Help to stop the Norwich Northern Distributor Road (NDR)

Now is the time to register an objection to the proposed 20 kilometre Norwich Northern Distributor Road (NDR)  by the deadline of Sunday 23 March.

The NDR is part of a huge new national road building programme for meeting the Government’s predictions of a 40% increase in traffic by 2040. We are encouraging as many people as possible – including people living outside Norfolk - to register with the Planning Inspectorate and send a strong message to Government.

Help to stop the Norwich Northern Distributor Road (NDR)

http://www.notondr.org.uk/

How to register as an Objector with Planning Inspectorate

Massive development and a new 20km road are set to change the face of our fine city for ever, unless we act now.

325 acres of business parks and 10,000 houses just to start

Vast areas of countryside destroyed

Leading to a third ring of development around Norwich

Costing Norfolk residents millions (over £80 million on top of the Government’s £89 million)

Four forthcoming events connected to the NDR:

1.  Sunday 23 February - Mass Leafletting at Taverham/Drayton – Cock Inn car park, 1 Drayton High Road NR8 6AE

We will be leafletting these areas this coming Sunday. Please come along anytime between 10.30am and 3.30pm to the car park of the Cock Inn public house and collect leaflets and maps. The pub serves food all day. If you would like a lift from SW Norwich, Andrew Boswell will be leaving 23 Havelock Road at 10am. Ring him on 07787127881 to book a place.

2.  Monday 24th Feb, 3-7pm

The National Planning Inspectorate is holding a drop-in event at Dragon Hall, 115-123 King Street, NR1 1QE, with presentations at 3 and 6pm.  The Butterfly Cafe, opposite the hall has agreed to stay open until 6pm, and for us to be there with leaflets and comment forms.

3.  Monday March 3rd 8.30am to 10am

No to NDR, Campaign for Better Transport and Norwich Green Party are holding a protest at Norfolk County Council, County Hall.

4.  Thursday 13 March – Public Meeting at Thorpe End. Venue and time to be announced.  Details will be posted on www.notondr.org.uk 

For further information, please contact Denise Carlo Tel 01603 504563

This article is published by Simeon Jackson on behalf of the Norfolk and Norwich Transport Action Group.

Transition Free Press winter edition now out!

The fourth winter edition of Transition Free Press is now available in Norwich. This is the final issue of the 2013 pilot in which this innovative grassroots newspaper was distributed throughout the UK to broadcast and celebrate all aspects of the Transition movement's social and political culture - from economics, energy and food systems, to wellbeing, books, people, stuff and sport. For a full editorial A-Z of the latest issue read the December update on our news blog.

In an assessment of the first year Rob Hopkins wrote:

The fourth edition of Transition Free Press has just come out, and it is a Thing of Great Beauty. Transition has long created spaces in which people can engage their creativity, and TFP is one of the shining examples of that.  It models a different approach to telling stories, to building networks, and to building a movement. 

Norwich is one of over 100 distributing hubs in the TFP network we would like to wish all our distributors and readers in the city a very happy new year for 2014! Meanwhile here is a short video of the welcome editorial, written and narrated by Charlotte Du Cann and produced by Mike Grenville.

 
For list of distribution outlets in Norwich see the TFP distribution page

Positive Money Meetup - Tuesday 29 October 7:30pm

The failure of our monetary system has come up over and over again as one of the driving forces behind unsustainable consumption, inequality and environmental destruction. National campaign group Positive Money, along with their counterparts in other countries, are looking to change it, and have come up with some proposals.

Here in Norwich, we're going to have a meetup of people interested in those proposals (more information about them can be found on their website, below). The meetup will be on 29th October at 7:30pm at the Playhouse.

Please come along, meet others who are interested, and let's get our monetary system working for people and planet!

Positive Money's Proposals: http://www.positivemoney.org/our-proposals/

Norwich Group & Details of the event: http://www.positivemoney.org/get-involved/local-groups/norwich/

Magdalen-Augustine Celebration - Saturday 19 October, 11am-5pm

The 4th Magdalen Augustine celebration about to hit the streets on 19th October 2013! With a brand new black history month stage of African bands at the Blueberry on Cowgate, youth samba band, pop-up museum, puppet making, and all the usual music and wonderfulness, it's set to be amazing. The full programme is now available here.

Also opening on the same day: Conversation A new collection from award-winning local photographer, Katherine Mager, made in response to conversations with residents and shop-owners in St Augustine's Street.

The Stage, 52 St Augustine's Street, Norwich NR3 3AD www.stagenorwich.org.uk 

Contact: MAC website for further details and
magdalenstreet@gmail.com | 07964 494836/07790 032 516 to get involved.

New autumn edition of Transition Free Press now out!

Hot off the press,TFP 3 is now hitting doorsteps and Transition streets in 50+ hubs across the UK, including Norwich.

