Randwick Playing Fields - the future?

Last night was the annual meeting of Randwick Parish Council where the key issue for discussion was the playing field. Residents were invited to comment on proposals...

New changing rooms; the Village Hall Committee is working on this - they have £15k but need another £90k - they have identified some hopeful funding routes - the rooms are much needed as you can have 30 footballers and managers in that one tiny backroom.....!!

Level a new pitch; see photos left of area to right of football pitch - this is a proposal to level an area of ground that is not really used - there is a real shortage of pitches in the Stroud area - next step is to find out poss costs and take some initial samples - can it be done very cheaply with just a digger and volunteers? The area is relatively flat but would need a fair bit of earth moving....?? Certainly there was agreement in the room to explore options.

More car parking; this was the big issue - last night there were some 20 cars accommodated relatively easily on the edge of the field (see photo) - however at several times each week it has been estimated that 60 cars are parked. They are sometimes 3 deep and it has led to damage to the fields...in particular the turning circle and an area that the Village Playing Field had attempted to save with plastic material.....what are options...many thousands of pounds would be needed to deal with matter properly and grants are not usually available for parking.....would Parish Council pay? It seems unlikely as to raise the precept by 10% would gain less than £2k...they just don't have the money but maybe they could lead the project or contribute something?

And where? Many were against parking outside the area between the road and the fenced play area - one said she didn't want to see it become a massive car park - others thought the grass at the side of the road coming down to teh hall could be used.....Other options are to bus people to games ie park elsewhere....not ideal....other options would be to charge for parking....local residents use the field free at the moment.....would other residents be happy to pay to build a car park for private residents? It seems unlikely folk at the other end of the Parish would approve? Yet we need a solution - could an extra charge be made to groups using the hall and field? Or permits? Much was discussed but no decisions - more work is clearly needed....is there some cheap solution that would do?

Metal container; the people using the field need safer storage - the proposal was for a container near the existing shed (photo right on left) or down by sugar hole (photo left - see flags) - at the moment alot of expensive stuff cannot be stored on site. At the meeting people favoured sugar hole - my point was that it needs to have a condition that it is screened by planting - a point that others had also made.

Benches; an issue I raised was that there is still not enough seating - the committee will look at this. It is great to see the extra seating in the play area - see left.

Community orchard; I raised this as a possibility for the fields but there seems little interest at the moment - poss more if a group came forward - I also cited the example of a car park in Germany that was planted with heritage trees to disguise the cars but also to make better use of space - is this a possibility?

Allotments; regular readers will know we previously very nearly got an allotment site in a corner of the field - sadly the Parish pulled out at the last minute - at the moment there is not enough residents pushing for this....

Next step is more talking but useful to hear views and explore the possibilities.....it would be great to increase the use of the fields...

Randwick Runner’s 50th Birthday

On Sunday just over a week ago I went to the Randwick Runner's 50th Birthday - see here - well while I was there I made a film about the party with some of the voices of those who've made it possible:
http://stroudcommunity.tv/randwick-runners-50th-birthday/

Catch up on meetings

Well a busy week so I've not caught up on various meetings in this blog. I don't intend to do that now but here's a flavour of some that I've not mentioned so far in previous blogs...

Photos: Standish Church and below view from Standish across to Haresfield Beacon and Standish woods

I was away at the end of last week for three days with other local Green party District councillors in Standish. Not as exotic as last year when we crossed the border into Wales but like last year the venue and beds were offered free to us. It was good to get away and concentrate on plans for next year and we were able to concentrate on a number of issues in some depth. How can we take forward ideas like Stroud District investing seriously in renewables - an issue I have pushed and pushed - yes there has been some movement but we have a long way to go. There were lots of other ideas and I will be sharing many of them over the coming months.

Last night was Randwick Parish which didn't finish until close to 10 - a full programme - the mirror mystery I mentioned in an earlier blog is solved - the new mirror was put up by a generous resident on the corner near the convent - it replaced the one lost - however Highways removed the whole post with mirror as they had said they would (see my blog here). Crazy but there it is. Of course other issues discussed were to support the 20 mph inquiry at GCC and see if Whiteshill and Ruscombe 20 mph proposals could be extended to include Randwick - various planning applications - but hey the minutes will be out soon to read so I wont ramble here...

We also had a talk to the Parish from local energy company FiVE to see if there was support locally - see my previous blog on that here. I have also suggested that we borrow as a Parish to invest in PV for community buildings like the rest of the Randwick Village Hall roof - this would generate an income for us and indeed pay off the loan - could we make the Parish self-financing in the future?? It needs some seriously bold thinking if we are to go down that route.

