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CAP ( Community Action Plan) Theme 5 Carol updated us re what has been going on with the CAP Theme 5 (Environment and Sustainability). A Community Renewable Energy Scheme is being discussed.
  Update - Insulate Pitlochry Event went really well with many people stopping to chat to us about all things sustainable regarding our homes. Some information for you. If you're struggling to heat your home and want to reduce your carbon footprint, free help is available. The Heat Project provides a free professional energy advice service to all households and small and medium businesses. Tel: 0783 4962 361 or [email protected]. Home owners can apply for grants of up to £9,000 from Home Energy Scotland. Tel: 0808 808 2282. For private sector tenants, check your landlord complies with legal requirements (EPC of E or better for tenancies beginning from Oct 2020, D from 31/3/22) then apply to Home Energy Scotland. For Local authority tenants should call 07342 924 787, Paul Stewart. Or http://www.pridejoyhomeservices.co.uk/ For landlords, a 0% (plus admin. fee) loan may be available. Business owners can get up to 50% of the cost of EV chargers. Energy Saving Trust. Email:[email protected]
In the mean-time advice will be taken from other organisations such as Local Energy Scotland. Also from other areas/organisations who have tried similar things, to try to learn from any mistakes. Eg Linlith-Go-Solar. It was mentioned that some individuals in Victorian houses in the Conservation Area are having problems getting planning permission etc for renewables such as solar panels on their homes. Land for community garden/orchard/allotments Things are still at an early stage, but this is looking more and more likely. The landowner is very keen for the community to use some land of her land and has already been deer-fenced. Planning permission may be needed for access/parking etc. There may also be tree planting opportunities in Black Spout wood, according to “O” Omungandr Melchizedik. Some of the small beech trees that have self planted will also be removed. Community Garden Share Doing very well. There are now 3 gardens in the share, and volunteers who help generally with the scheme, have come on board. The “open Kitchen” has also developed linked to this. Anna is going to give us an update soon. Sprout – The Community Eco-Hub and the Burnside Toilets Update Kaja and I started to investigate the toilets as a permanent venue for Climate Café and a new community eco hub early in 2021. After the Men's shed began in August 2021 we were approached by Andrew, and being a member of the Men's Shed, he mentioned they were also looking for a premises and about us sharing the toilets. Kaja, Pete (as Chair of Men’s Shed) and I spoke about this and it seemed like a good solution for both the Climate Café and Men’s Shed to share. That was before the Men’s Shed were offered in November last year, the old Handam shop as a permanent space for them to use and hopefully set up a tool library too. As they now have that space, and as we are still looking at the permanent space so the main group to take on the building would be Sprout to provide an advice and information hub on energy, transport, food etc, including Climate Cafes, workshops and monthly Repair Cafes, workshops, meeting space, swap shop, a remakery (Crieff Remake) etc. We would be using most of the space in the building with the Men’s Shed some workshop space for the Men’s Shed. And we would be able to include some publicly accessible toilets too. Outside the building would be an outdoor workspace and social space. Sprout will be formed by the end of February, and it will be Company Limited By Guarantee (CLG) and we are still hoping to interest more members to take the project forward. However, there are now 2 commercial businesses who are interested in the building, so it is now on sale on the open market. So we are also in the process of writing the application for a Community Asset Transfer to be submitted asap. Carol Aitken
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Here is a list of the dates up to June 2023 for both Climate Cafes and Environment & Sustainability Group (CAP Theme 5) should you be interested in the Community Renewable Energy Project. They will all continue to be either virtual or in person. The new venue for both meet ups is the Pitlochry Library, 26 Atholl Rd, Pitlochry PH16 5BX.
