💚Celebrations and consultations! - Get SuSSed from South Somerset District Council 💚

Hello from Cllr Sarah Dyke, Environment Portfolio Holder,

I hope you have all been keeping safe in the recent extreme heat as we near the end of summer- hasn't that gone by fast! It's fantastic to see some much needed rain and finally some cooler weather after the record breaking temperatures we have experienced recently.

Earlier this month our Chief Executive, Jane Portman, met with our Environment and Countryside teams from across all three of our Country Park sites for a 'back to the floor' chat about all the amazing work these teams do! You can find out more about our incredible sites at our Visit South Somerset website.

Scroll down to read about all the exciting projects and news for this month, plus some exciting events and opportunities that are coming up!

Best eco wishes from Sarah x

SSDC Green News

Green Flag Award Scheme- SSDC introductory webinar for interested parishes, towns and communities!

SSDC has recently been awarded the Green Flag Award for the 17^th consecutive year at our Chard Reservoir, Ham Hill and Yeovil Country Park sites. The award scheme helps recognise well managed parks and green spaces across the UK.

But did you know that any green space that is freely accessible to the public and has a site-specific management plan is eligible for a Green Flag Award? One example here in South Somerset is Ash Millennium Wood, which recently received the Green Flag Community Award. Congratulations to Ash Parish Council, Environment Champion Mick Wooden and all the other volunteers in managing this site for nature!

If you would like to find out more about applying for the Green Flag scheme, we will be hosting a webinar on the 12 October for any interested parishes, towns or communities that have parks or spaces which they may like to enter for an award. We will explain the system, provide information on the judging criteria, as well as a brief overview of how it all works behind the scenes. The next Green Flag application deadline is 14 Feb, so what are you waiting for? See the event section below for more details.

South Somerset parks and spaces Consultation

We are looking for YOUR thoughts on our wonderful open spaces here in South Somerset. We are lucky enough to have access to over 50 SSDC owned parks and greenspaces across the district!

During the coronavirus pandemic these spaces were vital to everyone living and working within South Somerset, not just for exercise and relaxation, but also for people’s mental wellbeing.

Our Environmental & Countryside Services Team have strived to keep green spaces well maintained and accessible, but we need your help! We want to hear from our residents about how you think our services are performing, how your use of open spaces has changed and what improvements you would like to see in the future. Please fill out the survey here to have your say before Monday 17 October.

Celebration of our volunteers

Our Countryside team have been working hard this summer delivering a busy and diverse range of public events. In fact, since 2019, when we launched our Environment Strategy, our teams have organised over 162 events with over 10,000 participants!

We also host weekly volunteering events at our Country Parks, including specialist sessions to support physical and mental health needs, as well as work experience placements. It’s a great way to get outside, and tasks range from wildlife recording through to habitat management amongst other things. We are supported by around 2,000 volunteering days per year, equivalent to an additional 8 full time rangers!

To say thanks, our volunteers recently attended the annual ‘away day trip’, our small way of saying thanks for all of their hard work. We visited Weymouth with a guided bird walk around Lodmoor RSPB reserve followed by a fish and chip lunch. This is about half of the volunteers that attend our weekly volunteering sessions across all three sites!

If you’d like more information on either our events or opportunities to volunteer, click here.

HVO fuel alternative trial

Transport and vehicle use at SSDC is one of the biggest contributors to the Council's carbon emissions highlighted in our Carbon Calculator. Our long-term aim is to switch our vehicle fleet to all electric vehicles but currently there isn't the availability of vehicle types we need to deliver our work, so in the interim we plan to trial a lower emission vehicle fuel to replace diesel.

Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) is made from waste vegetable oils, which are processed to create a hydrocarbon with similar properties to diesel. Research suggests that HVO will reduce green house gas emissions by 90% if switching from fossil fuel diesel, which will help significantly reduce the Council's carbon emission output.

An additional benefit of using HVO is it uses a waste product that is often difficult to divert from general waste and can contaminate water and land if disposed of incorrectly.

HVO still emits other forms of green house gases (though substantially less than fossil fuel diesel), so would act as a temporary transition solution for all of our diesel engine vehicles. Our aim is to be carbon neutral by 2030, therefore all SSDC vehicles will need to be electric by this point. Several Councils and local businesses are already converting to HVO to help bring down their carbon emissions, so keep an eye out for further updates!

In the Community

Tinkers Bubble eco-community tour- Event review

On Saturday 13 August a group of South Somerset Environment Champions (including a SSDC councillor, planning officer, photographer and other interested locals) all went on a trip to visit the amazing Tinkers Bubble, a zero fossil-fuel, off grid community nestled in the woods near Ham Hill.

