Category: Environment

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Heating Oil Club

Delivery of Heating OilPeople who rely on oil for heating their homes are over a barrel (as it were) when it comes to negotiating terms with oil suppliers. The Parish Council has received an invitation for villagers to join an oil club.

The OIL CLUB is an independent organisation and has no links to any of the suppliers. The club’s aim is simple to reduce the cost of heating oil for members and reduce the environmental impact as much as possible. By grouping deliveries to a village area and the bulk buying ability of the OIL CLUB, they are able to negotiate the best purchase price for heating oil and pass this on to their members. The club works best with as many members as possible.

The aim is that a village will have only one oil tanker delivery to a number of homes on the same day rather than many deliveries to individual households on different days.

The OIL CLUB has launched a club for West Bergholt. If you would like to join or find out more about the club, you can visit the website:

The benefits are:

  • Reduced oil heating costs,
  • Reduced heavy vehicle traffic in the village,
  • Reduced carbon exhaust into the environment.

This news item extracted from the latest issue of Local News – see that and more archive news reports online.

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Coastal Ecology & Conservation

Signs at Abbotts Hall Farm where coastal ecology is evolving
Coastal Ecology at Abbotts Hall Farm

This autumn the WEA will be running a ten-week course on the subject of ‘Coastal Ecology and Conservation’.  Being really quite close to some of the most recent experimental approaches of coastal management (see picture right), this course has a real local flavour as well.

Fred Boot is a well-known speaker the local WEA have hoped to hear for some time, and he will give an introduction to:

  • the different and contrasting areas of coastal East Anglia;
  • the pre-historic and historical development of the East Anglian coastline;
  • the  current coastal ecology with its rich plant and animal life; and
  • examining the conservation and management challenges it faces in the immediate and longer-term future.

Fred  has an extensive photographic collection of familiar creeks, estuaries, beaches, marshes, towns and ports of East Anglia and the South Coast to illustrate every aspect of this course.

The course starts on Tuesday 24th September at 8.00 pm and is of one and a half hours duration.  As usual the venue is the Methodist Church Hall and the cost is £45.30 for the ten weeks.  Everyone is welcome and you may attend the first evening before committing to the course.

A previous attendee on this course was obviously enthused by it:

Many thanks go to Fred for sharing his local knowledge and enthusiasm developed over many years as a volunteer, Chairman and Trustee of Essex Wildlife Trust.  We now look forward to a field visit to Abbot’s Hall Farm and Abberton Reservoir in July, when Fred will show us some of the coastal features we have discussed first hand, and also some the work being done by Essex Wildlife Trust to conserve our coastline and wildlife for generations to come.

Terri Amory, Little Waltham Branch WEA

For further information ring the local WEA secretary on 01206 240 791 or e-mail: [antibot mailto=”[email protected]”] Hope to see you there!

 

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