In 2019 Clunbury Parish Council declared a Climate and Ecological Emergency and set up an Action Group. One of the actions taken by the Group was to distribute a questionnaire to all households in the Parish. To see the results follow the links below.
Climate and Ecological Emergency Questionnaire: Results
Climate and Ecological Emergency Questionnaire – ADDITIONAL COMMENTS
Climate and Ecological Emergency Correspondence
At the Climate and Ecological Emergency Event in Clunbury Village Hall on 25 January 2020, those who attended were asked if they would like to sign petitions to our County Councillor, Nigel Hartin, and our MP, Philip Dunne, expressing their deep concern and asking their elected representatives to re-double their efforts to combat this dual emergency.
Pat Harding, a Parish Councillor and a member of the Action Group supported by the Council, sent the petition to Philip Dunne; herewith his reply and the Group’s response
There has been further email correspondence with Philip Dunne. An email from Mr Dunne dated 18 June 2020 can be found here.
Report to the Parish Council meeting on 27 January 2022
Climate Change and Transport: The Group wrote to Councillors on this topic on 23 January 2022 and looks forward to hearing their views..
Events: Since reporting to the PC meeting on 23 September 2021 the Group has arranged the following:
A litter pick on 13 October: Nine bags of litter were collected in an hour or so by a team of six along the B4368 from the 100 House to, and beyond, the Little Brampton junction, and from there along the B4385 towards Kempton.
The first of a series of Parish Rambles on 12 December: Courtesy of Christina Whitehead, and led by Farm Manager Gary Richards, 20 of us walked parts of Hope Farm at the west end of Clunbury Hill. There was much of interest to see, ranging from 28 acres of Miscanthus, a bio-fuel, to Skylark plots in winter cereals. Attendees were enthusiastic about the walk and what they had seen. We intend to arrange further Rambles visiting other farms, woodlands and the river. It is hoped that the next will be a woodland walk in March or April.
Planning: We ask that at this meeting of the Parish Council it agrees that at its next meeting it will discuss and vote on the adoption of the following policy, or a variant thereof:
The Parish Council resolves that when reviewing all planning applications, it will consider whether they take fully into account the Climate and Ecological Emergency. In its response to the Planning Department, it will request that the Department uses its powers to ensure that approval is granted only to those proposals which do so, and which are consistent with safeguarding the landscape of the AONB and its wildlife.
So, for example, does the proposal meet the highest standards of thermal insulation? Are heating systems powered by renewal energy? Is the property oriented to maximise passive heating? Is an electric car charger included? Does waste-water management ensure no contamination of standing and running water? Is provision made for wildlife through features such as bee and swift bricks? Are building materials and finishes non-toxic and from sustainable sources?
Latest update for September 2021
Report to Clunbury Parish Council, 23 September 2021
At its meeting in July, the Council agreed that the Climate and Environment would be an Agenda item at all of its future meetings. This report is intended to inform Councillors as to activities that have taken place since its last meeting and advise them of forthcoming events.
Himalayan Balsam control: Nick Morgan arranged a trial in an area by the river below Clunton Coppice and a group of us uprooted a discrete area where floodwater had deposited seed. The date, 20 July, proved about right, with plants sufficiently mature to be obvious, but seed not having yet set. Plants are easy to uproot and will soon decompose. Experience indicated that the prevalence of the plant is such that any future efforts within the Parish should concentrate on clearing tributary streams working downwards from their source, while efforts on the Clun itself should seek to involve all the parishes that are affected and work downstream from the highest plants that can be found in the catchment.
Clun in the Future. Questions and Answers: members of the Clunbury Group assisted at this well-attended event held on 19 September at which there were displays, talks and demonstrations covering topics including electric cars, farming, recycling, eco-homes and heating.
Charging points for Electric Cars: this issue was raised at the July meeting. The Group’s preliminary thoughts suggested that in addition to Village Halls, pubs might be good locations. The Crown was approached, but given that the car park for The Crown does not have an electricity supply this was a non-starter. The Hundred House appears to be a better option and a 7kw charger could perhaps be installed there, but this is designed for over-night charging, providing perhaps 25 miles per hour of charge; the cost for a double-socketed unit would be in the order of £2,500. A faster charger (22kw or 50kw) giving perhaps 80 or 200 miles per hour of charge would be appropriate, and would cost in the order of £3,000 for a double-socketed unit, but it would require a three-phase electricity supply which is not available. It is suggested that the Parish Council should keep this issue under review and be alive to the possibility of grant-aided installations at Village Halls and hospitality venues.
Nature Recovery Network: this is a major commitment in the government’s 25-year Environment Plan which aims to safeguard a national network of wildlife-rich places and to expand, improve and connect them, creating or restoring 500,000 hectares (1,235, 000 acres) of additional wildlife-rich habitat, and targeting carbon capture, flood management, clean water, pollination and recreation, with exciting opportunities for farmers and landowners to provide public goods for public money. All the branches of the Shropshire Wildlife Trust, including the Clun and Bishop’s Castle branch, are undertaking a county-wide habitat mapping exercise. It started this year and will continue over the next few years with the aim of mapping areas of existing wildlife-rich habitat thereby defining areas with potential for expansion, improvement and connection. Parishioners are already involved in this work with the hope that it will lead to a Local Nature Recovery Strategy for the Clun Valley. We will keep the Parish Council informed of future developments as opportunities open up.
Litter picking: the Group will be organising a litter pick in November on a date to be announced in that month’s ‘Parish Post’.
COP 26: Parishioners will be joining Bamber Hawes on 10 October for the first leg of his walk from Bishop’s Castle to COP 26 in Glasgow carrying Clarion, his 10-foot-tall Polar Bear.
Finally: this is an extract from a report published this month by the Royal Institute of International Affairs, a world-leading policy institute based in London:
‘If emissions do not come down drastically before 2030, then by 2040 some 3.9 billion people are likely to experience major heatwaves, 12 times more than the historic average. By the 2030s, 400 million people globally each year are likely to be exposed to temperatures exceeding the workability threshold. Also by the 2030s, the number of people on the planet exposed to heat stress exceeding the survivability threshold is likely to surpass 10 million a year’.
To read more, including about droughts, crop failures, famines, floods, health crises and mass migrations, go to https://www.chathamhouse.org/sites/default/files/2021-09/2021-09-14-climate-change-risk-assessment-quiggin-et-al.pdf