The meeting first considered a number of on-going matters before moving on to planning the programme for 2011.
- An update on 'pylon' issues was provided - the main point being the delay in a decision while studies were undertaken on behalf of National Grid to establish the relative costs of the options including undergrounding.
- The discussion on Broadband speeds in the Allertons was considered. The article in Allerton News was considered to be helpful but there is still a group in Stone Allerton with poor connections - further investigations will be undertaken by those concerned.
- Reports on the Green Deal and a new hedgerow intiative were provided.
The provisional programme for 2011 is:
January: Apple Pruning
February: AGM with an illustrated talk on the Crane Project
March: Presentation of outcomes of a survey of heat loss from houses (Infra-red Survey)
May: Discussion Meeting
June: Outing to Knightshayes Court for a visit and talk on Organic Gardening
September: Discussion Meeting
October: Visit to Butcombe Brewery
November: Planning Meeting
Note - all meetings/visits are subject to confirmation
DOMESTIC SOLAR ENERGY: TUESDAY 26 OCTOBER
The main focus of the meeting was domestic solar power – both generating electricity with photovoltaic panels and water heating systems. The first speakers from Solarsense (who have installed some panel for some homeowners in the village) explained photovoltaic systems and told us what to look out for when selecting a supplier. They explained in layman’s terms how it works, what is involved and the benefits both for homeowners and the environment. The second speaker who runs a local B&B described how he had sucessfuly installed solar hot water panels himself.WEBSITE AND PYLONS: TUESDAY 28 SEPTEMBER
Cherry and Isobel (from the Village Website) described the village website outlined how the AEG could use their pages to share information and promote their group. They explained that the whole website was being updated so that groups would be better able to manage their own pages. The Environmental Group is in the vanguard with its new arrangements which allow it to post information and carry out discussions.
During the Q&A session, the discussion turned to the very poor bandwidth available in Allerton and the detrimental effects this has. It was agreed that the group would look further into how we might persuade BT to unbundle the relevant exchange if sufficient people were experiencing problems.
The second part of the meeting related mainly to the issue of pylons. Fiona explained some alternatives for undergrounding. Frances said that she would represent the group on National Grid's local Community Forum. It will be important to have a mechanism for feeding back information from the forum and to seek views to input to it. The new discussion area will be used for this but a sub-group might need to meet too.WETLAND BIRD WALK: TUESDAY 22 JUNE
Greg Glendall lead an evening bird walk at the Ham Wall reserve on Tuesday 22 June. Before setting out on the walk, he provided an update on the Crane Project for which he is a volunteer. The eggs arrived safely and have hatched - all is going well at present. The walk was enjoyed by those taking part and we had plenty of opportunities to see and hear the birds as they settled down for the night though for some people the midges were a bit of an issue.
ENCOURAGING WILDLIFE IN THE GARDEN: TUESDAY 25 MAY
The meeting was held at Ashton House. The meeting started with a tour round the garden to look to see some of the wildlife friendly features including the pond and the partly established wildflower meadow. Because there were nearly 40 people, two tours were run with people able to purchase plants from the bring and buy stall.