< Back Bishop’s Castle receives £238k for local nature projects Bernard Edwards, chair of the Going Wild in Bishop’s Castle Steering Group 27 Feb 2024 Apply for a job opportunity by Monday 11th March Going Wild in Bishop’s Castle is celebrating an award of £238k from The National Lottery Heritage Fund to hire staff as coordinators to support the community to develop and implement local wildlife and nature projects. The group has been working with community groups over the last two years with projects in and around Bishop’s Castle focused on the ecological management of local land, including building and installing swift boxes and establishing meadowlands on local properties. Going Wild in Bishop’s Castle has become known for its winter talks and summer activities series. The ‘Going Wild Kid’s Club’ also provides an extracurricular outdoor education and bushcraft club for young people in the community. The grant, secured with help from Enterprise House, will allow Going Wild in Bishop’s Castle to hire a part-time coordinator and a part-time assistant to support the development, delivery and monitoring of local biodiversity projects. Bernard Edwards, chair of the Going Wild in Bishop’s Castle Steering Group said “This will help us increase wildlife locally and share our activities with a wider audience to showcase the potential of community-level rewilding. Above all, this is about joining the people of Bishop’s Castle to learn together and celebrate our landscape through embracing nature”. Town councillor Grant Perry said “The town council is delighted to have supported and continues to support Going Wild in Bishop’s Castle. This project helps us contribute to the town’s Climate and Nature Recovery Plan.” The Project Co-ordinator role will be based out of Enterprise House. Prospective applicants are invited to review the job description on the website . Application closing date: Monday, 11 th March. Previous Next

< Back The role of the Upper Onny Farmers' group Nick Read with information supplied by Cath Landles 1 Feb 2024 One of the farmers groups in South Shropshire We are fortunate in South Shropshire to have existing landscape-scale farmers’ groups, including the Upper Onny Farmers Group (UOFG), a key component in the restoration of wildlife habitats across 220 square km within the Shropshire Hills National Landscape (the new name for Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty). UOFG was formed in 2018 and comprises 20 farmers who farm in and around the Upper Onny Valley, which lies in the Shropshire Hills between the Long Mynd and the Welsh Border. The group is co-ordinated by Cath Landles of the Shropshire Hills National Landscape Partnership. Since its launch it has been involved in two Defra Test and Trials of the proposed new Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes, produced 17 Whole Farm Plans, delivered 10 farm-based environmental workshops and demonstrations, created and restored hay meadows, species rich grassland and wood pasture, protected water courses, restored hedgerows, created orchards and encouraged a shift towards regenerative farming practices. The current focus is to put together an application to the Landscape Recovery Scheme (LRS), designed to support large-scale projects that require long-term funding to achieve their outcomes. [Photo: Upper Onny Farmers' Group visiting James Rebank’s farm in Cumbria] Previous Next

< Back The role of farmers' groups in south Shropshire Nick Read with information supplied by Cath Landles 1 Feb 2024 The Upper Onny Farmers Group We are fortunate in South Shropshire to have existing landscape-scale farmers’ groups, including the Upper Onny Farmers Group (UOFG), a key component in the restoration of wildlife habitats across 220 square km within the Shropshire Hills National Landscape (the new name for Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty). UOFG was formed in 2018 and comprises 20 farmers who farm in and around the Upper Onny Valley, which lies in the Shropshire Hills between the Long Mynd and the Welsh Border. The group is co-ordinated by Cath Landles of the Shropshire Hills National Landscape Partnership. Since its launch it has been involved in two Defra Test and Trials of the proposed new Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes, produced 17 Whole Farm Plans, delivered 10 farm-based environmental workshops and demonstrations, created and restored hay meadows, species rich grassland and wood pasture, protected water courses, restored hedgerows, created orchards and encouraged a shift towards regenerative farming practices. The current focus is to put together an application to the Landscape Recovery Scheme (LRS), designed to support large-scale projects that require long-term funding to achieve their outcomes. [Photo: Upper Onny Farmers' Group visiting James Rebank’s farm in Cumbria] Previous Next

