Banter 96: 19Nov25 Climate Action Network, with Frank Deas
Frank described the creation and work of the SouthWest Stirling Climate Action Network, setup in early 2025. SWScan aims to support climate actions across communities, share ideas, and collaborate.
Video Timeline: (min:sec)
00:00 - 24:40 Presentation
24:40 - 53:17(end) Q & A
Presentation:
You are welcome to download this presetation; there is a markdown copy at the bottom of this page for the AI Search engine to index
Meeting Summary:
Quick recap
The meeting began with a discussion about weather conditions before transitioning to an overview of the Southwest Stirling Climate Action Network, which was established as a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organization in early 2023. Frank explained the differences between Scottish and English governance structures, particularly regarding planning frameworks and local authority challenges in addressing climate change, while highlighting the importance of community-led initiatives. The discussion covered various local environmental projects including community orchards, active travel paths, and energy retrofit programs, with Frank sharing his plans for future initiatives and collaboration with local experts, before concluding with an introduction to the new sustainability officer for Weymouth Town Council.
Next steps
Summary
Southwest Stirling Climate Action Network
The meeting began with a casual discussion about weather conditions, particularly focusing on snow and ice in different regions of the UK. Frank then introduced the main topic, discussing the Southwest Stirling Climate Action Network, which was established in early 2023 and officially recognized as a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organization. Frank explained the differences between Scotland and England's governance structures, highlighting the presence of a Scottish Parliament with devolved powers and a simpler local government structure compared to England. The discussion touched on the challenges faced by local authorities in addressing climate change, with Frank emphasizing the importance of community-led initiatives and the expertise available at the local level.
Scottish Climate Action Network Overview
Frank explained the differences between English and Scottish planning structures, highlighting that Scotland's National Planning Framework 4 is more detailed and regulatory. He described the setup of the South West Stirling Climate Action Network (SWSCAN), which aims to support climate actions across communities, share ideas, and collaborate on initiatives like active travel paths and retrofit programs. Frank also discussed SWSCAN's efforts to advocate for climate sustainability issues and their success in having their local place plan considered by the Stirling Council, which could lead to more teeth for community councils in determining local plans.
Community Initiatives and Conservation Concerns
Frank discussed several community initiatives, including emergency communication systems and active travel links between schools. He highlighted the decline of community orchards after funding stopped in 2012, noting that only one of eight orchards is currently active due to lack of permission from the council. Frank also expressed concern about the council's lack of attention to local nature conservation sites, which has led to damage in some areas. He emphasized the importance of these initiatives for community engagement and sustainability, and mentioned ongoing efforts in energy retrofit and strategic food planning.
Community Orchards and Biodiversity Challenges
Frank explained that community orchards in Scotland are not self-sustaining financially, as they give away fruit and juice rather than selling them. He outlined plans to train local experts in each village to manage tree care, with funding applications being prepared to support this initiative. Frank also discussed concerns about biodiversity net gain requirements, noting that while similar to southern requirements, Scottish guidelines do not mandate a specific positive biodiversity impact. He shared an example of a developer intentionally removing trees before submitting a planning application, highlighting the need for greater enforcement of environmental regulations.
Community Climate Initiatives Update
Frank discussed his work with community councils and the expertise he leverages to support climate initiatives. He explained how he collaborates with local experts and uses change management skills to facilitate community projects. Frank also shared his plans for 2026, including setting up thematic groups on biodiversity, energy, and other key areas, as well as involving schools in recycling and environmental campaigns. The group discussed solar power in Scotland, with Frank noting its viability and the potential for local energy clubs. Cllr. Stuart raised concerns about the need for increased electricity generation to support electrification efforts. The conversation ended with an introduction to Katherine, the new sustainability officer for Weymouth Town Council, who expressed interest in the group's work.
Chat:
00:25:47 David Newman (Blackbird Leys): How come Crianlarich ins in Stirling and not with Oban? 01:05:43 Garry Ford - Corsham Town Council: 20 hours of daylight during the summer. 01:06:39 David Newman (Blackbird Leys): I've been to Cruachan. Got there on my electric motorbike. 01:10:35 frank deas, Killearn: Reacted to "I've been to Cruacha..." with 👍
Audio-transcript: (for AI Search engine)
164 00:17:37.940 --> 00:17:40.210 frank deas, Killearn: So…
165 00:17:40.870 --> 00:17:56.760 frank deas, Killearn: Southwest Australian Climate Action Network. We've been going since, about January, end of January, early February this year was when we got our official status from OSCAR, which is the Scottish Charity Regulator, as a SKU, Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organization.
166 00:17:56.860 --> 00:18:17.880 frank deas, Killearn: We weren't sure when we were trying to set up what structure we should go for or what we should do, and we got some very helpful advice from Sterling Volunteer Enterprise, which runs as a third sector engagement in this neck of the woods, and they were really helpful at explaining the benefits of going for a proper constitution and setup, and talking us through what that process was.
167 00:18:17.880 --> 00:18:30.340 frank deas, Killearn: And I think it will pay dividends for us going forward, both in terms of attracting funders, in terms of our engagement with some other partners, and as we'll go through, we'll see it also allowed us to actually have an official status.
168 00:18:30.430 --> 00:18:49.190 frank deas, Killearn: We're in southwest Stirling, people don't know the geography. That patch of water that you can see in the sort of further background is Loch Lomond, one of the largest Scottish lochs. The little villages that are in between us and the loch are some of our catchment villages, so we live in a lovely part of the country.
169 00:18:49.520 --> 00:19:03.470 frank deas, Killearn: Which is good in the sense of persuading people to try and join in and understand what we want to do and why we want to preserve it. I'll just try and quickly go through my understanding of what the differences are between Scotland and England.
170 00:19:03.470 --> 00:19:15.980 frank deas, Killearn: And I've just realized that, that in… we've both got Westminster as our, as our ultimate government, but in Holyrood, we have a Scottish Parliament, which has devolved powers.
171 00:19:15.980 --> 00:19:28.709 frank deas, Killearn: Until the Westminster Parliament says it doesn't. So, for instance, we thought we were going to have a recycling scheme for bottles, and then suddenly we weren't, because it was a legally challenged. So, as well as tripping themselves up, we also get tripping occasionally from Westminster.
172 00:19:28.710 --> 00:19:37.089 frank deas, Killearn: Down below that, though, we have a much simpler structure, possibly because we've got this extra parliament, of regional councils dropping down to community councils.
173 00:19:37.090 --> 00:19:44.029 frank deas, Killearn: So our regional councils are probably similar to the unitary authorities that there are in England. They're responsible for everything across the board.
174 00:19:44.030 --> 00:19:59.590 frank deas, Killearn: Except fire and police services, which are national, so they report directly into Hollywood. We don't have regional fire areas or regional… we used to, but as we've gone through the evolution, they now just report in. So our unity authorities do social work, education.
175 00:20:00.020 --> 00:20:03.540 frank deas, Killearn: Road repairs, litter collection, all those things.
176 00:20:03.660 --> 00:20:12.860 frank deas, Killearn: And therefore, we don't have the County Council, District, Borough Council, City Councils that all of you work within and work with.
177 00:20:12.900 --> 00:20:30.470 frank deas, Killearn: We have community councils that are probably the nearest equivalent to the parish councils, but I think, as far as I can understand, parish councils have a more specific role. You have some financial scope, you can asset manage and own local halls, you have a level of capital spend because of that.
178 00:20:30.500 --> 00:20:49.760 frank deas, Killearn: you can run an operation of fines for littering and so on. I think certainly all those things seem to be things that parish councils can do. In Scotland, community councils can't do any of that. We get a grant to help us, actually, with our secretariat of running meetings, but that's it. We don't have any other sort of funding. But otherwise, very similar. They're staffed by
179 00:20:50.080 --> 00:20:56.189 frank deas, Killearn: Community councillors who, like parish councillors, are volunteers with a commitment to the community of trying to get it right.
180 00:20:56.890 --> 00:21:13.879 frank deas, Killearn: I'll try and quickly go through, then, the difference in planning structures, because I think it's just relevant to what we've tried to do as an organization in SWS can. So, in England, you've got the National Planning Policy Framework as the overriding thing that Westminster's done.
181 00:21:14.180 --> 00:21:18.959 frank deas, Killearn: But it's, it's, it's regulatory in the sense that it guides
182 00:21:19.340 --> 00:21:35.209 frank deas, Killearn: what other people do for planning. It doesn't actually say what you do for planning, compared with, in Scotland, we have National Planning Framework 4, which actually sets out specifics of things that have to happen in terms of planning. So it's slightly more detailed and slightly more regulatory and statutory.
