Banter 131: 05Aug26 Raising Local Resilience, with Andrew Maliphant
the importance of community-led initiatives, the limitations of government support, the need for local councils and communities to work together, local actions, such as food partnerships, biodiversity
Video Timeline:
00:00 - 18:02 Presentation 18:02 - 46:11(end) Q & A
Presentation:
You are welcome to view (click on the popout icon, top right of the slides) or copy (from popout, click on Printer icon) the presentation. A markdown copy (ie text only) is available at the bottom of this page)
Meeting Summary:
Quick recap
The meeting was held to discuss raising local resilience in the face of climate change and other challenges. Andrew shared insights on the importance of community-led initiatives, the limitations of government support, and the need for local councils and communities to work together. He highlighted examples of local actions, such as food partnerships, biodiversity projects, and community energy initiatives, and emphasised the value of collaboration and practical engagement. Garry criticised recent government documents on farming and resilience for lacking substance and practical guidance. Zoey discussed Exmouth Town Council's journey in building local climate resilience, sharing both successes and challenges, and noted the positive impact of the People's Emergency Briefing film in their community. The group also discussed the need for better communication and more practical media coverage on climate action. The conversation ended with thanks to Andrew for his presentation and a reminder of upcoming sessions.
Summary
Local Resilience and Community Self-Reliance
Andrew discussed the importance of raising local resilience, criticising the current media debate between net zero and non-net zero approaches. He referenced the Bayeux Tapestry to illustrate a historical pattern of top-down authority, suggesting that communities need to become more self-reliant due to limited resources for resilience. Andrew also mentioned Maslow's hierarchy of needs and began discussing local concerns about nature recovery, though the transcript ended mid-sentence.
Environmental Crisis Briefing Presentation
Andrew presented information about environmental issues including a food bank in London, flooding in Devon, heat waves, and biodiversity efforts in West Yorkshire. He showed extracts from a film called "People's Emergency Briefing" which warns about the environmental crisis needing a response similar to World War II. The discussion included a trailer for children and mentioned that the full film was presented at Westminster Hall in November.
Local Food Security Resilience Strategy
Andrew discussed local resilience in response to emerging issues, focusing on food security challenges including limited government reserves and supply chain vulnerabilities. He highlighted the role of parish councils in addressing food security through local partnerships and community initiatives, suggesting that parish clerks could place food security on council agendas under the local government act. Andrew emphasised the importance of working with existing local leaders and community organisations rather than relying solely on parish councils to address these challenges.
Community Engagement and Resilience Strategies
Andrew discussed strategies for community engagement and resilience, including inviting parishes to annual meetings and organising public screenings of environmental films. He emphasised the importance of biodiversity initiatives like bee squares in gardens and creating new allotments, while clarifying that parish councils have more powers than they might realise, particularly through Section 101 of the Local Government Act. Andrew also highlighted funding opportunities available to parish councils, including local planning fees, community infrastructure levies, and biodiversity net gain funding from developers.
Community Climate Action Initiatives
Andrew presented on community climate action and local resilience initiatives, sharing examples of successful projects including community orchards, flood management, and energy workshops. He emphasised the importance of local communities taking action rather than waiting for government guidance, and discussed the Great Collaboration's efforts to bring councils and communities closer together on climate issues. The group also discussed the government's farming roadmap, with Garry criticising it for lacking clear guidance on climate adaptation, and Zoey shared Exmouth Town Council's experience as early adopters of climate emergency declarations, including their successful screening of the People's Emergency Briefing film.
Chat:
00:33:54 Nik Mckiernan - North Warks: Thanks so much. It wasn't the topic I was hoping to learn about but thanks for being resilient and offering another at short notice - very interesting
00:34:16 Nik Mckiernan - North Warks: Sorry I'm going to have to go.
00:38:43 Andrew Maliphant: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6a354f39e590e5e061c9a33b/Defra_Farming_Roadmap_2050.pdf
Audio-transcript:
41 00:09:04.570 --> 00:09:10.729 Andrew Maliphant: One of the things that we've been saying for a while is that communication is absolutely vital, and
42 00:09:10.840 --> 00:09:18.159 Andrew Maliphant: We're all getting a bit fed up with the sort of media… sort of rather sterile media debate between net zero on the one hand and not net zero on the other.
43 00:09:18.300 --> 00:09:22.590 Andrew Maliphant: So we are looking to try and get some better ideas, working with other organizations.
44 00:09:22.830 --> 00:09:28.070 Andrew Maliphant: that are on community climate action, to see if we can get a Wellspring, better messaging out there.
45 00:09:29.420 --> 00:09:39.339 Andrew Maliphant: And one of the words that, obviously, that hasn't so far been trashed by the anti-climate media is resilience.
46 00:09:39.860 --> 00:09:50.459 Andrew Maliphant: Have a given time, I dare say, that, what we'll do, unless the enemy's got any better ideas, I'll just run through this discussion about how we raise local resilience.
47 00:09:51.110 --> 00:09:51.980 Andrew Maliphant: Okay.
48 00:09:58.470 --> 00:10:00.879 Andrew Maliphant: Get any reply from anybody, so let's go.
49 00:10:02.650 --> 00:10:04.610 Andrew Maliphant: Share screen.
50 00:10:09.010 --> 00:10:09.790 Andrew Maliphant: Okay.
51 00:10:20.020 --> 00:10:21.720 Andrew Maliphant: Okie dokie, good.
52 00:10:22.510 --> 00:10:23.920 Andrew Maliphant: We all see that, okay?
53 00:10:24.220 --> 00:10:31.170 Andrew Maliphant: Well, I don't know if… I'd love to see the Bayo Tapestry. I don't know if it's actually… is the exhibition open yet, Stuart? Do you happen to know? But,
54 00:10:32.250 --> 00:10:33.560 Cllr Stuart Withington Gt Dunmow TC, Essex: I don't know.
55 00:10:33.560 --> 00:10:51.479 Andrew Maliphant: I think it might be September before it finally opens. Anyway, here's a picture from the… this is, William the Conqueror in the middle, listening to his brother Bishop Odo, younger brother Bishop Odo, who's obviously the clever chap on the left, and his younger brother Robert on the right, who's obviously a bit more of a direct action character, judging by his image, it's there.
56 00:10:51.580 --> 00:10:55.579 Andrew Maliphant: The problem is that ever since 1066, we've been used to doing what we're told.
57 00:10:56.050 --> 00:10:59.369 Andrew Maliphant: The message has been from on high, yes, we're going to,
58 00:10:59.850 --> 00:11:03.410 Andrew Maliphant: Yeah, we're in charge, you do what you're told, and we'll look after you.
59 00:11:03.640 --> 00:11:17.959 Andrew Maliphant: The trouble is that these days that the we'll look after you bit is staggering a bit, because people… there isn't enough resources to give us the sort of resilience we might require, and therefore, I'm suggesting we have to think more about doing it ourselves.
60 00:11:18.170 --> 00:11:27.030 Andrew Maliphant: So, this is where we go. For those, latecomers, we haven't got Jess Ryan at the moment. I'm not sure why that is.
61 00:11:27.030 --> 00:11:27.740 Colin Marsh: Yes.
62 00:11:28.150 --> 00:11:29.070 Colin Marsh: No, honestly.
63 00:11:29.070 --> 00:11:37.569 Andrew Maliphant: I've sent out an all stations call to see if there's an issue, filling in the time, talking about raising local resilience.
64 00:11:38.440 --> 00:11:40.210 Colin Marsh: These chemicals that they don'.
65 00:11:40.210 --> 00:11:47.590 Andrew Maliphant: So, looking at our, around our community, this was originally intended for parish plants, but it can be applied to a wider audience as well.
66 00:11:47.750 --> 00:11:59.809 Andrew Maliphant: Chap put Abraham Maslow in the 1940s produced a list of things that, the hierarchy of need, things that we all need as human beings, and, things like food, water, shelter, sleep were at the top of the list.
67 00:11:59.810 --> 00:12:09.379 Andrew Maliphant: And of course, a lot of people, around the country are actually struggling with those issues as we speak, so that's by no means out of date. There's a whole list of things there.
68 00:12:09.380 --> 00:12:10.530 Colin Marsh: Excellent.
69 00:12:10.530 --> 00:12:28.670 Andrew Maliphant: So then we think, okay, well, what about our local area, where we are living, people we're living with? What are the local concerns about nature recovery? One of the issues about that is as we find it with some people, and there are certain political elements which are big learning on this. I think it seems to be human fact…
70 00:12:29.450 --> 00:12:43.549 Andrew Maliphant: fact, if we come… any of us come across something big and complicated that we don't properly understand, we tend to focus on a bit that we do understand, but we don't like. That seems to be, like, sort of normal behavior. And so, again, this is the message, is how do we actually.