< Back South Shropshire farmers working together for environmental benefit Kate Mayne 9 Jan 2024 Report from the Clee View Farmers Group In the Clee Hills area of South Shropshire a farmers group instigated by the local community is proving the benefit of working together. The Clee View Farmers Group was set up in June 2022 and currently has a membership of 57 farmers across 13,321 hectares. The group’s aim is to share learning and seek practical solutions to producing affordable food whilst dealing with environmental challenges such protecting & enhancing biodiversity and reducing emissions of carbon, phosphates, ammonia etc. Over the last year and a half the group has held events on herbal leys, rotational grazing systems, soil health and more. There have been talks on priority species, research into new biodiversity markets & even a debate about rewilding with WWF. The group has undertaken carbon foot-printing on 38 member farms and in 2024 will be working to understand the main Greenhouse Gas emissions from farm practices in the area and what can be done to reduce them. The group’s soil health testing programme in 2023 delivered some fascinating results and highlighted some real positives from current farming practices. For both arable and grassland samples from 54 farms the average organic matter content of soils was high & carbon stocks were above the national average. There is lots more work to do in 2024 as the group considers what can be done to enhance the nature recovery network whilst maintaining food production on our fertile soils. For more information please contact Kate Mayne: Katyjmayne@gmail.com Previous Next

< Back In December we clanged for COP28 in Shrewsbury Fiona Morgan 9 Dec 2023 Part of the Climate Justice Coalition Day of Action On the 9th December groups and individuals, including those from environmental and faith organisations, met in Shrewsbury as part of the Climate Justice Coalition Day of Action and held a protest march “WHILE COP TALKS - WYLE COP RISES!”. Gathering at the bottom of Wyle Cop, we made the most of Shrewsbury’s traffic-free weekends to march and drum together around the town helping to raise the alarm about the lack of action on the climate crisis, stopping to support the North West Relief Road protest outside Market Hall. Previous Next

< Back SSCA Four years on: Our next steps Jane Cullen 3 Oct 2023 Looking ahead for 2023 and beyond SSCA is now four years old and we are halfway through our benefactor’s very generous donation. The coordinators have enabled SSCA to continue to strengthen networks across Shropshire, building closer links with local climate and environment groups and wider voluntary and local government organisations, to support the county’s transition towards net zero. This in turn benefits peoples’ health, wellbeing and finances. This work has culminated in the development of our new website which showcases the fantastic work that is already happening across Shropshire to help inspire individuals, communities, and organisations to take climate and environmental action. We will notify you of the launch of the new website very soon.SSCA is now entering a decisive phase which requires us to make moves towards acquiring future funding to sustain our work. This is more vital than ever. Any support, advice, or experience that readers can offer would be very welcome. This could take the form of a small monthly donation from as many supporters as possible. If you are willing and able to do this please set up a BACS transfer to the following bank account: Marches Energy Agency; Sort Code: 08-92-99; Account Number: 65044713; Reference: DONATION SSCA-NCZ. We need volunteers to support our many initiatives including the retrofit exhibition, producing and sharing user friendly toolkits and videos to support and inspire people to take local climate and Nature action, updating our new website, writing articles for the newsletter and representing us at events and talks. Please contact us by email on SSCA@mea.org.uk you will be very warmly received. Our next steps: Action Learning Project The major focus of our time and energy over the next 12 months will be on an Action Learning Research project. We have received a grant from Shropshire Council’s Climate Change Taskforce to undertake an exploration of 3 or 4 communities in South Shropshire and how they can adapt and develop resilience in the face of the Climate and Nature crises as they transition towards net zero. The purpose of the project is to learn from their experience, to find out what is successful, what is not and as far as possible the reasons. One aspect to emphasize is that these projects have to be driven by the community itself, it is not being done to or for them!We are working on developing some project possibilities covering a number of types of community including: a primary school (how to decarbonise a school); a town at the beginning of the climate action process (how to decarbonise a community); a very rural parish (how to decarbonise a remote community); an organisation with county wide membership (how to use an existing network to effect change across communities); and finally an old community building (how to decarbonise a building and use it as a wider community resource to effect behaviour change). I hope you find our future exciting and that you will enthusiastically support this refocusing of direction. Previous Next