183 00:21:36.380 --> 00:21:55.600 frank deas, Killearn: I'm not sure, but I think, and do correct me if I'm wrong on this one, the local planning decisions, or the local plans that inform local decisions, would be made by all those areas, so unitary authorities, county councils, city councils, district councils, all may produce local plans saying what's happening in their patch.
184 00:21:55.720 --> 00:22:13.959 frank deas, Killearn: and what buildings are approved and not approved, and how land is to be used. In Scotland, in the regional councils, it's just a local development plan. We have 32 local authorities, each one of them, which is a local development plan that says what's going to happen in their area, referencing it back to NPF4 to say, here's what should happen.
185 00:22:14.130 --> 00:22:16.220 frank deas, Killearn: And then dropping down from that.
186 00:22:16.290 --> 00:22:28.880 frank deas, Killearn: Parish Council, my understanding, is produced neighborhood plans, and that sets the tone for what you want to happen on your particular patch in terms of asset management, in terms of future planning.
187 00:22:28.880 --> 00:22:42.360 frank deas, Killearn: Our community councils have local place plans, and that's a comparatively recent thing. The Scottish Parliament's been working towards greater community empowerment, so for the first time, we're in a cycle where
188 00:22:42.420 --> 00:22:45.280 frank deas, Killearn: Villages have been encouraged to produce a local place plan.
189 00:22:45.510 --> 00:23:01.600 frank deas, Killearn: that, by statute, the regional council will have to consider. They don't have to adopt it, they can consider it and reject it outright, but they do have to consider it, and it will hopefully give slightly more teeth to community councils in saying what happens and what they want to do.
190 00:23:02.140 --> 00:23:09.579 frank deas, Killearn: Where all that fitted together is in Sterling, which is our county, and again.
191 00:23:09.940 --> 00:23:13.579 frank deas, Killearn: recommend it to visitors, it's a lovely part of the world.
192 00:23:14.030 --> 00:23:26.870 frank deas, Killearn: Sterling produces its local development plan, and we, in the bottom, as the name implies in the tin, we're the southwest, so we're Kippen, McClyivie, Belfront, Killerne, Drummond, those areas in the southwest, are the Climate Action Network.
193 00:23:27.700 --> 00:23:37.250 frank deas, Killearn: we have, and it's a sort of chip on my shoulder all the time, we have what I term a Pareto Council. So, if you look at that particular map.
194 00:23:37.250 --> 00:23:52.869 frank deas, Killearn: the blue line, or actual line in the bottom right, is the M9, the motorway that goes up to past Sterling, and then becomes the A9 and goes on further up. And in those villages, Dunblain, Bridge of Allen, Stirling, and Bannockburn.
195 00:23:53.550 --> 00:24:00.820 frank deas, Killearn: The right-hand side, the space to the right of that blue line, has 80% of the population of the County of Serling.
196 00:24:01.700 --> 00:24:06.409 frank deas, Killearn: The left-hand side, which is all the rest of the land, has 80% of the land.
197 00:24:06.470 --> 00:24:23.759 frank deas, Killearn: So we have this unbelievable thing that Sterling should… first of all, should never have been allowed to call itself Sterling, it should have been Stirling and Trossach as part of Ross or Dupre Saint Galloway. But it's called Sterling, it's got 80% of the population in a built-up conurbation area, and it keeps thinking it's a city council.
198 00:24:23.780 --> 00:24:38.910 frank deas, Killearn: And in fact, we have this vast area of land over to the… to the left, and we have to try and keep reminding them that, no, we're… we're… you're a rural council as well as a city council, and you need to actually listen to rural voices and address rural issues. So there are challenges for us.
199 00:24:38.910 --> 00:24:48.269 frank deas, Killearn: What that meant was that there was a level of impetus and effort that we could put behind setting up the South West Australian Climate Action Network.
200 00:24:48.370 --> 00:24:49.940 frank deas, Killearn: So basically.
201 00:24:49.940 --> 00:25:14.899 frank deas, Killearn: One of the things that I've always enjoyed and taken comfort from is the banter sessions are a great way of restoring your morale or restoring your emotional batteries. You come on and think, well, actually, I'm not the only Berke who believes all these things are important. There are other people out there who are doing it too, and we get that sort of, okay, I'm not alone in this, it's an uphill battle, people don't seem to be listening, but other people across the country are listening
202 00:25:14.900 --> 00:25:27.360 frank deas, Killearn: and that's important. And we found that within our village networks, that in each village, we had two or three people who believed that this was important, to believe something had to happen, something had to change, and were able to get mutual support.
203 00:25:27.620 --> 00:25:39.209 frank deas, Killearn: by working together. We've met two or three times, as the Scottish Government is putting in a thing called Climate Action Hubs, so we have 32 local authorities.
204 00:25:39.320 --> 00:25:55.890 frank deas, Killearn: We have, I think it's at the last count, about 18 climate action hubs, so it's not as many as local authorities, and they're designed to give seed funding to local community action groups, they're designed to hold the council to account.
205 00:25:55.890 --> 00:25:59.550 frank deas, Killearn: They're designed to try and drive things forward.
206 00:25:59.690 --> 00:26:05.369 frank deas, Killearn: While they were doing… setting those up, there was a level of engagement that happened across,
207 00:26:05.860 --> 00:26:21.050 frank deas, Killearn: local communities, and it was through that that we all kind of found each other as the voices in each village were interested in doing this. While we met at their engagement sessions, we decided that we'd keep in touch and try and build up and create something, and by the end of last year, I realized that
208 00:26:21.050 --> 00:26:32.500 frank deas, Killearn: we had to step up and become an organization, otherwise we'd just be a group of pals getting together, chatting, saying, do you know, someone should be doing something about that. We recognized that maybe it was us who needed to do something about it.
209 00:26:32.550 --> 00:26:36.009 frank deas, Killearn: So we set up Southwest Australian Climate Action Network.
210 00:26:36.560 --> 00:26:49.499 frank deas, Killearn: We try and support actions across our communities, sharing ideas, learning what works, promoting cross-promotion across the villages, collaborating on actions, things like active travel paths.
211 00:26:50.260 --> 00:27:05.500 frank deas, Killearn: have traditionally happened at, sort of, community council level or community development trust level. The problem with that is, a really good active travel path links communities, so you relied on communities talking to other communities to work together. And when you look at something like a retrofit program.
212 00:27:05.560 --> 00:27:22.889 frank deas, Killearn: or a food localization program, they're quite often much, much more effective, cost-effective, and efficient if you can emit them at a multi-billet or regional level, rather than just one space. And then lastly, to try and be an advocate for our communities, to pressurize local authorities on climate sustainability issues.
213 00:27:23.260 --> 00:27:34.000 frank deas, Killearn: And that's… that last one was where we suddenly realized that we kind of want to watch by setting ourselves up as a SCIO, Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organization.
214 00:27:34.510 --> 00:27:48.969 frank deas, Killearn: We had, it meant that we could then satisfy the requirements of the Section 19 of the Community of Birmingtack Scotland, of being a properly constituted community body who could submit its own local place plan.
215 00:27:49.160 --> 00:27:53.159 frank deas, Killearn: So, while, we have…
216 00:27:53.420 --> 00:28:03.609 frank deas, Killearn: And hopefully that map will come through reason clearly. While each of the villages in blue, Tippin, McClivie, Drummond, Buffron, Cologne, Swift Lane, all did their own local place plan.
217 00:28:04.050 --> 00:28:08.830 frank deas, Killearn: Their community councils agreed to become members of SWSCAN,
218 00:28:08.950 --> 00:28:13.040 frank deas, Killearn: As did the development trusts in each of the 3 or 4 of the villages that have them.
219 00:28:13.160 --> 00:28:23.509 frank deas, Killearn: And therefore, that gave us our constituency to go back to the Sterling Council and say, we're a community organization, we represent these areas, we want to submit our own local place plan.
220 00:28:23.630 --> 00:28:36.330 frank deas, Killearn: It has yet to be validated, but we're very, very hopeful that we've met all the requirements, we've ticked all the boxes. Certainly, the discussion we've had so far, it should mean that we get our local place plan in.
221 00:28:37.090 --> 00:28:49.040 frank deas, Killearn: It's been good in its own right, so we've got a range of climate action and climate considerations, and we'll come on to the next slide, that we've managed to put in front of Australian Council now and say, here's what we want you to work with.
222 00:28:49.140 --> 00:28:50.860 frank deas, Killearn: It's a slightly…
223 00:28:51.090 --> 00:28:57.859 frank deas, Killearn: twisted list, in the sense that a local place plan is meant to be about what the council should do in relation to assets and land.