Our Autumn issue runs wild, forages for books and cherry plums, gets smart about community energy and heritage seeds, stands with indigenous peoples, speaks with George Monbiot, rides the lemon bus in Sussex and a canal boat in the Midlands, rides a cargo bike and sits down at a table with fifty people in East Anglia, jumps into a lochan in Scotland, honours elders in Liverpool, makes cider in the North country, makes connections everywhere and a hundred other ingenious, friendly moves in the direction of a low carbon future.

Available at The Greenhouse, FarmShare hub and from Norwich distributor, Lesley Grahame lesley7railway@yahoo.co.  On-line version published here

Norwich FarmShare - Bikes and Beans Project

You might already have heard about the well-being project that Norwich Farmshare and Bicycle Links are running together called ‘Bikes and Beans’ for people in early recovery from substance misuse.

Attendees will learn basic bicycle repair & maintenance skills at Bicycle Links before coming to the farm to learn the basics of growing. it’s a chance for participants to get their hands dirty and enjoy the benefits of practical tasks and being outside learning. The project is running on Tuesdays over the late summer and early autumn.

We had a ‘Bikes and Beans’ awareness raising stall at the Discover Recovery event at the Forum last week which was very popular and signed up our first participants. We’re keen to enable more people to take part, so please do spread the word about this very worthwhile project. You can download a poster to display anywhere you’d like to: bikes_and_beans_poster_and_intro

Like to subscribe to Norwich FarmShare? check out their membership page

STOP PRESS! Postwick Interchange Inquiry - 22 and 23 July

If you're bothered about council budgets, wildlife, sustainable transport, carbon emissions, this is an appeal for help with an easy but very real action that you can take.
 

The Postwick Interchange Public Inquiry is currently in progress.If you could lend some moral support by attending the Inquiry, as an observer, at the Kings Centre on King Street, to show your interest, the Inspector will realise that people do actually care about excessive road building.
 

Councillors Andrew Boswell and Denise Carlo are doing a tremendous amount of work objecting to this huge road-building scheme and have a good case, but it's possible that the inspector doesn't believe they have wide support - so we need to show that they do. 

Next week SNUB, NNTAG and the Green Party will be presenting their case at The King Centre on King Street (NR1 1PH) on Monday 22 July from 2pm onwards and Tuesday 23 July from 9.30am onwards.

We need to show that the public are concerned about what's going on in their name. So far, very few objectors have come to the inquiry whilst there are a large number of Highways Agency and County Council witnesses.This gives the Inspector the impression that the public are not bothered. Do come if you are. Thank you (Lesley Grahame)

For more details about the campaign see here

Norwich Permaculture Design Course - 3-16 August

An exciting opportunity to participate in Norwich’s first residential Permaculture Design Course. 
 
This course provides an overview of what permaculture is all about and how it can help you to design a more sustainable, yet more abundant lifestyle. The venue, Park House, consists of 12.7 acres of woodland, arable land and gardens 4 miles from the city centre.

Although permaculture is most commonly thought about in connection with gardening and farming, its principles, ethics and design methods can be adapted and used in individual's own work, interests and home and offers a perspective on all aspects of building a sustainable future. Permaculture encourages us to use our individual skills, knowledge and interests, whilst drawing on traditional wisdom, science and our innate ability to observe and learn from the world around us. 

Permaculture is about meeting fundamental human needs by mimicking the design of natural systems. A simple way to understand this is to consider something you don’t want (waste) being used creatively as new input to the system. In this way problems can become the source of solutions. The elegance of systems designed on permaculture principles is in their simplicity and functionality. (Deepak Rughani)
 

Contact: Deepak Rughani Tel: 07931 636337 Visit: www.designedvisions.com for more details

Transition Thursday and The Power of Just Doing Stuff - Swaffham 4 July

An evening with Rob Hopkins, organised by Transition Swaffham, Transition Downham Market and Transition King's Lynn is happening at The Green Britain Centre in Swaffham on Thursday 4th July at 7pm.

Rob will be launching his new book The Power of Just Doing Stuff and engaging in a Q&A. We will also be building a picture of the stuff we are all doing in Norfolk so do come and help us fill in the maps! This is a really important opportunity for us to come together and think about how we can create a positive vision and transition for this great part of the world. If you are interested in helping out before the event, or on the night, please e-mail John Knock at johnknock2@hotmail.co.uk.

There will be refreshments available and this will be a great chance to meet other like-minded people from around Norfolk. All welcome. (Ben Margolis)

Image: Rob Hopkins signs new Transition book at Crystal Palace launch (Jonathan Goldberg)

The Power of Just Doing Stuff - new Transition book out next week

Promotional video of the new Transition book by Rob Hopkins which will be published next week 

The Power of Just Doing Stuff has its official launch at the Grape and Grain pub in Crystal Palace, London, organised by the local Transition initiative.This is the first Transition Thursday (although in fact a Tuesday!), a series of UK book launching events and local conferences during the summer. Nearest events in the Eastern Region are in Norfolk on 18 July (Downham Market, Swaffham and Kings Lynn) and in Lincolnshire on 25 July (Louth and Horncastle). You can preorder a copy here.

