Be Certifiably Green in 2010

A Permaculture Design course is to be held at Rippledown Environmental Education Centre. The course will teach you how to use permaculture principles and practice:

- in your own life
- to contribute to the Transition Town processes
- for community projects
- to improve sustainability in your workplace.

This 12 day Accredited Permaculture Design Certificate Course will be lead by Steve Charter (Diploma Permaculture Design, MA Environmental Planning), assisted by Nir Halfon (Dip Biodynamics, Cert. Permaculture Design) and covers eco-building, sustainable energy, sewage, composting, eco-community and appropriate economics. The Certificate will be issued by the Permaculture Academy (GB) and is recognised by the permaculture and sustainable communities movement world-wide. The course is being run in association with The Bay Trust - an environmental education charity leading a wide range of not-for-profit sustainable community activities in the East Kent area and working to promote healthy, sustainable living.

Course Fees: £750/person
This particular PDC Course is being very generously subsidised by The Bay Trust and the price includes full course fees, accommodation and food. It is possible to take individual weekends or parts of the course, by agreement only. The Pc Design Certificate is only gained by those completing the full course.

Course Dates:
Fri 29th January to Sun 31st January 2010
Fri 26th February to Sun 28th February 2010
Fri 26th March to Sun 28th March 2010
Fri 16th April to Sun 18th April 2010

For further information click here.

Will Fidel attend Environment Exhibition?

Forget the will he/won't he rumours about Barack Obama attending The Copenhagen Climate Summit. The question that is now on everyone's lips is 'Will Fidel come to the 'Deal With It' Library Exhibition?'.

The odds are on that Fidel (Deal Library's only feline member) will not miss this exciting event, given he is a highly intelligent cat, no doubt concerned that mankind seem intent on ruining the planet not only for themselves, but for every other species too.

The exhibtion at Deal Libray starts on Saturday 19th December and runs throughout the Christmas period. Please come down and have a look at our displays and information, including what 'Deal With It' have achieved this year, activities by other local organisations as well as pointers on how you too could make 2010 a greener year.

Cat lovers who haven't read Fidel's story click here.

Christmas at the Calyx

On Friday 18th December The Bay Trust and Village Energy Group welcomes you to 'Christmas At The Calyx'from 4 til 6pm. Come along for mulled wine, mince pies and a few hearty carols.There will be lots of festive cheer with story telling and live music for children.

At 5pm a brief presentation will illustrate the progress made in St. Margaret's over the past 18 months in reducing carbon footprints, saving money on energy bills and other efforts that have contributed to a more sustainable future for the village. A positive local response to the Copenhagen Climate Change Summit!

'Celebrate Your Deal'

A beautiful autumn day welcomed hundreds of visitors to the Landmark Centre yesterday to celebrate all that Deal has to offer. Our first 'Celebrate Your Deal' event, was classified an unprecedented success by both stall holders and visitors who were given the opportunity to buy from and network with, an amazing range of local businesses, artists, community groups and craftspeople. The two large halls in the Landmark centre hosting stalls were packed with people almost from the time the doors opened and the atmosphere was one of fun with a huge helping of community spirit thrown in.

Children were entertained with pumpkin design competitions by Rippledown Environmental Centre, creative writing workshops from Gary Studley of Deal Writers and face painting and portrait sketching by local artist Penny Bearman. The theme for food was definitely “local” with Kent Produce showcasing their locally sourced fruit and veg, Bistro Oregano putting on a delicious spread of home made goodies and Petham Vale promoting local honey and cider. Delicious locally made chocolates were also available from Kieran Renihan of Chocolution while Vicky Feldman spoke about the clear benefits of keeping whole grain in your diet- benefits that were ably supported by her wonderful range of whole grain bakery items.

The community was well represented with amongst others, stalls from North Deal Community Partnership, the Astor Theatre Group, Deal United Nations Association and The Deal and Walmer Lions. People could learn the arts of spinning, fabric making, pottery and stained glass and there was entertainment inside and out by the Hoodeners, Bill Howarth and Mac Mckean and Driftwood.

Helen Reeve-Stoffer who co-ordinated the event said “The aim of the day was to demonstrate that you don’t have to go far to find everything you need and that supporting your local community is hugely important to long term sustainability”. “Everyone seemed to have a smile on their face which to me indicates that the day was a success.”

Click on the link below to see photos of the event. To see them in slideshow format click the screen icon in the top right after clicking on this link:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/43967078@N03/

'Celebrate Your Deal'

The autumn winds of October will herald the hottest event of the DWI calender. It's time to get ready for the first 'Celebrate Your Deal' - a show that will bring together all that's great about Deal. 'Local' and 'Sustainable' are the key themes and the event will raise awareness of what sustainability means and why it's important for happy, thriving communities. The Landmark Centre, Deal's buzzing community space plays host for the day to all sorts of independant businesses, local producers, artists, musicians and community groups. They'll all be there, showing off their wares, demonstrating their skills and getting to know their public even better.

This is a free event that will be a great day out for the whole family. The Landmark is a huge venue and we'll be making full use of it, with all the spaces chock full of things to see, do, buy and try - they'll be free samples in the food hall, fun workshops, a mini-cinema, live music, thought provoking presentations and demonstrations by the experts ...from bee-keeping to bike maintenance to jewellery making.