I've also had two meetings about the Sheltered Accommodation Review - I have real concerns that Stroud District and the County are not working close enough together with tenants - they all seem to have different visions. Plus went to the event in the Sub-Rooms regarding services for older people where I had the opportunity to talk to various local people like the police, village agent and more - a v useful event. But hey today we've got apple picking and a clear-up of the brook so must dash.

Randwick Village Hall website launched

The village hall website is now up and running and I've added it to my list of links. See it here:
http://randwickhall.weebly.com/

Photo: Pic of me outside hall with Eco-Renovation Open Homes leaflets - this year will be the third year.

Do click on label below and scroll down to see lots more about our great hall including the opening of the hall and copies of speeches plus the opening of the new toilets.

Accessibility of polling stations

Councillors recently received an email from the charity Scope about the accessibility of polling stations. Scope, who many years ago I work for, found that thousands of disabled voters are denied the chance to play an equal part in our democracy.

Photo: Randwick Village Hall passes the test on accessibility and will be one of the polling stations in this ward on 6th May

At the last General Election Scope surveyed over 2,000 polling stations and found that 68% could be inaccessible to a disabled person.

I wrote to the Stroud and District Access Group and the Chief Executive at SDC as Stroud's details were not fully on Scope's campaign website - I was aware that Stroud had carried out a review of all polling stations as they are required to do but could not remember what stage that had got to. The Chief Exec gave a comprehensive response and the Stroud and District Access Group noted they were consulted in 2007. I learnt from them that Wotton Under Edge had a problem that was resolved by moving to a nearby skittle alley. They note this week that they have received no complaints since that date of any Polling Stations being inaccessible.

Please let me know if there are issues as I would be happy to take these forward.

A Cabinet report in January 2008 covered this issue - see here and at Council in February 2008 see here. You can also review accessibility for polling stations in your ward at www.pollsapart.org.uk - see Stroud polling stations here.

More on the Village Hall loo opening!!

You will see my previous blog with photos of the opening here - this blog post has more from the 'official photographers' plus the official press release from Alan Tomlinson and his great toilet-opening speech!

Over seventy villagers anxiously waited cross legged outside the village hall to witness the official opening ceremony of the new toilet block last Saturday.

First the press release for the Randwick Runner:

Over the last 16 months over £22,000 has been raised for the ambitious project -c omprising a children’s toilet, disabled access toilet and referee’s changing room with shower. In his opening speech Mayor Tomlinson paid tribute to the on going enthusiasm for the hall from the village, acknowledging over £6,000 had been donated from with in the community. Also acknowledged were donations from charities outside of the village who share our community values. Theses include the Summerfield Trust, the Bernard Stanley Foundation, the Garfield Weston Foundation, Stroud Lions Club, the Langtree Trust, Barnwood House and most notably Gloucestershire Environmental Trust on behalf of Cory Environmental using landfill tax credits who contributed an extremely generous £8,000. Randwick Parish Council also continue to donate £3,000 per year to the hall.

Val and Harden Flack were given a special mention for their tireless work. Mayor Tomo said: "Despite all good intentions no project goes anywhere without the shakers and movers. We are particularly blessed on the village hall committee to have Team Flack. Harden is always here giving his support, on call at a moments notice if we need him to meet contractors, help sort out problems, for advice and general support. And behind every great man there is a great woman. This is absolutely true. Val put her hand up for this project, has raised all the money from outside bodies as well as managing the project. She has been the driving force and I can tell you this has been no mean feat."

Val was then presented with a crystal rose bowl engraved “Presented to Val Flack for an outstanding contribution to the village of Randwick 2009”

Tony Williams was then asked to cut the ribbon. He amused the crowd with his comment: “Not only can I now use the loo at the hall but I can have a shower at the same time”.

Tony, followed by other wheelchair bound villagers, Vic Watkins and Aunty Margaret then led the onlookers into the hall where Brain Farrer had displayed some photos of the old toilets – as if anyone could forget them! Ladies of the village Jane Cant, Sue Tomlinson and Joy Kennard had prepared some delicious cakes for everyone to share and quite few offered to help in the kitchen making tea. Everyone had a wonderful time and £62 was collected towards the Haiti Earthquake appeal. Well done Randwick you have excelled yourselves yet again!

Alan Tomlinson's loo-opening speech

Open day speech 11am Sat 23rd January 2010

It seems like no time since we all stood here and Val asked for a few pennies towards the next phase of the village hall development plan - a new toilet block complete with a childrens toilet, disabled access toilet and ref s changing room with shower . In fact that was just 16 months ago. What an amazing achievement to raise enough money in just 9 months and then go on to deliver a workable scheme in the following 7 months.

