGM will now be held on Tuesday 21 July, 7.00pm. It will be a Zoom meeting and all are invited to attend. If you would like to come, please contact Polly Benfield, secretary, to receive the agenda, background papers and online link to join the meeting. You can read the Annual Report and our constitution. Jo Smith Oliver will present the Report and look to the future and Grenville Barr will present the annual accounts 2019-2020. All are very welcome.
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FUTURE MEETINGS
TLG MEETINGS It is with regret that we have had to postpone a presentation from Colin Varndell about hedgehogs. He is a wonderful speaker and we hope to re-schedule this talk in future.
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A GREEN NEW DEAL
Rob Smith, a Turn Lyme Green supporter and member of the Plastic Free Lyme Regis Strategy Group, writes:
Build Back Better
"If you’ve never written to your MP before, this is your chance!
To address the environmental crisis, to keep global warming within 1.5C, to safeguard millions of lives in this and future generations, we need to green investment – improving energy efficiency, replacing fossil fuels with renewables, providing cleaner transport alternatives. With the economy decimated by coronavirus, the Government plans an investment program modeled on Roosevelt’s New Deal, which lifted America from the Great Depression by creating jobs in infrastructure, and by financial reforms.
Our world needs a Green New Deal – creating sustainable jobs, achieving our carbon neutral targets, and supporting the environment on which our lives depend. This is why I am urging my MP (Chris Loder) to make sure the Government makes the environment a priority in their New Deal investment. I suggest you write to your MP too.
You can find your MP’s email address on the UK Parliament site.
Or you can use contact your MP via https://www.theyworkforyou.com , which keeps reports on MPs’ activities, and records if they reply to you or not.
You might like to highlight the following topics to your MP:
.. Improving energy efficiency of buildings
.. Switching to renewable energy. Energy storage schemes and improving the electricity transmission infrastructure.
.. Improving the options for walking, cycling and active transport.
.. Encouraging the switch to electric vehicles with financial support and improved charging infrastructure.
.. Developing a circular economy where products have a long life and are designed for re-use, repair and recycling.
.. Developing green spaces for people and wildlife.
I'm sure you have ideas of your own. Here’s my letter, which you could use as a starting point:
Dear Chris Loder,
The coronavirus has hit our economy, affecting households and jobs. New investment offers new opportunities to create a better future for our country and a better world for our children. I strongly urge your government to more widely embrace sustainable development projects, such as:
.. Improving energy efficiency of homes and businesses by retrofitting existing buildings and ensuring new buildings are built to the highest environmental standards. This would create jobs and save families and businesses money on their fuel bills, and reduce pollution and CO2 emissions. There has been talk of additional school and hospital buildings. It would be great if these could be done in an energy efficient way – fitted with a high standard of insulation, solar panels to meet their energy needs, and efficient heating (such as heat pumps) that do not require fossil fuels.
.. Investing in renewable energy and energy storage schemes, and investing in our electricity infrastructure capacity, so that we have the clean energy we need for a sustainable future.
.. Improving our roads and footpaths so that cycling and walking become safe alternatives to car use. This is especially important in our rural areas where road design has not considered cyclists. Active travel will deliver health benefits as well as environmental improvements, helping people to be more resilient to coronavirus.
.. Helping families and businesses transition from petrol and diesel cars to electric transport. Although electric cars are cheaper to run, many are unable to access them because of the high up-front cost. Government support is needed to get this industry underway. The NHS reports that air pollution kills 40,000 people in the UK every year. There are indications that it makes people more vulnerable to coronavirus .
.. Creating a circular economy, where waste is minimised and recycled. Companies should be encouraged to ensure their products are long lasting and repairable. When products reach the end of their life, they should be easy to recycle, so that nothing should be manufactured for land-fill.
Investing in Green Infrastructure, such as planting trees, re-wilding areas, restoring habitats and giving people the natural space they need for health and wellbeing.