224 00:28:57.960 --> 00:29:12.810 frank deas, Killearn: So we had to kind of tweak it and say, this is why all assets in the land go of honest. But, you know, as climate things do tend to go slightly broader than that. What's also been really, really helpful, because we've been lobbied and engaged with the community councils.
225 00:29:12.820 --> 00:29:32.729 frank deas, Killearn: Each of them has mentioned SWSCAN in their place plan, saying that they look forward to working in collaboration with Sterling Council and SWSCAN on climate matters. So, not only have we got our own place plan that we've driven forward, but we've helped ensure that climate change is on the place plans of all the other community councils that we're members with.
226 00:29:33.350 --> 00:29:38.290 frank deas, Killearn: The legislative requirements say that you have to
227 00:29:38.850 --> 00:29:46.379 frank deas, Killearn: have a notice… an information notice and copy of the plan for a 28-day consultation period to every adjacent community council.
228 00:29:46.490 --> 00:29:51.259 frank deas, Killearn: So we have this slightly surreal thing. I mean, normally that just means 3 or 4 board being councils.
229 00:29:51.400 --> 00:30:06.409 frank deas, Killearn: Because we have so many councils, the ones in blue in our area, all the councils in red have received notification notices saying, here's what we're doing, here's who we are, here's why we're doing it. And what has happened is, in two or three cases, they've got back in touch with us saying.
230 00:30:06.410 --> 00:30:16.570 frank deas, Killearn: well, we're not in your catchment, but can we keep in touch and compare notes? Or, actually, we are in your potential catchment, can we join in? So it's been a really positive thing in terms of
231 00:30:18.810 --> 00:30:21.750 frank deas, Killearn: Making those links and getting people on board.
232 00:30:23.510 --> 00:30:27.680 frank deas, Killearn: What we… what we've got are basically five proposals.
233 00:30:28.310 --> 00:30:31.889 frank deas, Killearn: I'll go through each one of them. And energy…
234 00:30:32.660 --> 00:30:49.690 frank deas, Killearn: Localized energy development, we want the Council to be clear on what the planning procedures are, if people want to use wind turbines or solar. One of the few real strengths I think rural communities should have is the ability to start looking at self-sufficiency and energy. So.
235 00:30:49.960 --> 00:30:55.969 frank deas, Killearn: And, you know, we have a lot of wind stations up here already. There's one or two solar.
236 00:30:56.550 --> 00:31:12.990 frank deas, Killearn: And I know it sort of seems surprising for Scotland, but if you angle them right, you can get some very good results. So, we want to see a world where we're producing energy locally, and also getting the legislative changes that allow us to sell it locally. At the moment, there's this surreal thing that we have to… if you produce energy, you have to sell it to
237 00:31:12.990 --> 00:31:26.790 frank deas, Killearn: electricity, who then sell it back to your community. We've got to get past that so we can sell locally. Certainly, I believe that if you… if we are serious in our commitment to electric vehicles and gerosource heat pumps.
238 00:31:26.960 --> 00:31:45.869 frank deas, Killearn: the grid will not sustain the level of demand that that's going to create. So having local energy clubs with local renewables doing the production, and local people consuming that energy has to be a way forward, but it will require some legislative changes, but we also want to make sure the council's not going to put planning impediments in place.
239 00:31:46.210 --> 00:31:56.909 frank deas, Killearn: The other concern we had about the Council's approach was around, conservation. So, most of our villages have conservation areas. Some of them have listed buildings outside those areas.
240 00:31:57.820 --> 00:32:06.180 frank deas, Killearn: At the moment, the Selling Council's planning guidance on listed buildings in conservation areas says, had you thought about thicker curtains?
241 00:32:06.380 --> 00:32:16.619 frank deas, Killearn: And that's it. You know, they've gone for the very easy opt-out thing, but not wanting to upset historic Scotland, of saying, yes, you don't want to do anything structural to your building.
242 00:32:16.620 --> 00:32:26.800 frank deas, Killearn: maybe a couple of blinds, thicker curtains, and the old draft excluder, and you're home dry. And those are all good suggestions, but they shouldn't be the only suggestions. It's particularly problematic
243 00:32:26.820 --> 00:32:44.669 frank deas, Killearn: We're very, very fortunate. Most of our villages, while there are pockets of poverty and people facing fuel poverty, food poverty, generally, most of the people living in these villages are the upper end of prosperity. They're in owned homes.
244 00:32:45.040 --> 00:33:02.179 frank deas, Killearn: we need to persuade them that they should be doing things through their home that aren't necessarily instantly in their financial interest, but have a better long-term future for the planet. Ideally, we want them to be in their financial interest too, so one of the things you need to do is ensure there are very few barriers to them doing something.
245 00:33:02.400 --> 00:33:13.290 frank deas, Killearn: So at the moment, if you were wavering about whether or not you should be putting in extra insulation, or putting on solar panels, or putting on whatever else to improve the retrofit in your house.
246 00:33:13.290 --> 00:33:25.170 frank deas, Killearn: You'd go onto the council website and see that planning was actually making life very difficult for you, and there's very little you should be doing, and you'd use that as an excuse to say, well, fine, I'll just carry on paying high fuel bills. Not worth the hassle.
247 00:33:25.170 --> 00:33:39.049 frank deas, Killearn: So we've got to get past that and actually make sure that planning guidance encourages homeowners to put their hands in their pockets and actually come up with things that will improve the health, their own health, hopefully will reduce the financial benefits for all of them and be better for the planet.
248 00:33:39.970 --> 00:33:59.299 frank deas, Killearn: In terms of resilience, again, we've just faced some major issues, I know, in different parts of the country around storms and snow this time, rather than flooding. But we had Owen, we had Amy a few weeks ago. Up here, it's not in any sense unusual for the PAR to go, and for you to have two or three days without power.
249 00:33:59.720 --> 00:34:03.039 frank deas, Killearn: And that's been for a long, long time.
250 00:34:03.260 --> 00:34:16.849 frank deas, Killearn: the things that have changed, one, storms that were once in a generation became once in a decade, the storms that were once in a decade became once a year, and storms that once a year become every season. So we know that there's going to be increased frequency of storms.
251 00:34:17.230 --> 00:34:30.050 frank deas, Killearn: The other thing that has been an unintended consequence, the switch by BT and other telecom providers to internet telephony means that once your power goes, that's it, you're gobbed.
252 00:34:30.440 --> 00:34:36.219 frank deas, Killearn: And so we suddenly found lots of our villages had no means of communicating with the outside world.
253 00:34:36.770 --> 00:34:43.610 frank deas, Killearn: we needed to set up. It was… it was, really, as far as I'm aware, we didn't have any real serious casualties.
254 00:34:44.260 --> 00:35:03.480 frank deas, Killearn: But communities that had been so good at having their telephone trees and their systems for COVID and helping people, and sorting things out and so on, and were incredibly resilient, suddenly were just kneecapped because they had no idea what to do. You weren't able to get in touch with people, you weren't able to publicize notices, we didn't have
255 00:35:03.500 --> 00:35:20.759 frank deas, Killearn: neighborhood watch volunteers walking up and down the street saying who's got a red card in their windows saying they needed help. We didn't have satellite phones or airways, the measures, the radio system police use, in each community village hall, saying, here's how you can get in touch if you need someone. So, we want to work on that.
256 00:35:20.950 --> 00:35:24.030 frank deas, Killearn: It's something, again, it's something that…
257 00:35:24.350 --> 00:35:31.540 frank deas, Killearn: I'm hopeful will help drive a more positive response to climate change action, because
258 00:35:31.540 --> 00:35:48.529 frank deas, Killearn: even if you can't actually buy into active travel or can't buy into energy retrofit, you can buy into the fact that we need to be able to call an ambulance if someone is going into labor or has a heart attack or whatever else. So I think there's a general community support for saying, yes, let's sort that out.
259 00:35:49.410 --> 00:36:01.200 frank deas, Killearn: Active travel, again, all of you will be… will have those in your own area. We have this, like, that's a real thing, we have our high school with 8 satellite village schools that feed into it.
260 00:36:01.720 --> 00:36:17.399 frank deas, Killearn: But there's no active travel links between any of those 8 schools and the high school. The high school recently, through the support of another charity, have been running a cycling club. They train students on bike repairs, so they do bike repairs for students, for teachers, it's a really good process.
261 00:36:17.400 --> 00:36:27.349 frank deas, Killearn: But it only covers the kids who actually live in Buffron. If you live further afield, you're not going to be able to recycle school because it's just not safe. So we need to create that active travel link and help people understand that.