What has been particularly inspiring, although perhaps not surprising knowing this village and its community, is the amount of local support. Every single village organisation has made a contribution in some way.

Looking back through the records the enthusiasm for the hall is as strong today as it has been throughout its entire history. Back in 1946 it took 3 years to raise the equivalent of £18K to purchase the playing field. Between 1957 and 1962 todays equivalent of £30K was raised for the current building.

And today it seems not a week goes by without a contribution being given by an individual. Only last week we received £235 from one villager's birthday collection. It is pleasing to know how strongly this resource is valued in the village and this is the inspiration to keep developing it for such a deserving and appreciative bunch of people. The community alone has donated over £6000 in the past 16 months -all this without any prompting -and money is still coming in!

In addition to local contributions we have received donations from a number of organisations outside the village who share our community values. These include

summerfield trust
Bernard Stanley foundaion
garfield weston foundation
lions club
langtree trust
barnwood house

And most notably
GET on behalf of Cory environmental who alone donated £8000 using landfill tax credits

Also we need to thank RPC for their on going commitment to the village, contributing £3000 per year for development of the hall.

But it takes more than money to make things happen. Thanks go to Roger Dean builders and in particular Gary Taylor who did a lot of the work, patiently working with organisations such as Playgroup to minimise any disruption. I know it was testing for all at times but worth it I'm sure you will agree.

Despite all good intentions no project goes anywhere without the shakers and movers. We are particularly blessed on the VH Co to have Team Flack. Harden is always here giving his support, on call at a moments notice if we need him to meet contractors, help sort out problems, for advice and general support.

Behind every great man there is a great woman. And this is absolutely true. Val put her hand up for this project, has raised all the money from outside bodies as well as managing the project. She has been the driving force and I can tell you this has been no mean feat.

In recognition of Val's efforts we have a little presentation for her. So if you would like to step forward Val, I am sure you have a few words to say........

PRESENTATION

And now I would like to ask Tony Williams to officially open our new toilet block.

CUT RIBBON

Ceilidh on 30th Jan at Randwick for Haiti

Last week was bloggers day for Haiti (another on 1st Feb) - and locally already folk are already raising money - the opening of the loos on Saturday at Randwick Village Hall added £62 to the Haiti fund - and in Whiteshill too money has been raised.

Photo: frosty morning across Ruscombe fields

Now comes a Ceilidh on Saturday, 30th January at Randwick Village Hall to raise funds for the disaster appeal. The band will be the 'usual suspects' under the name of "The Randwick Disaster Band" and various callers will be on hand.

There is no entry price but they are asking for donations on the door - plus anything else you would like to give during the evening. The traditional re-cycling raffle will be held - all prizes to be unwanted prizes from previous raffles (donations please!). Light refreshments (for a donation) and tap water (free) will be available - otherwise bring your own.

The advert says: "Please support us by coming to dance, join the band, call some dances, or just for the good company and music. It would be nice to have an interval dance display so if you are part of a Morris, Rapper, Appalachian, Sword or any other traditional dance club, please come forward and show off for a good cause - advance knowledge would be useful. Thanks to the generosity if the Randwick Village Hall Committee in waiving the fees, ALL the proceeds will go to the disaster appeal. If you live too far from Randwick to come - organise your own!"

Details: Starts at 7:30 pm. Band - Anyone who turns up with an instrument. Callers - Richard Hannah plus any one else who wants to have a go. All receipts will be passed to the Disaster Emergency Committee (www.DEC.ORG.UK). If you want to support this but cannot come, please visit their web site or send a cheque made payable to "DEC HAITI EARTHQUAKE" and it will be included with the evenings donation. To find Randwick Village Hall use http://www.multimap.com/s/TwoRJwMz (Post code GL6 6JA). Contact for tickets: Richard Hannah - 01905 371 268 and Norma Mills - 01453 885 543

Crowd of 80 see Randwick Village Hall loos open

Today saw a crowd of nearly 80 people come to the opening of our village hall's loos. I have to note it has been an impressive feat - what other village would have 80 folk come out to open loos? And what other village could raise the funds in some 7 months?

Photos: Alan Tomlinson getting ribbon ready for opening, Val Flack, two photos of crowd, the new plaque with improvements listed, the childrens toilet (hugely popular with little ones) and the shower/disabled loo.

Huge congrats must go to all who helped make it possible - but as Alan Tomlinson, Randwick Wap Mayor said in the opening speech, particular thanks to 'Team Flack' - Hardon and especially Val Flack for their huge efforts to make it possible.

