Author Archives: TTL

Transition Town Letchworth response to NHDC declaration of a ‘Climate Emergency’

Posted on by July 30, 2019

North Herts District Council declared a Climate Emergency at its meeting on 21 May 2019. Transition Town Letchworth (TTL) formed in 2008 and have been undertaking activities to tackle climate change with a local perspective. TTL activities range from helping individuals make lifestyle changes through to strategic activities, like producing a proposal for a cycle network. TTL are keen to work with the council on projects to address climate change going forward, as TTL have done in the recent past with the Plastic Free Letchworth project and the project to install additional cycle parking at community venues and schools across the town. The council … more

How Developments In Transport Can Help Letchworth Move To Sustainable Transport

Posted on by June 28, 2019

Our Transition Tuesday in January 2019 considered the opportunities in the County Council’s new Transport Plan, focusing on ideas for how to get more people to switch to traditional sustainable transport options. New technology and information sharing provides new opportunities to do things differently. So in our March 2019 Transition Tuesday we considered alternative ways to move both people and goods and discussed which ideas could be a useful component of a Sustainable Travel Plan for Letchworth. Alternative Vehicle Ownership / Usage Models Car Pools (Fleet) have traditionally been company vehicles (cars or van) that are available for use by … more

A Plastic Free Picnic

Posted on by July 3, 2019

Transition Town Letchworth’s have partnered with Letchworth Heritage Foundation on Field Day, 6th July 2019, to host an event on the Greenway. There will be craft activities, games and a storytelling session followed by a litter pick between 1pm to 2pm. Attendees are being encouraged to bring a single-use plastic free picnic and we are looking forward to seeing how attendees meet this challenge. Here are some ideas on how to avoid single use plastic when picnicking: Bring your drink in a reusable bottle. Pack up your sandwiches in a reusable container, paper or foil, rather than wrapping it in clingfilm or a … more

Letchworth, the UKs first garden city, is the first town in Hertfordshire to be awarded ‘Plastic Free Communities’ Status as it takes action on single-use plastic.

Posted on by June 12, 2019

Letchworth Garden City has joined a network of communities across the UK who are leading the way on tackling throw away plastic. The town has been awarded Plastic Free Community Approved status by Marine Conservation charity, Surfers Against Sewage (SAS), in recognition of the work it has done to start reducing the impact of single-use plastic on the environment. Transition Town Letchworth, a charity whose aim is to tackle climate change locally,started the campaign in January 2018 with a lively public meeting which was fortuitously aligned with the final episode of Blue Planet II. Registering with the SAS Plastic Free … more

How will Climate Change Affect Letchworth?

Posted on by June 5, 2019

For our May 2019 Transition Tuesday we set ourselves the ambitious challenge of trying to determine how Letchworth might be affected by climate change. The evening used risk management techniques to guide us through the complexities of how climate change might play out locally. The risk management exercise first considered a scenario which could keep global warming to no more than 1.5 degree and asked was there any risk that key elements of Letchworth society would fail to function. There was general agreement that changing weather could increase the risk around access to water and food. The audience felt population movements from countries where 1.5 … more

Tackling Climate Change One Milk Carton At A Time

Posted on by June 5, 2019

Recently we have seen high profile public campaigns seeking to persuade those in office to take action to address climate change. As individuals we regularly feel disempowered. But sometimes there are some politically difficult problems that individuals can get on with solving, leading by example. As part of the Plastic Free Letchworth team we have been talking to local schools about switching from milk in cartons with straws to bottles of milk and reusable beakers. Cool Milk, our local school milk provider, are implementing solutions that will reduce the overall volume of plastic waste associated with school milk. Some schools … more

Re-Imagining Letchworth Garden City Design Competition

Posted on by April 30, 2019

Transition Town Letchworth (TTL) have welcomed the opportunity to view the entries to your design competition. We were pleased to see a range of ideas across the entries for tackling the problem of moving to a more sustainable way of living. TTL still have concerns about the site chosen for this development, in particular the difficulties this creates for a successful shift to sustainable transport when the site is a significant distance from key services and the train station. With four high quality entries, and so much information in the design sheets and supporting documents, comparing the entries was a challenge! … more

Letchworth’s and districts Organic Gardening Group Spring Event

Posted on by April 30, 2019

On Saturday April 27th, LOG ( formerly GIYO) held its 4th annual fundraising Spring event at the Free Church Hall in Letchworth. As on previous occasions the cafe kitchen did a spendid job and our Growers market plant stall had a huge array of edible plants for sale. The Hitchin branch of Friends of the Earth had a stall explaining what they are currently doing . This year we missed the LDGA stall which is always a great display, as they were busy doing other things. Our speaker was Geoff Hodge, broadcaster and author, speaking about pests and diseases. He … more

Letchworth’s Big Spring Clean

Posted on by April 10, 2019

On Sunday morning members of the Plastic Free Letchworth Team held a litter pick at the Jackman’s Play Area in Letchworth as their contribution to the ‘Surfers Against Sewage Big Spring Beach Clean’. Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) had asked their Plastic Free Community Groups across the country to join them in their truly ‘epic community response to plastic pollution on our beaches, rivers, streets and mountains’. Teams were provided with reusable bags and gloves to help ensure that this event did not contribute any more single-use plastic to the planet. In just over an hour and a half a team of six … more

The Future of Transport In Letchworth

Posted on by June 28, 2019

Following an engaging Transition Tuesday in January, where we had a presentation on LTP4 from Herts County Council transport team, Transition Town Letchworth (TTL) have shared the following thoughts with the HCC Transport Team on what they would like to see addressed in LTP4 Supporting Documents TTL believe that Letchworth should embrace the Transport User Hierarchy that is the centre piece of LTP4 putting in place a plan to become a Sustainable Travel Town. We are also keen to have good sustainable transport links to adjacent towns and to see high utilisation of public transport options. This note details our … more