We've already started the search for stallholders and community groups. If you would like to be part of making a great day happen, get involved and get in touch celebrateyourdeal@yahoo.co.uk

New Urbanism

'Sustainable Communities Explored'

On Wednesday 8th April the Carbon Free Group will host the 'Sustainable Communities Explored' event at the Pines Calyx, an award-winning eco conference centre situated in a stunning cliff-top garden location near Dover in Kent.

There has been a lot of talk in the past 12 months about building sustainable communities, particularly as food and fuel prices steadily escalate, but the realities of the challenges involved are rarely addressed in any depth. This event is about learning from people with real-life experience of creating sustainable communities; it is about understanding what works and what doesn't; it is about sharing pragmatic solutions and it's about being inspired by what has already been achieved by others.

The day will focus on examples of successful sustainable community development in the UK. Topics to be explored include local economic systems and currencies, housing/community building, co-housing, rural sustainable land use and food cultivation training. A number of communities will also be looked at from the perspective of how they function, how they are managed, what they are like to actually live in and what they can teach us. St Margaret's-at-Cliffe, the village where the event is being held, will be discussed as a case study of a community transitioning to a sustainable future.

A small number of places for this event are available at the special rate of £65+VAT to Deal With It members. If you are interested in attending at a reduced cost please contact dealwithittoday@yahoo.co.uk in the first instance. The event is aimed at both those with professional involvement in the field of sustainability, and also individuals interested in learning more about a topic that has increasing relevance in all aspects of today's society.

Dover and Out

Opposition to Dover District Council’s plans to build 14,000 new homes continues to gather momentum.

A well-attended meeting at Studdal Community Hall on Friday, March 6th led to calls for a Vote of No Confidence in Dover District Council.

Time is now short, with the deadline for submitting any more objections to the Council’s plans set for March 25.

The meeting began with a well put together presentation from Whitfield Action Group’s Jeff Goodsell.

Also speaking at the meeting convened by Kent County Councillor Eileen Rowbotham were Brian Lloyd of the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE) and Rosie Rechter from the “Deal With It” group.

An hour from the trio was followed by an hour’s questions and answers.

Jeff put forward a compelling case against the District Council’s plans.

The Whitfield Parish Councillor questioned the sense of building so many houses when existing major employers such as Pfizer and the Port of Dover were shedding jobs.

Highlighting the Council’s decision to ignore the strength of opposition, he said just 32 people out of over 11,000 favoured the council’s preferred Option 4, with 1,594 supporting Option 1 (for 6,100 homes).

To widespread agreement, he said the council’s strategy was not thought through properly.

As he put it: “The Council’s plans will move the population and economic base out of the town. But you have to ask the question: what will attract people into Dover?”

Brian Lloyd of CPRE called the Local Development Framework “High-risk, undeliverable and inappropriate.” He explained that the plans unbalanced the overall development strategy for the South East, and questioned how many people would be willing to move to this area.

Rosie Rechter of ‘Deal With IT’ called the latest LDF document ‘intimidating’ and pointed out how DDC is completely ignoring the opinions of most of the people it consulted. She spoke of “serious anxieties” surrounding the plans and mentioned the amount of derelict land in Dover Town Centre – seven per cent – as against zero per cent in Canterbury.

She meanwhile pointed out the fragmentation of the existing town’s communities, owing to the geography of Dover. She believes planned new housing over four miles from the town centre will only make things worse. To loud applause she concluded: “We should all support the campaign Jeff Goodsell has been running.”

Questions from audience raised numerous points of concern. These were not revolutionaries by any stretch of the imagination, but solid, civilised citizens, representing many Town and Parish Councils and other community groups throughout Dover District, united by their passionate concern for the future of the District. People who simply want the best for the area and share the belief that DDC’s plans will not deliver it.

One member of the audience summed up the mood when she asked: “What sanction do we have against a District Council which is ignoring public opinion?” She went on to ask about a Vote of No Confidence in the Council.

Charlie Elphicke, the District’s Prospective Conservative Parliamentary Candidate, thanked Eileen Rowbotham for holding the meeting and raising the issues. He urged everyone to work together against the plans and said “I feel we should be creating jobs and prosperity, not building houses.”

Kent County Councillor Mike Eddy explained that something called a Community Call for Action might be possible – in effect, a petition organised by the local population.

Subjects of other questions concerned the problems of putting infrastructure in place - especially water - and the serious environmental impact and loss of Greenfield land.

Whitfield Action Group will meanwhile be convening a public meeting at Whitfield Village Hall at 7-30 on Friday, March 20. All are urged to attend.

Quotable quotes:

“Dover District Council’s 2020 Vision is for a World Class District; what we are getting is a world class ASDA and a world class housing estate.”

“The council is putting the cart before the horse.”

“Fourteen thousand houses represent an unjustified and unexplained change in strategy.”

“Quite frankly it is an unsustainable strategy. Effort should be placed in regenerating the economy of the district.”

“We have a fantastic opportunity. Please let’s not waste it.”