It was a lovely morning with a great selection of cakes all in aid of Haiti. Indeed there is also a Ceilidh being organised on Saturday, 30th January at the Randwick Village Hall to raise funds for the disaster appeal. More of that in another blog coming soon but more info from Richard Hannah on 01905 371 268.

All this reminds me of 15 months ago when we opened the toilets at the Whiteshill and Ruscombe Village Shop - see here. Then they used toilet roll instead of ribbon but clearly Randwick are a little more upmarket?! But nice to see that the ribbon was recycled from a wedding at the church!
Anyway I left the Village Hall to go to a Potato Day - more of that in a blog on Monday. Meanwhile see here how to book the Village hall.

Randwick Horticultural Show truimph

The 46th Horticultural and Village Show took place today, Saturday 12th after a break of 6 years. The day has been so busy with the Open Homes event and launch of Stroud Pound that I only managed too join the show for an hour or so - below are some of the pics (more on the other events coming soon!).

I have to say a huge thank you to the energy of Alan Tomlinson and his team in bringing together this event - it was packed with folks enthusiastically looking at the results and participating in the events. I reckon next year there will be many more participating after this years success.

Entries included men only cherry cake (is that allowed?), various veg and fruit classes, handicrafts, a monster made from fruit and veg for children, various baking classes, photography and painting and so much more - events included dressing a potato person then negotiating an obstacle course leaving him/her intact....proceeds all go towards phase III of the hall development - the kitchen refurb.

Energy Neighbourhoods party!

Randwick Village Hall, with it's top eco-credentials, was picked as the venue for the 'Energy Neighbourhoods' closing party.

The party on Sunday 23rd August had exhibitions from local environmental organisations, talks, a hog roast and veggie option and even a bicycle powered smoothie maker and a bicycle powered art generator. David Drew was among the guests.

Photos: I've enclosed some photos I took of the event including the bicycle powered art and juice maker plus 'Wrap-n-mat' which intrigued me - instead of plastic bags for your sandwiches to take to work or wherever, here is a washable cloth - nearly tempted but I keep all those old plastic pasta bags, paper flour bags and more for mine - they work wonderfully and intrigue my work colleagues!

Energy Neighbourhoods is an EU-wide project to make energy saving at home by education and behavioral change. A number of teams took part in Gloucestershire with some impressive results (savings of 15% or more in some cases). This shows that savings of at least 10% in home energy use are pretty easy to acheive and with a little more effort and determination much higher savings can be made in many cases.

Exciting stuff - the challenge is how we get this out to a wider audience.

See more at: http://www.swea.co.uk/proj_EnergyNEI

Local news: Smoothie, Randwick hall award, basketball hoop and more

Here's a host of local issue updates - some good news and some frustrating....

New Year party with Smoothie in Randwick - Yes Smoothee are playing at our village hall fundraiser in Randwick on New Year’s Eve – Tickets are £5 and it’s a case of bring food and drink. Don't miss!!

New Eco Garden at Randwick Playgroup - the Village Hall have given the Playgroup a small garden area which has already been dug over - and I read in the Runner that they joined other playgroups and schools at Rococo Gardens for a scarecrow competition - see here. This sounds like a wonderfully enthusiastic group that used natural and recycled materials to make their mini-scarecrows - good on them!

Randwick Village Hall award - they scooped second place in the community category of the South West regenSW sustainable energy awards - see more here - well done to Alan and the team.

Randwick Runner needs a new Editor - 10 years of wonderful service - get in touch if you think you can help.

Clothing shop Eclipse cut the price of all its products - this is following on from the Government cut to VAT from 17.5% to 15% for 13 months. Although shops do not have to pass the cut on to customers, Eclipse said it would be taking immediate action. Sid Copp, manager at Eclipse who lives in Whiteshill said in The Citizen: "We decided to do it immediately. After all this is customers' money, not ours. It isn't very much but it's something."

Cashes Green Oral History project launched - the study, entitled Cashes Green on the Map, aims to gather residents’ past and present experiences of local people and places. Organisers are seeking volunteers to share their memories or artefacts and help create an exhibition of all the findings. Project manager and Parish councillor Sally May said in the SNJ: "Cashes Green is an under-represented area and hopefully this will put it on the map and help people to understand more of their own heritage. These older people are dying out and we’re in danger of never knowing what Cashes Green used to look like." Community Artist Lis Parker who initiated the project said: "An oral history is a way of getting people to talk to each other a bit more. You can perhaps get young people listening to old people and vice-versa." The pair joined forces last November and received support for research from the adult education department of Gloucestershire County Council. A survey will take place of about 250 householders in Cashes Green during January asking if they have any memories or artefacts to share and whether they would like to help create the exhibition. Organisers not only want people’s experiences of buildings such as Cashes Green Hospital (see photo of land at hospital site - former allotments) but also of everyday life. The exhibition will be held in the Museum in the Park next year. Anyone interested in taking part can contact Lis on 07754 059768 or astrolis (at) btinternet.com