The guided tour was lead by resident Alex, who explained the history and practices within the community, and showed us where they grow food organically that best suits the soil, as well as their orchard from which the apples are turned into apple juice and cider to sell locally. The community use bicycles with trailers to transport their produce, removing the need for fossil fuelled vehicles. Their buildings are made from timber sourced from their woodland and any energy they require is sourced from solar panels. The food is cooked on rocket stoves and they have a few cows for milk and meat.

One attendee said "... I chatted with several of the residents and volunteers and came away hoping that others would be able to form similar communities showing us how we can do without or take less of the resources we take for granted."

To find out more about Tinkers Bubble and how you can support their fundraiser to fix their wood-powered saw, please visit their website here.

We are hoping to arrange another visit so please register your interest by emailing us here or look out for their next open day in October.

Wilder churches initiative

Get to know the wildlife around your local church!

A relatively new partnership between Somerset Wildlife Trust and the Diocese of Bath and Wells has been created and they are looking to support communities to understand what wildlife is present in their local churchyards, and help them find ways to increase the value of these very special sites. The sites are very often species rich with a variety of wildflowers and can act as key habitat within urban/suburban areas.

Join SWT and start the journey to making your local church wilder! Please see details and resources, including a series of online training and guidance, here.

Another EV charging station activated in South Somerset!

Another SSDC Car Park now has it's Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Station activated. Millbrook Car Park in Castle Cary joins the 3 dual socket EV Charging Stations located outside Chard Leisure Centre, as the newest edition to the South Somerset EV charging programme.

SSDC already has 3 Rapid Charging stations at Wincanton, Ilchester and Ilminster SSDC car parks and next week Bruton's Tolbury Mill Car Park will have their charging station activated, giving residents further accessibility to EV charging points across the district. For a full list of where the 27 EV Charging Stations will be installed in 2022, please click here.

For the Community

Somerset Retrofit Accelerator

The Somerset Retrofit Accelerator project is over half way and there's still some ways to engage. You can watch the first Somerset Green Open Homes webinars showcasing four South Somerset homeowners retrofit projects here. There are also a few places left on the free training for contractors so if you are or know a Somerset-based contractor interested in getting skilled in retrofit, please sign up here.

Finally, if you would like to take up one of the last discounted Retrofit plans for your home to know what needs to be done to make it more energy efficient, healthy and comfortable to live in, please sign up here.

Parish Environment Champions

Chilthorne Green Steps

The community of Chilthorne Domer have set up the Chilthorne Green Steps, a local Environmental Action Group, working in partnership with the Parish Council and the local Recreational Trust. The group offers an opportunity for locals who are interested in the environment to get together to discuss ideas and make them happen. Recent projects have included:

circulating a regular community environment e-newsletter.
creating a wildflower area on a roadside verge in the village.
planting a small community apple orchard on an area of grass that was previously mown short but is now allowed to grow long, as well as encouraging an area of unmown grass to flourish on the Recreational field.
taking part in Somerset Wildlife Trust’s Wilder Churches initiative, to help protect and increase the wildlife value of the churchyard.
created community compost bins, which help to deal with the grass, hedge cuttings and dead floral tributes from the churchyard. In addition, the grass is left un-cut in areas to encourage wildflowers and pollinators.
circulated a pack of wildflower seeds to all houses in the village via the newsletter, whilst also producing DIY bee hotels for every household that requested one.
the group also have plans for tree-planting projects for the village and surrounding farms, working in collaboration with local landowners.

“We recommend taking on board everyone's point of view and being flexible, if the community isn't ready for a big change try a small but well managed change!”

Environment Events

Check out our events page on the South Somerset Environment Website for full details:

Soils and sustainable farming incentive- Thursday 1 September, 6.30pm-9.30pm (virtual)- FREE

One of Somerset’s less visible but important assets is soil, which helps provide the raw material for both food production and the environment we all enjoy.

Maintaining and improving soils will be a feature of the Environmental Land Management Scheme (ELM’s) that Defra will be introducing over the next 3 years. 2022 brings the first element of this change with the introduction of grassland and arable soils standards under the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) which is open to all farmers.

This free workshop will cover the requirements of the SFI soil standards, what you already have on farm to help comply with the scheme, how to make assessments and take samples and creating or improving your soil management plan. To sign up to this workshop, click here.

Somerset Business Climate Summit 2022-Wednesday 21 September, 9:30am-1pm, Taunton

Join businesses from across Somerset to learn, share and be inspired about reducing the climate impact of our companies – working together using small steps to deliver collective big wins! Hear local firms share impactful case studies as we come together to raise awareness of the opportunities and challenges for businesses as we shift toward a low carbon economy. Book your space here.

