www.staffordbc.gov.uk/sustainability

SEPTEMBER 2015

Focus on Eco-Schools! Stafford Borough children continue to show that being green and learning go hand in hand. There were 18 applications made by local schools for grant funding support from the Stafford Borough Council eco-grant, which is administered as part of Stafford Borough Eco-Schools Network, and some excellent projects have been underway.

Stafford Manor High School designed and constructed new planters and raised beds for their school garden, as well as bicycle trailers. The school bought power tools which are now used on a daily basis. ‘We have never before had an eco-grant so well used by students!’

Walton Priory Middle School used their grant to buy a greenhouse. ‘Work in the garden has a beneficial effect on behaviour, individual learning and enjoyment in daily school life and has also encouraged wildlife in school’.

Weston Road Academy are creating a fabulous outdoor learning area with a veg garden, a hen pen, new hedging and fruit trees, 40 new bird boxes, a bee box, and garden benches made from recycled half round rails. The raised beds are used regularly and pupil self-esteem has grown throughout the gardening year. ‘It has been a delight to witness at first hand the enthusiasm, particularly of the less able, in seeing their planting and tending come to fruition.’

See how our other schools used their grant overleaf…

Green Rewards The Stafford Borough Council Green Awards deadline in July brought a flurry of applications detailing some excellent projects.

The judges meet in early September to score the 32 entries and the winners will be announced at the Awards Ceremony at The Gatehouse in October. In the meantime, we have just been invited to the Green Apple Awards celebrations in London. Our joint application focussing on local projects ‘Stafford Area Save Your Energy and We Love Littleworth’ will be recognised at a prestigious national ceremony in November.

WelcomeWelcome to the late-Summer edition of Newsleaf. We’re pleased to bring you a selection of topics including Council initiatives to promote cycling, make wild-flower meadows, tackle fly-tipping - and re-home honey bees!

We pay a visit to the most recent solar PV system installed via the Stafford Area Community Solar Scheme and dip into the Save Your Energy website. There’s a selection of fabulous school based eco-action and you can find out what some of the world’s prominent leaders are saying to encourage greater care for our planet.

As well as these stories, you’ll find a list of events and dates for your diary.

Happy reading!

Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Cadets, last years winners.

Stafford Manor High School get to grips with power tools and planters.

Oliver’s Eco Article Oliver Taylor, aged 15, joined us for Work Experience in July. A pupil at Sir Graham Balfour High School, Oliver was keen to tell us about how his school is flying the eco-flag!

‘Sir Graham Balfour is very eco-friendly! Vegetable patches are located behind the school building, currently growing pumpkins for Halloween. We are also growing fruit trees and hawthorn hedges. Walking and cycling to school are encouraged and school has some great new cycle parking facilities. Still concerning bikes, SGB also takes part in the ‘Tour of Stafford’.

The lights in corridors are on an automatic timer, turning off when no-one’s around.

We have new Ricoh printers too - helping save large amounts of ink and paper.

Consequently, Sir Graham Balfour is not only able to save a considerable amount of money, but is also helping to protect our planet’.

Eco-Schools RoundupBishop Lonsdale Primary School created a new all-ability sensory path from the school to the garden, where children have been growing some amazing fruit and vegetables.

Castlechurch Primary School created a small pond and every class was involved in ‘Green Day’, planting flowers and vegetables, with help from parents and volunteers. Class teacher Mrs Cranwell said: ‘Thanks - the grant has had a really big impact at Castlechurch!’

Sir Graham Balfour bought a new shed to keep their gardening tools safe and replenished plants in their raised beds.

Manor Hill First School created raised vegetable beds for each year group and the younger year groups created a wildlife garden to help them with their studies of mini-beasts, life cycles and the growth of animals.

Meir Heath Primary School transformed an unused part of the school grounds into an attractive learning area with shelter in the form of ‘sails’. Flower beds have been added, to attract bees and other insects.

Oulton First School used the grant to encourage recycling. They bought recycling bins, placing them next to the rubbish bin so it would be as easy to recycle as to throw something away.

Tittensor First School created a sensory garden and a mini beast hotel, impressing the Stone ‘small schools cluster’ who visited for a science day. ‘Everyone is learning about food chains, pollinating insects and why and how we can care for the environment!’

St. Lawrence CE Primary School gardening club efforts have been scuppered by the local rabbits - till now. With funding to purchase rabbit proof fencing, fence pots and fixings, plus two green houses, the gardening outlook is now much brighter.

St. Leonard’s Primary have constructed a new pond dipping platform made from recycled plastic. The new platform has allowed even young children to undertake pond dipping in a safe and secure way.

Walton Hall Academy have created an outdoor learning area along with new wildlife habitats. The project will enable students with the greatest sensory needs to learn through an outdoor based programme.

