The next outdoor session will be Sat 29th May 10am to 3pm in Picton Square.  Come and tell us what you like and don’t like about urban greening so far, and what you want to see in the future!

The next planning meeting for those who want to help coordinate activities and find funding is on Weds 26th May at 8pm.  Please email shiona_macp@hotmail.com for location details.

The Mapping Day on Sunday went very well, with about 30 people in attendance and everyone enjoying the walk and cakes.  Many people felt uncomfortable identifying gardens as ‘untended’.

ACTION:  Pete to compile an overall map of Montpelier from the individual ones we walked with, to be published here, excluding the untended gardens as we felt this was more subjective and potentially insulting.

ACTION: Sally, Ingrid and Claudia to design a community gardening space in the grafitti wall / bench corner of Montpelier Park for the Lottery funding bid.  Andy Spargo (park landscape architect) is happy to draw this up formally for us, but needs to have it by end April.

Six potential ‘hotspots’ were identified:

1. Station (platform, embankment and approach)

2. Rainbow Bridge (Fairfield and Hurlingham sides)

3. Picton Square (between Bells and Gallifords)

4. Coburg Corner (meeting Ashley Hill)

5. Rosa Parks Lane (at Albany Green)

6. Magpie (Picton St / Ashley Road)

The issues for each hotspot were briefly discussed, and it was agreed to focus on those where there were clear ‘adopters’ taking responsibility for the area to ensure we don’t spread ourselves too thinly in the early days.  The first three hotspots were chosen by the group.  If someone wants to take responsibility for any of the other hotspots (or indeed, any other area – we were short on attendees from around Albany Green), we will be happy to support them too.

We then split off into hotspot groups according to our interests, and discussed how to get things moving.

Station: (Sally, Lucy, Steve) Holding two action afternoons to initiate planting w/c 26  April or w/c 3 May.  Lucy to contact Period Fireplaces regarding triangular strip.  Shiona to contact Miles Harris to establish land ownership and block grass cutting.  Sally to contact Eastside roots re Network Rail.

Square: (Shiona, Ingrid, Karen, Simon, Esther) Holding a May Day consultation and planting event, with a waterbutt installation workshop, planter building session and inviting design ideas for the space.  Esther identifying cost savings to businesses if recycle waste.  Meeting Fri 26 to speak with business owners re bin issues.

Rainbow: (Chris, David, Claudia, Danny, Mima)  to make contact with Mary Bright and discuss her plans and the best way to work together.  Sally/Claudia to approach Fairfield School to initiate work in playground.  Shiona to contact Miles Harris to establish land ownership and block grass cutting.

ACTION: Shiona to send round an email regarding a group name.

Steve’s leaf image was liked by everyone and picked for use on posters and signs.  ACTION Steve to forward blank leaf image to group for use in posters etc.

ACTION: Shiona, Danny and Karen to look for funding, with Quartet, Network Rail and greenspaces as a starting point.

As well as our most valuable resource – people power (!) – we are also in need of materials to transform these spaces. If you have anything to offer, or know of a great place to get things (either for free or at good value) then please let us know by posting a comment below or emailing shiona_macp@hotmail.com.  The most obvious items we will need are:

• Compost
• Well rotted manure
• Top Soil
• Wood and other materials to make raised beds
• Screws/nails etc
• Water butts (or equivalent)
• Seeds
• Plants
• Trees for replanting
• Organic plant food (eg comfrey tea, seaweed extracts)

Any ideas on sources of funding for these items would also be extremely welcome!

Many thanks, the Growing Team

Please check out the following by clicking on the title:

Food Discussion Intro Presentation Slides

Open Meeting 10feb Food Discussion

As there (predictably) turned out to be quite an overlap with the concerns and suggestions from the Green Spaces group, we think it would be a good idea to join forces for a while, at least until more specific projects emerge.  So both groups aim to meet together in the week commencing 22nd Feb – I will update this post with the exact time and place when confirmed!  Meanwhile, please do get in touch with a comment below, or a call to 07866 748193, if you’d like to be involved and we don’t already have your contact details.

Thanks and looking forward to more developments!  Sally

Welcome to 2010.  Over the past few weeks with the disappointment of Copenhagen (grrr), the importance of a grass roots response to climate change and peak oil is even clearer. If you couple the very cold winter (brrr), which highlighted both vulnerabilities in national food supply as well as uninsulated lofts on our streets (faster melting snow on the roofs is the clue), you can see why we feel so strongly about what we are doing.

This newsletter has a highlights of 2009; you can download the whole thing here.

It includes details of our next meeting, some thoughtful stuff and requests for specific help that is needed. Here’s poster for our next meeting on Wednesday February 10th – click on it to download it and stick in your window:

Click on image to download poster

So what now?

First a brief reflection as 2009 was our birthing year and what a year it was!

Organising the Montpelier Spring Clean; our room and exhibition at the Montpelier Art Trail; the website; two very well attended open meetings; the Bean Feast; a sold out showing of The Age of Stupid; supporting the 20mph successful speed limit campaign; supporting home improvement workshops; the Good Energy link up; the Winter Fair. Yippee!

What will 2010 be like for Transition Montpelier?