Street Lighting update - some will remember there was a consultation and plans to reduce turn off street lights after 12 to save energy and money - well apparently the equipment for the first batch of schemes is now on order. The delay has been caused by an "opportunity" to obtain for some government funding towards the cost of the scheme. The bureaucracy involved in pursuing this, apparently imposed an inordinate delay on doing anything. Both Parishes expressed an interest but I still have no idea when things will start to move. In Whiteshill the survey results showed 9 people want lights left on, 16 people want one-third of lights turned off and 31 wants two thirds off completely. See re Essex scheme and why it is a good idea here.

Basketball hoop for Whiteshill - as blog readers will know I managed to obtain a hoop (the one pictured) and the Parish have agreed to site it and all was going ahead smoothly when the Stroud Football Club requested to use the football pitch at Whiteshill on a regular basis next season. This is because of the league they are in they have a number of supporters, and restrictions about where the spectators are allowed to stand.

The Parish council didn’t want to install the basketball hoop anywhere that might be a problem for future football pitch use, so they have rightly delayed a decision about the hoop until a decision is made about the football pitch. The Playing Field Working Party are also working on a draft Play Area Policy (including the playing field) so that we have an overall design statement regarding the area.

Woodcutters Arms - several folk have asked me why this application has not gone to Development Control Committee in December. It looks like a mistake may have been made - I am pursing this. I am also surprised to see the land at Glenfield near Ash lane is not listed for DCC. Again I am making inquiries although in this case it does not appear to be a mistake only a delay? Update: Glenfield is in the papers for 9th Dec - we had been sent the wrong papers!

Photo: Bank which faces cutting back in planning application re land at Glenfield

Stan's great speech about Randwick Village Hall

Randwick Village Hall recently opened it's doors to show folk the measures undertaken to turn it into the countries first carbon neutral village hall - now Wap Mayor Stan Giles (see photo) has kindly given permission to publish here a copy of the notes for his speech - I loved hearing some of the background and wanted to share it wider with locals and others alike.

See write up of the hall opening here and here - and here Alan Tomlinson's speech about the measures undertaken and here more about the Open Homes weekend.

The hall has since been short-listed for a SW award - see here - anyway let's get to that speech....

Welcome everyone to a very special occasion. Thanks to the many who contributed ideas and support for the project- District Council, Green Shop and Philip Booth.

September is an auspicious month for the hall as so many important events appear to have occurred at this time of year.

The Hall started in March 1946, when The Randwick Village Hall and Playing field Fund was formed with Mr W.L.Paul of Longcourt as chairman. It took three years to raise the funds to purchase the field. Apart from dances, bazaars and whist drives, a donation of £47.00 was received from Randwick, Australia and £162.00 from the Combined Services Social Committee, an organisation which existed to improve the lives of service personnel after World War 2.

By April 1949, £800 had been raised (approx. £18.000 today) and a public meeting was called to finalise the details and plans, which included appointing new officers, and agreeing that the Parish Council should hold the land in trust. This was to ensure continuity and was obviously successful as there has been continuity ever since. The land, which is directly in front of the hall,was purchased from Mr. Wheeler for £250.00 (£5,700).

The following September there was an opening ceremony carried out by the Bishop of Gloucester- I’m afraid he wasn’t available today and neither was the Agent General of New South Wales, who represented Randwick Australia. An interesting reminder of those austere times - and perhaps a pointer for today - is a record in the minutes of the Secretary having to visit the “food office” “to obtain information on a ration allowance for the tea on September 10th.” Let us hope the W.I have been equally well organised.

There was still no Village Hall, however, and in 1951 the Church Room on the corner of the Lane became available and this was purchased and used for the next 11 years. In May 1952, the committee felt it had achieved its aims and a new committee was elected at a public meeting and soon became the Randwick Social Committee. Mr Scriven, Chair, Mrs. Wehner (vicar’s wife) Secretary and Mrs Ashmead as treasurer.

In 1957, £25.00 (£400.00) was transferred to a separate fund for building a new village hall. At the December AGM in 1958 new officers were elected ( Harry Keene-chair, Mr Axford- vice-chair, Mr H.A- Spud- Taylor Secretary, Mr Wheeler- asst secretary and Barton Haines as treasurer. The next five years were full of activity - dances, carol singing, horticultural show, bazaars and the legendary house to house collection every week to collect subscriptions of sixpence- 21/2p (40p today).