262 00:36:29.420 --> 00:36:47.880 frank deas, Killearn: Orchards are just a sweet spot for me. I always think of orchards as being a sort of gateway drug into sustainability, because if you've got a good community orchard, you're looking at food sustainability, food sovereignty, you're looking at biodiversity, and you're looking at just engaging with your community.
263 00:36:48.190 --> 00:36:53.639 frank deas, Killearn: We had a program, the Fourth Eye Archer program that ran 2006-2010,
264 00:36:54.180 --> 00:37:02.789 frank deas, Killearn: And there were grants for planting trees, so lots of fruit trees were planted. And then, in about 2012, the funding stopped, it all fell off a cliff.
265 00:37:02.950 --> 00:37:15.630 frank deas, Killearn: Our experience, looking around our neighborhoods here is that orchards work for the lifespan of the enthusiast slash grower who tends that orchard. And sadly, when they, and, you know.
266 00:37:17.620 --> 00:37:26.349 frank deas, Killearn: the, the, the, the, in general, sorry, in, in gen… In general, Where…
267 00:37:26.730 --> 00:37:43.720 frank deas, Killearn: of a slightly older generation, when we look around the table at these banter sessions. In orchard sessions, the same thing applied, and we had some excellent people who set up orchards, but they're no longer with us, and the orchards fall into neglect. So, across the villages of the map I just showed you in blue.
268 00:37:43.720 --> 00:37:47.210 frank deas, Killearn: There are actually 8 community orchards.
269 00:37:47.210 --> 00:38:02.679 frank deas, Killearn: Only one of which has been actively tendied. Some of them are in primary schools, some of them are in community spaces. We have a real challenge with the Council at the moment in just trying to understand one orchard that's in a community space, is that the Council acknowledged its council land.
270 00:38:02.720 --> 00:38:18.720 frank deas, Killearn: But they don't know or won't tell us whether it's owned by the housing account of the council, or the general fund account of the council, and until we know that, we can't actually get the correct permissions to actually tend the fruit trees. So we've got people lined up wanting to tend the fruit trees, we just don't have permission to help them yet.
271 00:38:18.720 --> 00:38:23.400 frank deas, Killearn: In the village that's doing the orchard stuff, what we're seeing are really, really good things happening.
272 00:38:23.400 --> 00:38:41.469 frank deas, Killearn: They're getting the community out, families are adopting fruit trees within the orchard, so they actually take a real interest in, how's my tree doing, what's happening? There are a couple of community pruning days a year, there's a community apple pressing day, and all of those things are really, really good community engagement things, as well as being fun events in their own right.
273 00:38:41.480 --> 00:38:57.039 frank deas, Killearn: We've been doing apple pressing, community apple pressing is just where people bring along their own fruit in the villages for the last 2 or 3 years. The first time we did them, we had a whole lot of stuff set up. That's how we keep the kids entertained while we were doing all the apple pressing and apple scratching and so on.
274 00:38:57.470 --> 00:39:15.470 frank deas, Killearn: and found the kids, all the kids wanted to do was turn the handle on the scratcher, or turn the wheel in the press. It was, you know, and they were enwrapped to see something going from apple to apple juice, and to be able to taste fresh apple juice. So, you know, it's a real eye-opener for us, but it's certainly something that we're very, very keen to try and drive forward.
275 00:39:15.840 --> 00:39:31.300 frank deas, Killearn: And then the last proposal is around, local nature conservation sites. So, again, trying to do my homework in this. I think these are either SINCs in parts of England and Will, sites of importance for nature conservation, or local nature reserves, L&Rs.
276 00:39:31.300 --> 00:39:38.369 frank deas, Killearn: But there are sites that are not statute, they're not like SSIs, but they are additionally protected.
277 00:39:38.380 --> 00:39:42.160 frank deas, Killearn: We have a real challenge at the moment that the council
278 00:39:42.360 --> 00:40:00.209 frank deas, Killearn: lost its biodiversity officer in May 2023, the nature restoration officer, the change of job profile slightly, who replaced him, didn't start until May 2025, so we had two years where they just didn't have the officer in place, and nothing happened on these. And we're…
279 00:40:01.250 --> 00:40:07.630 frank deas, Killearn: because I'm just a narky person, I've done a couple of Freedom of Information requests to try and find out what, if anything, has happened.
280 00:40:08.230 --> 00:40:22.530 frank deas, Killearn: And they had difficulty in answering those, so I've now stick to the Information Commission for Scotland on them over the fact that they took 49 days to… rather than 29 to respond, and the response was ineffective. But we have a real concern that
281 00:40:22.530 --> 00:40:35.219 frank deas, Killearn: the Council, because it's taken in these local place plans from each of the communities, and it's put a call out to landowners and developers for expressions of interest in future development, a call for sites.
282 00:40:35.540 --> 00:40:42.559 frank deas, Killearn: And there's nothing on the local nature conservation side. So, you know, it really offends me that we can try and do
283 00:40:42.590 --> 00:40:55.610 frank deas, Killearn: where do we want to build, and not in the same breath saying, and where do we want to protect? So we're desperately trying to bring forward the, the areas that we think should be looked after and are important.
284 00:40:55.670 --> 00:41:11.390 frank deas, Killearn: They had, theoretically, a long, long time ago, they had these provisional local nature conservation sites, but we did a kind of spot check, and one that was an upland birchwood, and it's now a Sitka spruce plantation. So basically, no one's been paying attention to it, and damage has set in.
285 00:41:13.050 --> 00:41:18.539 frank deas, Killearn: That's what we're doing. We've also done other stuff about energy retrofit, we're doing stuff about,
286 00:41:19.290 --> 00:41:25.190 frank deas, Killearn: sushi food and so on. Happy to sort of chat and take questions on anything.
287 00:41:25.500 --> 00:41:26.760 frank deas, Killearn: So basically.
288 00:41:27.090 --> 00:41:35.939 frank deas, Killearn: So lots to be done. Good bunch of people to work with. Work seems worthwhile. You meet like-minded people along the way, either physically or online, like today.
289 00:41:35.980 --> 00:41:44.629 frank deas, Killearn: And that's what we're about. Our website, our email are there. That's me with one of my colleagues doing an apple pressing.
290 00:41:44.630 --> 00:42:00.479 frank deas, Killearn: The biggest risk at Apple pressings, you'll see it's one of those bar and windless pressies, is dads desperately trying to do each other to see if they can turn the press an extra quarter turn, which means that we end up with bent bars and wrecked presses, so we've had to sort of sit
291 00:42:00.480 --> 00:42:11.039 frank deas, Killearn: dissuade fathers from using it as a test for a strength machine. Maybe we'll have to have out one of those hammer things that ring the bell on the side for that fathers to demonstrate their parents with.
292 00:42:11.740 --> 00:42:14.260 frank deas, Killearn: I'll stop sharing now, but… but…
293 00:42:14.450 --> 00:42:17.789 frank deas, Killearn: Happy to answer any questions, or we just generally have a discussion.
294 00:42:18.460 --> 00:42:27.730 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Bembridge: Frank, thanks very, very much for that. It's, as you said, it's very encouraging to hear that other people in other parts of the country are having the same sort of issues that we're all…
295 00:42:27.790 --> 00:42:41.880 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Bembridge: So, you know, the ideas are able to be spread everywhere. I did have a couple of questions that came to mind, and the first was about your community orchards. Are they self-sustaining financially? Do you sell the products?
296 00:42:41.880 --> 00:42:43.630 frank deas, Killearn: No, so, so there, there are no…
297 00:42:44.200 --> 00:42:48.740 frank deas, Killearn: They're not really orchards, certainly as you would understand them.
298 00:42:48.940 --> 00:43:02.879 frank deas, Killearn: In your next woods, where you will have 60, 80 trees, these are a dozen trees, or 8 trees that have been planted either in a school… school grounds, or in the community… in our community land.
299 00:43:03.180 --> 00:43:10.600 frank deas, Killearn: So, they're… they're not… they're not really self-sustaining in the sense of fruit. The fruit's community fruit, so we encourage people to pick and enjoy,
300 00:43:11.110 --> 00:43:16.419 frank deas, Killearn: Where… I don't think they'll ever be self-self-sustaining
301 00:43:16.640 --> 00:43:23.199 frank deas, Killearn: Because we'd rather see the people get the fruit for free than anything happen with it.
302 00:43:23.530 --> 00:43:30.730 frank deas, Killearn: And likewise, when we do the pressings, we give away the juice, so I think it's more a community engagement venture than a…
303 00:43:31.270 --> 00:43:34.729 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Bembridge: I was thinking in terms of conservation with,
304 00:43:34.970 --> 00:43:41.989 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Bembridge: weed killer, or whatever you need to look after the trees, or a tree surgeon has to come and look at them, somehow the money's got to be raised for that.