71 00:12:43.550 --> 00:12:45.460 Colin Marsh: Yeah, I'm just looking at this.
72 00:12:45.460 --> 00:12:46.340 Andrew Maliphant: How do we communicate?
73 00:12:46.340 --> 00:12:49.600 Colin Marsh: Collaboration these Banter sessions I haven't done for ages.
74 00:12:49.760 --> 00:12:51.200 Andrew Maliphant: Sorry, Colin, you're right.
75 00:12:54.210 --> 00:12:55.600 Andrew Maliphant: Okay.
76 00:12:56.110 --> 00:13:06.769 Andrew Maliphant: So there's some pictures here. There's a food bank in parts of London. There's some water flooding around the street in Autries at Mary in Devon. That isn't next to a…
77 00:13:07.040 --> 00:13:11.879 Andrew Maliphant: A river that's actually just the drains a few years back failed to cope with the downpour.
78 00:13:11.990 --> 00:13:23.719 Andrew Maliphant: So, so, that's where it is. Heat waves, of course, very much popular the topic, and there's some bit of biodiversity, a bit of a BioBlitz going on, looking at local wildlife habitats in West Yorkshire.
79 00:13:23.970 --> 00:13:29.670 Andrew Maliphant: So, what are the local concerns? Obviously, we'll know better when we speak to our local people.
80 00:13:30.040 --> 00:13:34.149 Andrew Maliphant: So there is, actually, some of us may have already seen the,
81 00:13:34.300 --> 00:13:45.040 Andrew Maliphant: permit's been going around the People's Emergency Briefing, which is, looking to raise awareness around the country of what things are coming down the road at us.
82 00:13:45.150 --> 00:13:52.410 Andrew Maliphant: So I'm just going to show the previous Trailer for it.
83 00:13:57.810 --> 00:14:06.259 Andrew Maliphant: Top scientists say the environmental crisis needs a response similar to the scale of the Second World War.
84 00:14:08.400 --> 00:14:13.699 Andrew Maliphant: We are in the thick of a crisis. We all have to act.
85 00:14:14.440 --> 00:14:29.009 Andrew Maliphant: It's getting worse fast, and we're not prepared. I'm scared for my own life in the future, and I'm absolutely terrified for that of my son. We're facing the potential of an ungovernable state. It could make our country uninhabitable.
86 00:14:31.030 --> 00:14:37.430 Andrew Maliphant: Oh my goodness. The physics don't care about the politics. You're being taken for a fool, my friend.
87 00:14:38.590 --> 00:14:49.009 Andrew Maliphant: There are plenty of solutions out there. Solutions that will make life better. The burning question is, what can we do to make them happen?
88 00:14:50.640 --> 00:14:54.390 Andrew Maliphant: It's absolutely bonkers. I mean, it's fucking ridiculous.
89 00:14:58.460 --> 00:14:59.379 Andrew Maliphant: Here we go.
90 00:15:01.810 --> 00:15:09.469 Andrew Maliphant: Okay, thank you, Jennifer Saunders. Following that,
91 00:15:11.700 --> 00:15:15.069 Andrew Maliphant: No, I've lost my presentation there. Following that,
92 00:15:19.850 --> 00:15:22.669 Andrew Maliphant: following that comment by Jennifer Sawners, the,
93 00:15:23.970 --> 00:15:27.700 Andrew Maliphant: The producers of the film,
94 00:15:30.360 --> 00:15:33.979 Andrew Maliphant: Brought out a different version of the trailer for children.
95 00:15:34.250 --> 00:15:36.560 Andrew Maliphant: Okay, let's get back to the… where we were.
96 00:15:41.370 --> 00:15:48.129 Andrew Maliphant: I don't know how many of us have already seen that presentation. Everybody want to put hands up that they've seen it? I've seen it.
97 00:15:49.100 --> 00:15:56.780 Andrew Maliphant: Stuart, you've seen it, the full film. The bits we've just seen are extracts from the presentation given to Carrie. Thank you, Gary.
98 00:15:57.010 --> 00:16:04.529 Andrew Maliphant: Given to, invited audience at Westminster Hall in November.
99 00:16:06.520 --> 00:16:17.650 Andrew Maliphant: So, talking now about resilience. How do we gather local resilience in response to some of these issues that are coming down the road at us? Government has a definition to harness local resources and expertise.
100 00:16:17.800 --> 00:16:32.519 Andrew Maliphant: That… I like that definition. It's quite wordy, some of the rest of it, but this is all about what have we got locally? What can we help to do to help ourselves and our communities to prepare for all these things that are coming at us? So that's sort of resilience we're talking about.
101 00:16:32.980 --> 00:16:39.799 Andrew Maliphant: Just a bit of an example to explain… cover the point I made about the government not being able to cover every point of resilience.
102 00:16:40.940 --> 00:16:49.229 Andrew Maliphant: And talking about food. Now, the supermarkets, as we may know already, only hold up to 3 days' worth of food. That's the way that whole system operates.
103 00:16:49.730 --> 00:16:57.640 Andrew Maliphant: The government has up this PREPARE campaign as a website, and you can find that all this information can be made available after the meeting.
104 00:16:57.940 --> 00:17:06.590 Andrew Maliphant: Which, talks about the effects of extreme weather, what we can talk about, but it doesn't mention food shortages. It's not been very well publicized either.
105 00:17:06.859 --> 00:17:15.959 Andrew Maliphant: There was a national security warning about food security that had to be dug out by the press, which the government wasn't exactly in a rush to present to the world.
106 00:17:16.380 --> 00:17:28.369 Andrew Maliphant: The government has no reserves from which to feed the whole country, even if they wanted to. Back in the day of the Cold War, I'm told that the government did have a supply of flour, for example. That doesn't happen anymore, it's rather relying on the supermarkets.
107 00:17:28.369 --> 00:17:38.430 Andrew Maliphant: We've got a new government, it's beginning to think about food, food security is beginning to get more of an airplay, but we don't know what resources are going to be in mind for it. It's early days for that new government.
108 00:17:39.190 --> 00:17:51.050 Andrew Maliphant: So we know we're going to need more food resilience, and indeed in this year. We know that food is already at risk. Same thing has happened last year. Less salad crops from Spain due to the heat waves. They're having a horrendous time in Spain, of course.
109 00:17:51.250 --> 00:17:58.599 Andrew Maliphant: The US war with Iran is stopping the arrival of certain chemicals that we need to produce fertilizer.
110 00:17:58.630 --> 00:18:17.309 Andrew Maliphant: Apparently, about a third of the raw material for fertilizer, which comes from natural gas, goes through the Strait of Hortmuse every year. So there's a problem straight away, and some farmers, a lot of farmers, are going to say, well, are they actually going to plant any crops today because they can't get any fertilizer? They're beginning to buy fertilizer from Russia.
111 00:18:17.310 --> 00:18:22.149 Andrew Maliphant: which is called raising other issues in the press. Should we be buying things from Russia? So that's a Nik issue.
112 00:18:22.150 --> 00:18:29.150 Andrew Maliphant: We've got food banks, community ladders, and community fridges around local areas, so for more immediate purposes.
113 00:18:29.270 --> 00:18:47.260 Andrew Maliphant: But in longer term, what about growing our own food locally? What about joining a food partnership? There's a map on the right of the food partnerships around the country. There's 123 of them so far, and this is about food producers, food distributors, and local organizations getting together to work out how can we keep supply chains going.
114 00:18:47.260 --> 00:18:59.939 Andrew Maliphant: So that's, that's something that is something that we could all be thinking about. Community-supported agriculture is another developing idea, I don't know enough about it, but I've been saying to parish clerks, this could be an item for their local council agenda.
115 00:19:00.760 --> 00:19:02.039 Andrew Maliphant: And they'll be saying.
116 00:19:06.780 --> 00:19:11.490 Andrew Maliphant: I'm sorry, ladies and gentlemen, I keep making a complete mess of showing this presentation.
117 00:19:13.390 --> 00:19:15.310 Andrew Maliphant: Keep pressing the wrong button.
118 00:19:29.650 --> 00:19:31.030 Andrew Maliphant: It's gonna be very annoying.
119 00:19:31.750 --> 00:19:33.250 Andrew Maliphant: Wriched it all yesterday.
120 00:19:36.310 --> 00:19:43.460 Andrew Maliphant: So, I said to Parish Clark, and they could say, why should we be putting security, food security, on a parish or town council agenda?
121 00:19:43.950 --> 00:19:51.400 Andrew Maliphant: Well, cards off the top of the deck, the Local Government Act says for every parish, there should be a parish meeting for the purpose of discussing parish affairs.
