Can we create a truly resilient , vibrant and sustainable Crediton by 2030?

DON'T PANIC, KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON - was one of the themes that emerged from our hugely successful seminar at the Boniface Centre on Tuesday 17th January. The seminar was a joint venture between Sustainable Crediton and Crediton Town Council and representatives from 35 different organisations in Crediton attended including a number of independant businesses, churches, schools, community organisations,Town, District and County Councillors and also a number of Sus Cred supporters. In total 82 people came along, the most successful event of this type in Sustainable Crediton's history - so far!!.

The event was opened by mayor Frank Letch and Sustainable Crediton's Chair Gerald Conyngham and fell into two parts. We began with a multi media presentation on peak oil and climate change and how we can mitigate their effects on a local level by creating strong, self reliant and resilient communities. This was ably presented by Simon Tytherleigh, a Bradninch Town Councillor and member of Bradninch Climate Action. He has been working closely with Gerald Conyngham and Paula Mossman of Sus Cred to create and refine what proved to be a very powerful, if at times shocking, opening 40mins, with a short break in the middle for reflection and questions.

We then moved into the second part of the evening which was an interactive workshop. Initially participants were asked to work in groups on different aspects of local sustainability, brainstorming the actions we would need to take in the next 18 years to create a community in Crediton that can withstand the shocks that may be facing us by 2030. Retail development, housing, holidays & leisure, food & farming, energy, water, travel and transport were among the subjects up for discussion and there was a real buzz in the air as groups debated various ideas for ways forward and those ideas were collected on huge sheets of paper. 

We then moved into an exercise where everyone was encouraged to write on coloured post it notes the ways they and their families could begin taking action on this challenge right now. Additional post its were used for ideas on where businesses and organisations and also the 3 tiers of local Council could start taking action too. The post it notes were collected on 3 flip charts and it was amazing to see the 100's of ideas and committments that emerged like a field of little coloured flags!

The evening closed with a summary from each table of one idea that had emerged as a theme for the evening and also the opportunity for all those present to indicate how they would like to keep the momentum created by the evening going. The theme of 'DONT PANIC' was joined by; inclusivity for all sections of society, we are not alone as a town in doing this work, lets make sure of the true credentials of our purchases when we 'Buy British'.

As the evening closed we all felt it was only 'The end of the beginning'. Sustainable Crediton now intends to produce a document containing all the ideas and use it as a starting point for continuing this work in the town. This will be available to all participants and any other Sus Cred supporters or interested local people by email in the near future. If you were not at the seminar we will let you know how to get hold of a copy in the next newsletter. 

Many thanks to everyone who came along. We have spent many months preparing for the evening and it was heartening and exciting to see the number of people in our community who are really committed to making a sustainable, resilient, vibrant Crediton of the future a reality for all.

Gerald Conyngham and Paula Mossman

Download a detailed report of the event: "Towards a Sustainable Future"