For the Climate Cafes (Second week of the month. Tuesday 1pm - 3pm and Thursday 7pm to 9pm) - Tuesday 10th January & Thursday 12th January, Tuesday 7th Feb & Thursday 9th Feb, Tuesday 7th March & Thursday 9th March, Tuesday 11th April & Thursday 13th April, Tuesday 9th May & Thursday 11th May, Tuesday 13th June & Thursday 15th June. Martin Mathers, Nathan Jamieson from The Heat Project, myself, Alison R, Charlie and Maggie McCarthy have organised a table in the COOP for Saturday 21st January from 9am till 2pm to give out and promote how we can insulate our homes and reduce energy consumption and save money. Would anyone be interested in helping on the day for an hour or two? For the CAP group (All Thursdays 7pm to 9pm) - 19th January, 16th February, 16th March, 20th April, 18th May and 22nd June. At our next meeting in January one of the items we will be discussing is the initial steps we need to take to begin the Community Renewable Energy Project - finding people to help with this stage of information gathering and organising some presentations and discussions with organisations such as CARES, (Local Energy Scotland) Community Energy Scotland and other community groups such as Linlith Go Solar etc so we understand what the process entails and how they managed it. Learn the lessons early from different groups, which will save a lot of time and effort through not making the mistakes other communities have made. Carol Aitken O has donated some woodland trees for planting at Dun Coillich and will have more in the future. Through a few discussions in the Climate Café, Alison R. along with The Delta Park group have planted 5 new fruit trees in the park this year for community use.
Community Garden share: Anna S and the Garden share volunteers now have 3 gardens participating. Volunteers attend these gardens with a view to growing fruit and vegetables to share with each other and with the community in the Food Larder. Since last year, Catherine Holmes brought together a team of volunteer fruit pickers, who with garden owners’ permission, gathered fruit (mainly apples) for free distribution in the community. Anna and volunteers also helped with the fruit picking this year and gathered 4 tons of apples that were taken to Wasted Degrees to be turned into cider. Repair Café: Has proved very popular as both a repair café and social space for our community to meet up. There is funding until March with more funding been applied for through Community Investment Fund to cover the following 12 months. Enchanted Forest: A meeting with Enchanted Forest is being organised to continue to develop ways to be more carbon neutral. Town centre recycling bins: A proposal that was discussed in the Climate Café and almost implemented in early 2020 is to be resurrected with PKC but the aim is to get some local sponsorship e.g. from Enchanted Forest. Men’s Shed Venue: They now have a premises which was previously occupied by Handam and there will have some space for a Tool Library. Old Toilet Block: Building in very bad condition. PKC’s valuation of the building should be completed soon awaited. Potential uses include some workshop space for Men’s Shed. A shower, toilet and chemical disposal toilet for camper vans who park in the local vicinity. Space for our Climate Café and Sprout, the community eco hub, which having a permanent location would allow us to create an information and meeting space, A Remakery, and where workshops and regular events could be staged. Sprout, The Community Eco Hub: has 45 members signed up as at date of meeting. Preference is for the organisation to become a CLG or charity so we can become an umbrella community organisation for other environmental groups and events such as the Remakery and the Repair Café etc. Pitlochry Eco Badge – Alison would like some help to contact Accommodation Providers to discuss this. Himalayan Balsam – Alison is interested in this along with a few other people and will be chatting to some people from Dunkeld about the issues etc. Updates on any actions from E & S Group ( CAP Theme 5) on 2nd November which was focused on Community Renewable Energy with *Martin Mathers and *John Ferguson. The main points are:
Process First Stage (about 12 months) - It's about getting a group of people together from many fields of expertise and any interested residents for conversations. Second Stage (about 18 months)- We would have an idea of what renewables scheme we would want, so funding and funding and hire energy consultants etc and to consider things like planning applications, would be next. Next Climate Cafés - The new venue for future Climate Cafes will be the Pitlochry Library Tuesday in the second week of the month so our first two are on 10th January 1pm & Thursday 12th January 7pm. Support for Climate Cafes and key for Library - O and Alison have offered to support all of us by taking some future Climate Cafes and being the responsible person for keys for library. *John Ferguson is the head of Strategy at the Binn Eco Innovation Park in Perthshire which its primary business themes are waste and resource management, renewable energy and food production. *Martin Mathers is the project manager for The Heat Project who provide free, professional energy advice service to households and (businesses) throughout Perth and Kinross to help them become more energy efficient and reduce their energy bills. Carol Aitken Upcoming Events
The Heat Project conversation at the next Climate Cafes on Thursday 2nd June 7pm and Tuesday 17th June, 1pm. The venue is the Moulin Hall. In April 2022, energy bills have rapidly increased for many households across the UK. The amount varied between households, but a typical energy bill increased by approximately £700 a year or more and could go up again in the autumn. We will be having a conversation with Martin Mathers from The Heat Project who can chat to us about ways to help reduce energy bills and improve energy efficiency of houses. Everyone is welcome so please let your friends and neighbours know. If you are interested in either event please let me know just so we have an idea of how many are coming. And of course if you want to attend virtually then I can organise that too if you let me know.