122 00:19:51.670 --> 00:19:55.240 Andrew Maliphant: So the local availability of food is certainly what I would call a parish affair.
123 00:19:55.440 --> 00:20:03.360 Andrew Maliphant: Council clerks have the responsibility to assist in the formation of overall policies and produce information required for making effective decisions.
124 00:20:04.690 --> 00:20:10.259 Andrew Maliphant: So, if you're a parish clerk, or even a parish journal, who are you going to call when you're talking about these issues?
125 00:20:10.460 --> 00:20:19.519 Andrew Maliphant: So, actually, we have a greater role, perhaps, than we expect as parish councils in this matter, in terms of dealing with emergencies, and of course, as and when,
126 00:20:20.630 --> 00:20:39.339 Andrew Maliphant: as and when the new local government becomes… organization comes in place, parishes and towns will be very much the closest democracy to the local public. Here's a list from an English academic this time about the different characters and roles needed for an effective
127 00:20:39.470 --> 00:20:48.990 Andrew Maliphant: operation and project. Maybe parish clerks think of themselves as team workers, maybe councillors and chairmen think of themselves as coordinators.
128 00:20:49.100 --> 00:21:06.959 Andrew Maliphant: But there are different ways in which we can get people engaged. It doesn't have to be all top-down, but there are different skills we can get in from our local area. So that's just a bit of a background, but I'm not going to suggest that town and parish councils do this all on their own, because that would be crazy, because we need to do these things in partnership, and clerks in particular are very busy people.
129 00:21:07.160 --> 00:21:11.540 Andrew Maliphant: So I'm saying, who are the local leaders? Who are the people in our local area?
130 00:21:11.890 --> 00:21:27.929 Andrew Maliphant: who are already in charge of things, if they are head teachers, if they are chairmen of sports clubs, if they are chairmen of local volunteering groups, whatever they might be doing. These are the people who are already engaged in doing things for the community and with the community.
131 00:21:27.930 --> 00:21:38.259 Andrew Maliphant: Should we talk about them? We can have local volunteering initiatives, there are local clubs and schools, also local branches of national organizations, like Friends of the Earth and other organizations.
132 00:21:38.440 --> 00:21:51.039 Andrew Maliphant: I'm suggesting to clerks that we invite, and parishes, that we invite them to our Nando Parish meeting, which happens every year, and so that people can actually see what's going on locally, and they can talk about what they have to do, and get engaged in a discussion.
133 00:21:51.900 --> 00:22:04.380 Andrew Maliphant: And then one of the things that's being recommended following this People's Emergency Briefing, which I've showed a trailer for just now, is having a public meeting after that presentation, and that's something that we could be thinking about in each of the areas where we live.
134 00:22:04.760 --> 00:22:09.550 Andrew Maliphant: And you can see that film screenings of the film around the country are rapidly increasing.
135 00:22:10.300 --> 00:22:29.999 Andrew Maliphant: what was looking like a small, slow turnout in April, and it's now huge. These have been happening everywhere. Sometimes it's parish councils doing the screening, more often it's other bodies doing it, and chances are there's going to be a screening near you, or about to be one near you, and you can look on this website and find out where. So that is a guide that's coming in.
136 00:22:30.710 --> 00:22:35.540 Andrew Maliphant: So we're talking about resilience, saying what are the things that can be considered, what are the things we might do?
137 00:22:36.790 --> 00:22:38.140 Andrew Maliphant: wherever we are.
138 00:22:38.170 --> 00:22:57.389 Andrew Maliphant: There are things that we can… there will be opportunities to make a difference. Having bee squares in gardens, which encourages putting a meter of wildlife flowers in our front or back gardens, because bees and other pollinating insects need fuel for their journeys around. They pollinate, crops which are ultimately part… they're ultimately part of our food chain.
139 00:22:57.440 --> 00:23:04.829 Andrew Maliphant: So, a bit of enlightened self-interest here. It's great fun, you can get, seeds donated. It's a great way of getting people involved, so I recommend that.
140 00:23:04.900 --> 00:23:16.000 Andrew Maliphant: More allotments, if we've got land, that's something that's obviously something that we can be doing. Looking at biodiversity on highway verges, there's a lot of other things there that we can list, and I won't go on reading them all out.
141 00:23:16.160 --> 00:23:22.589 Andrew Maliphant: One thing that's occurred to me where I live in the Forest of Dean is that what is our real catchment area? Is it just our local council area?
142 00:23:22.890 --> 00:23:25.989 Andrew Maliphant: Because our local GP covers the next parish as well.
143 00:23:26.670 --> 00:23:43.579 Andrew Maliphant: So it may be our real catchment, particularly in terms of medical and other things going forward, is actually the two parishes together. That's quite helpful, because it may be that with the two parishes together, we can actually club together and do more than we can on ourselves. So, again, this is the message, it's just about partnership.
144 00:23:45.100 --> 00:23:58.309 Andrew Maliphant: So, councils on their own, this is, again, apologies for this, which is very much focused on local councils. Local councils, parishes and towns are obliged to have a… consider biodiversity in everything that they do, so we can have a biodiversity policy.
145 00:23:58.340 --> 00:24:07.750 Andrew Maliphant: Creating new allotments, we've got some advice on that. I think we sometimes refer to myself as Mr. Allotments. Lots of other things we can be doing, publicizing other people's new,
146 00:24:07.760 --> 00:24:20.880 Andrew Maliphant: initiatives, seeing what we can do ourselves as a parish committee, parish council, or indeed a local business or whatever. We declare some kind of action or emergency that allows people to know that the parish and town council's on the case to get them involved.
147 00:24:21.150 --> 00:24:33.969 Andrew Maliphant: And it, ultimately, it's the way we tell them, because a lot of the stuff that goes out in terms of communications in the media is rather depressing, and we need some positive stuff. It needs to be fun. We've got to get people engaged in things. Let's have some fun acts and fun activity.
148 00:24:34.990 --> 00:24:43.959 Andrew Maliphant: Just a bit more about parish councils again. People are saying, well, we haven't got powers to do this. No local authority, no branch of local government.
149 00:24:44.100 --> 00:24:47.609 Andrew Maliphant: Has any power to… a duty to deal with climate change.
150 00:24:48.020 --> 00:24:51.160 Andrew Maliphant: Paris Towns Club is due to provide allotments.
151 00:24:51.860 --> 00:24:53.619 Andrew Maliphant: Which is a very long-standing thing.
152 00:24:53.660 --> 00:25:02.640 Andrew Maliphant: Consider biodiversity, holding a parish meeting. But in terms of powers, there's a whole bunch of other powers which are listed on the SLCC website.
153 00:25:02.640 --> 00:25:15.510 Andrew Maliphant: provide a link to that. What I like is one at the top on the right. Power to work with high-level councils. Section 101 of the Local Government Act allows parishes and towns to work on other issues that are the responsibilities of other councils.
154 00:25:15.950 --> 00:25:29.580 Andrew Maliphant: And so, actually, there is quite likely that parish and town councils have more powers than they may actually realize. There's a great number of things we can do, even if we don't have the power of competence, which is a special thing that came out of a recent Act of Parliament.
155 00:25:30.110 --> 00:25:48.279 Andrew Maliphant: And money is the other thing that comes up. My view of the world is that money can't find people, but people can find money. There will be opportunities around. Sometimes it's a pain-provo applying for funds. Parish councils do have the opportunity to have some of their own funding. Obviously, they have to budget for that each year, but that's a possibility.
156 00:25:48.320 --> 00:25:57.810 Andrew Maliphant: Local planning fees, if you've got a neighbourhood plan, you should be getting a good percentage of any local community infrastructure levy, which is placed on new developers.
157 00:25:57.830 --> 00:26:14.650 Andrew Maliphant: certainly thinks about, from the lottery. Biodiversity net gain is interesting, because if a developer can't actually, or say they can't produce the necessary increase in biodiversity on their development site, if we find another site in the parish, perhaps one that's owned by the parish or down.
158 00:26:14.650 --> 00:26:18.729 Andrew Maliphant: And get some money out of it, so that's interesting. Other local grants.
159 00:26:18.730 --> 00:26:30.569 Andrew Maliphant: Crowdfunding and community shares are more recent ways of raising money, and again, there's some more detail about all of this in the Society of Local Council's Climate Action webpage.
160 00:26:32.340 --> 00:26:38.300 Andrew Maliphant: I'm not yet seen, Jess Ryan hasn't joined us yet, so we'll keep going what we're doing.
161 00:26:38.530 --> 00:26:51.240 Andrew Maliphant: Of course, a lot of places, communities, groups are already starting work, and this is just an example of some areas where the Great Collaboration's been working in East Anglia. There are community orchards there, lots of other projects, as you can see down the left-hand side.