By March 1962 £2000.00 ( £30,500) had been raised and grants had been negotiated. In September - that month again - building started but there was a very severe winter and the work was delayed. The building was officially opened on 26th September 1963, 45 years ago within a week.

The cost of the hall, furniture, equipment and fees was £4,600 (£65,000) of which £2,500 (£35,000) had been raised in the village and the remainder funded by grants. The use of the hall increased and gave the impetus for several new organisations, including the Youth Club, Over 60s, Play Group and a re-formed Cricket Club. The Car Park was completed in 1965, the same year that planning commenced for an extension and the old village hall was sold. There is a particularly bureaucratic wrangle over the money, which took seven years to resolve and resulted in the Parish Council paying the committee £229.00 - the cost of a new roundabout.

So a new phase in the life of the Hall begins. In researching the hall, there seems to me to be two underlying themes which run through its history and are so indicative of life in our wonderful village, so recently celebrated on ITV through Alec Alder’s efforts.

The first theme is of community - throughout its development, villagers have been consulted, responses and anxieties respected and the hall adapted to changing demands and expectations of users. It is, in my opinion, one of the most beautifully sited halls in the county and the present improvements have been achieved with a positive impact on our environment and provide an example of environmentally sensitive development and improvement.

The other theme is the need for a committed, hard working and enthusiastic committee, members of which give their time and energies freely and willingly, and I feel the present committee more than adequately continue that tradition so a special thank you to Mort, Alan, Val and Harden for bringing plans and ideas to such a positive conclusion. Bring them forward for a round of applause.

And indeed there was much applause and then the ribbon cut to allow us to enter - 150 people attended the opening and over 400 visited the hall during the day.

Randwick Village Hall shortlisted for award

This year’s South West Green Energy Awards has apparently attracted a record number of entries, with 46 different nominees for the various awards. I submitted one for the Open Homes event with the exhibition at Randwick Village Hall - it didn't quite fit the category but we were invited to submit and my hope was to encourage others to take up the idea across the SW - at the moment Stroud is really one of only a handful of towns in this country doing an Open Homes event - infact I've been writing up the report last weekend of the event to look at how best to proceed next year - sadly I just don't have that many days to give as a volunteer again - but already ideas are taking shape....but more of that in another post I am getting sidetracked.....

The Village Hall also put an application in and I heard yesterday evening that Randwick has been shortlisted with Bovey Action Group - see shortlist below...very well deserved indeed for the Village Hall Committee and indeed all those who helped get the project off the ground. The awards ceremony is on 25th November so keep your fingers crossed for Randwick!

The shortlisted entries are:
· Best business innovation:Zenex energy-saving boilers, Nu-Heat training facility, Forest Fuels, and Alvesta Anaerobic digestion unit
· Most Proactive Local Authority: Bristol City, Torridge, Swindon
· Best Sustainable Energy Community:Bovey Climate Action, and Randwick Village Hall
· Best Large Renewable Energy Scheme:Kernock biomass, Roskrow Barton wind cluster, and Wessex Water advanced digestion
· Best Small Renewable Energy Scheme:Okehampton Business Centre, Woolsery Village Hall, and The Rolle Estate Office
· Best Housing Scheme:Ecos Homes Stawell Development, and 9 Haystone Place, Plymouth
· South West Sustainable Energy Champion:Keith Wheaton-Green, Mel Sealey, and Kate Hall

See more re the awards and competition here.

Randwick: first carbon neutral village hall in the country

Below is the stuff from Alan Tomlinson's leaflet that was available at the opening of the hall last month - see here - and see more here about the huge success of the Open Homes weekend. Alan (photo left) has kindly let me reproduce the info on this blogsite.

Randwick is pleased to welcome you to the Stroud open homes information centre.

Randwick Village Hall officially opens its doors today following completion of its Energy Efficiency Project. The scheme has cost £71,000 and has received generous funding from Stroud District Council, the Low Carbon Buildings Program and Gloucestershire Environmental Trust using land fill tax contributions from Cory Environmental. Total funding was £69,000. A further £13,000 has been spent on the buildings, upgrading the electrical system and redecorating. This money has been donated by Randwick Parish Council.

The scheme has been billed as an exemplar energy efficiency project by Severn Wye Energy Agency. We believe the measures in place will make us a net exporter of electricity and the first carbon neutral village hall in the country. The scheme is truly sustainable because it will save £1200 in running costs and generate £600pa in revenue from selling excess electricity and renewable obligation certificates (ROC's). This cash windfall will be used to maintain the building in its current state of repair and allow us to improve the facility in years to come.