We have had one core group meeting already (see the website for minutes) and we are very keen to translate the momentum we have built through the one-off events last year into themed projects this year relating to Energy, Food, Green spaces and Streets. All of these are summarised very briefly below or (if appropriate) give them a click for further detail. And remember if there is an idea that you have, let us know and come and present it.

Next meeting:

Feb 10th – 7.30 Fairfield Resource Centre opp’ 26 Fairfield Rd

The aim of our next open meeting is to share and develop workable ideas around the themes and create groups who will be able to carry out some responses. Some ideas are already being progressed others are in their infancy. We will use the space available to enable project groups to develop ideas.

Energy – Lower our homes emissions and start working towards a community renewable energy project

Green Spaces – Improve the parks, abandoned land and verges, planting fruit orchard in containers etc

Food – Sharing suggestions for sourcing our food more sustainably, including the presentation of an innovative ‘growing streets’ idea.

Streets – Building on from Thali cafe bike stands and Picton Square feedback

Guest Speaker – We are thrilled that the meeting will open with a talk by Miguel Mendonca who is a Research Manager for the World Future Council. His background is in horticulture, geography, history, journalism, social science and environmental ethics and has recently published a book on renewable energy policy entitled “Powering the Green Economy: The Feed-in Tariff Handbook”. For more info on Miguel and WFC see here.

It should be another stimulating night. We will be putting posters up, can you put one in your window? It really helps. (download poster here)

Success

Getting these projects moving throughout the neighbourhood is reliant on people coming forward and contributing in the same brilliant way they did for the Bean Feast and Winter Fayre. Just over a longer period of time! We hope that in highlighting these projects now, you work out how you can play your part over the next year or so. One of the great things about Transition is working with others who share the same concerns as you. We know there will be time constraints but we assume you are interested in what Transition Montpelier is doing because you believe that it can make a difference here, as it is over hundreds of other areas around Britain and increasingly the world! So if there’s a theme that interests you there are bound to be a variety of ways in which you could undertake to contribute to its progress. Please come along and find out. Just a few hours of your time could make a big difference.

Cake

As ever refreshments will be provided but if you are coming could you bring something to share too? Bake a cake, bring some fruit whatever. We all like a bit of fuel to keep us going.

Constitution and Situations Vacant

Following the two major public events and the expanding influence of the council’s Neighbourhood Partnership scheme, we are extremely aware of the importance of formalising our existence as a group. Thanks to Bronwen we have a constitution underway, and to realise our aims of keeping everyone aware of our financial situation we will need a now treasurer as well as bookkeepers for the big events. Could you do this for us? If it interests you get in touch.

Painters. We get to use the Resource Centre for nothing. It is fantastic and they are very supportive. They have asked us to paint one room which is currently black and though great for films, not the best colour for a pupil referral unit! We have agreed to do it over 4 sessions on the weekend March 6th with Sat a.m as a prepping session with three coats of paint to get rid of the black. With music, tea and biscuits, it will be fun and straight forward. Who would be up for this? The FNCG will also help.

The Winter Fayre

The Fayre was great. Held on Saturday 19th December it ran throughout the day and early evening. We hoped it would bring many, many Montpelier people out and appreciate the strengths of our neighbourhood. The feedback has suggested that it did. For pics and a write up click here

Montpelier Park Group

Will be holding a very brief AGM in the Resource Centre before our meeting on Feb 10^th at 7.30pm sharp!

We look forward to seeing you at the meeting or receiving your comments via the website.

Bronwen, Ciaran, Dan, Ed, Jane, Jess, Ralph, Richard, Sally, Shiona, Simon, Steve, Tim – The Transition Montpelier core team

One suggestion has been to focus on the ideological “heart” of the neighbourhood – Picton Street and the pedestrianised area from Picton St. to Richmond Road.  We are using the name “Picton Square” for the moment.

The idea is to pedestrianise and upgrade a larger area, from the last 50 metres of Picton St. to the beginning of Shaftsbury Ave., across to Bath Buildings and the Health Centre. It would become a mixed-use pavement,

If this area was upgraded we might well address several of these problems at once:

• Pedestrians, prams and wheelchairs could move much more freely
• Cars and trucks would naturally be forced to drive very slowly through the area, as the sight-lines would be very short;
• Slower traffic reduces the numbers of cars passing through
• Local shops would benefit: better pedestrian access & increased footfall;
• Residents empowered by participating in project’s design and management
• Greenery growing here and there makes environment more pleasant for all
• More local facilities will become available, such as: a street café, well-used notice-boards, a kiosk or two for street vendors;
• Street-art will reduce tagging and increase the desirable “view”;
• Art installations will become possible.

In order to accomplish all of this, some problems will need to be addressed:

• Relocation of bins left permanently on pavement by traders and residents;
• Dog-fouling and rubbish will have to be addressed;
• Residents and traders will have to agree to give up a few car-park spaces;
• Bristol highways will have to re-surface the area with coloured paviers, etc.;
• The emergency services will have to agree the routes and access.

We hope people will find these suggestions intriguing and stimulating.  There are many possibilities ahead; nothing has been decided upon, and nothing has been ruled out.  At this stage a few residents are just putting up suggestions to begin the debate. What do you think?