< Back Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s visit to Bishop’s Castle’s wind turbine public meeting in April Mike Watkins 1 Apr 2023 Lightfoot (members of SSCA 's network) show their support for the development of the Bishop's Castle Heat Network At a public meeting in Bishop’s Castle this month, called to report on the progress of the projected Wind-Turbine-powered Bishop’s Castle’s Community Heat & Wind Network , over 70 people responded to Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s request for a show of hands to vote on the authenticity of the climate crisis, the use of on-shore Wind-Turbines as one means of countering it and, specifically, on whether a Wind Turbine should be used for BC’s Community Heat & Wind Network . There was an overwhelmingly positive response to all his questions, with only a few dissenting or undecided. Hugh proffered an opportunity to those unconvinced or unsure to join his team to visit and learn from other renewable energy projects that will be covered as part of the Channel 4 documentary, which is to be screened in the autumn. The Heat and Wind network, designed by Sharenergy and Carbon Alternatives with funding from Shropshire & Telford Community Energy , would supply heat from an air-source heat pump powered by a Wind Turbine, which could be pumped to at least 100 houses in the Town as well as the Community College, the SpArC Leisure Centre and Enterprise House. The Heat Network would not be financially viable without the Wind Turbine. The scheme would result in a massive reduction in carbon emissions for the Town – which has an above average carbon footprint, dependent, as it is, on oil and LPG heating - and enable people to get rid of their boilers and oil tanks. A response is awaited from Shropshire Council to a pre-planning application for the Wind Turbine. A FAQs document about the scheme can be accessed via this link . To find out more about the project please e-mail: climateaction@lightfootenterprises.org Previous Next

< Back The Shrewsbury Northwest Relief Road: why we should be concerned Nick Read 1 Dec 2023 Roads or Nature? We are very grateful to Denise Crampton (Ludlow 21 Sustainable Transport Group) and Mike Streetly (Better Shrewsbury Transport) for their contributions to this article. On the 31st October 2023 Shropshire Council (SC) Northern Planning Committee approved the construction of the North West Relief Road (NWRR) by a majority of 6 to 5. Mike Streetly, of Better Shrewsbury Transport (BeST), comments: “The planning conditions are still to be agreed with relevant parties such as the Environment Agency. The full business case is expected to come to the council for approval during autumn 2024 and, if approved, work to build the road could start as early as summer 2025. The cost appears to be underwritten by money from the cancelled HS2 programme.” The decision ignores both expert and popular objections, and will cancel out the carbon saving initiatives we need to reach net zero carbon. The proposal is both out of date and ecologically destructive. Out of date…. It is almost 40 years ago that the NWRR was proposed, based on historic objectives of facilitating private transport. It will be a single carriageway road linking the A5 from the Welshpool Road roundabout in the west to the Ellesmere Road roundabout in the East. New bridges over the River Severn (and its flood plain) and the Shrewsbury-Chester railway line will have to be built. SC have combined its Oxon link road application within the NWRR, primarily to facilitate Shrewsbury’s West Urban expansion (SUE) strategic objectives. CPRE has shown that road schemes generate more traffic than background trends over the longer term, leading to permanent and significant environmental and landscape damage with little evidence of economic benefit to local communities. To achieve carbon reduction objectives, we must reduce privately owned transport in favour of shared and public travel options. Available resources should be directed at improvements in our existing shared transport network – trains and buses – and to facilitate active travel such as cycling. The NWRR cuts across Shropshire Council’s own climate emergency declaration in 2019 and the UK’s legally binding net zero pledges. It is estimated that NWRR’s construction will create 48,000 tonnes of embedded carbon emissions (for an estimated annual operational saving of 359 tonnes); it won’t be carbon neutral for more than 130 years! Ecologically destructive…. Organisations including the Woodland Trust, Shrewsbury Friends of the Earth, Shropshire Wildlife Trust, and SC’s own Ecology and Tree Teams have voiced concern. The NWRR conflicts with the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), which seeks to protect ancient trees from destruction. We risk losing 4km of biodiverse hedgerows; over ten hectares of vital agricultural land; and over a thousand trees – which include 9 magnificent veteran trees one of which is the 550-year-old ‘Darwin Oak’ . NWWR would remove significant quantities of high quality agricultural land and, once developed, would generate further air, noise and particulate pollution exacerbating the environmental destruction. Concerns have also been raised over the risk to water supply from both contamination and flooding. The Environment Agency has raised objections about the risk that the NWRR poses to the water supply for 100,000 people in Shrewsbury and west Shropshire (as far south as Church Stretton). The scheme involves building a roundabout above the inner Source Protection Zone (SPZ) of Severn Trent Water's Shelton borehole. The council has acknowledged that “were contamination of the town’s water supply to occur, the impact would be catastrophic.” What can you do? Please sign the petition to Save the Darwin Oak Change.org https://www.change.org/p/save-the-darwin-oak If you are a resident of Shrewsbury or west Shropshire (as far south as Church Stretton) an Open Letter to the Environment Agency and Severn Trent about the water contamination issue has been written which you can sign while the link remains active https://forms.gle/ZDsHk71RR6NmhPQi7 Look at the BeST website https://www.bettershrewsburytransport.org/ and Facebook pages for how to get involved. BeST is exploring legal options to challenge the situation, either through Public Inquiry or Judicial review. Discuss your concerns with your local councilor. Previous Next