The Energy and environmental initiatives operating in this building are listed below;

1. A ground source heat pump (GSHP) can be seen in the back room. This exacts heat from a pipe buried beneath the playing field. The earth works for this are still evident at the front of the building. The heat is transferred into the central heating system and the hot water tank. The new hi tech radiators can be seen in the main hall. They contain micro fans to maximize heat transfer. This system replaces the original overhead electric bar heaters which were expensive to run, uncomfortable, ineffective and unsightly. They were also vulnerable to the spiraling cost of power. The GSHP takes 75% less electricity to run than the original system.

2. A photovoltaic (PV) cell array on the roof top (see photo) . The solar panels generate 7,000Kwhrs electricity per year, enough to run a typical household. The cells produce a dc current which is converted to 240v mains ac via an electronic inverter which can be seen in the kitchen. Electricity generated is first consumed in the hall and then any surplus exported to the grid. Electricity is generated automatically during all daylight hours throughout the year.
We choose PV over conventional hot water solar because we have a peak load for hot water once a week when the sports clubs use the showers. Conventional solar would produce hot water all week even if it was not required. The pv enables excess electricity to be exported whilst the building is not in use and we then suck it back in when the heat pump demands it.

3. PVC double glazed windows with thermal insulating "k" glass. These windows reduce the heat loss from the main hall by 30%. They are more attractive than the old metal framed, single glazed ones and create a much more pleasant environment both inside and outside the building.

4. Low energy lighting. All lighting is through low energy bulbs. The main hall features 11W led party lights as well as high frequency fluorescent strip lamps. These give better lighting than conventional strip lamps and have a longer bulb life, reducing operating and maintenance costs as well as environmental impact.

5. The toilets and outside lighting have no switches. Lamps are automatically switched on and off by infrared sensors when the ambient light levels fall below a preset threshold and people are present. This ensures electricity consumption is minimized and lights are not left on inadvertently overnight.

6. The roof space has benefited from high levels of insulation, as do the cavity walls.

7. We have adopted an environmental policy. This addresses the global, built and social environments. All hall users are expected to comply with this. Features of this policy include
using environmentally friendly chemicals. We use a water based floor sealant, eco friendly disinfectant, floor cleaner and washing up liquid. We use recycled toilet paper. We encourage as much waste to be recycled as possible through provision of recycling bins in the kitchen and a compost bin for organic waste. Recycling has saved us approximately £250 a year in waste disposal costs. We have improved the built environment by painting the outside of the building and provided a playgroup garden on the waste land at the rear of the hall. The entire building is now subject to an audit every year and improvements built into the annual budget. We encourage the social environment by allowing public events to be held free of charge and respect the neighbours by adopting a strict code of conduct for users of the hall. The global environment has been addressed by the energy efficiency measures. Future investment will also consider environmental issues. Users are encouraged to travel to the hall by sustainable means. Failing this, they are expected to lift share.

Thank you for visiting us today, we hope you have enjoyed your visit to Randwick. We believe our community has benefited from the adoption of modern environmental best practice. Not only are we benefiting from this today but the measures adopted will ensure we continue to do so in future. We hope you take something away from your experience today. It is surprisingly easy to make a difference. If you would like any further information about any of our schemes please contact Alan Tomlinson on 764704, likewise if you have any suggestions which you feel may improve our environment further.

Please enjoy the rest of your visit around Stroud Open Homes.

Hundreds visit eco-homes over weekend

Open Homes for a more Sustainable Future

At the weekend over 750 visits were made to 12 homes in the Stroud area to see renewable energy and energy efficiency measures in action and in addition well over 400 people visited Randwick Village Hall to see the eco-exhibitions and the official opening of the hall (i). Below is the press release that I sent out - I have to say while it was a great weekend I am kinda of glad it is over now as lots to catch up with!!

See also the childrens poster competition here, my blog re the opening of the Village Hall plus photos here and lastly more re the Village Hall here.

Photos Tranquilty House and Bowbridge Lane Wood Pellet boiler.

Philip Booth, the Coordinator of the Transition Stroud project who organised the opening of the 12 homes and exhibitions in Randwick Village Hall said: "We've been blown away by the response. Interest in energy efficiency and renewable energy is huge. The homeowners have had constant flows of visitors all weekend and most could not have coped with larger numbers. Enormous thanks must go to these pioneers for opening their homes to help others and give advice - indeed the whole project has been put together by volunteers and thanks must also go to them all (ii)."

WI nearly run out of cakes!