305 00:43:41.990 --> 00:43:53.829 frank deas, Killearn: We will, so we'll… we'll do some… some funding, applications specifically. We want… we have funding applications that we're preparing at the moment to look at, at,
306 00:43:53.970 --> 00:43:56.739 frank deas, Killearn: Training people within each village, so…
307 00:43:56.820 --> 00:44:15.610 frank deas, Killearn: My vision is that you will have an expert in each village who actually has the knowledge to say, yes, this is how you prune trees, this is a concern. They'll know enough to know what they don't know, and then we'll have an expert that we can call in to give us help, potentially paid help at that level.
308 00:44:15.610 --> 00:44:27.439 frank deas, Killearn: But they'll know what… the ordinary person will know what they need to do on a day-to-day basis, and get volunteers to help and drive that forward. But particularly, because we exist as SWS can.
309 00:44:27.480 --> 00:44:39.409 frank deas, Killearn: And because you can link people up with things like WhatsApp groups, we can have a situation that if a village gets hit by a particular storm, and that trees are damaged, or if the lead orchard person
310 00:44:39.410 --> 00:44:53.319 frank deas, Killearn: sadly dies or moves away, the neighboring villages can support until that orchard gets back in its feet again. So I think that's… that's what I'm hoping is going to make the difference, is having that resilience built in, because you've got that continuity.
311 00:44:54.340 --> 00:45:10.079 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Bembridge: And the other question I had was… this sort of shows up my ignorance of the way that you've governed up there. Do you have the same requirement as we have down south on the biodiversity net gain that developers have got to come up with 10% improvement?
312 00:45:10.080 --> 00:45:13.320 frank deas, Killearn: It… it's… it's not… it… it is similar, so…
313 00:45:13.450 --> 00:45:18.990 frank deas, Killearn: Mppf has that… it actually calls it net gain, and sets up what it is.
314 00:45:19.030 --> 00:45:34.250 frank deas, Killearn: MPF4 doesn't detail it in quite the same way. It says that there should be no harmful impact on biodiversity. It says that there should be an evaluation of what the impact might be and steps taken to compensate for that.
315 00:45:34.260 --> 00:45:48.749 frank deas, Killearn: But it stops short of making a sort of zero-sum game, I would say, or even a positive-sum game of saying, if you're taking away that, you have to do this. I have a real concern, it's one of the reasons I'm trying to drive forward the LNCS program as much.
316 00:45:50.070 --> 00:45:53.630 frank deas, Killearn: I'm slightly concerned that the net gain issue
317 00:45:54.000 --> 00:46:05.250 frank deas, Killearn: Has created an environment in which it's even more in a developer or landowner's interest to intentionally degrade the biodiversity of an area prior to submitting an application.
318 00:46:06.090 --> 00:46:19.440 frank deas, Killearn: We have, and I know that might seem slightly far-fetched, but we have, as a very micro example, just down the road in Killerne, there is a house that used to be called Two Oaks.
319 00:46:19.830 --> 00:46:34.050 frank deas, Killearn: And it was a big old house, and it had a big old couple hundred-year oaks in the garden. And the garden was big enough that they wanted to infill and build another house in the garden. So, tree surgeons were called in, they took down the oak, a couple of beech trees, a lime.
320 00:46:34.440 --> 00:46:35.740 frank deas, Killearn: All taken down.
321 00:46:36.010 --> 00:46:54.760 frank deas, Killearn: Then, he had the audacity to get someone in to do an environmental survey and tree survey, submitted the tree survey to the council with his planning application to do the infill build, together with a method work statement showing how to protect these trees and look after them. Now, technically, he was outside the conservation area of the village.
322 00:46:54.760 --> 00:47:10.899 frank deas, Killearn: there was no tree preservation order in place, no laws had been broken, but given that you only had to go onto Google Maps and see the difference between the aerial shot, with all the trees were there, and the photos he was submitting as part of the application.
323 00:47:11.030 --> 00:47:19.449 frank deas, Killearn: the evidence was there, but as I say, no laws were broken, nothing could be done. So we do need to put in place the greater enforcement. It's also…
324 00:47:19.650 --> 00:47:21.749 frank deas, Killearn: I mean, one of the challenges that we have
325 00:47:22.110 --> 00:47:25.139 frank deas, Killearn: And I think it's probably somewhere that I said.
326 00:47:25.540 --> 00:47:42.140 frank deas, Killearn: Everyone loves silver bullet solutions. So, in the way I talked about condensing boilers, and then it was cavity wall insulation and loft insulation, and now we've got appalling problems with people scared of their houses being unsaleable. Air source heat pumps are not the only solution, so what do we do in those areas?
327 00:47:42.350 --> 00:47:47.700 frank deas, Killearn: So the same thing is, up here, everything's planting trees. Trees are our answer, let's plant more trees.
328 00:47:47.750 --> 00:47:53.870 frank deas, Killearn: But actually, there's lots of parts of Scotland, and in fairness, Scottish Forestry's begin to learn this, where the peat bogs
329 00:47:53.910 --> 00:48:03.280 frank deas, Killearn: We're capturing more carbon than the trees would in 80 to 100 years, so restoring peat bogs and preserving them means you've got more captured carbon.
330 00:48:03.300 --> 00:48:21.339 frank deas, Killearn: there's a site just down the road from us in Struth Blaine that has 30 species of waxcap. Now, I'm not a myceli… a fungi expert, but my understanding is it makes it one of the greatest waxcap sites in the UK. The mycelium layer underneath that ancient grassland
331 00:48:21.530 --> 00:48:37.129 frank deas, Killearn: it has lots and lots of captured carbon, but at the moment, we're fighting a… I think we'll get there, but we're fighting a battle with the landowner who wanted to plant up, put in drainage, and plant trees, because that would help our carbon capture, even though it would, you know, destroy
332 00:48:37.380 --> 00:48:38.989 frank deas, Killearn: Existing carbon source.
333 00:48:40.390 --> 00:48:46.160 frank deas, Killearn: Actually, there's hands up, so, so I think, well, Gary, you were perhaps first?
334 00:48:47.340 --> 00:48:49.010 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Bembridge: I think David,
335 00:48:49.010 --> 00:48:50.399 frank deas, Killearn: Oh, David's favorite, Rob?
336 00:48:51.920 --> 00:48:52.940 David Newman (Blackbird Leys): Yeah.
337 00:48:53.980 --> 00:48:59.199 David Newman (Blackbird Leys): How did you… Work with the community councils. Who did what?
338 00:48:59.910 --> 00:49:06.239 frank deas, Killearn: I, I, so, in some cases, I just went along, as, as…
339 00:49:06.340 --> 00:49:16.089 frank deas, Killearn: perhaps is becoming apparent, I'm very happy to talk about these things, and so I would go along and explain and say, look, here's what's important. In most cases, there were…
340 00:49:16.510 --> 00:49:28.579 frank deas, Killearn: the local initiatives that you could reference and say, you know, you've already got a sustainability group that's doing great things, or you've got a wildlife sanctuary and that's really good. But here are some other things you could think about.
341 00:49:29.710 --> 00:49:46.089 frank deas, Killearn: in a couple of our villages, so one of my… we have, seven trustees. One of the trustees is also the chair of Driven Community Development Trust and on Driven Community Council. Another one of the trustees is on Buffalo Community Council. So.
342 00:49:46.090 --> 00:49:52.520 frank deas, Killearn: the community councillors, in some cases, crossed over with ourselves. I think
343 00:49:52.520 --> 00:49:57.020 frank deas, Killearn: they're, in most cases, very, very happy if I've…
344 00:49:57.070 --> 00:50:11.619 frank deas, Killearn: cornered the market on climate change expertise and feed that back to them. So, if they… I know certainly in Killar, in my own village, I'll be going to a community council meeting this evening. I'm not a community councillor, but I attend most sessions when I can.
345 00:50:11.890 --> 00:50:28.209 frank deas, Killearn: And if there's a climate thing crops up, it gets thrown in my direction as, well, Franco Keeper's right there, what, you know, what do you think? What should we be doing? So I think if you've got a… I would suggest if you've got a community councillor who's already an expert, or knowledgeable or competent in climate change.
346 00:50:28.350 --> 00:50:38.599 frank deas, Killearn: make them part of your network, and if there's no one in the community council in that role, offer them the sort of team expert assistance and say, here's how we can help.
347 00:50:39.890 --> 00:50:48.410 David Newman (Blackbird Leys): And, So… Who does the research, and who writes the documents that end up going to Sterling?
348 00:50:48.530 --> 00:50:49.580 David Newman (Blackbird Leys): Council.
