Halesworth Community Energy & Biodiversity Workshops

Welcome to 2026 Community Energy & Biodiversity Workshops 

 
We’ve got some exciting news to share with you about Community Energy with a workshop in Westhall, but that’s not all: Halesworth ASH, on behalf of Halesworth Town Council, is inviting the community to help scope out it’s Biodiversity Action Plan (which includes land use for energy)  

 

Energy, Life and indispensable Biodiversity - a talk by Professor Peter Hobson to kick off our weekend

Friday 25 September 

6.30 Welcome to St Mary’s Church  by Reverend Dominic Doble 

6.45 Professor Peter Hobson – Energy, Life and indispensable Biodiversity. We welcome back Professor Peter Hobson to wake us up and give perspective. 

7.45 Overview of Biodiversity Workshops and Community Energy 

8.00 Drinks & light refreshment

 

Community Energy workshop in Westhall Village Hall. 

Communities can help to shape the way that energy is produced and used in their area. East Suffolk Community Energy Programme are engaging four communities in East Suffolk, Westhall is one,  to start conversations about energy use and renewable energy generation. This includes keeping homes warm and healthy and reducing energy bills.

Community-led energy projects keep benefits local – from cheaper energy bills to investment in local facilities. When communities lead energy projects, they create solutions that work for everyone – helping to tackle rising energy costs and reduce our climate impact

Local people know their area and are best placed to shape solutions that work for everyone. That’s why we are inviting residents in the Westhall area to join a discussion about the role community-owned renewables could play in the future energy generation. All voices and views are welcome as we work together to discuss a way forward. 

 

 

 

 

Saturday 26 September 

9.30 -12.30 Community Energy potential @ Westhall Village Hall 

This event has limited space so is ticketed. You can get your tickets here

 

Scoping out our Halesworth Biodiversity Action Plan 

An invitation to all Halesworth community and neighbouring parishes to scope out a Biodiversity Action Plan. What exists now, how is our land used? How can we increase our biodiversity in the future? Can we generate energy for our community? Can we join our wildlife corridors or circle Halesworth in trees? 

 

Saturday 26 September 

2.00 – 5.00 Scoping out Halesworth’s Biome

St Mary’s Church Halesworth

Workshops based on:

  • Land use – how we use land for urban living
  • Water – River Blyth/ponds/Wetlands
  • Trees and hedgerows, including our Heritage Trees dataset
  • Fauna: Swifts, hedgehogs, reptiles, bats and the animals who live among us. 
  • Open Spaces – our gardens, cemeteries, school playgrounds and open spaces
  • Community energy and land, biodiversity and food

We’ll see what we our current status is and  with a bit of blue sky thinking aim for what we’d like to achieve in our mix of urban needs, so that shared vision of living in harmony with nature is fulfilled.

 

This is event is supporting Halesworth Town Councils objective of creating a Biodiversity Action Plan. Some background is here (INSERT LINK TO HTC WEB). It’s a 3 year project and includes all the ways you could get involved. We are specifically  inviting all Parish Councils to join us so we can support each other, and join up our wildlife corridors.