Randwick Village Hall had over 150 attend the Hall Opening with speeches by the Village Hall Committee members Alan Tomlinson and Val Flack, the District councillor for the ward, Cllr Philip Booth and Wap Mayor Stan Giles who cut the official ribbon. Flowers were presented to Krista Harris of Stroud District Council for her help with gaining the grants and to Alan Tomlinson's wife, Sue for her support. In total on the Saturday well over 400 people visited the hall, which is claimed to be the countries first carbon neutral village hall and has various insulation measures, PV and a Ground Source Heat pump which were all on show to the public along with exhibitions on energy advice, grants and various technologies.

Photos: details of external insulation at one home, the cycle group off to visit another home and in another home learning about lime plaster.

Philip Booth commenting on the Village Halls' eco-makeover said: "The Village Hall committee, Alan Tomlinson, Val and Harden Flack and Mort Watkins have been absolutely amazing with this: it is lots of hard work to pull in the grants and get a project like this together. We are very fortunate to have such a great team which has been supported by so many in the village. It was amazing to have over 400 people visit the hall and see the exhibitions. At one point I got worried the WI would run out of cakes - but I should have remembered that has never occurred in their history and somehow other cakes were rustled up for the teas there. Indeed the money raised from the teas will be going towards the next project; improvements to the hall's toilet facilities."

Tranquility had over 250 visitors

Most of the homes were having over 50 visitors to see measures including wood pellet boilers, lime plasters, solar thermal, green roofs, co-housing, rainwater harvesting, external insulation and more (see website with details: www.stroudopenhomes.org.uk).

However Tranquility House that has been dubbed by the Building Contracts Journal as ‘the most energy efficient house in the world’ had over 250 visitors over the weekend.

Philip Booth said: "Tranquility House takes a very different approach to some of the other homeowners. Those who joined the tours there were given much thought-provoking information. I had the chance to talk with some of the people going around the various homes and they were grateful for the chance to discuss the possible measures and get views about the best way forward for their homes. I was also surprised to find that folk had travelled from Worcester, Bristol and a whole host of other places to see the homes. Apparently there are only two or three similar Open Homes schemes around the country - Stroud leading the way again!"

Walks and Cycle

A cycle and walk tour went around the homes over the weekend and one further walk is going ahead on Sunday 21st September as part of the Walking Festival The four mile walk will be 10am- 4.30pm (approximately) and go around Rodborough including Tranquility House.

Philip Booth added: "Many people expressed concern about rising energy prices and the challenges climate change presents. Houses account for a quarter of UK CO2 emissions. New builds only account for less than 1% of homes and so even if we do them more sustainably we still have to sort out our older homes. Retrofitting older buildings is preferable to demolition as it avoids waste and saves the embodied energy within them rather than using more energy to make new buildings - quarrying, transporting and processing raw materials as well as construction all take lots of energy. It has been great to see the enthusiasm from the community for this Open Homes project from people in all walks of life. Let us hope it translates into eco-renovations across the whole District!"

Notes

(i) Transition Stroud will be compiling a brief report on the day: not all feedback forms from the homes have been collected yet, but the figures are based on numbers counted or estimated by the homeowners.

(ii) In addition to thanks to the homeowners thanks must also go also to Stroud District Council for funding the leaflet, Debbie Hewitt for organising the walks, the Greenshop for funding our website and Transition Stroud members who helped organise especially Paul and Claire Sheriden, Greg Dance, Dave Crane, Dave Cockcroft, James Beecher, Imogen Shaw and John Albar

First carbon neutral village hall

The Randwick Village Hall Committee have researched other village halls and it seems Randwick is the first carbon neutral in this country!

Photos: Randwick Village Hall - solar panels on roof - and in one photo area where the heat pump has been buried outside - plus a photo of some of the photos in the exhibit of works to the hall and one of people looking at the heat pump earlier today.

The previous blogs have covered the opening of the hall this morning and the results of the poster competition - there will be more on the Open Homes (more homes with renewable energy open tomorrow) but this blog has some basic info of the the measures taken on the hall...see stuff re the insulation, heat pump and solar PV here.

Alan Tomlinson has also produced an excellent hand out re the hall - hopefully that will also go on the website soon.

Well all the work was completed a little over two weeks ago - although there are still more plans like an extension at the front for toilets - there is also a possibility of more PV panels?

One feature I like is the meters outside the front entrance that not only give info re the PV cells and heat pump but also the amount of carbon saved.

It was great to see that over 400 people turned up to see the hall and the exhibitions inside - it was good to be able to talk to a whole collection of experts and find out what grants etc might be available.