REVIEW OF MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING
Constitution – to be reviewed and signed off
• ACTION for Sarah & Alison – review status of group & constitution working
Membership – to be discussed in a separate meeting
• ACTION for Sarah and Alison: look into issues of membership
• Aim is mostly to give members voting rights (as opposed to only a small the core team having voting rights at present)
• No intention to request any payment from members at present, but to keep it as volunteer donations
• Current members of the mailing list have already opted into joining mailing list, so no issues with data protection
• HVA (Hastings Voluntary Action) are running workshops on GDP (general data protection) – next meeting is on 7th February (if interested please sign up on HVA website)
Charitable Status – to be looked into further
• Some other TT groups have association status that allows them to make a profit
• Our income level is such that does not require registration (i.e. below £5,000)
• If going for bigger funds- we will need to move to Charity Status
Garden
• We now have a new bench donated by Andres Tapia!
• Will be installing new donated water tanks soon
• Alex put us forward to receive a grant from the Quakers group, which should be released soon
• We are meeting the new contact from Southeastern Railway (Simon Todd) on Friday 9th of February at 14.00 at the garden – everyone welcome to join
• Thank you note to be sent to the Quaker organisation
• ACTION: Chris to check whether this has already been done
• Sunday 21st – normal Garden session from 10-1pm & then meeting 13.00-14.00
• Andrea/Alison to look into risk assessment & Induction
Domestic Food Waste Collection Service
• Update from Chris on correspondence with Council Leader Peter Chowney
• Food waste represents about 30-40% of all waste by volume (60% in weight)
• Currently in Hastings all incinerated
• In Wales 100% is recycled, in London 90%
• General tone of P.C. not very supportive/encouraging (he argues for education first)
• Procurement process (of general rubbish collection) by the council was supposed to start in Nov 2017, but apparently has been postponed.
• Meeting at HVA 2pm Jan 25th on the HBC 2018 budget with P.C. attending, could be an opportunity to question him directly on pros and cons of food waste collection?
Alison- send mailchimp re this meeting and gathering a posse to question?
• Petition from Green Party was put together by Nov 17 but not submitted as it was not watertight and effective enough
• Question from Sherry: Should we as TTH initiate a campaign, including letters to the press
• HIP occasionally picks topics from our Newsletter, but having a regular column would require a high level of commitment from at least one TTH member
• Suggestion from Mischa: Should we collect food waste from Kings Road and take it to the garden, and then build awareness and , news stories around that?
• Legality of this is unclear – we could be creating a health hazard
• Access to the bins
• Vermin
• Station’s agreement would be needed
• We would need to upgrade the composting bins currently in place
• More bins
• Better lids
• Ken to look into cost of a digestor
• Worth inviting someone from Wakehurst Place, where they have a composter in place – Ken to investigate (Wakehurst Place to talk at next potluck?)
• Worth checking with commercial waste recycling companies – what do they do with Food Waste ? Andrea to look into current practices
• Where is the nearest digestor (Chris to check)
• Also worth checking what is happening in other councils, eg Islington (Ken), Margate (Caroline), Twickenham (Andrea)
• Should we start a “cut down your rubbish” challenge?
• Kate’s suggestion to organise a Sustainability Week , where best practices from all over the world are presented to the public
Finances
• Current balance £440 in the bank, £200 pending from the Quackers, £120 cash
• Next big expenditure is the water tank and installation
• Insurance is the only regular outgoing (monthly)
• Ken asked if we needed more money? (it’s always useful!)
Events
• Potluck dinner: update from Alison re booking the St John’s church hall
• Alison to check dates with the church, and ask about heating in the hall
• 16th Feb first choice, 23rd Feb 2nd choice
• Sarah to prepare a calendar of upcoming events, including from other groups (eg Energy) so that people can start following also different groups
• “In our hands” on community scale agriculture – 21st Feb at Palace, with Q&A (Abby Nichol from PeaPod Veg)
• Mischa re Film night –
• “We the Uncivilised”. Authors are away until March, but available for a screening for ~£100 (-10% for TTH)
• Film on the Brighton wind farm – Misha to investigate
• Film on school for regufees in Eastbourne also an option – Misha to coordinate with refugee group (on weds 24th Jan at Palace? Felicity?)
• Dorothy Lambert (from TT Lewes) willing to come for a workshop on food energetics and fermenting – Misha to follow up re dates and cost. Possible venues: Jenny Miller’s music room (Barefoot theatre), Dandelion (but they charge), Southwater community centre (look at first- not sure it’s appropriate space?)
• Possible structure is 1st event prices higher (£15/person) to subsidise a 2nd event – cheaper. This could also by tied with the bulk buying group
• Andrea to email Misha the list of films suggested by Linda on 1st Nov
• Spring Swap Shop
• March would be a good time (still good to include some energy advise – Sarah to check with Richard)
• Sarah to follow up with Lorna to find a contact at Simply Italian
Tidy-up Group
• Update from John
• Large interest but very little individual involvement
• Is Sunday am the wrong time ?
• Would it work better if it was a regular day ?
• Would it be better to piggy-back on the Garden day?
• Would it work to choose an area and then focus publicity through Fb page? (John to choose and Alison to post on the page)
• John would appreciate some support with Social Media- Alison
• John trying to get some support from the council:
• Trevor Webb (councillor) used to run something along this line
• Council should love this as it’s doing their job…
• Marine Conservation Society is attracting a lot of interest on cleaning up and categorising collected waste
Bulk Buying (Chris Richards)
• Next pick up is Sunday 21st (booking finishing this week)
Energy Group
• Update from Kate
• Aims:
• Information and awareness raising
• Learning and sharing
• Active group on energy projects / initiatives
• Pier is a main focus – want to try and influence them to look at RES generation as income generation and becoming part of the pier identity (next Pier Shareholders & Supporters meeting 3rd Feb- Sussex Rooms, White Rock Theatre)
• Lots of enthusiasm about Sustainability Week: ideas:
• Plan to have an EcoHouse design day
• Use an empty shop for pop-up events
• Dog-poo light
• EU funds available for community engagement projects (house audits, advise, …) in the Ore valley (60% match-funding)
• Citizens’ Advise funds for similar projects in St Leonards’
• 1066 Energy Campaign by Energise Sussex Coast – partnership with Brighton Energy Coop
• They have expertise for installation of solar panels, shares, community owned projects
• Now looking at perspective locations
• (Council now focussing on their own buildings)
Sustainability Week
• TT St Albans has been running an event for 2 years
• EU funding available for demonstration projects
• Week-long catalyst event, to hopefully kick-start initiatives that then will carry on
• Focus on waste as main theme ? (food, energy, other )
• Involve other groups in the community (school, churches, fishermen groups, other charities…)
• Looking into September
• Need to get a separate committee to run this
• Committee to include organisations rather than individuals
Misc
• Paul Radichi started a structure for home schooled children to go and organise group initiatives (5-11 years, 3 days / week)
• Next meeting: Monday 19th Feb
• ACTION for Sarah – book the room
