Local Government Liaison Group 

 

The Local Government Group is a ‘behind the scenes’ group.  We set up in Sept. 06 because we realised that if the town was to change to a localised, low energy economy, with all that that entails, we would need to be working with all our Councils – Parish, Town, District and County.

So our first priority has been to find out where the responsibility for a myriad different things lies, and who are the individuals to speak to.  For example, pavements are under South Hams District, but roads are Devon County.  Parking control has just changed from Police to South Hams District, but cycling is with the DCC Cycling Officer.

To help us to get to know some Councillors and to outline to them what TTT is about we organised an event in partnership with Schumacher College in Feb. 07.  Tony Juniper and Rob Hopkins spoke on Climate Change and the coming Oil Scarcity.  All the 40 or so people discussed in small groups what their Council and community could do locally to respond to these changing circumstances. The success of that event encouraged us to put on another of the same format, in March of this year, again with Schumacher College, on Sustainable Affordable Housing.  This issue had been identified by our Totnes Councillors as one of South Hams District Council’s major priorities.  We talked to South Hams months in advance to ensure that seven council Officers and seven Councillors, all with important planning and building responsibilities, could take part.  The speakers were local, with expertise in sustainable building, financing affordable housing, and the practicalities of living in houses designed to reduce energy & water use; other people from around the county with similar backgrounds brought further reinforcement.

We try to keep in touch with other Groups to work together and not duplicate effort.  This worked well when Friends of the Earth organised a visit in February to Oak Meadow – an affordable housing development in South Molton, built to be as sustainable as possible.  The Local Government Group and the Building & Housing Group combined with FoE to take some Councillors on that visit to prepare them for the Schumacher event in March.

The Group has two District Councillors for Totnes, Anne Ward and Robert Vint, who come to our meetings as observers and advisors.  They are in constant conversation with other Councillors and keep them up to date with what TTT  and the Group are doing.  So when people who come to TTT events point out that they see no councillors in the audience, rest assured that they are in touch with TTT concerns and working away in the background.

We have four members in the Group.
Our next task will be to decide what to focus on now.
We need more people to join us and extend our effectiveness.
We meet once a month, with tea & cake to help the discussion flow.