Category: Transition Town Hastings

  • November 16 core group meeting minutes

    TTH Meeting 21/11/16

    Garden Meeting with Natalie 2nd Nov 2016
    Actions- Alison to get a date when room back.
    • Chris & Alison to get quotes for work & make proposals
    for water access.
    • Chris to formulate email & garden map area for all gardeners to read and sign.
    • Chris to contact Southeastern direct to ask about the maintenance of buildings.
    • Sarah and Sassie are working with SCC tutor to produce signage for garden with adults with learning difficulties.
    • Help yourselves signs done with slates & markers on the site.
    • Alison to ask Naomi re continuing contact with Southern Water & assistance?
    • Large funding pot not open yet- Natalie will let us know.
    • Next Garden Meeting do a doodle poll with gardeners (after a garden session)
    • Poster- Sarah & Chris to do asap

    Waste

    £800,000 possible funding for HBC from Dream Seas- will know by end of this week?
    HBC want to do marine litter campaign, getting schools involved, kids will take stewardship of various areas etc and want to work with TTH.
    Foreshore Trust has money that we could go for if not.
    Vegware- has an Infinity Scheme- Discount?
    First step is with surveys to businesses themselves, why do they use biodegradable packaging, what’s the incentive & another for consumers- to see how they would feel & would they buy?
    Café in Park buy Vegware from Bidfest- They said cost difference is negligible.
    Should be council’s responsibility – as they need to gather it up after and deal with it.
    Aim campaign at takeaways and include Cash & Carry’s
    WRAP- The Waste & Resources Action Programme- Jamie to research?
    What are HBC Environmental Policies?
    ‘The Most Green café’ competition in the local paper?
    Stickers? Get college/schools involve in designing
    Incentive to be in TTH Green Pages- advertising.
    Get someone to talk about their bio-degradable packaging at business meetings?
    Lobbying HBC to only give licences to shops who use bio-d packaging?
    Next Waste meeting 28th- 7.15pm-Rock House

    Geoff- Amazing marine plants growing together nr Pett but it’s full of rubbish- can it be cleaned?
    Kathy- ‘Beach schools’- educational link?
    ACTION- Misha to email Geoff info on conservation group nr Pett?

    Green Drinks-
    TTH was part of a Green Drinks event on 3rd Nov at Bargain Studios, Kings Rd- great success! About 40 passed through.
    So will have decided to have a Xmas one- maybe do Pot Luck Meal too! More info to follow but date is: Dec 14th weds 7.30pm-9.30pm.

    Ore Community Land Trust have land to build on with the community:
    Come to find out more at the Bridge Community Centre Café on Sat 26th Nov 2-4pm public consultation and In evening free BBQ & music etc from 5-9pm @ Old Power Station Site, Broomgrove Rd. Access via Firtree Rd by car. Encourage people to get train there. Or fill up your car!

    Sunday 27th Nov at 2pm- Protest that Park Bike Lane hasn’t been started/done- from main entrance on bikes or bike bits, ride the route, bling up your bikes & bring noises, bells, horns etc- lead by HUB. And Greenway Walk – on Sunday too – to push for the greenway links carried out by ESCC?. Action- To share all these events at wkd on FB- Sarah

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    Catherine P- Pushing for 20 mile an hour zones in Hastings- focus on lobbying ESCC- who’s interested? Can TTH put something on our mailing list. There Is a website & petition already. Catherine says they want to go from door to door in key roads to get them to sign up. Geoff recommended Payton Rd. Geoff & Misha offered to help in this campaign. Action- Catherine to send in short piece via email to us. Let us know about meetings we can advertise.

    Misha- mentioned a book (sorry I didn’t catch this)?

    Sarah- Action- can you put all minutes on website?
    Put meetings etc on too?

    Hastings Midnight Run- TTH involvement- people doing some guerrilla gardening and sowing seeds/bulbs at garden, watched Seaview film and café was open to serve people! We made £100!

    Sarah is trying to organise visit to incinerator and recycling depot- yeah!
    Sarah reminded us and let new people know, TTH have:
    Newsletter monthly out
    FB Page
    Minutes on website
    Can be on Google group email list too

    Next Core Meeting- Weds 25th Jan 2017, 7.15pm-Rock House, 49-51 Cambridge Road, TN34 1DT

  • Takeaway Food Packaging Campaign

    Takeaway Food Packaging Campaign

    We are currently in the planning stages of developing a campaign to support and encourage local takeaway food outlets to make the transition to sustainable packaging.

    Too many times have we walked along the seafront and seen those dreaded polystyrene food containers blowing their way along the beach, or we go into a new and recommended cafe, only to be disappointed when they serve up your takeaway in a polystyrene box.

    From speaking to businesses who’ve already made the transition, it was relatively easy and cost effective. Let’s make Hastings stand out as a green flagship town!

    If you’d like to be involved please get in touch by email.