Walton High School made bird boxes and bat houses; some are now in the school grounds and some were sold to raise funds for the eco-club.

Summaries can be viewed at www.staffordbc.gov.uk/eco-grants-for-stafford-borough-schools

The Renewable Heat Incentive Stafford Borough Residents are being encouraged to consider the Renewable Heat Incentive (or RHI) to improve their home heating. It is especially relevant for those in off gas and hard to heat homes.

The RHI offers a 7 year subsidy payment similar to the Feed-in-tariff for Solar PV panels. Payments vary but a typical three bed semi-detached property currently using heating oil could receive over £4,000 back in RHI payments. The RHI is one of the few government schemes that hasn’t faced a cut in funding recently and it therefore remains an attractive offer.

For further information visit www.staffordarea.saveyourenergy.org.uk or call advisors on the Warmer Homes Stafford helpline 0800 677 1785

Tittensor First School made a mini-beast hotel.

Westbridge Park Meadow Making Over the Summer work has taken place on the Borough Council’s Westbridge Park in Stone to restore a disused field at the back of the site into a floodplain meadow.

Floodplain meadows used to be found throughout the country’s river valleys but over the last 70 years have declined dramatically. Traditionally used as a means of providing hay for winter and grazing through the autumn, floodplain meadows contain a great diversity of flowers, insects and bird life. A botanical survey this year found many typical floodplain plants still surviving in the rough ground surrounding the site, including Great Burnet, Meadowsweet and Southern Marsh Orchid. It seems very likely that the whole field was once a flower-rich meadow, full of wildlife.

In order to correctly restore the meadow a seed source was chosen with a similar mix of species. Green-hay from Mottey Meadows was strewn across the prepared ground – a technique that allows the ripening hay to drop seed on a receptor site and thus to move the species in a meadow from one site to another. Staffordshire Wildlife Trust will help by providing rarer plants they have grown on from seed gathered from a host of other special sites. Meadow restoration takes several years so in the meantime we will monitor how the meadow takes shape.

Invasive species at Barlaston and Rough Close Common LNR Bill Waller, Biodiversity and Ecology Officer holds back the invaders!

‘Work has taken place to clear the pond at Barlaston and Rough Close Common LNR from an invasive species of plant. Water Soldier, although native to some parts of the UK, is not native to Staffordshire and was probably introduced from someone’s garden pond. In a few short years it had spread to cover the entire pool. The clearance work carried out by a specialist contractor, appears to have been very successful - but we will have to monitor the pond and act quickly if more Water Soldier is found.

Interestingly, now the pond is clear we have discovered the existence of Red-eared terrapins. Again, deliberately introduced to the pond, these will eat many native species including amphibians, fish and ducklings. Whilst it is currently too cold to breed in the UK, these creatures can still live for 40 years, in which time they may have a significant impact on the indigenous wildlife. Of course, it is unlikely that those who introduced these species had any idea of the problems they could cause. Likewise, Japanese Knotweed, Giant Hogweed and Rhododendron are often in the news and cost millions each year to deal with. A costly reminder of unintended consequences!’

Solar Satisfaction Sustainability Matters, with support from Stafford Borough Council, has created ‘Stafford Area Community Solar’ (SACS), a scheme aimed to help local residents, businesses, community groups and schools in the area to install solar photovoltaic (PV) panels at a discounted price.

The aim is to save money on energy bills, get a guaranteed return on your capital, reduce your carbon footprint and contribute to a renewable energy future. We work with installer, MEB Total Ltd, who were chosen after a rigorous selection process. The most recent installation has just been completed. House-holder, Fiona, said: ‘It’s a big step to take having the panels fitted, and I feel completely reassured about the investment for now and the future - the MEB Total team were all great!’

This was the 30th installation under the SACS scheme. Taken collectively, it is estimated that the SACS panels fitted to date will generate some 90,000 kilowatt hours of electricity annually, with annual revenues approaching £35,000. For more info on SACS visit the Stafford Area Save Your Energy website www.staffordarea.saveyourenergy.org.uk or call Robert on 603387

Cycling Makes Sense and Savings It is beyond doubt that walking and cycling is good for our health and smarter for our economy.

The National Cycle Network (NCN) has saved the UK economy more than £7 billion (equivalent to almost £1 m a day) since it was established 20 years ago, by improving people’s health and reducing congestion, pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, according to new research from Sustrans.

Over £6 billion of those savings have come from reducing health costs, thanks to health improvements brought about by people walking and cycling more. With health budgets under increasing pressure and physical inactivity costing the UK economy around £20 billion every year, enabling people to walk and bike for local and everyday journeys makes sense. Stafford Borough Council, along with a range of partners, promotes and encourages both walking and cycling, including by installing cycle parking at community centres, schools and public facilities.