349 00:50:49.580 --> 00:50:56.239 frank deas, Killearn: That would be me at the moment. I think, I mean, it is…
350 00:50:56.480 --> 00:51:14.329 frank deas, Killearn: So, it was me, I… we got a grant from… from FEL, or the Climate Action Hub, which I used to employ someone who's an expert in place plans, because one of the things a place plan has to do is link back to the relevant parts of MPF4 and to the Council's strategy and development plans.
351 00:51:14.480 --> 00:51:33.640 frank deas, Killearn: And I knew I didn't have that expertise, so it was worthwhile employing someone to do that, because he ensured that we were putting the right hooks in, and were more likely to be validated by the Council. But in general terms, I wrote a lot of it. I had help
352 00:51:34.100 --> 00:51:44.789 frank deas, Killearn: again, within our village, we have a couple of zoology professors from University of Glasgow who are experts on different aspects of nature conservation.
353 00:51:44.860 --> 00:52:02.469 frank deas, Killearn: We've got, our husband and wife, Jackie and Sally and Nigel Pope, who, as Mario Media, do programs like Scotland the Wild, and we have the moth recorder for Stirling Council area, all live in our village. So you can tap into those people and either say, can you give me
354 00:52:02.470 --> 00:52:14.170 frank deas, Killearn: 80 words on such and such, or can you read these words and see whether they do the right thing? On energy, I'm really lucky to have someone who's a trained conservation architect and rich predecessor, who, again.
355 00:52:14.170 --> 00:52:20.679 frank deas, Killearn: will either draft stuff for me, or keep me right in terms of what I'm drafting. So it is… it's very much…
356 00:52:21.170 --> 00:52:23.509 frank deas, Killearn: Finding the expertise and, and
357 00:52:23.760 --> 00:52:29.249 frank deas, Killearn: Breaking it down into bite-sized chunks so you're not trying to overwhelm them with what the ask is.
358 00:52:30.270 --> 00:52:45.430 frank deas, Killearn: I think it helps that I had no particular background or expertise in this area, so my work life was all change management, consultancy, those sorts of areas. But that meant, hopefully, I'm really good at working with people and identifying
359 00:52:45.560 --> 00:52:57.729 frank deas, Killearn: the win-wins in situations, and encouraging people to work around. And then finding the experts who have real expertise, but don't necessarily have the change management skills to… so hopefully there's a good marriage there.
360 00:52:59.020 --> 00:53:00.360 David Newman (Blackbird Leys): Okay, thanks.
361 00:53:00.810 --> 00:53:03.050 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Bembridge: Gary, peace.
362 00:53:05.870 --> 00:53:18.459 Garry Ford - Corsham Town Council: Hi, Frank. Hopefully my, sound is coming through. I've got some new headphones, so I'm not sure if these actually work or not, but it's great that they do. So first of all, I actually spent 2 years living
363 00:53:18.960 --> 00:53:23.090 Garry Ford - Corsham Town Council: around Stirling, and working in Sterling for Keep Scotland Beautiful.
364 00:53:23.300 --> 00:53:39.759 Garry Ford - Corsham Town Council: when they were running their Climate Challenge Fund on behalf of the Scottish Government. Unfortunately, that's gone, because that would have been a great source of potential funding for you. One of the other organizations I worked for in Scotland was a retrofit organization, Changeworks, out of Edinburgh.
365 00:53:40.010 --> 00:53:43.150 Garry Ford - Corsham Town Council: Have you looked at approaching these organizations?
366 00:53:43.150 --> 00:53:45.530 frank deas, Killearn: So we've had a couple of meetings with Changeworks.
367 00:53:45.750 --> 00:53:48.670 frank deas, Killearn: And they're, they're, they're good people.
368 00:53:48.840 --> 00:53:59.210 frank deas, Killearn: they're… I'm slightly concerned, or the fit isn't quite there, because we're all about localization.
369 00:54:00.140 --> 00:54:13.369 frank deas, Killearn: and Changeworks is all about, we're Edinburgh-based, and we can serve as the whole country. And I'm not sure that's what we need most. There are… it is interesting to see what's happening, and I suspect there's similar
370 00:54:13.620 --> 00:54:15.490 frank deas, Killearn: Events being played out down south.
371 00:54:15.590 --> 00:54:32.430 frank deas, Killearn: We have, NESFIT up in Aberdeenshire, we have local homes in, south of Glasgow, and these are either community interest companies or co-ops that have been formed around retrofit that bring together homeowners, assessors, and contractors.
372 00:54:32.430 --> 00:54:47.989 frank deas, Killearn: And the idea is that you buy into, you buy some shares in the company, that entices you to get a discount on your assessment, you, you use one of the approved contractors who are also members, and that gives you confidence in the quality of the work. So that… and ideally.
373 00:54:48.230 --> 00:54:53.190 frank deas, Killearn: If we actually get momentum going on a continuous rhetoric company.
374 00:54:53.600 --> 00:55:13.459 frank deas, Killearn: use local contractors. We're always conscious that if you employ contractors that need special skills for, they're going to come across from Edinburgh or from Stirling or from Glasgow, and what we want to do is get contractors who are based in Blainefield or Balfron, and ensure there's a pipeline of work for them. That means that they'll actually create local apprenticeships, because
375 00:55:13.810 --> 00:55:27.349 frank deas, Killearn: we've heard from politicians for years about green jobs, the green economy, but I certainly think if we can get retrofit right, it has the capacity to be a community wealth-building activity. And I don't know whether
376 00:55:27.640 --> 00:55:31.070 frank deas, Killearn: Our southwest captured area is big enough for its own retrofit hub.
377 00:55:31.350 --> 00:55:46.100 frank deas, Killearn: what's been lovely to see, and I take no credit for this, because it's good ideas to spring up simultaneously, but in North West Sterling, there's now an organization called McLaren Community Futures, which is based around McLaren High School and Callender, and covers all of North West Stirling.
378 00:55:46.490 --> 00:55:55.159 frank deas, Killearn: the Carson-Serling Partnership, which covers the sort of river plain before you get to Serling, is looking at change
379 00:55:55.530 --> 00:56:02.710 frank deas, Killearn: change climate… climate change, adaptation and mitigation. So we're going to have three organizations. If we think back to that map
380 00:56:02.970 --> 00:56:20.320 frank deas, Killearn: where there's all that area to the left of the motorway, there are now three organizations that will basically cover all of that map with a certain level of overlap. I've been able to speak with one voice on climate, and I think that's going to be, hopefully, a really powerful thing. So, slightly more of a longer answer than you thought. Change works are good, I'm happy to work with them.
381 00:56:20.560 --> 00:56:22.319 frank deas, Killearn: I'm just not sure what…
382 00:56:22.710 --> 00:56:29.879 frank deas, Killearn: they will add, compared with what Home Energy Scotland is doing, or Energy Saving Trust does, and I want to be as local as possible.
383 00:56:30.640 --> 00:56:33.129 Garry Ford - Corsham Town Council: Yeah, they're just pretty good at, like, kind of…
384 00:56:33.560 --> 00:56:38.530 Garry Ford - Corsham Town Council: Just being aware of what all the solutions are in terms of retrofitting, like you say, like,
385 00:56:38.730 --> 00:56:58.280 Garry Ford - Corsham Town Council: Especially, like, restricted properties and stuff, you know, they talk about internal wall insulation, that kind of stuff. They're just, like, experts, you can call them. Also, Frank, I just wanted to ask you another question, was, what are your plans for next year? What are you hoping to achieve in 2026?
386 00:56:59.460 --> 00:57:01.339 frank deas, Killearn: So, so…
387 00:57:01.750 --> 00:57:13.050 frank deas, Killearn: one of the key things we have to do, as I say, we haven't been going for a year yet, so let's get to our AGM, get that sorted out, understand what our funding needs are. I think that this is…
388 00:57:13.190 --> 00:57:15.200 frank deas, Killearn: Either optimistic or naive.
389 00:57:15.540 --> 00:57:18.880 frank deas, Killearn: Because we're, networked.
390 00:57:19.140 --> 00:57:32.110 frank deas, Killearn: we're not actually going to try and do that much. We're going to try and enable and encourage and support community development trusts or community sustainability groups to do things and link them with each other.
391 00:57:32.110 --> 00:57:40.569 frank deas, Killearn: So, our funding requirements should be compared to light. It will be our insurance, our website costs, our, you know, those basic things.
392 00:57:40.570 --> 00:57:52.449 frank deas, Killearn: And I would hope we'll be able to do that through crowdfunding. So, we'll get specific project funding to do, individual pieces of work, such as looking at energy retrofits and how we roll out our responsibilities.