  • Transition Town present at Flick Chat, Rock House

    Transition Town present at Flick Chat, Rock House

    On Nov 29, Rock House hosted an evening of short, PechaKucha style presentations. These are intended to inform, inspire and even include calls-to-action. Our very own Karen Simnett gave an excellent presentation about the work of Transition Town Hastings and what we have achieved in the last 2 years!

    Please share this with anyone you think would be interested.

     

     

  • Safe routes for cycling and walking in Hastings

    Safe routes for cycling and walking in Hastings

    On November 27th, members of Transition Town Hastings, Hastings Greenway, 1066 Cycle Club, Hastings Urban Bikes and other cyclists joined forces to protest about the delay to the implementation of a cycle path in Alexandra Park. The park route was approved in January 2016, and promised by Autumn 2016, but nothing has happened yet.

    “We had 4 to 84 year old people riding bikes through the Alexandra Park route on Sunday, the benefits of cycling are for everyone. ESCC and HBC need to provide safe routes, so everyone who wants to, can feel confident to ride a bike in Hastings, whether that is to work, school or the shops.”

    Tim Godwin
    Hastings Urban Bikes

    Those attending unofficially ‘opened’ the cycle path and cycled courteously through the park following the proposed route.

    View the park cycle route here.

    Cycle Protest Alexandra Park
    Copyright: Tony Polain

     

    This is part of a wider issue where safe cycling and walking routes throughout the town are still not being delivered.

    The 2014 Hastings Walking & Cycling Strategy was intended to improve “The health and well-being of the local community” and “To develop a culture of walking and cycling”.

    In nearly two years since the adoption of the strategy, no progress has been made towards implementing the routes we need. Many of these routes were proposed for the ‘Hastings Greenway’ network in 2003!

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    HBC & ESCC need to deliver on their promises to implement a network of good quality walking & cycling routes. Community groups like, Transition Town Hastings, see the importance of safer, healthier and more sustainable transport options.

    “Sunday was the first time that I have cycled in Alexandra Park and it reinforced my view about just how valuable and needed is this Cycleway & Greenway route through the Park . It avoids very unsatisfactory busy roads with dangerous junctions and will make the journey so much safer for cyclists and allow families and less confident cyclists to enjoy a really nice off road cycle route. The local authorities need to get on with it and complete the approved route.”

    Ian Sier
    Hastings Urban Bikes

  • Open day at the community garden

    Open day at the community garden

    Great weather, wonderful food and great people!

    On October 9th we celebrated our first harvest at the community garden. Self grown, free food was offered to locals passing by including squash, spinach and chickpea curry, freshly pressed apple juice, apple cake, artichoke cake and sweetcorn fritters.

    We also raised over £75 which we can put towards our many expenses. Thanks to all those who came down to the station and supported us.

  • The community garden in September

    The community garden in September

    Here are some of the fruits of our labour. Many thanks to Pea Pod Veg, Pannel Organics (Little Pannel Organic Farm between Winchelsea and Hastings) and Alexandra Park Greenhouse Project for donated produce.

  • Donated plants now in the new raised beds

    Donated plants now in the new raised beds

    Last Saturday (August 6th) we planted beetroot, mint, tomatoes and more strawberries. We’ve got a number of volunteers giving up time during the week to water the plants. Let us know if you want to come along – all welcome.

  • New beds almost ready for planting…

    New beds almost ready for planting…

    CAMERAWith the arrival of fresh top soil from Bourne Amenities last week, work has ensued filling the new raised beds in preparation for planting out seedlings.

    CAMERA

    The next work party will be on Saturday 6th August from 12pm til 3pm. Please come along to help finish the beds and begin planting out seedlings. We will be collecting some surplus plants from the Greenhouse Group at Alexandra Park.

    If anyone has any spare plants, feel free to bring them along! We also need wheel barrows, use of a strimmer (we have no mains electricity…) and plenty of elbow grease!

    We will also be having a conversation about what we’ve achieved so far and future plans.

    CAMERA  

     

  • We rise from our beds and raise raised beds.

    We rise from our beds and raise raised beds.

    On the last weekend before the summer solstice we took delivery of a few tons of sleepers and began building raised beds. A more technically tricky task than most expected, we made steady progress realising Julie’s plans, making some changes as we went along. Many thanks to all involved, especially those who came both days to ensure that we made a great start to the central element of the community garden.

    We will now bIMAG1634e meeting every week, alternating between Saturdays (1.00pm – 4pm) and Sundays (10am – 1pm), the next being Sat 25th June.

    Many thanks to Littlewood Fencing for supplying the wood.

  • Geoff Dann feature on transition movement and the community garden

    Geoff Dann feature on transition movement and the community garden

    Geoff Dann (fungi and foraging expert) from Transition Town Hastings features in a short documentary by Sadie Scarlett Smith submitted for her BA in Multimedia Broadcast Journalism final project. See Geoff at 7:12 mins into the film!