Financial support to help Totnes and Dartington residents buy solar-PV systems to generate some of their own electricity and earn an income have been agreed by community action scheme Transition Streets and South Hams District Council.

The grants and loans, which can be worth up to 80 per cent off a solar-PV system for people on low income, are for homeowners and tenants taking part in the Transition Streets scheme.

“Not only does everyone in Totnes and Dartington have the chance to cut their bills by joining Transition Streets before March 28,” said Adrian Porter, co-manager of Transition Streets, ‘We’re now pleased to say whatever your budget, if your property is suitable you can also apply for discounted solar-PV systems to make renewable electricity and earn money from your roof.”

Andrew Powell, divisional environmental health officer at South Hams District Council said: “The council is happy to support this project through the private sector renewal policy which is aimed at improving the quality and energy efficiency of housing and reducing fuel poverty, especially as this project will help families on low incomes.”

In the Transition Streets scheme, neighbours first get together to form Transition Together groups, helping each other make simple practical changes to cut their energy bills. Transition Streets then supports them or their landlords to get their hands on low-cost or free insulation and heating system upgrades to make their homes warmer.

After this Transition Streets will select homes to fit solar-PV systems, seeking to fairly reflect the diversity of housing types, tenures, ages and incomes in Totnes and Dartington parishes.

The Transition Streets grants range from £2,500 to £3,500 and can be topped up, for eligible households on low incomes, with a low-interest loan or with a further grant from the Council. And property owners’ can offset their initial investment with the government’s new Feed in Tariff Programme – an annual income for people generating renewable electricity from April.

For those whose homes are not suitable for solar-PV systems, Transition Streets and its partners can offer other energy-generation solutions.

If you want to be a Transition Street, call 01803 867358, email transitiontowntotnes@gmail.com

(from a press release)

(Image: Transition Together from Rob Hopkins’ Transition Culture blog)

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What’s your pension fund funding? While you’re watching your pennies and trying to save energy and money, your pension fund could be exacerbating environment problems, says Greenpeace.

Some pension money is being invested in the companies that are developing ‘tar sands’ – the dirtiest oil available, says the environmental organisation. Extracting the oil requires massive environmental disruption. Forests are clear-cut, the landscape is strip-mined, watercourses and wildlife are poisoned, indigenous peoples are displaced.

And producing tar sands oil means up to three times the carbon emissions of normal oil extraction. BP and Shell are leading the way in this method of oil extraction.

The Greenpeace missive, forwarded from the Teign Estuary Transition Group reads: ‘Because of lax ethical investment criteria, many pension funds are investing our money into BP and Shell. In the next month both BP and Shell have their Annual General Meetings. It’s time to kick up a fuss.

‘We want pension fund managers to vote for a shareholders resolution which challenges BP and Shell over their tar sands investments.

‘You can tell your pension provider to support the resolution. You’ll need to know who your pensions provider is, then go to the Fairpensions website. They’ll help you contact your pension fund manager and ask them to support the resolution.’

• Consumer choice can help change the world? Comments below, please

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Last Tuesday I took myself off to Heathleigh to visit the farmers market. Actually, I have been there several times before, buying ducks for our pond (yep we have a Duck house… paid for by us, I should add!). But this time it was an opportunity to meet with farmers about issues of the day. I was most interested to hear about their views on badgers, said to be causing the TB in cattle which has so devastated many local farms.

The response is almost unanimous, to cull the badgers. A view which, of course, raises all sorts of passions on both sides.

What depressed me though was the fact we are having this debate at all. I understand that it has been well over 15 years since the beginning of this current outbreak, and Devon has had more then its fair share of cattle slaughtered or confined to the farm and yet, we are no closer to a solution.

Trails to eradicate badgers from a test area have proved flawed and inconclusive and my understanding is that we are some years away yet from an effective vaccination for cows. This has left the farmers rightly frustrated as herd after herd is hit and many years of hard work building up a good livestock is wiped away. With those left facing 60 days testing, with one reactor (a positive test for bovine TB) meaning the farm must wait another 6o days before they can even think again about a chance to sell their cattle.

Little wonder then, farmers who, let’s face, it like animals, while understanding the critical part nature plays in the country way of life, have reach the conclusion that a mass cull of badgers is the only way forward.

I keeping asking myself how come when we spent £84 million last year alone in TB controls, have we not found a solution? Other European countries have successfully tackled the outbreak, why not us?

Certainly there is the cost to consider and this appears to be at the root of the reactive rather than proactive approach of this (and past) Governments. But surly whatever the cost, it has to be worth it for the farmers well being, the herds and, of course, wildlife. We need to invest in finding an effective vaccination which can be given to the wildlife (orally, that is – the thought of going around injecting badgers is farcical) together with selective culling of infected badgers. It will be expensive and take time, but in the long term I believe will mean the demise of TB and that has to be worth it.

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Teignbridge is taking part in a Scores on the Doors food hygiene scheme which, despite its name doesn’t require the restaurants, take-aways, public houses to put the scores on the doors at all.

Scores Not On The Doors But the Food Standards Agency website is a national scheme that aims to offer uniformity in food standards. It’s will no longer be a case of whether the food preparation is safe, but just how safe it is.

It will add an extra exciting element to picking food eateries – will you play it safe and stick with a five star premises, or risk it with zero stars? We can see this being the new Saturday night entertainment, what with its game show name. But remember to consult the website before you go out, because the Scores don’t have to be On The Doors.

• Comments below, please

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Even poodles and Chihuahuas will face the dog tax, says Anne Marie Morris, Conservative Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Newton Abbot. In fact, no matter how cute or useful your dog is, there’s no escaping.

