News from the DorsetCAN teams (at 5th June 2021)
Scroll down for news from:
  • Advocacy Team
  • Questions Team
  • Media & Comms Team
  • Land Use Team
  • Energy Team
  • Transport Team
  • Newsletter Team 

Advocacy Team
 What have we done so far?
·     Prepared – in consultation with many Dorset CAN members and other organisations – Dorset CAN’s formal response to the draft Climate and Ecological Emergency Strategy published by Dorset Council
·     Prepared – again in consultation with many Dorset CAN members and other organisations – Dorset CAN’s formal response to the draft Dorset Local Plan
·     Followed through each of these responses by writing individually to each Dorset Councillor drawing their attention to the major points in our responses, notably our call for a rethink of the Dorset Local Plan
·     Issued Press Releases  related to each of our formal responses
·     Posed a series of questions to Dorset Council meetings in order to provoke responses to our call for a rethink of the Dorset Local Plan.
What are we doing right now?
·      Working with Dorset CPRE and other leading organisations to lay the groundwork for an ambitious campaign to press for a rethink of the Dorset Local Plan.  We expect to launch this campaign in the second-half of June
What’s next/future plans?
·      We expect to focus on this campaign related to the Dorset Local Plan for about three months, aiming to achieve a change in the Dorset local Plan before the second phase of consultation which Dorset Council is expected to launch in the autumn.
·     We may become involved in further advocacy activity related to the Climate and Ecological Emergency Strategy : we are keeping a close eye on the Council’s action.
Interested in getting involved?
·     We will warmly welcome contribution from all Dorset CAN members and related organisations to the campaign focused on the Dorset Local Plan
 
Contact Míchael Dower – tel 01308 863515, mdower6@btinternet.com
or Giles Watts – mob 07840 061712,  wattsgft@gmail.com
 

 
Questions Team
What have we done so far?
This team has been evolving through the action of asking Dorset Council questions, learning from Caz and JulieAnn (amongst others) and consist of members from several other teams: for example,  we have asked questions about the DLP and about the CEES as well as about the TLP (Transport Local Plan) and now about Pension Divestment, as well as some more individual questions from both individuals and parish/town councillors. A record of our activity so far can be found here.
One idea offered for the future was that perhaps the Question Team should have a rep from each team that would like to be represented so that we can share information and priorities more easily, as well as offering support whenever necessary to highlight a particular action. 
What are we doing right now?
Based on my sudden impulse (when I was looking at the calendar of upcoming council meetings), rather than through a democratic decision, right now the DorsetCAN questions team is supporting Dorset Action’s Pension Divestment campaign which will run until June 15, when we hope to flood the council with questions about why they are still investing so heavily in fossil fuels.There will also be a protest outside the Council Offices in Dorchester on June 15, (even if the council meeting is virtual), and this will be followed up with a virtual PA ( Peoples’ Assembly) on the topic of Pension Divestment.
This campaign gives us a chance to see how we can find the right moment to work effectively as a team, alongside and amplifying other groups, how we can create multilayered action and (hopefully) expand DorsetCAN’s membership.
What’s next/future plans?
When we have completed the campaign and digested what we have done, I imagine that we might discuss our strategy as a team , discuss what worked and what did not work, how we go about agreeing which issues to support, as well as being able to move quickly when necessary and how we want to move forward from here. 
The questions team will also support DorsetCAN’s 2 main campaigns: a rethink of the Dorset Local Plan and keeping a close eye on the  development of the Council’s Climate and Ecological Emergency strategy. 
Interested in getting involved?
We warmly welcome any new members at any stage, particularly if you would like to develop the skill of asking questions by email or face to face with councillors and M.P’s 
Contact: Sandra Reeve mob 077342138942 or imoveintolife@gmail.com

