South Somerset Climate Action

Sustainable development is now part of the purpose of the planning system.

Planning Policy Statement 1: Delivering Sustainable Development (PPS1), published by Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) in 2006, sets out the overarching planning policies on delivering sustainable development through the planning system. It states (section entitled “Protection and enhancement of the environment”):

“Development plan policies should take account of environmental issues such as mitigation of, and adaptation to, climate change through reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and the use of renewable energy . .”

So that is existing policy and already quite a strong requirement to afford weight to climate change. But then in December of last year DCLG issued a consultation document on a proposed supplement to PPS1 on Planning and Climate Change the eventual effect of which is likely to make climate change an even stronger consideration in planning.

While the document is only emerging policy, unusually it does set out transitional arrangements that presumably apply right away. It states (paragraph 1.16):

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Since about 1850, average world temperatures have risen by 0.7 degrees.

This has produced freaky weather

• Downpours and floods
• Heatwaves and droughts
• High winds
• more powerful hurricanes
• in places that never had them - the South Atlantic, Australia

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South Somerset District Council has started thinking about plans for - Yeovil, Crewkerne and Chard - but not the other towns for a while yet. Ilminster was caught on the hop with the recent supermarket application and the subsequent one-way street fiasco.

Ilminster Town Council is thinking ahead and developing its own plan. A draft has been presented a public meetings and published in the Chard & Ilminster News.

South Somerset Climate Action was surprised that no mention was made of either climate change or predicted shortages (or much higher costs) of fuel, food, timber and other materials. Read the rest of this entry »

Evidence submitted to The House of Commons, Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee for their report “Climate Change: the citizen’s agenda” published on 13 September 2007.

Background and experience

I am Chairman of South Somerset Climate Action, a group established a year ago which has met every month since. In April, we created an audience of 160 people to hear the journalist, Rosie Boycott, and Mayer Hillman, author of How we can save the planet.

All 150 seats at our local theatre were filled for our screening of Al Gore’s film An Inconvenient Truth on both 13 Jan and 4 Feb 2007. Both were followed by discussions.

I have a degree in Physics and have had a career divided between teaching and working for youth and third world charities including 100+ presentations to audiences.

The kind of issue I would like to raise

Few parliamentarians appear to understand even quite straight forward scientific concepts. Both the Prime Minister and David Miliband have admitted their lack of scientific understanding and it shows; they do not know the questions to ask nor can they assess properly the information they receive. What is worse, they filter what they hear and ignore “inconvenient truths”. At least the Cabinet Minister responsible needs to have a personal grasp of the science.

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Personal Action on Climate and Energy

Pete Addie – Simple cost-effective steps to save energy.

20 year ago Pete draft-proofed his house. Each year since then he has invested the money saved in more devices and systems so that, on average, he now contributes energy to the National Grid. Pete has a wealth of knowledge of practical actions and good-value investments.
7.15 (tea or coffee) for a 7.30 start (£2 at the door)
Minster Rooms, Court Barton off Silver Street, Ilminster

Our last chance to prevent climate catastrophe?

The Warehouse Theatre was packed to capacity for a meeting arranged by South Somerset Climate Action. Rosie Boycott, the journalist, was joined on stage by Mayer Hillman the UK’s premier researcher into environmental matters and author of How We Can Save the Planet (Penguin)

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