The ‘dog tax’ refers to Government consultation which includes proposals to compel all dog owners to pay for compulsory third party insurance to be allowed to own their own dog. Families would face ‘penalties’ – fines or criminal sanctions – for breaching this requirement.

What about the Dangerous Dogs act? we hear your cry – that doesn’t give financial institutions the leg up, so to speak. So third party insurance is the answer to a problem that doesn’t exist.

But not wanting to be seen as soft on crime, Anne Marie still wants to be tough.

She told the PRSD: “We need tougher laws against the growing problem of dangerous dogs being used in acts of violence. But it is a sledgehammer to crack a nut to impose a dog tax on a poodle and, as a dog owner, I’m concerned.”

Sledgehammers, dangerous dogs… who does Anne Marie hang round with? Wonder what her stance is on that other violence with dogs that has already been banned – hunting?

• The ‘dog tax’ is a barking idea! Comments below, please

(image: Chihuahua by Werwin15 used under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.)

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Dr Sam Moss has emerged as the South Devon Green Party Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Torbay.

The Greens have high hopes of making a breakthrough in the marginal seat of Torbay, and they reckon Dr Sam is the man to do it.

Sam, who lives in Paignton and has lived in and around Torbay most of his life, is a chiropractor who served in the Royal Marines for nine years.

He told the PRSD: “The Green Party has a strong commitment to social justice, civil liberties and putting public services back in public hands. We are fundamentally opposed to the Afghan war and our undemocratic mayoral system of local government. That is why I am proud to stand as the Green Party candidate, to give the people of Torbay the chance to vote for a fairer, more sustainable society.”

“The Green Party of England and Wales is fully democratic – funded and run by grassroots membership and against illegal, immoral counterproductive wars.

“It is the acceptable face of British socialism and totem for animal rights, it supports thriving independent local business and, of course, a low carbon green economy.”

• Are the Greens the acceptable face of British socialism? Comments below, please

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We picked up this press release from puppy-dog to the local press Richard Younger Ross, Teignbridge MP who’ll be fighting the new Newton Abbot seat come the next general election.

With just a week to go before it opens, Teignbridge MP Richard Younger-Ross visited the new police ‘shop’ in Teignmouth accompanied by Inspector Shaw of Teignmouth Police station. The new premises is sited on Wellington Street in the heart of the town and are easily accessible to the public.

“There is now a high-profile police presence on the high street and hopefully this will reassure the public that they are there to help,” said Rich.

“These wonderful new facilities will make it much easier for people to contact the police on issues that matter to them.”

• Fear of crime inhibits communities. Comments below, please.

(image: Richard Younger-Ross outside the new Teignmouth Cop Shop)

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You may already know that our children get a raw deal on schools funding. Every pupil at school in central London for example get thousands more spent on them than is spent in Plymouth. Even less is spent, per pupil, in Devon. What you might not know is that the raw deal doesn’t stop there.

Take the police. The police budget for Devon and Cornwall last year was a little over £268 million, which works out at about £159 for every man, woman and child in the region. That is less, per resident, than 35 other forces in England and Wales – which is almost all of them. In fact, the force gets £40 less per person than the average for England and Wales. If Devon and Cornwall got the average per resident funding it would receive an extra £68 million per year, the equivalent of the combined starting salaries of an extra 3,000 constables.

Six forces get more than £200 per person: Gwent (£201), the West Midlands (£209), Greater Manchester (£212), Cleveland (£223), Merseyside (£235), the London Met (£342), and the City of London’s own force (an amazing £6,412 per resident!).

How do we change this? Well, we could start by binning ID card plans straight away. They are a massive waste of money, and an alien intrusion into traditional British liberties. The money saved could pay for thousands more police officers, which would start to make up for our local shortfall.

• Who’da thought it, to bin ID cards to pay for actual police? Comments below, please!

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MVV Unwelt, the company which had plans for two schemes in Devon, has pulled out of the incinerator at Ernesettle, but is continuing with its North Yard, Devonport project.

The only other remaining incinerator plan is being pursued by Viridor and is just two miles from the centre of Ivybridge. Campaigners in Ivybridge have been fighting the proposals, which have highlighted the failure of district and county councillor Roger Croad of representing his electorate as he’s also the chair of the body looking to position the incinerators.

Protestors at Ivybridge say its scheme has infra structure and planning issues facing it. And anti- ncinerator groups claim the technology is old and a backward step for Devon waste management.

Find out what the Ivybridge incinerator protesters have been up to.

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The Nintendo roadshow rolls into Exmouth as the games console people demonstrate their XL DSi to Exmouth oldies at the Pegasus Court retirement home in the town.

The XL is Nintendo’s DSi version for people with fingers bigger and than a small child’s, and to show just how much electronic fun is out there, the Nintendo crowd are touring the UK to show the ‘fun’ and ‘benefit’ that can be gained by gaming.

Karen Roake, sales and marketing director of retirement apartment developer Pegasus, told the PRSD: “We are really pleased to be part of the XL UK tour, as we hold regular events in our owners’ lounges for everything from fashion shows to Indian head massage, but this is the first time we have hosted the pre-launch of a piece of hi-tech.

“The majority of the apartment owners in Pegasus Court will never have played on a DS or a Wii so for them this is a totally new experience, but, as they are all active, enthusiastic and open-minded, they should enjoy trying them out.”

• What could be better than unlocking the secret cheats of Mario Super Karts as you become a silver gamer? Comments below, please

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