393 00:57:52.650 --> 00:57:56.560 frank deas, Killearn: But in terms of our data operational costs, I hope we could crowdfund them.
394 00:57:56.670 --> 00:58:13.860 frank deas, Killearn: We're looking at setting up our thematic groups, so I mentioned the experts in our village on biodiversity. They're similar experts in other villages. I want to get them together. We've got experts in renewables, and as I mentioned, in energy conservation, get them together. So have thematic groups that will set the strategy and direction
395 00:58:13.860 --> 00:58:21.349 frank deas, Killearn: For, for the kind of five main themes, foods, biodiversity, energy, resource management, and active travel.
396 00:58:23.060 --> 00:58:38.669 frank deas, Killearn: there are slower burden things, so resource management, it would be ideal to have repair cafes. We've blurted with them, we've tried them once or twice, they've not quite taken off. Some villages I know do them successfully, so there should be a market for that.
397 00:58:38.810 --> 00:58:43.150 frank deas, Killearn: The other thing, I'm really, really keen to do is
398 00:58:43.270 --> 00:58:46.900 frank deas, Killearn: I will talk about the active travel of both Ron High School and the satellite schools.
399 00:58:47.060 --> 00:58:56.819 frank deas, Killearn: One of my other hats that I wear is the operations officer for a group called On The Verge that sold wildfire seeds. So we work with primary schools and secondary schools.
400 00:58:56.820 --> 00:59:10.080 frank deas, Killearn: go in, clear a patch, soil wildflower seeds, give them a bit of chat about the importance of pollinators, the importance of nature restoration. It gives the agency to children about actually doing something about climate. It helps, back to that thing of if you can grab them when they're young.
401 00:59:10.370 --> 00:59:26.420 frank deas, Killearn: One of the things that we've had challenges with, and again, we mentioned Keep Scotland Beautiful, I think it runs the green flag program for schools, and that's really, really good. But we're not leveraging that, so two-thirds of our primary schools have green flag status, and our high school has green flag status.
402 00:59:26.910 --> 00:59:36.049 frank deas, Killearn: I want to get to a point, hopefully by the end of this educational year, probably starting probably at the end 26, 27,
403 00:59:36.740 --> 00:59:41.599 frank deas, Killearn: the Eco Club at our high school I work with, so I go along from time to time, they help me do different stuff.
404 00:59:41.860 --> 00:59:57.459 frank deas, Killearn: One of the things I'm trying to get them to do is a local recycling thing for each village. So, in our village, the pharmacist recycles blister packs for pills, and Baffron, the optician recycles spectacles. So, we want a local guy for each village saying, here's what you can and can't recycle.
405 00:59:58.470 --> 01:00:00.750 frank deas, Killearn: but I also want to use the Eco Club.
406 01:00:01.040 --> 01:00:07.839 frank deas, Killearn: When, when it's, zero food waste week, or, no plastic suite, or some other campaign like that.
407 01:00:08.110 --> 01:00:22.250 frank deas, Killearn: I want to train the Eco Club in doing a presentation on that, and give them the confidence and the facts at their fingertips, then send them back to the primary schools that they left 2 or 3 years before, because in those primary schools.
408 01:00:22.550 --> 01:00:36.859 frank deas, Killearn: secondary school pupils are gods, you know, they're the ones who made it, they're really important, and have them take assemblies in those primary schools and tell the younger kids why it's important that we avoid food waste, why it's important that we move away from plastics.
409 01:00:36.950 --> 01:00:44.439 frank deas, Killearn: And because we've got the Community Council, Community Development Trust on board as well, we will have a parallel campaign and village Facebook pages
410 01:00:44.440 --> 01:01:03.290 frank deas, Killearn: covering food waste, or covering zero plastics. So you're actually getting the high schools, the junior schools, and the communities simultaneously. And I think if we get that to work, it will be something that will really unlock the potential that the moment we're just not getting. At the moment, the challenge has always been, that I could see.
411 01:01:03.520 --> 01:01:08.720 frank deas, Killearn: Kids go to high school, but then they lose the links of their local communities.
412 01:01:09.100 --> 01:01:14.599 frank deas, Killearn: And so it's finding a way to make that a closed-loop thing so that they haven't lost that community, they're still part of it.
413 01:01:16.580 --> 01:01:17.569 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Bembridge: Opening fan.
414 01:01:18.670 --> 01:01:19.830 frank deas, Killearn: Well, hopefully.
415 01:01:19.830 --> 01:01:22.219 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Bembridge: Does anybody else have a question for Frank?
416 01:01:22.220 --> 01:01:31.749 frank deas, Killearn: David's asked about Creoleuric. It is bizarre. There are… if you look… So, Scotland went…
417 01:01:33.210 --> 01:01:49.279 frank deas, Killearn: So, I had this thing, as I'm being honest about Sterling not being a city council, it's being a regional council. Argyle and the Isles, Argyle and Butte, takes everything to the west of Loch Lomond, and it was, like, a judgment call which way Korean Lagrid went.
418 01:01:49.310 --> 01:02:02.279 frank deas, Killearn: Our villages in southwest Stirling are all G63 postcodes, so most people think we're in Glasgow, including some of our councillors, rather than in Stirling, which is an FK postcode.
419 01:02:03.030 --> 01:02:06.200 frank deas, Killearn: If you… but in general, when… when…
420 01:02:06.320 --> 01:02:16.310 frank deas, Killearn: Scottish Parliament was created, it had to break up the regional councils, it used to be Central, Strathclyde, Lothian and Borders, it had to break them up because they'd have been too powerful to deal with.
421 01:02:16.520 --> 01:02:24.410 frank deas, Killearn: So it broke them up into smaller things. You've got Glasgow City Council, Eastern Bartonshire, Western Bartenshire, Stirling, Folker, Clacks, and so on.
422 01:02:25.230 --> 01:02:38.490 frank deas, Killearn: it is an exercise in gerrymandering. I mean, it's very hard not to be cynical about politics. If you look at the map of the council areas for Glasgow in particular, you will see that deals were done
423 01:02:38.490 --> 01:02:50.260 frank deas, Killearn: that in eastern Bartonshire, it got Bears Den and Mulgae, which are quite posh suburbs, and would be reliably going to vote Conservative, so that eastern Bartenshire could keep a Conservative administration.
424 01:02:50.260 --> 01:03:08.720 frank deas, Killearn: And areas, like Drum Chapel, which are not at all posh, were left in Glasgow, and they would vote Labour, and Glasgow would have a Labour administration. But the county boundaries literally zigzag up and down to take in or leave out communities based on socioeconomic profiling.
425 01:03:08.810 --> 01:03:09.630 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Bembridge: Okay.
426 01:03:09.630 --> 01:03:10.519 frank deas, Killearn: Babes aren't.
427 01:03:10.850 --> 01:03:12.190 frank deas, Killearn: It's true.
428 01:03:13.480 --> 01:03:30.529 Cllr.Stuart Withington, Gt Dunmow TC, Essex: Yeah, thanks for a very interesting talk, and I'm going to congratulate your enthusiasm and patience in keeping going. It's more of a question, really. How well does solar PV work, up in Scotland?
429 01:03:31.630 --> 01:03:43.959 frank deas, Killearn: My understanding is it does work well. So, I think, as I hopefully have said, I don't claim to have an expertise in any of these things, I just know the right people to ask. But my understanding is that it is… it is good.
430 01:03:44.620 --> 01:03:46.640 frank deas, Killearn: It's… It's…
431 01:03:47.090 --> 01:03:56.010 frank deas, Killearn: It's particularly fine if you're not… if you're just using solar to try and pre-water heat, then that's great. But if you're wanting solar to actually power things.
432 01:03:56.220 --> 01:04:03.199 frank deas, Killearn: Obviously, if you can get the right angle, if your roof happens to space the right way, that's a big help.
433 01:04:03.810 --> 01:04:17.030 frank deas, Killearn: there are solar arrays in fields that are generating power and make a return in terms of power. So we do get enough sun. I mean, today is a beautifully sunny day.
434 01:04:17.270 --> 01:04:34.950 frank deas, Killearn: it's cold, but there's lots of sunshine, so you would do your generation. I think, my understanding, and I need to get to the detail on this so I can preach it more effectively, but both the effectiveness and the cost of solar arrays and of batteries
435 01:04:35.070 --> 01:04:42.459 frank deas, Killearn: have come… the quality's improved and prices come down, so they're now looking much, much more like a viable option.
436 01:04:42.730 --> 01:04:46.700 frank deas, Killearn: For people who want to be entirely self-sufficient.