< Back The Smart Energy Network Demonstrator (SEND) at Keele University Clive Dyson 8 Mar 2023 SSCA's field visit to Keele University to see their renewable energy park Mike Bourke, Susan Lockwood and Clive and Kate Dyson visited Keele University on Wednesday 8th March 2023 to see the renewable energy park and the Smart Energy Network Demonstrator (SEND). Keele University operates its own electricity distribution network, so is in a good position to experiment, somewhat isolated from the grid. It has two wind turbines, generating up to 1.7 MW, and an array of 12,500 solar panels, generating up to c. 5.5 MW. It also has a c. 2 MWh battery. On the cold, clouded winter day of our visit it was supplying about two thirds of the energy demand of the campus. There is also an export grid connection rated at about 1 MW. Alongside the energy park, it has been running a Smart Energy Network Demonstrator project, with support from Siemens (I believe it’s had research funding as well). This controls the generation system, use of electricity across the campus and export to / import from the grid. SEND also provides support to local enterprises, assisting them to develop energy-efficient low carbon solutions, and adding 120 new jobs and £40 million gross value added (GVA) to the regional economy. The University also carries out research and development in relation to low-carbon technologies, new energy products and data management systems. For example, it successfully trialled OFGEM’s Hydeploy project to inject 20% Green hydrogen into the University’s wholly owned gas network, testing its safety in the existing pipes and boilers and reducing carbon emissions by 7%. This project is now being taken forward on a larger scale in Gateshead, involving local homes, schools and other public buildings. Keele is also participating in a consortium of eight regional universities in the HyDEX programme to promote a new hydrogen industrial economy. During our visit we viewed the energy park, and learned of its positive impact on local biodiversity. During a (much warmer!) time spent in the impressive control centre we learned about the monitoring systems, the relationship of renewable energy developments to the planning regime, and the constraints of a decentralized community system like this in relation to the National Grid. This is a marvellous regional resource, and we hope to arrange further visits by key local organisations. We are most grateful to the staff of SEND for such a memorable learning experience. Previous Next