Coronavirus has shown us that we need to be led by the science. It’s more important than ever that we listen to climate scientists. Let’s take this opportunity to invest in science and innovation, creating world class jobs, tackling the environmental problems the world is facing, placing us at the forefront of an “Green Industrial Revolution”. I look forward to the Government taking these ideas forward, and await your reply.
Yours sincerely
Rob Smith
Lyme Regis
Dorset
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COVID 19 -- USING RE-USABLES
 As we emerge from ‘lockdown’ we want to continue to make sure we look after ourselves and the planet. We want everyone to stay safe but limit any single use plastic that we use. Current advice from the Government, Food Standards Agency, The World Health Organisation, other research and various other organisations includes:
· Washing our hands, sanitising surfaces and social distancing are still the best things we can be doing to prevent the spread of disease.
· Personal Protective Equipment: Masks for public transport and certain shops are now compulsory and a way of protecting yourself and others, however they don't have to be disposable.
-Choose REUSABLE: ‘Wash and Wear’ masks protect, and reduce disposable paper mask waste.· Re-usable containers, coffee cups, water bottles etc. are safe if they have been thoroughly washed either by hand or machine. Businesses should use the 'contactless' technique to fill up any customer’s containers.
· Reusable dispensers for sauces, soap etc. are OK providing they are cleaned after use.
· Plastic v. Paper? - Several research projects have found that Coronavirus lives longer on plastic than on paper or card. Businesses may want to swop to paper wrappings.
· The possibility of catching Covid-19 from surfaces and food wrappers is virtually nil (no known cases to date).
· Disposables are not safer than reusable as they are handled many times. You control the hygiene of your own containers and water bottles.
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COFFEE a GO-GO
City to Sea, a leading campaigner to reduce the use of plastics, has launched #ContactlessCoffee, "With many cafes and restaurants looking to reopen after lockdown, we’ve launched a campaign to help keep reusable coffee cups on the menu."
With extra hygiene precautions abounding, watch this video to find out how you can have a 'Contactless Coffee' using your own reusable 'keep cup'.
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More and more local businesses are opening. They need our support. The local bus No 71 is starting again from Monday, June 29th, making it easier to get to the shops. But do remember to wear a face mask when riding the bus.
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LymeOnline has launched a shop local campaign to help publicise local businesses as they re-open. The list is in the recent digital edition and will be updated every 2 weeks. A handy reference for us all of the days and hours of opening.
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FARMERS MARKET RETURNS TO LYME Friday, August 14th Marine Parade
Lyme Regis Development Trust has announced the return of the Lyme Regis Farmers’ Market, all set to launch in Friday, August 14th, complying with all social distancing measures.
"We are very much looking forward to this diverse and exciting shopping experience. We will be showcasing growers, makers and producers from a 20-mile radius of beautiful Lyme Regis and our application form is still open! " If you think you meet the criteria above please do get in touch using the online form
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A market is planned for every 2nd Friday of the month. 9.00am - 2.00pm
Subsequent dates are 11 September and 9 October.
The summer location is the Marine Parade Shelters and The Hub in the winter..
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IN MY BACK YARD Online shopping with local producers has arrived in Lyme Regis. After the call out in this newsletter last month for a collection point in Lyme Regis, a venue in Woodmead Road has been found. IMBY is "a friendly network of independent small scale food producers, wholesale suppliers and residents building a community-centred food system." More information is on their web site citing suppliers, how to use their online shop and collection points. How does it work?
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The 'door' to the online shop opens every week on Saturday at 10.00am and closes on the following Wednesday at 10.00pm Just go to the web site, see what's on offer, complete your order and collect on the Friday. For the Lyme Regis area, you will find your order ready to collect from
16, The Haven, Woodmead Road, Fridays 3.30 - 6.00pm.
The first weekly orders in our area will be ready for collection on Friday, 10th July.
