SWARLAND AND NEWTON ACTION ON CLIMATE
Notes of meeting on Tuesday August 16th 2022 at 7.00pm
Swarland Club, Coast View, Swarland
| 1. Present: Liz, Dave, Suzanne, Bryan, Kathryn, Richard, Greg |
| Apologies: Carolyn, Mick, Marlene Louise, Val, Jan |
| 2. Actions from the previous meeting (July 19th 2022) |
| Dave had queried whether the list of people who were willing to ‘look after’ a footpath needed to be reviewed to ensure appropriate coverage. Liz to follow up with Marlene. |
| It was noted that Carolyn had now met with Alex from the Forestry Commission re Swarland Wood. Key points of the meeting had been included in the recent Column. |
| 3. Bus Service In Carolyn’s absence, Liz and Dave fed back on a recent meeting with Neil Easton and Chris Curtis from NCC. They had explained the role of NCC in commissioning and providing bus services, particularly in the context of new BSIP funding. The lack of provision within the Parish was discussed, together with the feasibility of re-establishing the X15 service. NCC felt that this was unlikely, but would put the question to Arriva. The possibility of additional lay-bys on the A1 was explored, and NCC offered to broker this with Highways England. |
| The possibility of using an off peak school bus to provide a bespoke service to Swarland and Newton was also discussed. This could be funded as a pilot using new money and configured as a 1 or 2 day a week service running to Alnwick or Morpeth, or possibly both. |
| It was agreed that NCC would follow up the feasibility of this, ahead of a public meeting to be held on Tuesday September 20th. It will be important to get residents involved in agreeing what the service should look like, e.g. destination, times of day, bus stops etc. The emphasis now is on finalising the public meeting with NCC and getting publicity material out to encourage people to come along to the meeting. LC and CL |
| 4. Swarland Show Work on producing the display boards was discussed. These are in progress but it was noted that we only have around 2 weeks for them to be finalised and laminated. LC/CL/SS |
| SS shared the draft postcards and these were approved. The possibility of the Communities Together scheme covering the cost of printing these and the leaflets was discussed. Suzanne to explore. SS |
| LC shared the design for the banner and a number of minor amendments were suggested. This will now be ordered. LC |
| Dave was asked to confirm availability of a gazebo. DF |
| Some sustainable wrapping cloths are available to sell on the day. Jan is providing a game. We will try and obtain some leaflets from Gallery 45 and eco stores in Morpeth and Alnwick to display. KM/LC/SS |
| Volunteers for the day are Liz, Carolyn, Marlene and Kathryn. Times to be agreed. LC |
| 5. Climate Change Toolkit LC explained that NCC has published a Climate Change Toolkit aimed at Town and Parish Councils. This provides some suggested actions for Councils to take. The Parish Council has reviewed this and identified progress and outstnading actions. Some of these are better undertaken by SNAC. The draft will be circulated to SNAC members for comments before it goes back to the Parish Council for approval. LC |
| 6. Use of Facebook It was agreed that we should set up a Facebook account for SNAC that will allow us to post on other sites. Dave to follow up. DF |
| 7. Projects for the Autumn Judy is coming to talk to the group in September and it is hoped that this will lead to a joint project with her on hedgerows. Kathryn suggested writing to local landowners to let them know about the talk. |
| We are also hoping that NCC will be ready to roll-out the Household Carbon Footprint Survey. |
| Tree planting in Vyner Park should take place in November. SS and BS advised that we should get 2 – 3 weeks notice of delivery, allowing us to arrange an event. |
| Greg suggested another project around signposting people to reliable information about renewable energy and home insulation. |
| 8. Any Other Business: It was also noted that a SNAC e mail address has been set up – it is talktosnac@gmail.com |
| The Public Transport Public Meeting will be held immediately before the next SNAC meeting. |
| Date of Next SNAC meeting: Tuesday September 20th 2022 at 7.15pm – note change of time |
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