Great to see so many speakers from our first climate conference including CONGA, as well as new speakers specific for the Beccles area, like the Broads Authority. Beautiful light expansive church. Well organised by the town council with support from East Suffolk Council.
NB These are my personal reflections not those of Halesworth Ash, and apologies if there are any errors, let me know!
Friday Panel discussion
(Rachel SL, Ed Gillespie (inspiring speaker), Caroline T, Adrian R, MP, Jess Assato MP
Rev Mark Bee – gave thanks to Beccles Town Council – doing what they should be doing.
Adrian, recalled his teacher Mr Maddock 1996, first waking him up to climate change, which has pervaded his life. He supported recent initiatives of solar on all new builds (taken too long) but, a. insulate b. why airport expansion c don’t rely on carbon capture and new tech, use it but don’t rely. AND not enough attention to nature in planning/sustainable farming.
importance of preparing local communities eg DISS re-wiggling the river, flood prevention and biodiversity
-> FIND OUT MORE Waveney Wiggle at DISS
Ed Gillespie: 30 years in Climate. Excellent inspirational speaker. CC like teenage sex, talk a lot about it but do little.
Historic changes: What was 40% is now 20% (biodiversity) but what was 20% (renwewable) is now over 50%
Caroline – what I choose to do. Excellent presentation for this conference – back down to earth, we can effect with our decisions.
Rachel SL – long list. GLT Hemp Building. TPOs on trees.
-> FIELD TO FORK
-> NATURE FIRST small grants
-> There is an empty properties officer – send them any information.
https://www.eastsuffolk.gov.uk/housing/empty-properties/
-> Leisure centres (Deben, Leiston and another) solar??
Q Why not on brown field development?
-> 1675 new homes in East Suffolk. Waveney Local Plan being updated. While this happens speculative developers can apply – dangerous times ahead.
Decentralised community energy – important
Adrian – agrees with principle of farmers land taxed (to dissuade speculators), but recommends raising the threshold eg 1 mil to say 3 mil to keep family farms.
Saturday
Peter Environmental Ethics
The talk he gave in Halesworth, modified over these 3 years)
Saving the earth – a universal ethical framework
We have all the science we need, but we are ethically challenged
State of earth. Disconnect. Anxiety. We are in the 6th extinction, happening 200 times faster than the previous one. By 2050 we will have lost 50% of our biodiversity.
Importance of asking questions eg How much as climate change affected your life? (travel, food, children, choices). Packham, am I ethically right to break the law in the name of protest>
Savanna Hypothesis – we are genetically hardwired to like this tree. Positive emotonal response to the natural world, could save us. However, some argue against, like Edward Wlson, who say we have to be educated.
RIGHTS
- Libertarian – all living things have rights – we can no longer boil a lobster alive
- Eco-centrism
- Anthropocene – Nature utilitarian for the use of humans
Precautionary Principle/Biodiversity Principle/Universal Ethical Framework needed. We need half the earth into biodiversity
Peter – 4 Rivers Recovery Project
2014 – UK rivers 40% ok
2025 UK rivers 0%
Why? Deregulation/ stopped monitoring/ 40% budget cut / increase input expansion industry/sewage
3 year project
Stakeholders Landowners
Community Participation – Workshops / Training / Planniing
Citizen Science monitoring
Intervention
Low tech, high impact equipment
Rev. Leon Collyer – Saints farmer
Turned his back on 300 acres family farm (studied physics, became a priest) until he saw Youtube on Regenerative Farming. 2017. A born again farmer. Not climate but Biophylic. Inspiring talk, good contrast to theory of Peters.
Hugh Somerleyton
Sung the joy of Ragwort. Football analogy. Farm on healthland which after WW2 was planted with monoculture of trees/bracken. Now re-wilding,
Wild-East – future landscape visioning. What if, Map of Dreams
Hugh Somerleyton, said our words: What if? (Jim’s vision) the thinking behind the Map of Dreams.
-> EMAIL re Kinda Forest School story to make a movie
Peter Aldous: The case for ground mounted solar
Up our street. – 68 acres 12 went into solar. Got a great quote from him: “I traded a few over a typical East Anglian outlook to a far more biodiverse outlook” My new neighbours were birds of pray”
I don’t like mono culture, and that applies as much to the 900 acre field created by a local farmer taking down hedges, to a 2-3,000 acre solar farm
Are we loosing agricultural land for food? Currently solar takes up 0.06% of agricultural land. Most optimistically it will take up 1% of agricultural land. Less than land used for golf.
Our East Anglian current agricultural system of farming is no longer sustainable. We used to rotate winter wheat, oil seed rape and sugar beet. These days the climate seriously challenges this, for example drilling into this current drought, together with a surge of Black Grass. However what is bad for cereals today is good for solar. This is diversity, spreading the load.
However the stepping stones from traditional to regenerative are not always in place. Solar helps with this transition.
5 lessons
- Out of hedges have grown mature trees
- Drainage needs to be well sorted, ditches dug out
- Only the construction period is an upheaval. Once done peace.
- Co-benefit, engage with community, community energy
- Long supply chains, to build up locally, potentially fab opportunity
Andrea Kelly – Broads Authority
Fascinating history back to pre-history and Roman, particularly interesting slide of transection of river section. Putting back wildlife that would have existed.
Reed harvesting, only 3% of UK reed, why?
Naturally wet land which has been drained, agriculture imposed to low lands.
Netherland have accepted and welcomed sponge land!
Degraded peat, exudes carbon, flooding.
Aim to store whats left of carbon, strong water, flood resilient, semi natural fen.
CONGA
-> Contact Peter and invite to September NOW. He is impatient.