162 00:26:51.450 --> 00:27:07.749 Andrew Maliphant: And so in many cases, it's the communities taking the lead, necessarily, rather than the parish council. That's fine, so long as somebody's taking the lead, but that's a great way of doing it. But our whole ambition with a great collaboration is to bring local councils and their communities closer together to work on these issues.
163 00:27:08.850 --> 00:27:22.289 Andrew Maliphant: And when you've got residents involved, lots more things become possible. Here's some very muddy but happy people. Stroud in Gloucestershire has got a number of streams running through it, Stroud valleys, and if you get a sudden downpour, you get a sort of wall of water going all the way down.
164 00:27:22.290 --> 00:27:30.200 Andrew Maliphant: So, these volunteers have acted as human beavers, and they put down some logs to actually slow down the flow of water when we get these great downpours.
165 00:27:30.300 --> 00:27:44.980 Andrew Maliphant: And they're looking very pleased with that idea. That's just one example. We can carry out a local flood risk assessment to see what we can do locally, without having to raise lots of money or call the Environment Agency or whatever. There may be some things that we can do in terms of natural flood management.
166 00:27:45.030 --> 00:27:59.559 Andrew Maliphant: Lots of other things, getting people involved in BioBlitz and other local biodiversity audits to see what wildlife is around, what we need to protect, what we need to preserve. Also very useful when parishes are responding to climate, to planning applications.
167 00:27:59.700 --> 00:28:12.539 Andrew Maliphant: Tree planting, certainly, but you can't just plant any tree anywhere, there's advice available on that. What about car clubs? Thermal imaging cameras is something that, some parishes are doing. You spend two to three hundred pounds on one of those.
168 00:28:12.540 --> 00:28:22.940 Andrew Maliphant: And people can use the thermal imaging counter outside their houses, particularly perhaps in the wintertime, see how much heat and light is escaping, which can help them think a bit more about what they might like to do to save energy.
169 00:28:23.740 --> 00:28:29.250 Andrew Maliphant: So there's lots of things that can be done there. Just going to show you a bit of a screen now about the Community Action Workshop.
170 00:28:29.470 --> 00:28:53.889 Andrew Maliphant: Today, we've been in Colchester at first sight, which is amazing, delivering a workshop, trying to help the community to come together around what kinds of action they can take locally to improve energy resilience, really, and to make sure that their community has got what it needs in the face of the changing climate. Connecting people together is a really important starting point, and hopefully we can, yeah, take something forward and build something. Just starting that conversation is a really important thing. Starting that conversation
171 00:28:53.890 --> 00:29:04.059 Andrew Maliphant: in a pub, at a parish meeting, or something like that, just to get it out in the open. That's what we're all about. It's community climate action happening right now, today.
172 00:29:06.150 --> 00:29:07.050 Andrew Maliphant: Okay
173 00:29:07.330 --> 00:29:24.479 Andrew Maliphant: So that's a film that was just the… our colleague Community Climate Action UK, doing some community energy workshops in Essex, but there are other ways of… that same process, which has been very successful, can be used in other places with other topics.
174 00:29:26.440 --> 00:29:39.719 Andrew Maliphant: Again, we talked briefly about maybe parishes doing things in other parishes, particularly smaller parishes or smaller areas, people haven't got the pennies to do things they might like to do, work with others. Wildlife pays no attention to parish or council boundaries.
175 00:29:39.850 --> 00:29:44.519 Andrew Maliphant: And all this blood water, so there may be things that we could do. There's a…
176 00:29:44.940 --> 00:29:59.999 Andrew Maliphant: cluster of councils in Suffolk started with 3 councils, now got up to 10 councils, and they've got together, they've created their own community interest company, they've raised £40,000 towards their own community energy project. So that could be a very useful way forward.
177 00:30:00.580 --> 00:30:20.390 Andrew Maliphant: For parish and town councils. There's things about hedgerows. Again, hedgerows can very much cover cross-carish boundaries, roadside verges, the same farming clusters. Again, some parishes are closely in touch with farmers, others are not, but getting involved with our farmers being in touch with them seems to be a very useful thing to be doing when we're looking ahead.
178 00:30:20.460 --> 00:30:30.559 Andrew Maliphant: The picture on the left is from Gambling Gay in Cambridgeshire. 2013, there was a community shares talking about fundraising. Give a club together, community shares to erect this,
179 00:30:30.810 --> 00:30:41.209 Andrew Maliphant: wind turbine. It's been going very successfully, it's producing energy, and it's actually producing from its sales an extra £10,000 a year to spend on local projects in that parish.
180 00:30:41.400 --> 00:30:46.859 Andrew Maliphant: So it was a big project, but they're obviously quite pleased about it, and it has been very effective.
181 00:30:47.090 --> 00:30:51.379 Andrew Maliphant: And so that's another thing about joint community projects can be considered.
182 00:30:52.190 --> 00:30:54.889 Andrew Maliphant: I'm just coming to the end of the presentation,
183 00:30:55.570 --> 00:30:58.639 Andrew Maliphant: I'm wondering, is it enough to just offer pathways to action?
184 00:30:58.810 --> 00:31:10.199 Andrew Maliphant: Do we actually need to be urging people at different levels of government, and particularly perhaps in local town and parish councils, to get more engaged? How do we get people to come together to do things? Rather than just saying.
185 00:31:10.380 --> 00:31:17.159 Andrew Maliphant: this is what you might do. What's the language we can use to encourage people, this is what you should do? Interesting.
186 00:31:18.600 --> 00:31:36.599 Andrew Maliphant: We've written, as well as the response to… partly in response to the People's Emergency Briefing film, which is very much about getting government to do a certain thing, we looked at how we can encourage things to happen locally. So some of the things I've been talking about today are visible in our own film, and as I say, this presentation will be made available after this meeting.
187 00:31:36.600 --> 00:31:43.599 Andrew Maliphant: And they're saying, looking around your area, and this applies to other groups, but not just to parish and term councils, look around the area.
188 00:31:43.720 --> 00:31:54.650 Andrew Maliphant: connect with local people, get local events and ideas, get people engaged. Say that you're going to be doing something. Start with something simple. We don't want to start with something huge. We don't want to have,
189 00:31:55.310 --> 00:32:06.989 Andrew Maliphant: a huge dust, you know, action plan covering dust somewhere doesn't get us anywhere. Certainly, the parishes can comment on planning applications, that's important to work to do. Work with others and share good practice.
190 00:32:07.280 --> 00:32:17.630 Andrew Maliphant: So those are the summary steps, and that's also in our infirm, which you'll be able to see where you can look further. Again, lots of advice available. There are lots of organizations out there offering advice.
191 00:32:17.730 --> 00:32:33.169 Andrew Maliphant: I pick out local resilience forms, because they vary quite a lot, it seems, depending on… in the same way that local councils can vary a lot. But they are supposed to provide particularly local advice for people, things to put in their emergency plans, what are the local hazards they need to be aware of.
192 00:32:33.550 --> 00:32:38.630 Andrew Maliphant: Otherwise, there's plenty of sport there, not just for, obviously.
193 00:32:38.630 --> 00:32:57.739 Andrew Maliphant: parishes and town councils, but other organisations as well. The great collaborations there, and doing these weekly sessions and, other exercises. We've started some very successful, countywide forums for sharing good practice in Essex and Norfolk, hopefully to have another one in Suffolk shortly. And, it's… there's lots of stuff going on there.
194 00:32:59.680 --> 00:33:02.429 Andrew Maliphant: the… I mentioned briefly the,
195 00:33:02.690 --> 00:33:13.210 Andrew Maliphant: People's Emergency Briefing film is based on this national emergency briefing, and just to remind ourselves of all the things that were said at that briefing, some of this stuff is quite scary in its way.
196 00:33:13.420 --> 00:33:16.939 Andrew Maliphant: Losing biodiversity, temperatures will keep rising, and so forth.
197 00:33:17.100 --> 00:33:32.599 Andrew Maliphant: These are the kind of things that are coming at us. And again, it's not… this isn't a listing we'll necessarily… we can't scare people into action. This is the background to where we actually present things, how we encourage people to work together and raise local residents as a result.
198 00:33:34.050 --> 00:33:40.520 Andrew Maliphant: So, are we going to be told what to do? Are we going to go forward together? Which is the word I use quite often.
199 00:33:40.960 --> 00:33:45.540 Andrew Maliphant: Obviously I've been talking a lot as if I was speaking to Paris Clark, saying, be told.
200 00:33:45.720 --> 00:33:49.379 Andrew Maliphant: But, we need to think about if that's what we really want to do.
201 00:33:51.670 --> 00:33:52.740 Andrew Maliphant: Okay.
202 00:33:53.130 --> 00:34:00.479 Andrew Maliphant: I've paused that discussion. I've had no messages back from, or about Jess Ryan's, sorry.
