Havant FOE Newsletter - March 2021

Join us for a public meeting on Zoom on 24th March at 7pm. There will be a short presentation by Laura Ho from national Green New Deal UK, outlining the aims of the campaign, as well as presentations by Gary Morton, chair of Havant branch of Unison, and Councillors Julie Thain-Smith and Lulu Bowerman from Havant Borough Council giving information about Green Jobs locally.

The meeting will then be opened up for contributions and discussion from the audience. Green New Deal UK will be releasing data in March to show how many green jobs could be created in each local area across the country.

Havant Green New Deal wants to make sure that everyone in Havant Borough hears this figure and joins us in demanding investment locally in Green Jobs to help the economic recovery and to create sustainable jobs for the future. Come and have your say!

https://actionnetwork.org/events/havant-green-jobs-for-all

There’s lots more information on the new Facebook page for Green New Deal Havant Please like and share it on social media

Green Jobs

Do you know about interesting green jobs locally? Do you have ideas for creating green jobs in the Havant area? Are you looking for a green job and finding it hard to access training? We’d love to hear your views.

Green New Deal Havant is looking for people to share their stories.

Share your thoughts or ideally make a short 40 second video which can be shared on social media on 23rd March.

We want to make sure that everyone in our community hears this figure, joins us in demanding Green Jobs.

Read the preliminary report here https://www.greennewdealuk.org/updates/green-jobs-for-all-report/

Local Elections May 6^th

This is a key moment to influence candidates and South East Climate Alliance has come up with a pledge card to ask local candidates if they will commit, if elected, to press their Council to four Pledges:

• Aim higher,
• Build partnerships,
• Communicate
• Divest from fossil fuels.

We want to make sure climate change is at the front of both candidates’ and voters’ minds as they go into the election. Find out more: https://seclimatealliance.uk/abcdpledge/

FOE are running a training session: How to lobby your council election candidates on 15th March.

Climate Action have put information, resources and training opportunities on their Elections 2021 hub page

Also they have created some new images  to use to get the word out about local campaigns.

The coalition is organising a second programme of talks From The Ground Up #2: Take  Action Now  which has now been postponed to 22-25 April

This four day global online gathering will include 24 dedicated sessions focused on some of the key issues facing our movements today, including

• How do we build power in our communities and workplaces for climate justice?
• How can we mobilise millions of people into taking action to stop fossil fuels extraction?
• How can we organise to win?

And this is an article from the latest South East Climate Alliance newsletter https://seclimatealliance.uk/cop26-call-to-action/

Climate Action have produced a strategy for the year which they’d like us to share with local groups https://takeclimateaction.uk/resources/climate-action-groups-2021-strategy

They are also collating views from climate activists: https://friendsoftheearth.typeform.com/to/OQc59gxH

Warblington Farm Nitrates Scheme up for an Award.

We have news that Havant Borough Council has been put up for/or has put itself up for an award from the CIEEM (Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management) for its innovative scheme to turn Warblington Farm, a mixed dairy and arable farm, into a nature reserve, so enabling a Nitrate Credit system which allows housebuilding to go ahead.

Much was made of this being a high Nitrate producing farm, so reducing production would theoretically reduce the amount of nitrates entering the Chichester and Langstone Harbours. Calculations for this were based on a mathematical formula from Natural England based on an average of Nitrate run off for different types of farm in the Solent area.

Our understanding was that there was low fertiliser  use on the farm, although we have no measurements to make our case. The 90 cows are probably the larger source of nitrates, but for the time being they remain, even while Nitrate Credits are being issued.

Even by Natural England’s calculations, there are types of farm like pigs and poultry which produce far more nitrates, so such a farm would be better used for nitrate mitigation and have a more significant effect on reducing harmful nitrates in our Harbours.

And there is also a whole other issue about how Southern Water discharges of its stormwater.

One would like to object to this award, although we have to admit that the Warblington Scheme is a clever, innovative and cheap (HBC’s own land) solution to enable house building, even if it isn’t helping the Harbours much.

Also we do not have the scientific evidence of nitrate levels on the farm to make a concrete case against it. So our arguments are a bit hypothetical. However if anyone thinks that we should be making a representation to CIEEM please let me know.

This remains under Appeal by the Planning Inspectorate and HBC have already said that in theory they will permit it, but the original application APP/18/00724 has had a few tweaks so these now need approval at the Planning Committee on 10^th March. In case anyone wants to present another deputation it needs to be with HBC no later than 4pm on Monday 8^th March.

Trees are great for helping tackle the climate emergency, storing carbon and providing shade and habitats. Hampshire County Council intends to plant more trees on residential roads during the next planting season, starting in November 2021. The council would like your help to identify suitable locations.

If you know of a local street that could be improved for people and enhanced for nature by the presence of trees, please nominate it by using this form

Hampshire County Council has just launched a new scheme to cut the cost of solar panels. It’s a group buying scheme (with iChoosr) for homeowners and small businesses. They will gather details of interested people over the next few week, then iChoosr will select approved solar panel suppliers to quote for all the installations. The aim is to get a discount on the usual price..

To register, or find out more, visit the Solar Together webpage.

The Committee on Climate Change has produced a very interesting supporting paper on the role of local authorities in delivering the UK’s Net Zero ambition.

It highlights the current disconnect between what central government and local authorities are doing, and aims to provide a framework for aligning climate action at the local level with the CCC’s pathways for the UK.

The report provides important ammunition for local councils to argue for greater support from central government for their climate action efforts, and an altogether more joined up approach.

Thurs 11th March, 8pm, Irreplaceable: Urban Green Spaces We’ll be joined by Julian Hoffman, author of ‘Irreplaceable: The Fight to Save our Wild Places, and will be discussing the value of urban green spaces for both wildlife and human wellbeing.

Thurs 25th March, 8pm, Portsmouth Climate Board Update We’ll be joined by Nick Sebley for an update on the Board, launch of the new website and new strategy.

If you would like the details on how to join in please contact [email protected]

Find out more on their website at https://havantclimatealliance.wordpress.com/ or  follow them on Facebook or Twitter: @HavClimate