I was informed today that a site suitable for our work is available at a central location in Rush at a low rent. I propose that we negotiate with the landowner in order to progress with this asap. Unfortunately I can't disclose the location at the moment.
I'm also proposing that we set up a meeting with residents in Lambay View, St. Catherine's and Palmer Road so that we can move forward with the community garden proposal. I'd certainly like to get an application for funding in for one community garden before the end of the month. So can you all let me know what you think.
Wednesday 7 March 2012
Friday 24 February 2012
community gardens in church grounds?
Just went past St. Maurs Church this week and noticed that they have quite a bit of grassland/wasteland behind the church building. Would that not be a good spot for a new community garden? I have no connection with the church in Rush whatsoever, maybe somebody else knows more or has a contact to some of the priests?
I could also make it to the Tom Hussey meeting on Tuesday if you let me know where it is at.
I could also make it to the Tom Hussey meeting on Tuesday if you let me know where it is at.
Friday 17 February 2012
Let's get Rush carpooling!
ROOTS Carpool for Rush - Meeting on Tuesday 21st February in the Community Centre at 8.30pm
I've been thinking alot about the whole idea behind
the transition towns project and how it was set up as a system of combating the
'Peak Oil' situation that will face us all down the line. With this in mind I
was trying to come up with something that could be easily set up, but could
have an immediate effect on the amount of oil and fuel that we consume as a
population. I began thinking of all the cars that leave my estate in the
morning – mainly heading for the city, and the idea that if they started car
pooling it could cut down dramatically on the fuel being consumed.
Thursday 16 February 2012
ROOTS - Rush Open Organisation for Transition Status and the Transition Towns movement
So what is the Transition Towns Movement all
about?
It’s a
relatively recent phenomenon which only began in 2001. Currently there are over
400 organisations with official Transition Town status in 34 countries in the
world. The main focus of each of
them is to enable their communities to reduce their carbon footprint and to be more resilient in the face of some of the
major environmental and economic
challenges which we are now facing, specifically, the twin challenges of
climate change and peak oil. The former is well documented and very visible
in the media. The concept of peak oil
however is new to many.
It’s all
about the effects of the diminishing supply of fossil fuels on communities
everywhere. Peak oil is about the end of cheap and plentiful oil, the
recognition that the ever increasing volumes of oil being pumped into our
economies will peak and then inexorably decline. Many people believe that we
have already reached this point. So we need to act now!
The Transition Town Movement is so called
because it encourages communities to respond positively to the challenges we
face as a result of climate change
and peak oil and to focus on how we
can transition or move gradually and
with a clear purpose to a safe and
sustainable future.
So what does living a
Transition Town mean in practice?
There’s no simple and complete answer to this question. While there are similarities in the work
being done in many of the successful transition towns, there’s an incredible
variety of things happening in them also.
It may be helpful to look at what has been achieved by the transition
organisation geographically closest to us in Rush, - the TTDP- Transition Town
Portrane Donabate.
The TTDP was
established by a very small group less than 2 years ago but their work rate has
been phenomenal. Already they have established:-- a popular thriving farmer’s market held in Donabate every Saturday
-
the first stages in
the development of a community garden/small business centre in Portrane
- a series of free training courses in food preparation and marketinga shared facility to press fruit juices on a large scale
- a cycle group which organises weekly cycling trip
- Chickenlink- a support group for local chicken keepers
- G Day- an event promoted and televised by TV4, which succeeded in turning the area into a mini Gaeltacht for one day
- a very real and palpable sense of community!!!!!!
And there are plans for many more exciting projects! (Have a
look at their website –www.ttdp.ie)
Why do the people of Rush need to enable Rush
to become a transition town?
It has been suggested
that an initiative such as Transition
Towns would never get off the ground in
Rush. There is a view that the people
here are too apathetic and unwilling to take action. However the view has also been expressed to me
that there could never be a better time than right now to do so!
40 years ago we lost Kenure House and its beautiful surrounding parkland. We’ve lived with the shadow of Baleally Tiphead
on our doorstep for two generations now.
Many of the commercial buildings on our main street lie empty and
derelict. More recently we’ve had impositions
from Eirgrid and Tesco. The final straw may well be the new monster sewage plant. Maybe these impositions could be
just the motivation we need to turn the tables and to re-activate a
community spirit and resilience which was evident here many years ago. The large attendances
and strength of feeling at recent public
meetings indicate that perhaps the ride is
at last turning.
The global issues of climate change and peak oil are already
having an enormous impact on our wellbeing.
The local issues relating to dereliction, Eirgrid, Tesco, and the
proposed sewage plant may be even more devastating and detrimental to our community.
What do we need to do to get the ball rolling?
Now is the time to to establish R.O.O.T.S.
in our town!
Rush Open Organisation for Transition Status will be formally launched at a public meeting to be held in Rush Community Centre , on Tuesday 6th
of December at 8.30pm. The meeting will
be addressed by Trevor Sargent of the Green Party and by Sean Gibbons of ttdp.
There will be lots of free local produce and refreshments available!
If you care about any
of the issues mentioned above and if you
want to be part of the new beginning then please come along!
This could well be the tiny acorn
from which the mighty oak tree (with the strongest of R.O.O.T.S.) will grow!
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