203 00:34:00.850 --> 00:34:12.829 Andrew Maliphant: Thank you for being resilient. Thank you. Thank you, Nikki. I'm glad you enjoyed that. Does anybody want to raise any questions or start a conversation based on what I've just been presenting?
204 00:34:17.540 --> 00:34:22.799 Andrew Maliphant: Okay, thanks for coming, Nikit. We'll look. I'm sure we'll have Jess Ryan again at some point in the future.
205 00:34:23.350 --> 00:34:24.340 Andrew Maliphant: Gary!
206 00:34:27.570 --> 00:34:31.040 Garry Ford - Corsham Town Council: Thanks for stepping in like that, Andrew, that was, absolutely.
207 00:34:31.040 --> 00:34:33.289 Andrew Maliphant: had that ready, because I made a bit of a mess of presenting it.
208 00:34:33.290 --> 00:34:44.150 Garry Ford - Corsham Town Council: Yeah, I always find it's good to have a presentation down the back pocket somewhere, just in case of these emergencies. I'm just wondering if anybody else has read the… I mean…
209 00:34:44.790 --> 00:34:49.590 Garry Ford - Corsham Town Council: I get… the most frustrating thing I'm finding at the moment is the government
210 00:34:49.750 --> 00:34:57.969 Garry Ford - Corsham Town Council: documentation that's coming about… out about all these things, like resilience and sustainability and that. I believe there's a lot of kickback about the local
211 00:34:58.100 --> 00:35:02.460 Garry Ford - Corsham Town Council: about the national biodiversity plan.
212 00:35:02.590 --> 00:35:15.650 Garry Ford - Corsham Town Council: I haven't read that one. What I did read recently was the government's farming roadmap for the UK, and I don't know if anybody else has been… has read that as well, but it is the biggest load of rubbish
213 00:35:15.880 --> 00:35:28.459 Garry Ford - Corsham Town Council: Even the farmers agree that it's the biggest load of rubbish they've ever had. I mean, it barely mentions climate change at all. There's no mention of what climate change in the next 20, 30 years is going to have on the impact of farming, and what resilience we need there, and what
214 00:35:28.630 --> 00:35:34.859 Garry Ford - Corsham Town Council: what adaptation we need. It's just basically saying a lot of, kind of, you know.
215 00:35:36.700 --> 00:35:56.440 Garry Ford - Corsham Town Council: pie-in-the-sky objectives that they're looking to improve absolutely everything, but not saying how they're going to do any of it. And it's just completely useless, and completely, you know, of no help whatsoever to the farming industry or anybody else looking at it, or nature conservationists or anything. And I find that, you know, the government just doesn't seem to
216 00:35:56.440 --> 00:35:58.160 Garry Ford - Corsham Town Council: It's… it seems to like a…
217 00:35:58.740 --> 00:36:01.090 Garry Ford - Corsham Town Council: Pay a lot of lip service to all of this.
218 00:36:01.420 --> 00:36:08.409 Garry Ford - Corsham Town Council: And all these issues. But when it comes to actually putting out documentation that people can use, it's completely useless at it.
219 00:36:09.230 --> 00:36:13.720 Garry Ford - Corsham Town Council: I don't know if anybody else has any thoughts about that. Have I actually seen this document?
220 00:36:13.910 --> 00:36:20.769 Andrew Maliphant: It came out in June this year, apparently. I'll just put the head… this on… here it is.
221 00:36:20.880 --> 00:36:24.740 Andrew Maliphant: And, this is the, the context.
222 00:36:24.940 --> 00:36:37.230 Andrew Maliphant: This came out… it's a question of who we talk about and who the government is, because they make it very clear. This came out under the Keir Starmer government, you know, so what the Andy Durham government is going to come out with, we still don't know, I think.
223 00:36:37.230 --> 00:36:39.369 Garry Ford - Corsham Town Council: So it came out under the Labour government.
224 00:36:39.480 --> 00:36:54.950 Andrew Maliphant: Yes, that's right. But since Andy Burden has taken over from Keir Starmer, I don't think we've had quite so much clarity about what the current government is thinking about in terms of responses to climate change.
225 00:36:55.080 --> 00:37:13.210 Andrew Maliphant: I was… attended a session last year from a group of influencers called the Green Alliance, and they were busy debating it as well at that meeting, but I don't think we've got any clear indication yet. In terms of resilient farm business. So, Garry, you're saying farmers don't think much to this particular
226 00:37:13.360 --> 00:37:14.500 Andrew Maliphant: approach.
227 00:37:14.500 --> 00:37:26.929 Garry Ford - Corsham Town Council: Well, like I was saying, I mean, you look at the document, it barely mentions climate change. It barely mentions, you know, how farmers need to adapt to what they need to look to do in the next 20, 30 years, up to 2050. It's meant to be this roadmap.
228 00:37:27.080 --> 00:37:36.699 Garry Ford - Corsham Town Council: It basically just says, you know, oh, we think farming is going to be great, and there's going to be more farming, and there's going to be more nature, and there's going to be less regulations, but there's going to be…
229 00:37:37.110 --> 00:37:40.420 Garry Ford - Corsham Town Council: More inspectors, and, you know, saying this…
230 00:37:40.530 --> 00:37:47.020 Garry Ford - Corsham Town Council: This… it's kind of like painting this picture of this wonderful future that…
231 00:37:47.680 --> 00:37:53.589 Garry Ford - Corsham Town Council: But doesn't say anything about how to get there, apart from basically carrying on business as usual.
232 00:37:53.930 --> 00:38:04.719 Garry Ford - Corsham Town Council: And it doesn't seem to identify that there are any concerns or issues or conflicts coming up. Like I say, climate change itself barely gets a mention, and there's no mention about
233 00:38:04.920 --> 00:38:07.309 Garry Ford - Corsham Town Council: What that impact is going to be.
234 00:38:08.230 --> 00:38:15.629 Garry Ford - Corsham Town Council: on this future roadmap for agriculture. So it's… it's just completely… You know, a useless document.
235 00:38:15.630 --> 00:38:21.729 Andrew Maliphant: I see it's talking about setting goals and supporting practices and investing in innovation and so forth, but it doesn't.
236 00:38:21.730 --> 00:38:22.650 Garry Ford - Corsham Town Council: Yes.
237 00:38:22.830 --> 00:38:23.899 Garry Ford - Corsham Town Council: It's not a good question.
238 00:38:23.900 --> 00:38:26.190 Andrew Maliphant: It's not a roadmap as I understand it.
239 00:38:26.190 --> 00:38:38.429 Garry Ford - Corsham Town Council: No, no, it's just this aspirational document to say we're going to have more of all the good things, where there's going to be no conflicts between them. There's no conflict between nature, recovery, for example, and farming. It's going to say, you know, we're going to have a sustainable
240 00:38:38.480 --> 00:38:47.069 Garry Ford - Corsham Town Council: Resilience farming, where we're going to have better soils. But it doesn't say how that's going to happen, or give examples of, you know, best practice.
241 00:38:47.320 --> 00:38:48.600 Garry Ford - Corsham Town Council: It's… it's…
242 00:38:48.740 --> 00:38:56.550 Garry Ford - Corsham Town Council: like I say, it's just… it's… I don't understand what it's trying to achieve in terms of being a useful document, so…
243 00:38:56.550 --> 00:39:02.899 Andrew Maliphant: Well, I don't know if some things were suddenly… somebody pushed a publication button just before Keir Starmer left number 10,
244 00:39:02.950 --> 00:39:18.650 Andrew Maliphant: There was also some talk just before he left about civil servants talked about having a national resilience campaign called Fortitude. I've not heard any more about that either. And certainly the government's PREPARE campaign, which is live, and it's been live for a while, I don't remember seeing any publicity about that at all.
245 00:39:18.680 --> 00:39:29.209 Andrew Maliphant: But I think this is where… this is where the present company and the great Collaboration need to be… is what we're about, is actually getting these information about what people can do.
246 00:39:29.310 --> 00:39:33.149 Andrew Maliphant: And we do need to speak more to the farmers ourselves. I haven't spoken to the…
247 00:39:33.230 --> 00:39:50.240 Andrew Maliphant: National Farmers Union yet, so we have had farmers attending these sessions from time to time. What is it that can be done in practice? My perception is that as we speak, things are changing around us. The world is going to be quite different. The life in the UK is going to be different in 10 years' time.
248 00:39:50.320 --> 00:40:04.379 Andrew Maliphant: It's a brave person who's going to say exactly what it's going to be like, but we do need to have, a new normal. We do have a new way of doing things, dealing with water, dealing with energy, dealing with food, dealing with each other. And I'm sort of envisioning a sort of…
249 00:40:04.430 --> 00:40:18.500 Andrew Maliphant: a loose-leaf manual which gets updated on a regular basis, in order to help people in communities sort of focus on things. We've got emergency planning templates. As you say, things are coming out in general, vague terms from government.