To find out more about cycling or walking in Stafford Borough visit www.staffordbc.gov.uk/other-initiatives-and-projects. To find out more about Sustrans and the National Cycle Network visit www.sustrans.org.uk

Cycle to Dance, Drama, Bridge or Bingo! As part of the most recent round of cycle parking installation, bike racks have now been put in at Littleworth Community Centre, Doxey Hub, Sandon Road Baptist Church and Brocton FC.

‘My thanks to you and the Borough Council for providing this cycle parking, I trust they will receive much use and encourage more people to cycle to the premises.’ Geoff Biggin, Trustee Littleworth Community Association.

‘Dear Karen, the Bike Racks are installed and in use! Thank you very much!’Nicky Barron, Creative Director, Doxey Hub.

‘We are sure the bike stands will be used frequently by cyclists who attend our matches and we are encouraging both players and supporters to cycle more.’Brian Townsend, Chair of Brocton FC

If you know of a community centre, public facility or location where cycle parking would be useful please contact Karen Davies.

call Karen 01785 619408 email kdavies@staffordbc.gov.uk

All set up for cycling at Sir Graham Balfour Sports Hall

Swarm Chasers They may be tiny but bees are essential to a healthy environment and a healthy economy. We rely on them and other insects to pollinate most of our fruit and vegetables. It would cost UK farmers nearly £2 billion a year to pollinate their crops without bees.

But bees are under threat. Changes in land use, loss of habitat, urbanisation, disease, the use of neo-nicotinoides and climate change mean that over the last 100 years, the UK has lost 75% of its bee population.

The Council’s domestic and commercial pest control service receive hundreds of calls each year to deal with bees. Swarms can consist of 10,000 bees. Till recently the only answer was to either hope the bees moved on or to employ the services of a beekeeper, if or when they were available. Unfortunately some individuals affected by a swarm will try to deal with it themselves using chemicals, with disastrous effects for the bees.

Now, as Shaun Baker, from SBC Environmental Health explains, the Council can deal with these calls effectively and help conserve bees too. ‘Handling bee swarms is a skilful operation, and is one that requires considerable nerve and resource. However, Pest Control Officers have been trained in-house to both capture the swarms and manage hives. The honey that is produced will be donated to charity. Through this project, we hope to highlight both the importance and the vulnerability of all our honey bees’.

Want to know more about bees? Download ‘20 things you need to know about bees’ at www.foe.co.uk/sites/default/files/20-things-you-need-know-about-bees-15919.pdf

Eco-Action Day was the best day ever! This year’s workshops included ‘You should ask Wallace! by the unique ‘Theatre Na Nog’, who took children on an expedition of discovery to the unexplored Amazon.

The ‘Mini-beasts and Meadows!’ workshop found children making cress caterpillars and exploring and investigating the meadows. Our third workshop was based on the theme ‘Nature’s Art’, which included shaping and decorating clay rabbits, creating natural art features and making hand-prints for the Giant Earth.

We were pleased this year to have an additional lunchtime activity called ‘Exploring Soil’ with Samantha Sommerfield from the organisation ‘Farming and Countryside Education’ (FACE). There was also a litter free healthy lunch competition and an eco-goody bag to take home as a memento from the day. Here are some quotes from the schools.

‘The children thoroughly enjoyed the day… they were excited to talk about it at assembly next day!’

‘It was the best trip I have ever been on… thank you for a truly amazing day!’

‘From now on I will do my best to stop dropping litter and to care about the environment…’

‘Brilliant day - very well organised - thank you all so much’.

‘Thank you so much for organising such a fantastic day… enjoyable and educational!’

‘Everything was superbly organised and differentiated so that it met the needs of all children. Activities were pacey, which ensured that all children were engaged at all times… so many great ideas to develop with in class!’

More information and an evaluation is online at www.staffordbc.gov.uk/eco-action-day.

Manor Hill made some amazing cress caterpillars.

There is but one Planet… The United Nations Climate Change Conference to be held in Paris in December will be attended by governments from more than 190 nations.

The conference aims to achieve, for the first time in over 20 years of UN negotiations, a binding and universal agreement on climate change, from all the nations of the world. The overarching goal of the Convention is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to limit the global temperature increase to 2 °C above pre-industrial levels - and thus avoid the threat of dangerous climate change. As a pre-cursor to Paris, several world leaders have made key announcements and action plans.

In February, David Cameron signed a joint pledge to tackle climate change, which stated: ‘Climate change is one of the most serious threats facing the world today. It is not just a threat to the environment, but also to our national and global security, to poverty eradication and economic prosperity… Acting on climate change is also an opportunity for the UK to grow a stronger economy, which is more efficient and more resilient to the risks ahead’.