Food Waste Reduction & Recycling Project with PKC: Food waste is a major contributor to climate change so following their Food Waste Survey earlier in 2022, Yvonne Bell from the PKC Waste Minimalisation Team in association with the climate cafes is looking to deliver various events with local communities to promote food waste reduction and/or food waste recycling over the coming months. We will be working with her on a composting project over the summer, which will finish with a Zero-waste Food Waste Action event on Saturday 1st October 2022 of Climate Week. More information soon and in the meantime if you are interested please let me know/. The Pitlochry Garden Share is Anna Stokes idea, inspired by the Taybank Growers Cooperative. The idea is to form a network of gardens in and around Pitlochry for food production by a team of enthusiastic volunteers who lack growing space of their own ie matching the labour to the land, very similar to Lend and Tend, but more like a community garden where a team of people share the workload and cooperate. There are lots of different ways to contribute, from offering garden space, tools, plants, seeds etc, to working in the garden, to sharing ideas and knowledge. Any extra produce can be sold in Handam and proceeds used to save up for eg equipment such as a polytunnel. The idea is not only to facilitate growing fruit and vegetables for interested individuals, but also to eventually increase the amount of local, affordable produce for everyone in the area. It is early days so there is one garden and 5 volunteers involved. More information to follow. If you are interested in this project then please get in touch. Carol Aitken [email protected] 1) Community Woodland update. Mark Aquilina has heard back from Pitlochry Estates He wrote to them to see if there may be any woodland available. Mr Charles Butter responded, and said that unfortunately there is no suitable land at present. So other options will have to be explored. The Woodland Group will meet again soon.
Allotments were discussed at Community Council on 11/4/22. No further forward at present. 2) Green badge to be set up locally for accommodation providers update. ECO business providers in Pitlochry will be able to apply for a Green badge in near future for their hotel/B&B/holiday let's etc. Meeting with Growbiz was very successful. Would anyone be interested in helping Alison Robb with this. Graeme Fish from Torrdarach House B&B is going to help Alison Robb with looking over the questionnaire for her. 3) Repair Cafe,and difficulties re premises for Repair Cafe, Men’s Shed and Sprout (Eco-Hub) Julia Harriman is particularly interested in trying to get this started up. A post on the local Pitlochry Community Facebook page produced quite a few responses from people with various skills, and one or two folk also expressed an interest at the recent Community Action Plan event at the Town Hall ( where the Climate Cafe had a table). A few people attended a virtual Repair Cafe workshop recently organised by Circular Communities Scotland. The Glasgow Repair Cafe may be designing a “start-up pack “ for new Repair Cafes which would be useful. It is hoped that the Repair Cafe could happen on a reasonably regular basis, eg once a month. Kaja feels that a Repair Cafe could operate out of Handam, especially if a gazebo could be put up outside the back of Handam to provide extra space and shelter. This would probably be at days or times when the Handam shop was closed. Also some workshops and events may happen in the Moulin Hall, and a Repair Cafe could be held at the same time. There are a few possibilities re premises. The toilet block behind Handam is an option and has been discussed with the PKC. However, the roof is now leaking and the price of fixing it could be considerable. The “Drama Hut” is another possibility but is very full of “stuff” with no alternative home. There is a possible space in the Townhall too 4) Community Action Plan Feedback March 25th/26th was very well attended. People very engaged and keen to see improvements in many aspects of environment and life generally in Pitlochry. Preliminary findings suggest especially concerns around lack of facilities for young people in the environment. Early findings to be reported on shortly. We included some posters with information on - What the Climate Café is. What Sprout the Community Eco Hub will be, A local Repair Café, Men’s Shed, Community Woodlands group etc and a list of workshops and presentations we have organised so they can be promoted to a wider audience. 5) Piffl Boxes Gothenberg. Deirdre Maceachern has relatives in Sweden where they have this system which enable people, young and old who don’t have of cant afford access to sports equipment and games to play in parks in the city. Equipment is stored in a large compartmented metal cabinets...ie Piffl box. They are accessed via an app and you need to input a credit card number although you wont be charged unless you keep the equipment. . Deirdre is hoping to find out more when she visits Sweden next month. This would seem to be a possible idea for Pitlochry. 