250 00:40:18.500 --> 00:40:29.190 Andrew Maliphant: What I've said for years is, if you wait for government, you wait a long time. We need to be gathering stuff, that we can do practically and usefully at a local level and get stuck in.
251 00:40:29.340 --> 00:40:43.560 Andrew Maliphant: And for that point of view, it's a question of the way we tell them. I would love to see the BBC doing something like a Country Walps program, whereby they talk about some of these issues, and then share it straight afterwards with what people can be doing about it.
252 00:40:43.560 --> 00:40:49.629 Andrew Maliphant: Most of the stuff I see on the BBC these days is saying, oh dear, we got to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels.
253 00:40:49.630 --> 00:41:00.050 Andrew Maliphant: oh dear, insects are suffering from the climate change. I don't see enough from the BBC, which you might think is a public service broadcasting body, about publicizing some of this practical stuff.
254 00:41:00.060 --> 00:41:02.580 Andrew Maliphant: And I'd love to see that happen.
255 00:41:03.070 --> 00:41:04.620 Garry Ford - Corsham Town Council: Nope.
256 00:41:04.620 --> 00:41:18.920 Andrew Maliphant: I says I'm getting, I don't know how to reach the BBC in that regard. We're getting some people together in October from other organizations doing the community climate action, and also some media types, to talk about this, if we can find out what are the messages we need to send out.
257 00:41:18.920 --> 00:41:24.719 Andrew Maliphant: What are the audiences, and how we reach them, and how we can get a constant wellspring of better messaging.
258 00:41:24.770 --> 00:41:28.249 Andrew Maliphant: And part of that is going to be speaking to the BBC about their programming.
259 00:41:28.400 --> 00:41:35.290 Andrew Maliphant: I don't know if anybody's seen any practical climate action programs on the television at all, anywhere? Anybody seen such a thing?
260 00:41:36.100 --> 00:41:37.060 Andrew Maliphant: I've not.
261 00:41:39.890 --> 00:41:51.199 Andrew Maliphant: there's a crowd called Open Planet Studios, who are the producers of the David Attenborough's films, and I've reached out to them and see if they want to get involved in this.
262 00:41:51.340 --> 00:42:02.360 Andrew Maliphant: we get these rather sterile debates in the media about net zero or not net zero. We need something a bit more positive, I think, but a continuous wellspring, and I don't see where else it's going from at the moment.
263 00:42:03.370 --> 00:42:04.950 Andrew Maliphant: Sorry, I should be talking a lot.
264 00:42:07.150 --> 00:42:13.010 Andrew Maliphant: Any more thoughts? Thank you for that, Gary. Very much need to include farmers in our conversations.
265 00:42:13.180 --> 00:42:17.290 Andrew Maliphant: Any other thoughts about resilience and getting things together locally?
266 00:42:20.880 --> 00:42:36.570 Andrew Maliphant: Obviously not, obviously, the presentation and those poor presentations stunned people. Thank you very much, yeah. Zoey, I think you and I, we've got some… something you're presenting to us at some point in the near future. Is it the 26th of August you're on, Zoey?
267 00:42:36.570 --> 00:42:44.829 Zoey Cooper: Yes, hopefully. I'm just waiting on some… a confirmation of some other dates, actually, but should be on the… should be on that day, yeah, hopefully.
268 00:42:44.830 --> 00:42:54.859 Andrew Maliphant: Okay, do you want to say a quick bit about, could you give us a bit of a sleek teaser about what you're going to be talking to us all about? I know, but…
269 00:42:54.860 --> 00:43:07.029 Zoey Cooper: I was just going to talk a little bit about the journey that Exmouth Town Council has been on in the last, kind of, three… three to four years. Quite, sort of, early adopters of
270 00:43:07.030 --> 00:43:16.719 Zoey Cooper: declaring a climate emergency right through to trying to sort of build resilience locally, so I was just going to share some of the… some of our success stories, but also some of the
271 00:43:16.720 --> 00:43:26.979 Zoey Cooper: The barriers and some of the challenges that we've encountered over the last couple of years, and ways that sometimes we've managed to succeed, and other ways we've had to, sort of.
272 00:43:27.010 --> 00:43:34.140 Zoey Cooper: pivot and find a different, different route through. So just… just trying to share some… some of our success stories, really.
273 00:43:35.140 --> 00:43:38.899 Andrew Maliphant: Right, and,
274 00:43:39.220 --> 00:43:46.159 Andrew Maliphant: Exmouth, of course, won the… was it last year or the year before, won the award from the National Association of Local Counsels for work on.
275 00:43:46.160 --> 00:43:51.719 Zoey Cooper: Yeah, so we… it was… it was probably… was it 20… we picked up the award in 2020.
276 00:43:51.720 --> 00:43:53.009 Andrew Maliphant: You were the first position, wouldn't be?
277 00:43:53.010 --> 00:43:53.530 Zoey Cooper: applies.
278 00:43:53.530 --> 00:43:53.900 Andrew Maliphant: the first week.
279 00:43:53.900 --> 00:44:09.380 Zoey Cooper: Yeah, we were the first, because I said in my speech, actually, you know, how great it was to win, but, you know, how come they're introducing this award now? This award should have been around for considerably longer, but yeah, yeah, so just kind of…
280 00:44:09.380 --> 00:44:17.529 Zoey Cooper: just wanted to share some of those things, but also just to make it quite a practical presentation, really, because I think you're right, we hear a lot about
281 00:44:17.530 --> 00:44:25.010 Zoey Cooper: what we can do, and ways that we can build resilience, and actions we can take, but I just kind of wanted to share some of the…
282 00:44:25.010 --> 00:44:42.089 Zoey Cooper: a bit more of the detail, I suppose, the different groups that we reached out to in Exmouth, because we haven't done it by ourselves, you know. They… Exmouth Town Council's very supportive, but without the likes of Transition or Plastic Free Exmouth, we couldn't have done this. So, I've kind of built a big team of
283 00:44:42.090 --> 00:44:56.759 Zoey Cooper: volunteers who… who dip in and out, but it's… it's been a… it's been a process, you know? It's… it's taken quite a lot of hard work, but… and a lot of networking, and a lot of, kind of, persuading, and a lot of outreach, basically, yeah.
284 00:44:57.610 --> 00:45:14.810 Andrew Maliphant: Well, as you'll have heard, we say to people, you know, don't try and do it all your own. Get local people together, very important, and it's great to hear what you're saying. I also think in terms of messaging and showing people what to do, the more we can say, oh, such and such a place has done this, and you could do it too, you know.
285 00:45:14.810 --> 00:45:21.670 Andrew Maliphant: To steal from the lateral lottery, it could be you. You know, this is an important thing.
286 00:45:21.670 --> 00:45:45.850 Zoey Cooper: Yeah, yeah, I mean, we haven't done anything new. I've just looked around at what, you know, what other towns and parishes had succeeded in doing, but also what our district council was doing. Like you say, looking to hire authorities. So I've worked with the Devon climate team and with the East Devon District Council team. So we definitely look to others for guidance and support and direction.
287 00:45:45.850 --> 00:45:58.720 Zoey Cooper: And then, like you say, looking at what you can achieve as a town and parish council, what your powers and duties are, which are kind of quite limited, really. It's working within that framework and pushing those boundaries a little bit.
288 00:46:01.090 --> 00:46:15.610 Andrew Maliphant: Lovely John. And I can't answer why now it didn't do that thing sooner, but I think what we're seeing, of course, is climate is beginning to take more of a hold on people's awareness
289 00:46:15.740 --> 00:46:24.369 Andrew Maliphant: There are still some parish chairmen who think it's all a con still, but, physically after this summer, people might be revisiting their ideas about that.
290 00:46:24.480 --> 00:46:25.140 Andrew Maliphant: Oh, no.
291 00:46:25.140 --> 00:46:46.659 Zoey Cooper: I mean, I should also add that the People's Emergency Briefing film is really making a difference in Exmouth. We've shown it twice in the cinema to a packed audience. We've oversold the tickets in order to, you know, fill the space, and… well, not sold, they're free, but as a result, we've got the various churches hosting their own
292 00:46:46.660 --> 00:46:51.950 Zoey Cooper: films, we've had the Rotary Club host a film, so it's really working in Exmouth.