Bat Walk- Friday 30 September, 6:30-9pm, South Petherton

Join Somerset Wildlife Trust's Yeovil & District local group for a bat walk at Frogmary Green Farm, South Petherton. We will meet and talk about bats, have a bat related activity and then go and find some bats. Waterproof footwear is advisable, as well as torches. Booking is essential, please email helenhawke@gmail.com to reserve your spot.

SSDC Green Flag Award Webinar: Knowledge share- 12 October, 7-8pm

If you would be interested in finding out more about the Green Flag Award scheme, we will be hosting an introductory webinar for any interested parishes, towns or communities that have parks or spaces which they may like to enter for an award. We will explain the system, provide information on the judging criteria, as well as a brief overview of how it all works behind the scenes. Please email ssdcenvironment@southsomerset.gov.uk to reserve a space. The Zoom link to join the webinar can be accessed here, but don’t worry we’ll send out reminders nearer the time.

Grants and Funding

Environment Grants

You can find all information on external grants and funding on the South Somerset Environment website. Please click here for details, along with details of some key ones this month below:

LADs2 Funding- You may be eligible for funding for retrofit improvements to your home if you meet the criteria - applications close at the end of August so be quick! Details on how to apply can be found here.

Home Upgrade Grants Scheme- If you are living off the gas grid you may be eligible for retrofit improvements through the Home Upgrade Grants scheme. Details can be found on our webpage along with other energy saving tips and signposting to funding.

SSDC Community Grant (Environment focused) – a reminder that SSDC offer community grants (matched up to £12,500), and support environmentally focused projects. Applications accepted all year. Scheme details.

Rewilding Britain Innovation Fund - grants up to £15,000 are available for innovative projects that help remove barriers to land and marine rewilding projects, prioritising community ownership model sites. Deadline 14 October. Scheme details.

Tree Council Grant – up to £2,000 to Town and Parish councils, schools, community groups etc. for tree planting projects, to include young people under 21, during National Tree Week. Deadline 4 December. Apply here.

Community Climate Action Fund (National Lottery) – between £50,000 to £1.5million available for community-led partnership projects making a clear link between climate and nature. Applications accepted all year. Online events for prospective applicants are available.

UK Community Tree Planting Grant – up to £15,000 available to support community tree planting projects. Deadline 16 Dec. Apply here.

The Prince of Wales Fund – up to £5,000 for not-for-profits working in the areas of countryside, environment & conservation. Apply here.

The Banister Trust – up to £50,000 for conservation or protection of the natural environment, e.g. bird boxes for churches/village halls, wildlife gardens, habitat restoration or creation and purchasing land. Applications any time to charitabletrusts@ludlowtrust.com.

Energy Crisis

Actions and advice

New energy tariffs came into force on 1 April and will be rising further from October onwards, which could make the average household energy bill rise substantially. Visit our environment website here for energy saving tips, checkout our grants section to see if there is any support on offer, or for a longer term solution why don't you consider retrofitting your home!

Green Titbits

OLIO helps reduce your food waste and cost!

OLIO connects neighbours with each other and with local businesses so surplus food can be shared, not thrown away. This could be food nearing its sell-by date in local stores, spare home-grown vegetables, bread from your baker, or the groceries in your fridge when you go away. To find out more and join the surplus food sharing community visit their website here.

Upcoming Awareness Days

Organic September

The 1 September marks the start of Organic September, a month long event to raise awareness of the benefits of eating, and particularly growing, your own organic food.

What makes food organic is the way in which it is farmed and produced. Organic farmers aim to to produce high-quality food using methods that are of benefit to both people and planet.

A great place to start is doing your own research and understanding what the term 'organic' really means, and you can do that here.

Great British Beach Clean, 16-25 Sept

The Great British Beach Clean is a UK wide event, where people organise and execute hundreds of beach cleans.

Although South Somerset is not home to any beaches, you can still get involved by litter picking around your local stream or river (as all of these lead to the ocean!) or you can sign up for a beach clean.

If you would like to get involved please visit the Marine Conservation Societie's (MCS) website, who are not only spearheading the entire movement, but have a list of beach cleans to sign up to.

Recycle Week, 19-25 Sept

Here in South Somerset we would like to think that every week is Recycle week as Somerset Waste Partnership have helped us to launch the 'Recycle More' campaign in the last few years, meaning much of our waste is now diverted from landfill.

The 'Recycle Now' scheme is working to reflect this attitude nationally, and as a result Recycle Week is now their flagship event. This year's theme is 'Let's get real' in an attempt to challenge perceptions and myths around recycling. To find out more, click here.