6) Proposed New Forestry Road across Moulin Moor from the Ballyoukan Forest to join the A924 between Pitlochry and Kirkmichael See Carol Aitken’s recent email dated 7th April re this for more details. This issue was discussed at the Community Council meeting, Monday 11th April, and 10 members of the Climate Cafe attended. Councillors John Duff and Xander McDade were present. The main points of concern are: proposed timber extraction route over Moulin Moor, which is an SSSI. Possible disturbance to surrounding wildlife/plantlife, especially birds. Also potential damage to areas of deep peat and/or adverse affects on local water supply. An Environmental Impact Assessment has been carried out, but some further studies need to be completed re peat depth/quality and bird life. There is also great concern re the potential number of timber lorries passing along the A924 and then through Pitlochry. In view of the level of interest in this proposed road, The Community Council have contacted Neil White of Scottish Woodlands and organise a public meeting. 7) Hustings – prior to local elections a Hustings was held in Aberfeldy Town hall on 27th April 2022. Aberfeldy Climate Cafe organised this event and there were a few people from Pitlochry Climate Café attended. A question was asked about the proposed timber extraction from Ballyoukan Forest. Not much has happened yet but they are not going to start extracting timber until 2024 and they are looking at taking the timber lorries through Kirkmichael as the timber would be headed for the East Coast and Aberdeen. Not great for Kirkmichael and those who live along those roads. 8) Update on Sprout, The Community Eco Hub. The creation of Sprout is to help the Climate Café and other groups to apply for funding for any projects like a Repair Café. Workshops and Conversations. Carol is on the process of organise a number of events for the community. Events on Food waste to assist householders in reducing the amount of avoidable food waste. Along with other events on Energy, Water, childrens activities focused on recycling and climate change, gardens and biodiversity etc. Once the dates etc are sorted the list will be sent to you. Do you have any other ideas for topics for presentations and workshops you would like to see happen? 9) Earth Day 22nd April 2022: Deirdre organised an event in response to Earth Day and the Global Clean Up Project 2022. Eight people from our local Litter pick group and Climate Café volunteered to helped with the Big Sweep down Atholl Road from The Auld Smiddy to Escape Route. It was dirty and untidy but there was a great response from local people and visitors 10) Climate Fringe week late Sept, early October – What can we do to make it a week long event? Story telling and Science, Music, Quizzes…. Some events activities discussed were Food Waste Activities with PKC Yvonne Bell eg. Using up leftovers, freezing safely, foraging. Any ideas welcome. 11)PKC Managed for Wildlife Trials Public Consultation – October 2022 This year PKC will be managing some green areas in selected parks and open spaces in a special way - and they want to know your thoughts! Selected green areas will be managed on a trial basis with view to benefit native flowers, bees, butterflies and other wildlife. This will be achieved by allowing the grass to grow freely in some areas, while other areas will only have one single grass cutting this year, and the rest will see a combination of both methods. Let them know your comments on both the trials as a whole, and to tell us which areas matter most to you. You can read more information, view the trial areas, as well as fill in the survey, at the following link: https://consult.pkc.gov.uk/communities/managed-for-wildlife/ 12)The Green Lie Documentary interesting documentary looking at Palm oil and companies like Unilever and Nestle and the impact they are having on the biodiversity in countries like Indonesia. And how not green or sustainable these plantations are and its not just our spending power but talking action too. https://www.takeoneaction.org.uk/film/the-green-lie/ Purchase or free. There are other films too that I could look into for screening in Pitlochry. 13) Aberdeen's Climate Action Climate Cafe Event - What if your Pensions or Investment could change the world, Was Tuesday 1st March There is a copy on their FB page and youtube if anyone is interested https://www.facebook.com/aberdeenclimateaction/videos/4378500812250569 14) Street Bank tool exchange. Alison is part of this group and although it is small it is up and running. Would this be of interest to you so more people could share and borrow tools etc from each other and get to know their neighbours. There are also websites to help recycle, upcycle and pass on items such as Freegle, Trash Nothing, Gumtree and Facebook etc Next Climate Café:- Thursday 5th May and Tuesday 10th May Climate Cafes are either 1st Thursday in month from 7pm or 2nd Tuesday in month from 1 pm. (virtual or in person). All to be held in Moulin Hall. |