FILM Village at the End of the World - Tuesday 4 June

New Dogwoof documentary shows at Cinema City 

Fascinated by the resilience of the few remaining polar communities, Brick Lane director Sarah Gavron and her cameraman partner David Katznelson spent almost three years filming in Niaqornat, a remote Inuit hamlet in northern Greenland with just 59 inhabitants.

Under government threat of relocation if their numbers fell below 50, the locals were determined to reopen a local fish factory in order to stem the slow exodus of their youngsters, and vowed to battle on against an unsympathetic bureaucracy “until the last man’s left standing”. The stark beauty of their harsh landscape and their equally harsh way of life – they rely entirely on hunting and fishing, and the long winter months are totally without daylight – contrast with their quirky humour and robust traditions.Village at the End of the World is a portrait of a traditional community struggling against the challenges of globalisation and climate change.

Opens 4 June, 6.30pm. Book online on Cinema City website or call the Box Office: 0871 902 5724 (10p a minute from a landline)  

Dogwoof are giving away 2 tickets to each screening – email patrick@dogwoof.com to enter the draw.

Official Trailer: Village at the End of the World 

Norwich Greenpeace Fair - Saturday 1 June

Norwich Greenpeace are holding a fair to raise funds for Greenpeace's Save the Arctic campaign in the LCR (Union House) at the University of East Anglia from 11am to 5pm on Sat June 1st.  There will be stalls from local organisations as well as those selling green products, and music from a variety of local musicians.

The Arctic is one of the most vulnerable places on Earth, and Greenpeace need funds for an Arctic survival pod so that they can carry out direct action there, so please come along and show your support. (Chris Keene)

For further info: /www.greenpeace.org.uk/groups/norwich/event/norwich-greenpeace-fair

Visions for Change - 28 May

Visions for Change, the meeting place for progressive individuaals and groups in and around Norwich has monthly meetings at the Playhouse and has recently launched a website to publicize activities, events and contacts.

At our first meeting we had a round of talks about why we have come together at Visions for Change and agreed that subsequent meetings should include:

• shout-outs: about upcoming events and activities by groups and individuals
• action networking: connecting individuals to set up activities and support each other outside VFC
• education on issues: have discussions on issues we feel need to be discussed in this space. We do not want to duplicate discussions and talks already taking place, but a number of us felt the need to educate ourselves in this informal round on progressive issues. Discussions will first take place in small groups of max. 7 people on the same issue. Then we have one person from each group sit in a fish-bowl format conversation and feedback and discuss the outcome of the groups.

The meetings follow the structure above and this month's item for discussion: Successes and Problems of Campaigning Groups, Engaging the Norwich Community.
 
The fourth aspect we agreed VfC should be about is 'socializing', thus after our two hour meeting there is time for a drink in the bar afterwards! Vanessa Buth

Playhouse meeting room. 42 - 58 St Georges St. Norwich NR3 1AD, 7.30-9.30pm. All welcome.

Contact: Alan Cottey Email: alancottey@phonecoop.coop

The Common Room: Make Day - Sat 18 May, 11am - 4pm

Following on from two prototype days, The Common Room at St Lawrence's Church is holding a Make Day and inviting people to be part of taking the project to the next stage.

WHAT IS THE COMMON ROOM?
The Common Room could transform St Laurence's Church into a new type of shared space, made and shaped collectively, and run on the principles of collaboration, connection and resourcefulness.

You could host meet ups, start new projects or develop your business ideas. It could be a workspace, workshop, communal dining room, or growing space.... What happens there can be up to you.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING
There are lots of exciting ideas, potential opportunities and a high level of interest from many different people:

"Norwich really needs a centre for all of its many creative people to come together & support each other and benefit from each other's experience."

"The Common Room should encourage activities and projects  within the local community, shaped by the local community.  I would love to both teach and be taught here."

 "A community workshop would allow people tolearn new skills and do things for themselves. 

It could have so much potential, for businesses too."

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT
There are new parts we need to design, build and create together including: membership, activities equipment and economic models

So we would now like to invite you to come to the Make Day and join us in collectively creating the building blocks needed to take The Common Room forward.

RSVP: http://commonroommakeday.eventbrite.co.uk

We look forward to meeting and making together! For further details on membership and becoming involved see The Common Room project page,
 
Common Room Co-founding Group, The Churches Conservation Trust and Social Spaces 00:/

Image: Herbs for Resilience Trade School class by Mark Watson, Common Room, February 2012