437 01:04:46.700 --> 01:05:06.409 frank deas, Killearn: what we do want, but I see it as a solution that will then work in parallel with local energy clubs, so that if you are generating more and your battery's full, you feed it into the local tariff, as it were. But… I mean, there's a level of just naive optimism about this that we've got to try and understand.
438 01:05:06.780 --> 01:05:23.149 frank deas, Killearn: SSE is putting in place another major hydro station, pumping hydro station. So, again, I don't know enough about these to be an effective advocate for them, but it might have at least two or three in Scotland where
439 01:05:23.180 --> 01:05:30.420 frank deas, Killearn: there's Kruk and the Hollow Mountain is the most famous one, where there's a big lake at the… or a big pool of water at the top.
440 01:05:30.420 --> 01:05:43.240 frank deas, Killearn: That you can, at the moment's notice, just flip the switch, and it will start generating electricity as it powers down the mountain into the lock below, and then when there's surplus electricity, you pump the water back up again, and that's the solution
441 01:05:43.320 --> 01:05:55.689 frank deas, Killearn: for all the concerns that renewables are never there when you need them. What happens when it's not sunny? What happens when it's not windy? Well, if you've got gravity-fed pumping stations.
442 01:05:55.690 --> 01:06:04.639 frank deas, Killearn: that then allow you to suddenly add to the grid at a moment's notice, that's the solution. And Scotland's blessed in that it's got lots of water and lots of hills.
443 01:06:04.660 --> 01:06:06.140 frank deas, Killearn: We have…
444 01:06:07.460 --> 01:06:20.180 frank deas, Killearn: like everywhere else, there's levels of nimbyism. I do sympathize. There are people protesting vigorously about pylons and electricity cable loans that are going across bits and parts of Scotland and Angus and Fife and Pershire.
445 01:06:20.510 --> 01:06:37.209 frank deas, Killearn: People hate the idea of wind turbines, but they're usually the people who would have hated the idea of gas-fired power stations, or coal-fired power stations, or nuclear power stations, so I think you have to choose. Do we live in a world where there is no electricity, or do we try and do it in the way that's least detrimental?
446 01:06:38.710 --> 01:06:45.700 Cllr.Stuart Withington, Gt Dunmow TC, Essex: Thank you. I did hear a worrying fact a few days ago. I was in a meeting with,
447 01:06:45.850 --> 01:06:50.020 Cllr.Stuart Withington, Gt Dunmow TC, Essex: NESO, the National Energy Systems Operator.
448 01:06:50.770 --> 01:06:54.640 Cllr.Stuart Withington, Gt Dunmow TC, Essex: And they were saying only about 20%
449 01:06:54.830 --> 01:06:59.549 Cllr.Stuart Withington, Gt Dunmow TC, Essex: Of the country's total energy is provided by electricity.
450 01:07:00.090 --> 01:07:08.800 Cllr.Stuart Withington, Gt Dunmow TC, Essex: So, I think if we're trying to electrify anything, everything, we're gonna have to generate a hell of a lot more electricity.
451 01:07:09.700 --> 01:07:15.799 frank deas, Killearn: Absolutely, but I think that's where that local, I… I think…
452 01:07:15.800 --> 01:07:30.300 frank deas, Killearn: So, it depends how long Scotland carries on being part of the happy family of the UK, and so there's all sorts of challenges in there. For Scotland to be self-sufficient in renewables is kind of… should be a no-brainer.
453 01:07:30.430 --> 01:07:32.430 frank deas, Killearn: I'm not sure if England has the…
454 01:07:32.540 --> 01:07:46.049 frank deas, Killearn: the space to put in enough things for renewables. I think there's things like Tide Power and WavePower and so on that will have to play a role as well. But again, how many areas of coast do you have that you'd be allowed to get away with doing that?
455 01:07:46.740 --> 01:08:03.049 frank deas, Killearn: And so, the mini nuclear setup, I'm not really sure I like that, but I'm not sure there's no other answer to it. But we do need to accept that if we're going to have electric vehicles, if we're going to have air source heat pumps.
456 01:08:03.360 --> 01:08:07.400 frank deas, Killearn: We're gonna have to have a lot more electricity,
457 01:08:07.860 --> 01:08:08.490 Cllr.Stuart Withington, Gt Dunmow TC, Essex: Yep.
458 01:08:09.940 --> 01:08:26.390 frank deas, Killearn: And also, we have to decouple it from the gas price. So, at the moment, there's this bizarre thing that renewal generators are getting windfall profits because it's been… their price is pegged, and people aren't seeing the return. So…
459 01:08:26.439 --> 01:08:38.239 frank deas, Killearn: If you genuinely went green in your electricity provider, and were able to buy cheaper electricity, people might be less specific about saying, well, it's all a con, there's no real benefit in renewable electricity.
460 01:08:40.000 --> 01:08:40.720 Cllr.Stuart Withington, Gt Dunmow TC, Essex: Yes.
461 01:08:41.410 --> 01:08:42.340 Cllr.Stuart Withington, Gt Dunmow TC, Essex: Agree with it.
462 01:08:42.800 --> 01:09:00.150 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Bembridge: Well, Pray, thank you very, very much. It's been tremendous, and I enjoyed it, and you obviously sparked some questions from people. Next week, we are talking, or being talked to, by Duxford, who are going to explain what their local nature plan is.
463 01:09:00.160 --> 01:09:10.979 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Bembridge: So do please come along for that. And if you can spare 30 seconds, Catherine, I'd love to know whether this is of any interest to you. What are you doing with the Town Council in Weymouth?
464 01:09:12.359 --> 01:09:31.269 Katherine Stott - Weymouth TC: Hi, yeah, so I'm relatively new in post. Weymouth Town Council created a role of sustainability officer, and that's to deliver environmental initiatives and projects relating to their, climate and ecological emergency plan.
465 01:09:31.450 --> 01:09:36.359 Katherine Stott - Weymouth TC: We have a climate and ecological emergency group that meets once a month.
466 01:09:36.620 --> 01:09:41.150 Katherine Stott - Weymouth TC: To manage the tasks on the plan, and we're currently
467 01:09:41.710 --> 01:09:45.639 Katherine Stott - Weymouth TC: prioritizing those tasks, so I'm looking at quite,
468 01:09:46.080 --> 01:09:53.229 Katherine Stott - Weymouth TC: Broad range of topic areas, from waste to transport to energy.
469 01:09:53.510 --> 01:10:06.480 Katherine Stott - Weymouth TC: And many of the things that we have ambitions to do relate not just to within, like, the Town Council's scope, but outside, so I'm currently kind of, like, casting the net quite wide and looking at
470 01:10:07.020 --> 01:10:23.890 Katherine Stott - Weymouth TC: yeah, what scope we have to get involved and make a difference, how we can input and shape things, that relate to Weymouth and sustainability. So I've been recommended to… that this group is, like, an interesting forum to share
471 01:10:24.210 --> 01:10:34.030 Katherine Stott - Weymouth TC: all sorts of different information, and it would be good if I just… I just sort of see what… see what's going on, and yeah, join in. It's been interesting.
472 01:10:34.030 --> 01:10:38.479 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Bembridge: Congratulations on your new job, and I hope it comes out very successfully.
473 01:10:38.480 --> 01:10:41.650 Katherine Stott - Weymouth TC: Thanks, yeah, maybe I'll do… for you sometime.
474 01:10:42.470 --> 01:10:51.829 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Bembridge: Yes, that would be very good. Well, thank you all for your time and trouble. Thanks, Frank, in particular, and look forward to seeing people next week. Have a good afternoon.
475 01:10:52.340 --> 01:10:53.050 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Bembridge: Bye-bye.
476 01:10:53.320 --> 01:10:53.680 Katherine Stott - Weymouth TC: Bye.
Markdown copy of the presentation:
Slide 1
Slide 2
England and Scotland -
Slide 3
England and Scotland -
Neighbouhood Plan
Local Development Plan
Local Plan
Local Place
Plan
N P F 4
N P P F
Slide 4
Where we are
Slide 5
What we do
Build mutual support for climate/sustainability actions across our communities.
Share knowledge, skills and ideas; learning from each other what works.
Promote each other’s initiatives (eg, on raising awareness).
Collaborate on actions (eg, active travel) or issues (eg, energy and retrofit) where it makes sense to apply for resources at a regional rather than village level.
Advocate for SWS communities on climate/sustainability issues; pressurising local authorities and others to make the changes needed.
Slide 6
Where we are
Local Place Plan
Slide 7
Local Place Plan Proposals
Slide 8
Still lots to done
but good bunch of people to work with
and the work seems worthwhile
and you meet some nice like-minded folk along the way
Questions ??
Website SWScan.org
Email [email protected]
Last updated