In June the Vatican released Pope Francis’ keenly awaited encyclical on the environment. In the nearly 200 page document the Pope laments the loss of beautiful landscapes, the impact of pollution both on the environment and people’s health, over-consumption, our throw-away culture and wastefulness. He calls for swift and concerted global action on climate change and calls for humanity to recognise the need for changes to our lifestyles, and our production and consumption habits. He emphasises the urgent need to drastically reduce carbon dioxide emissions… to find substitutes for fossil fuels and to develop renewable energy.

President Obama’s new ‘Clean Power Plan’ sets targets to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and aims ‘to protect health by preventing up to 3,600 premature deaths and 90,000 asthma attacks in children… to boost the US economy by creating tens of thousands of ‘green jobs’ and to lower the costs of renewable energy’. The plan gives an explicit boost to wind and solar deployment and major companies welcome the predicted benefits to the economy and jobs.

These high level announcements must give a boost to hopes of a significant world-wide agreement at the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris in December.

12th September | 10.00am - 4.00pmCommunity Energy Fortnight Celebration EventMarket Square, Stafford.

Sunday 13th September | 10.00am - 12noonSmall Mammal Identification Walk on Doxey Marshes*

Monday 14th September | 7.30pmHouses that don’t cost the earth - Buildings fit for the 21st CenturyTalk arranged by ‘Newport 21’ and Newport and District Civic Society at Cosy Hall, Water Lane, Newport TF10 7LD

Wednesday 16th September | 7.30pm - 9.00pm Staffordshire Butterflies* Talk by David Emley from Keele Universityat St Austin’s Catholic Church Hall

Friday 18th September | 9.30am - 5.30pm Growing Up Green and Global Education Conference and Exhibition Harper Adams University Campus www.sustainabilitywestmidlands.org.uk/events Call 01530 459374 or 07971553639

Friday 18th September | 7.30pm - 9.00pm Wildlife and Thermal Activities of New Zealand *An interesting and interactive evening talk by Mike Baskeyfield at Eccleshall Parish Rooms

Friday 25th September | 7.00pm - 9.00pm Plants for Bees*Talk by William Kirk at Oulton Village Hall Monday 28th September | 7.30pm - 9.00pm SWT Stafford Group, Quiz Night*Staffs County Officers Club, Eastgate Street

Friday 2nd October | 7.30pm - 9.00pm The Owl Experience. Birds of Prey Rescue and Conservation Centre - Meet the Birds* A talk by Andrew Campbell at Maer Village Hall

Saturday 17th OctoberCelebrate One World WeekChurch Lane Evangelical Church, Stafford

Monday 28th September | 7.30pm - 9.00pm The Natural History of the Hedgehog*Talk by Terry Green at St Austin’s Catholic Church Hall

* For details call 01889 880 100 or visit www.staffs-wildlife.org.uk/whats-on

For more details about any of these initiatives and to find out about sustainability in Stafford Borough contact

Karen Davies, Partnerships Co-ordinator, Stafford Borough Council, Civic Centre, Riverside, Stafford ST16 3AQ

call 01785 619 408 | email kdavies@staffordbc.gov.ukweb www.staffordbc.gov.uk/sustainability

If you need this information in large print, Braille, other language or in audio format email info@staffordbc.gov.uk call 01785 619 000

What a Load of Rubbish!Did you know that more than 30million tonnes of litter are collected from England’s streets each year? And that cigarette butts are the most common type of litter?

A billion pounds a year are spent cleaning the streets of England, with £56 million spent cleaning up chewing gum from England’s towns and cities alone (source: Tidy Britain Group). Another serious but common offence is fly-tipping. This carries a fine of up to £95,000 - an offender can even be sent to prison. Not only do littering and fly-tipping harm the environment and leave us swimming in a sea of discarded rubbish, it costs us a fortune!

Stafford Borough Council treats this problem very seriously and will prosecute anyone caught fly-tipping waste or littering. Recently a Stafford man was hit with a £150 fine for dumping rubbish on a verge along the town’s Newport Road. The man left four bags of household waste on the verge near the M6 bridge saying he ‘couldn’t be bothered’ to take it to the tip. He was issued with a fixed penalty notice. The Council is also prosecuting five people who discarded cigarettes in the town centre. They are expected to appear before magistrates for littering offences.

The Borough Council website has a dedicated page www.staffordbc.gov.uk/grimewatch showing pictures of rubbish dumped locally, calling on members of the community to help catch offenders.

Councillor Frank Finlay, Cabinet Member for Environment and Health, said people had received enough warnings. Now we want to make it clear, ‘Treat our Borough as a giant dustbin and face fines or prosecution.’

If you have information about fly tipping offences you can report it in confidence visit www.staffordbc.gov.uk/grimewatch and fill in the online form, email grimewatch@staffordbc.gov.uk or call 01785 619401.

Fly tipping in Chase Lane.