293 00:46:51.950 --> 00:47:13.619 Zoey Cooper: The follow-up meetings have been less successful, but the actual initial film and the call to action to host a film is really working, and our MP is being lobbied continuously, to support the motion for a televised briefing, which he doesn't, but the National Emergency Briefing Team have been brilliant and given me lots of
294 00:47:13.640 --> 00:47:22.390 Zoey Cooper: suggested dialogue that we can have with the MP, because his response is defense, so they've given me some really great defense
295 00:47:22.460 --> 00:47:32.819 Zoey Cooper: answers, which I fired off to all of the attendees to go back to him with. So I feel like we're building momentum in Exmouth from the point of view of that film, actually. It's been really good.
296 00:47:33.700 --> 00:47:42.909 Andrew Maliphant: I did hear somebody asked Ed Miliband about that film a while back, and he thought that the government would need to have some answers before it responded, implication being.
297 00:47:42.910 --> 00:47:43.440 Zoey Cooper: Legionna.
298 00:47:43.440 --> 00:47:46.289 Andrew Maliphant: the answers to everything yet. And of course, if…
299 00:47:46.640 --> 00:48:00.349 Andrew Maliphant: people come back and say, well, what's the government doing about this? The government hasn't got very well-lined pockets at the moment to do a great deal, and in any case, there isn't enough money in the world to get us out of all this with a sweep of a magic wand. We do need to…
300 00:48:00.350 --> 00:48:08.500 Andrew Maliphant: work at it very much locally as well as nationally. Has anybody else got any other stories about the People's Emergency Briefing film that they've seen?
301 00:48:09.680 --> 00:48:27.790 Andrew Maliphant: I attended… I was facilitating one in the Forest of Dean lots. I was slightly depressed, because a lot of the tables that were discussing afterwards seemed still thinking it was all just down to the government, and they weren't thinking about… so one table did actually take on the point that it could be about what they did locally. We have done some advice for
302 00:48:27.790 --> 00:48:47.579 Andrew Maliphant: the producers of the film, on the back of the film, saying this is what you could do if you wanted to turn it into local action, rather than just lobbying your MP. And they graciously thanked me for it, but they haven't actually shared it with people who are doing the screening, so they've obviously decided to stick with their initial plan about MPs and the Parliament.
303 00:48:47.580 --> 00:48:59.269 Andrew Maliphant: So, good news, bad news. Good news, the world… there's more awareness raising out there, but, perhaps less good news. We still have to soldier away in getting the good word out there of what people can do.
304 00:48:59.290 --> 00:49:01.840 Andrew Maliphant: And of course, that's what these sessions are about as well.
305 00:49:02.860 --> 00:49:11.360 Andrew Maliphant: Anyone… has anyone else seen the film? Anybody else got any feedback or things about the film? I think you've seen it, Jenny, and I think, Stuart, you've seen it, haven't you?
306 00:49:14.200 --> 00:49:23.090 Andrew Maliphant: If Graham was here, he was saying that they had to show it twice in the Isle of Wight, because… in Bembridge, because so many people wanted to come. Where did you see it, Stuart?
307 00:49:25.320 --> 00:49:26.940 Cllr Stuart Withington Gt Dunmow TC, Essex: I'm trying to remember now.
308 00:49:26.940 --> 00:49:28.640 Andrew Maliphant: Was it a while ago, yeah, yeah.
309 00:49:28.640 --> 00:49:32.719 Cllr Stuart Withington Gt Dunmow TC, Essex: I, I think it was our screening, online.
310 00:49:32.940 --> 00:49:33.570 Andrew Maliphant: Right.
311 00:49:34.370 --> 00:49:40.290 Andrew Maliphant: Or the one that we saw with, with, Rural Community Council Essex, yes, indeed. Yes. Yes, indeed.
312 00:49:40.410 --> 00:49:43.520 Cllr Stuart Withington Gt Dunmow TC, Essex: I'm trying to persuade our council to,
313 00:49:43.820 --> 00:49:46.869 Cllr Stuart Withington Gt Dunmow TC, Essex: do a screening for the council.
314 00:49:47.770 --> 00:49:50.850 Cllr Stuart Withington Gt Dunmow TC, Essex: Not many councillors have seen it.
315 00:49:51.110 --> 00:49:54.279 Cllr Stuart Withington Gt Dunmow TC, Essex: No. And certainly very few of the officers.
316 00:49:55.560 --> 00:50:04.660 Cllr Stuart Withington Gt Dunmow TC, Essex: And I think it might be a good starting point to try and reinvigorate the climate and environment sort of thinking.
317 00:50:06.570 --> 00:50:22.839 Andrew Maliphant: I mean, as I say, we did our own 10-minute film, on… which was focusing not on speaking to your MP, but focusing on, you know, what you do locally. So perhaps we should be promoting that a bit more as well. And the thinking behind that, as you might remember, Stuart, was so that we could have something that could be shown
318 00:50:22.840 --> 00:50:28.329 Andrew Maliphant: you know, a short 10 minutes at a parish or Town Council meeting, rather than, you know, the full 45 from
319 00:50:28.530 --> 00:50:31.850 Andrew Maliphant: With Jennifer Saunders and co.
320 00:50:32.410 --> 00:50:34.600 Andrew Maliphant: Haven't yet,
321 00:50:35.900 --> 00:50:40.599 Cllr Stuart Withington Gt Dunmow TC, Essex: I think the Jennifer Saunders bits and the other celebrities…
322 00:50:40.600 --> 00:50:41.020 Andrew Maliphant: Yeah.
323 00:50:41.020 --> 00:50:43.540 Cllr Stuart Withington Gt Dunmow TC, Essex: Does give it a bit more appeal.
324 00:50:44.170 --> 00:50:46.420 Cllr Stuart Withington Gt Dunmow TC, Essex: I think that was quite a good move.
325 00:50:46.780 --> 00:50:51.440 Andrew Maliphant: Yes, yes. Language, Timothy, yes, never mind.
326 00:50:51.890 --> 00:50:54.890 Andrew Maliphant: Oh, dear, oh dear. Gosh, I think,
327 00:50:55.020 --> 00:51:03.810 Andrew Maliphant: Back here, when I was a young person, I think if I'd used language like that, I'd been told to go and wash my mouth out with soap. There we go. Times has changed a bit, yeah.
328 00:51:04.470 --> 00:51:14.820 Andrew Maliphant: Okay, well, I'm sorry that Jeff Ryan hasn't been here today, and I don't know what the issue is, but we'll find out, and hopefully have that presentation at another time soon.
329 00:51:15.110 --> 00:51:19.219 Andrew Maliphant: And we've got… let me just remind myself what might be happening next week.
330 00:51:19.560 --> 00:51:26.939 Andrew Maliphant: Because I think… It was going to be yourself, wasn't it?
331 00:51:27.270 --> 00:51:29.820 Andrew Maliphant: Zoey, but then somebody else,
332 00:51:30.710 --> 00:51:33.480 Zoey Cooper: Yeah, there's someone else, but I'm not sure who that is.
333 00:51:33.770 --> 00:51:37.720 Andrew Maliphant: No, let me see, because I've got a note of it somewhere, if I can find it.
334 00:51:45.730 --> 00:51:50.689 Andrew Maliphant: It's always nice to give a bit of an advance notice on these things.
335 00:51:50.940 --> 00:51:54.859 Andrew Maliphant: If we can. I'm looking through my emails just to…
336 00:51:56.080 --> 00:51:58.609 Andrew Maliphant: Yeah, so the 19th of August.
337 00:51:59.550 --> 00:52:00.779 Andrew Maliphant: Which is not.
338 00:52:01.890 --> 00:52:03.739 Andrew Maliphant: It's in two weeks' time, isn't it?
339 00:52:04.110 --> 00:52:08.510 Andrew Maliphant: Won't.
340 00:52:15.150 --> 00:52:17.890 Andrew Maliphant: And it looks like we might be getting,
341 00:52:18.760 --> 00:52:23.480 Andrew Maliphant: somebody from the National Emergency Briefing Team, a chap called Jamie Russell.
342 00:52:23.790 --> 00:52:27.689 Andrew Maliphant: Who is, the community organising lead for that film.
343 00:52:28.030 --> 00:52:32.710 Andrew Maliphant: And, it may be that we're looking for seeing…
344 00:52:32.820 --> 00:52:37.530 Andrew Maliphant: Having somebody from inside that production company to,
345 00:52:37.670 --> 00:52:43.370 Andrew Maliphant: To talk about the film and its impressions and the effect that it's been having.
346 00:52:43.650 --> 00:52:50.100 Andrew Maliphant: So, that's it. Jamie Russell is on the 19th of August.
347 00:52:50.120 --> 00:53:06.990 Andrew Maliphant: I can't see anything that's happening next week, the 12th of August, but maybe… and we've got Zoe coming in on the 26th, so it may be that, we can… maybe we'll see if we can, find whether Jess or Ryan could talk, next month… next week, sorry, but rather than this week.
