News
Serpentine Farm in Buxton Gets Reprieve from Eviction
Fri, 3 August 2018
A community-owned growing space and garden which was under threat of eviction from the council which owned its land has been given a reprieve. The volunteers running Serpentine Farm have spent the last year fighting the possibility of eviction by High Peak Borough Council who wanted to sell the land for development. Now they have been given a lease until at least December 2019 and begun looking into the possibility of raising funds to buy the land as a group.
The farm, which has links with nurseries, schools, a local college and university, plus mental health services and JobCentre Plus, is always welcoming new volunteers.
Belper First Town in Derbyshire to Launch a Refill Project
Fri, 3 August 2018
Belper is the first town in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire to launch a Refill project to reduce plastic bottle use in the area. Refill projects across the country are asking cafes, shops, hotels and businesses to offer to refill people’s water bottles with tap water for free. An app and window stickers show the location of all the businesses participating.
Refill Belper was launched in June by a local teenager Charlotte Creed as part of her Bright Green Future Environmental project. In partnership with Transition Belper, a local environmental community group, Charlotte and her family have already signed up 12 locations in the DE56 area.
August Newsletter Out Now
Fri, 3 August 2018Our August newsletter is out now and packed full of the latest local news about action on climate change.
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45,000th LED Street Light Installed in Nottinghamshire
Wed, 1 August 2018
Nottinghamshire got its 45,000th new LED street light during July, marking the latest stage of the County Council’s street light replacement project to convert all old-style, low pressure sodium lights to new, efficient LEDs. Mansfield residents, including Lonan Close, Forest Town, where the 45,000th LED light was fitted, are benefitting from a full conversion of all 13,500 lights to new energy-saving LED street lights and up to 500 new columns across the town.
Nottinghamshire County Council’s energy-saving project to replace half of the county’s 94,000 street lights is already saving tax payers around £1.5m each year in reduced energy bills, enough to power over 3,500 homes for a year or drive an electric vehicle more than 2,200 times around the world. Carbon emissions have been reduced by 12,000 tonnes. The new LED’s require very little maintenance, are generally between 60-70 per cent more efficient and have a longer lifespan.
Plans for Network of Electric Vehicle Charging Points in Derbyshire & Nottinghamshire
Fri, 20 July 2018
More than 200 public electric vehicle charging points could be installed in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire by 2020 thanks to funding from national government.
Following a successful bid by Nottinghamshire County Council, together with Nottingham City and Derby City councils to the Office of Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) for £6.1m, around £2m of this money could be used to install the network of around 230 charging points. Work is already underway to identify potential locations, assess their feasibility and install the equipment. It is currently proposed that many of the charging points are located in off-street car parks. The county council is also looking at the possibility of installing charging points at its own sites.
This comes of the back of government plans to end the sale of new conventional petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2040. The recently published Road to Zero strategy builds on this with an ambition to see at least half of new cars be ultra-low emission by 2030.
Councillor Kay Cutts, Leader of Nottinghamshire County Council, said: 'The objectives of the funding are to deliver significant air quality benefits, reduce carbon emissions and create ultra-low emission vehicle related growth opportunities for car manufacturing and businesses, both locally and beyond. The County Council is aiming to ensure that its residents and businesses can realise the benefits of the government plans by helping to deliver cleaner air, a better environment and growth within this economic sector.'
Other plans for the funding include providing grants, loans and advice to support businesses to introduce electric vehicle charging at workplaces, an expansion of the public sector’s electric vehicle fleet, and a programme of targeted promotional events.