Sarah, Althea and some young helpers have trialled a tree game: feel free to download and share!

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/18dK8Fdo74pFTleOjxMg2IyFHLhoivDk-g2scRNFzkAY/edit#slide=id.g963907f3c1_0_37

Our very own Prof Sarah Bridle launched her book “Food and Climate Change without the Hot Air” this week. Beautifully written, great graphics, games to play for all the family. Get thinking how you and your family can really reduce your carbon emissions and be healthier as a result!

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/finalists-revealed-in-competition-to-find-homes-of-the-future

Our very own Flo Collier, founder of Wimslow’s Passivhaus consultancy, Humblebee, and her colleagues at http://www.positivecollective.co.uk have been shortlisted for Home of 2030!

You can read all about it at https://humblebee.eco/the-positive-collective/

Congratulations Flo! Looking forward to seeing some of these wonderful looking developments in Wilmslow!

We recently had a great talk at a Community Market Garden meeting from the Chew Magna Community Farm Group. Ped, who runs the farm, was so inspiring and encouraging to us. We were really shocked and saddened to read a post he wrote later in their newsletter about the casual (and not so casual) racism he has endured throughout his life in the UK. That set us thinking about how we can reach out to a more diverse community and how we can become a more inclusive and welcoming group. We are going to be discussing this at our monthly meeting on Thursday 20 August 7.30pm, email transitionwilmslow@gmail.com for zoom details if you have not received them. Please do join us. Here are some thoughts and some reading matter from Sarah

Please complete our survey

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdKSZ6lzRbIa9xlDK4iN21INN1_TW5Xcnkns6SspmreTYAU0A/viewform

Questions and Answers:

Lots of people have been contacting us with questions about the Moss and the work that is going on there, particularly relating to the very large volumes of peat being removed from the site. We contacted the ecologist overseeing the restoration and here are his answers:

Fantastic news today that the owners of Lindow Moss have agreed with Bowdon Homes the sale of the land for 14 houses. This secures the future of Lindow Moss as a nature reserve. John Handley from our Lindow Moss group says: “This is very good news for Lindow Moss. The Moss is our cultural heritage and we think that it is really important that it is restored for everyone.” We are celebrating World Bog Day on Sunday 26th July; pick up a map from us at the Rotherwood Road entrance by the White House at 2pm and make your own way round the Moss  and explore some of the many special places on the Moss. It’s not a guided walk, walk at your own risk, it’s very muddy so wear boots, keep in your family groups, maintain social distancing and consider wearing a face covering.

Our Lindow Moss Restoration Group has been working for years to raise awareness of the importance of the restoration of the Moss so it can become a vital carbon sink to battle climate change and a place of biodiversity; and a beautiful place for us to walk and cycle. We now believe that the pre-restoration work is genuinely underway, as cut peat is cleared from the Moss to enable a topographical survey to be undertaken which will allow the detailed restoration plans to be agreed. We want the community to be fully informed by both the owners and Cheshire East Council as to what is going on, and we want local people to be able to contribute to the restoration plans so it becomes a place ultimately that belongs to all of us…for ever….and is the restored Moss that we want to see.

If you want your say on the Moss please fill in this short survey

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdKSZ6lzRbIa9xlDK4iN21INN1_TW5Xcnkns6SspmreTYAU0A/viewform

If you are happy to share your email address we will ensure that you receive regular updates and have a chance to have your say.

Many thanks to Tatton MP Esther McVey who asked a question in the House of Commons this week about the importance of peat bogs for climate change mitigation, biodiversity and health and well being. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2020-07-06.69533.h&s=speaker%3A24882#g69533.q0

She also raised the vital question of banning peat sales which must be an essential part of any bog restoration programme.

Thank you to Fulshaw WI Climate Ambassadors for raising this vital topic at a recent Climate Change Coalition discussion with Esther.

We have been writing to Cheshire East Council and Councillors for years about Lindow Moss. We have recently been feeling completely devastated that it might very easily (and very soon) turn into a landfill site and we were ready to kickstart a campaign to raise awareness (if not merry hell) about the threat that would pose to this place we all love so much. Today, we discovered (only because we were told there was work going on on the Moss) that Croghan Peat have started restoration…and CEC apparently were aware of this! We are pretty certain (but want to hear confirmed) that this overturns that dreadful planning consent of 2003 that allowed “landfill with inert waste and return to agriculture”. We are going to think about what’s next…could it be that we turn Lindow Moss into the nature reserve it should have always been with Lindow Man’s find spot properly marked? Let us Know what you think!

Lockdown has been an opportunity for many of us to take solace and pleasure in walking and cycling in our own neighbourhood, exploring places we hadn’t been for a while or perhaps didn’t even know existed. Walking and cycling is good for us…reduces the air pollution that we know contributes to poor outcome in people with Covid-19 infections and exercise in fresh air keeps us all healthier. It also reduces traffic congestion and all the costs and frustration that go with that. 1.3 million bikes have apparently been sold in the UK since March….let’s make our streets safer so people actually want to cycle and walk again!

https://transitionwilmslow.files.wordpress.com/2020/06/20s-plenty-campaign-town-hall-meeting.docx

Everyone is invited to our virtual Town Hall meeting on Monday 6 July 7pm, email transitionwilmslow@gmail.com for joining details. Let our Councillors know what you think about this, and sign our petition here:

ttps://www.change.org/p/cheshire-east-20-s-plenty-for-cheshire-east