348 00:53:07.740 --> 00:53:09.370 Andrew Maliphant: Okay,
349 00:53:09.790 --> 00:53:14.160 Andrew Maliphant: 10 to 1. Has anybody got any more thoughts, or should we call it a day for today?
350 00:53:14.940 --> 00:53:18.350 Cllr Stuart Withington Gt Dunmow TC, Essex: No, I'd just like to say thanks for, keeping the ship afloat.
351 00:53:18.350 --> 00:53:32.610 Andrew Maliphant: Well, I'm just lucky I didn't have that presentation down. I've made a bit of a mess of it in the middle, but that will become available, obviously, the presentation itself, and Graeme will post that on the Great Nick Collaboration Lunch Base, and you can be able to use the links there.
352 00:53:33.440 --> 00:53:37.989 Andrew Maliphant: And I'll say it again, let us go forward together, or never surrender.
353 00:53:38.130 --> 00:53:39.080 Andrew Maliphant: Keep going.
354 00:53:39.630 --> 00:53:42.769 Andrew Maliphant: Eat calm and work differently. There we go.
355 00:53:43.320 --> 00:53:45.130 Andrew Maliphant: Thanks very much, Zoey. Thanks, everybody.
356 00:53:45.130 --> 00:53:47.950 Zoey Cooper: Thanks for much. Thank you. See you soon. Bye.
Markdown of Presentation:
RAISING LOCAL RESILIENCE
Image from the Bayeux Tapestry showing William the Conqueror with his half-brothers
What matters most in our community?
Physical requirements like food, water, shelter, sleep
Protection from danger, financial security, health
Social needs for relationships and family
The need for self-respect and achievement
Personal growth, and self-fulfillment
Maslow Hierarchy of Needs
What are the local concerns around climate change and nature recovery?
(Regardless of local government reorganisation…)
NB when we come across something big and complicated, we tend to focus on a bit we do understand, but don’t like!
Image credits:
Foodbank – Hammersmith & Fulham Council
Floods – Ottery St Mary Police
Heatwave – Communities Prepared
Bioblitz – West Oxfordshire DC
People’s Emergency Briefing
TEASER TRAILER — PG Version
[YouTube link]
Government definition of resilience
“Community resilience is enabled when the public are empowered to harness local resources and expertise to help themselves and their communities to prepare, respond and recover from disruptive challenges... and to plan and adapt to long-term social and environmental changes.”
Government’s own plan for food resilience (for example)
Supermarkets only hold up to three days worth of food
The Government’s Prepare campaign covers the effects of extreme weathers and potential power outages but not food shortages
The national security warning about food risks had to be dug out by the press
Government has no reserves from which to feed the whole country at short notice even if they wanted to
The new Government is beginning to think about food, but what about resources…
We will need more food resilience in 2026
Food security is already at risk from the climate crisis – such as less salad crops from Spain due to heatwaves
The US war with Iran will affect supplies for several months, including fertiliser for our crops
Food banks, community larders are for immediate shortages
Longer term – consider land for growing, join a food partnership or community supported agriculture
Item for your local council agenda!
Map of local food partnerships
What, me?!
The Local Government Act 1972 states that “for every parish there shall be a Parish Meeting for the purpose of discussing parish affairs”
Local availability of food is surely a parish affair
Part of our task as council clerks is “to advise the Council on, and assist in the formation of, overall policies to be followed in respect of the Authority's activities and in particular to produce all the information required for making effective decisions and to implement constructively all decisions”
Who you gonna call?
BELBIN TEAM ROLES
“The types of behaviour in which people engage are infinite. But the range of useful behaviours, which make an effective contribution to team performance, is finite”
The illustration identifies:
Coordinators
Shapers
Monitor-evaluators
Resource investigators
Teamworkers
Completer-finishers
Implementers
Specialists
Plants
Image courtesy Bitesize Learning
Community Involvement
Who are the local leaders?
Contact local volunteering and initiatives
Local clubs, pubs, schools, churches
Local branches of national organisations –
Locality
Friends of the Earth
Transition
Green Party
Social Enterprise
Action with Communities in Rural England
Redeeming Our Communities
Incredible Edible
………..
Invite local groups to the Annual Parish Meeting
Neighbourhood Plan events
Local “Future Fair” with a wide remit
Public meeting following People’s Emergency Briefing film
Local working groups (with councillors)
Film screenings are increasing in number
April 2026 → August 2026
The slide contains two UK maps showing a substantial increase in the number and geographic spread of screenings.
Local opportunities
Gardens – bee squares
Land - allotments
Verges, pitches - biodiversity
High ground – wind turbines
Waterways – flood management
Transport links – car clubs
Local events and networks – for reaching local people
What is our real catchment area? GP surgery coverage??
Image courtesy Climate Action Now
What local councils can do, to start with
Some examples:
Adopt a biodiversity policy, linked to the Local Nature Recovery Strategy
Create new allotments
Publicise and support community initiatives such as repair cafes
Plan to reduce own carbon emissions, including energy efficiency of buildings and vehicles
Declare a climate, sustainability, resilience or nature recovery emergency and appoint a climate lead councillor
It’s the way we tell ‘em!
Allotments at Longhope, Gloucestershire
Duties and Powers
Power to work with higher level councils Local Government Act 1972, ss. 101 & 136
Power to encourage energy efficiency and generation Climate Change and Sustainable Energy Act 2006, s. 20
Power to acquire land Local Government Act 1972, ss. 124–7
Power for car sharing and bus services Local Government Rating Act 1997, ss. 26, 27
Duty to provide allotments Small Holdings and Allotments Act 1908, s. 23
Duty to consider biodiversity in all we do Environment Act 2021, s. 102
Duty to hold an annual parish meeting Local Government Act 1972, Schedule 12, p. 14
Funding for Environmental Action
Section 137 funding - £11.60 per elector for 2026-27
Community Infrastructure Levy
Biodiversity Net Gain
National Lottery Community Fund, including Awards for All for community environment projects up to £20,000
Local authority / charity grants
Crowdfunding
Community shares
SLCC Climate Action webpage for detail
Parish Projects Map
Map showing parish projects across a large area of eastern England.
Categories shown include:
Community Allotments
Community Composting
Community Orchards
Energy Projects
Energy Efficiency
Equipment Library
EV Charging
Land Management
Nature Recovery
Public Transport
Renewable Energy
Repair Cafes
Shared Transport
Tree Planting
Local councils with residents
Some examples:
Carry out a rapid flood risk assessment and implement natural flood management schemes
Bioblitz / biodiversity audits to inform biodiversity net gain advice to planning applications
Right tree, right place
Encourage / facilitate car clubs, e.g. by allocating a parking space in public car park
Loan thermal imaging cameras
Clear local rights of way to support active travel
Images courtesy Gloucestershire Association of Parish and Town Councils
Video / case study
Still from a video showing a group meeting.
Subtitle visible:
“Today we’ve been in Colchester at Firstsite,”
Parishes with other parishes
Some examples:
Create clusters of councils working cooperatively to address local climate / nature issues such as natural flood management & green corridors
Start a Hedgerow Heroes project
Restore roadside verges to long linear meadows
Support the creation of farming clusters
Joint community energy project
Image courtesy Gamlingay Parish Council
Is it enough to just offer pathways to action?
Illustration: carrot
Image courtesy Tanvir Alam / Pixabay
Summary steps from our own film…
Look around your area
Connect with local people
Gather local evidence & ideas
Make a declaration of action
Start with simple projects
Be critical about planning applications
Work in partnership
Share good practice with others
Further advice and guidance
Centre for Sustainable Energy
Community Climate Action UK
National Association of Local Councils – Climate Emergency Network
Local Resilience Forums (NB we need joint emergency planning with other organisations)
Society of Local Council Clerks – Climate Action Webpage
The Great Collaboration – website, knowledgebase, weekly sessions and county forums
The Wildlife Trusts
Topics from the National Emergency Briefing
Nature – we’ve lost 53% of our biodiversity
Climate - if we keep burning fossil fuels, temperatures will keep rising
Weather extremes – the UK is getting wetter in winter, and faster than models predicted
Tipping points - the biggest risk is the failure of the ocean current that keeps the UK’s climate mild
Food security - the UK imports 40–50% of its food, much from climate-stressed regions like the Mediterranean
Health - the real killer is the breakdown of our systems
National security - the greatest risk is cascading crises overwhelming government systems and eroding democratic stability
Economics - clinging to the status quo delays change and increases risk
Energy transition - around half of UK recessions since 1970 have been triggered by fossil fuel price volatility
Be told? Or go forward together
Final slide juxtaposes Lord Kitchener’s “Your Country Needs You” recruitment image with Winston Churchill.
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