< Back The inaugural walk for our Walk Through Bridgnorth’s Green Spaces leaflet Fiona Morgan 17 Jun 2023 A walk designed to promote Wellbeing and Nature in Bridgnorth On Saturday 17th June we were delighted to launch the latest in our series of self-guided walk leaflets - the Walk through Bridgnorth’s Green Spaces - which has been produced in partnership with South Shropshire Climate Action, Sustainable Bridgnorth and Bridgnorth Library with the support of other groups including Shropshire Wildlife Trust, Energize, Bridgnorth Town Council, Community Resource and Buglife. 15 of us turned up in the first rains we had had in June for the inaugural walk which was led by the Chair of Shropshire Wildlife Trust, Bridgnorth branch. The walk was done at a leisurely pace, taking 2 hours to explore the green spaces around Bridgnorth’s High and Low Town including churchyard gardens, parks, a riverside walk, and the old alleys and paths in the town. During the walk we saw house martins swooping around Bridgnorth Bridge and geese and their baby goslings resting on the banks of the River Severn. A kingfisher was seen by one of the party darting under the bridge. We heard chiff chaff, wren and greenfinch from a spot overlooking the cliffs on the other side of the river which are also the haunt of peregrine falcons. A pitstop was made halfway round the walk at Our Green Shop (Bridgnorth’s zero waste refill shop) to buy much needed refreshments and snacks. We then headed back up to the High Town and leant about the fascinating history of the town and the history of Bridgnorth Libraries from members of Sustainable Bridgnorth and Emma Spenser, Branch Manager, Bridgnorth Library & Visitor Information Point. We finished with a stroll through Castle Park Gardens, where the second Bridgnorth Green Festival will be held on Saturday 9th September, and viewed the bug house and swallow boxes installed in the grounds of St Mary’s Church. If you are interested in doing the walk around Bridgnorth you can find the walk leaflet on the South Shropshire Climate Action website . The walk contains a variety of accessible route and more strenuous routes which include steps. The original walk leaflet, A Walk through Ludlow’s Green Spaces has also recently been revised and updated and can be accessed via the SSCA website too. We hope both walks will be used by people and groups of all ages to promote their physical and mental wellbeing through connecting people to the pockets of Nature that exist in our urban spaces and to promote sustainable tourism in south Shropshire. The more people connect to, and care about, Nature, the more they will act to protect it. Previous Next

< Back Shropshire and Telford Community Energy (STCE) take ownership of Twemlows solar farm Robert Saunders 11 Nov 2023 Bringing the benefits of solar power to Shropshire communities Congratulations to STCE on their good news - they can proceed with taking local ownership of Twemlows solar farm for the benefit of our community, generating funds for local projects whilst producing green electricity. STCE, together with partners in Community Energy Together, have negotiated an increased junior loan offer from Power to Change and Big Society Capital. Through their portfolio of five share offers on Ethex, they have collectively raised over £1.3 million. By bringing Twemlows and the other solar farms into community ownership, they will generate a collective community benefit fund of around £20 million over the next 18 years to support other green schemes in and around Shropshire and Telford. Previous Next

< Back Zero Carbon Shropshire’s AGM and Panel Discussion Fiona Morgan 17 May 2023 How can we accelerate action on the Climate and Ecological Emergencies? We attended Zero Carbon Shropshire's AGM and panel discussion on accelerating action on the Climate and Ecological Emergencies. We heard from experts and a panel of local decision makers including Ian Nellins and Julian Dean (both on the climate board for Shropshire Council), Philip Dunn MP (MP for Ludlow and Chair of the Environment Audit Committee), Carolyn Healy (Telford & Wrekin council), and Lawrence Kinnersley (Shropshire Wildlife Trust) who responded to questions from the audience. We asked how local councils (at parish, town and county level) could proactively engage young people in their decision making around the climate and ecological emergencies. Afterall young people and future generations are the ones who will be most impacted by these unfolding crises and they need their views be heard within our political processes. Previous Next