! Please observe the physical social distancing measures ! Paul and Susie Butter will welcome you: "We are very pleased to be hosting In My Back Yard in Lyme Regis which is an organic expansion of their current range covering Seaton, Colyford and east Devon. As we want to move away from globalisation, freight air-miles and support local producers, it seems an ideal solution. There will be cool boxes for dairy, meat and fish orders and your labelled boxes on trestle tables. All the animals are very well looked after and some also do conservation grazing on Seaton Wetlands so as well as fresh local produce it feels good to know the wildlife is benefiting as well."
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LYME GARDEN GROWERS
Being part of the Lyme Garden Growers community has been a lifeline for many people during lockdown. Having shared plants and seeds, loved and nurtured their tiny seedlings - people are now reaping the rewards with harvests of chard, lettuce, mangetout, carrots, potatoes and lettuce appearing on the LGG Facebook page on a daily basis
Rikey Austin, who masterminds this project, is now looking to extend by setting up a free town nursery. She has asked local people to email lymegardengrowers@gmail.com to tell her about their experience of being involved with the project: has it changed their views about food? has it helped with social and mental health? does the family enjoy getting involved? Please write.
GARDEN GROWERS MARKET STALL This Thursday
The latest idea is to hold a weekly Garden Growers market stall in Lyme. The first one is this week on Thursday, 2nd July outside the Malthouse Gallery at The Town Mill, 3.30-6.30pm. (If it rains, go to the Hub in Church Street.) Free plants available. Produce for sale using a token system. You can share produce and plants, find delicious veggies for dinner or just come along to take part. Everyone is welcome. You can also learn more about LGG and how to grow your own.
If you would like to be part of the Lyme Garden Growers experience you can join the Facebook group and become involved. All are welcome.
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KEEP OUR BEACHES CLEAN
Our beaches are open again and we all want to keep them clean, beautiful and litter free. We are joining LFCS to urge beach users to bin their rubbish or take it home. Why not print this poster off and display at in your home or shop window? We can send you a PDF if that helps. Just email your request.
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Clean Jurassic Coast is led by a group of passionate beings who attempt to keep our beaches free of plastics, marine waste and micro-plastics - not to mention the bags of rubbish left behind by tourists in recent weeks. Officially, Clean Jurassic Coast are not allowed to organise Public Beach Cleans due to the current COVID 19 situation. However, members of the group and volunteers go out to our local beaches every week to do Private Beach Cleans and people who wish to join them to protect our beautiful environment can do so, at their own risk, and adhering to social distancing advice.
Here are dates of some upcoming beach cleans:
Thursday 2nd July. 18.30. Meet a Ringstead Bay car park for a Coast Path clean. The group plans to head towards Durdle Door for one hour and then head back.
Friday 3rd July. 14.00. Meet at Sandsfoot Castle in Portland Harbour - to take part in a clean up along the Chesil Beach area - on the water! Bring your own kayak or paddleboard, food and water.
Saturday 4th July. 10.00. Meet at Portland Bill car park for a litter pick around Portland on the Coast Path. Please bring lunch.
Sunday 5th July. 10.00. Meet at Worth Matravers car park. Walk to Winspit then Seacombe before heading back.
Clean Jurassic Coast can provide litter grabbers, gloves, rubbish bags and hand gel. Volunteers are asked to dress appropriately and with suitable footwear. The easiest way to contact the group is on the Facebook Page: Clean Jurassic Coast. They also have a website.
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The Community Support group continues providing support to the elderly, vulnerable, self-isolating and others in need during the coronavirus outbreak. A band of more than 100 volunteers offer support to their local neighbours - shopping, collecting prescriptions, giving lifts, phone support etc... street by street - road by road. Information is available on the group's Facebook page. If you don't use Facebook, you can email Cheryl Reynolds cherylreynolds1947@gmail.com or ring 01297 443814.
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The Food Bank opens each Wedesday at the Hub in Church Street, 10am - 12 noon. For more information on how you can help and what supplies are most needed, you can visit Lyme Forward's website.
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