 
Media & Comms Team
What have we done so far?
  • Social Media Supremo Tracee has masterminded a detailed social media strategy and got our social media assets set up. 
  • The Dorset Action team is kindly sharing their media contacts list and councillors database. Thanks to Julie and Caz for this. 
  • Colin Tracy has shared some stunning photographs to enhance the website and social media pages. These are great examples of groups and individuals with similar aims sharing their resources and skills with DCAN. Thank you! 
  • Belinda has been working on a website, unfortunately delayed by, believe it or not, the bombing of the building in Israel which houses the server. No-one hurt but apparently 700,000 website companies worldwide have been affected as the back-up systems failed, so they are all scrambling to rescue their clients' websites. Plan B is now in full swing, thanks to Andrew Carey, and we will continue to use this resource for now:  https://www.dorsetcan.news/ 
  • Belinda has worked with a branding expert to come up with our new logo.
What are we doing right now?
  • Launching social media
  • Working on resolving the website issue
  • Thinking about press work for our campaigns
Future plans?
  • Engage more people to help with the comms 
  • Support the events and campaigns programme
  • Get lots of followers on social media
How you can get involved
Are you competent on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram - please help with our messaging. Contact Tracee Cossey <traceecossey@hotmail.com>. Are you a website guru? Please contact Belinda Bawden <belindabawden@gmail.com>
 

 
Land Use Team
What have we done so far?
  • Established the function of the land use group is to act as a network to support and enable local projects in the following areas:
    • Tree and hedgerow planting projects - grants to apply for and how to set up tree / hedgerow projects.
    • Tree protection - understanding the regulations and how to defend our trees
    • Life lines projects- encouraging community interaction, investigating the use of herbicides  / pesticides and alternative practices
    • Wildlife restoration networks / corridors
Food production - sustainable local production methods.
 
What are we doing right now?
  • Focusing on tree and hedgerow projects as grants are available now and need to be applied for. 
  • Establishing a data base of information links.
 
What’s next/future plans?
  • Focus on sustainable food systems
  • Continue to gather data on the different aspects of Land Use related projects
  • Future plans / visions  - The Great Dorset Hedge
  • Clean Rivers and Seas
  • Locally produced food without plastic packaging
  • Trees genuinely protected
  • Farming  without reliance on pesticides and herbicides
                                   
Interested in getting involved?
  • Need help with submitting info onto a database (call Julie 07791741687)
  • Experts in mapping would also be useful as map analysis is a useful basis for many land use projects. 
 

 
Energy Team
What are we doing right now?
  • Organising a Dorset-wide Open Greener Homes event
When? 
  • September 25th/26th and October 2nd/3rd
  • Coinciding with Planet Purbeck Festival and
  • Great Big Green Week (Climate Coalition - https://greatbiggreenweek.com/)
Other Events?
  • Localised Green Festivals to showcase each group’s work in their town or village
Interested in Getting Involved?
  • We need owners of houses or businesses who would like to show interested members of the public what they have done to improve the ‘green’ credentials of their house or business.
  • This could include solar PV and solar thermal, heat pumps, batteries, insulation, water saving, building with recycled materials etc.
  • This has been shown to be a successful way of inspiring others to make similar changes.
In addition - onshore wind project:
Dorset CAN have a background project looking into the possibility of onshore wind power in Dorset. If anyone would like to join this team, please contact Giles Watts at wattsgft@gmail.com, 07840061712.
 

 
Transport Team
What have we done so far?
  • At our initial meeting we all put forward ideas we thought the Transport Group might work on, and came up with a list of 9 possible topics.
  • Since then we have been educating ourselves about transport, using information such as government publications, e.g. Gear change and Bus back better, Dorset Council Documents e.g Bournemouth, Poole and Dorset Local Transport Plan 3, and sharing knowledge and links between ourselves.
  • We contributed to the Dorset CAN Dorset Local Plan consultation submission.
What are we doing right now?
  • We are building relationships with Dorset Transport Action Groups, with several group members having joined the Transport Team.
  • At our last meeting we debated our list of 9 ideas, and decided to focus on three interrelated ideas - provision of expertise to DC and BCP, contributing to the next Local Transport Plan, and developing local Transport Strategies.
What’s next/future plans?
  • We are going to work with the Dorset Transport Action Groups and other local groups to extend the coverage of the Purbeck Transport Strategy, using the same consultative survey framework as used by Purbeck Transport Action Group (PTAG).
  • The intention is to complement rather than duplicate the work of the existing TAGs.
Interested in getting involved?
  • Our next meeting will be at 4pm on Thursday 17th June, all welcome.
  • No transport expertise required, just interest and enthusiasm for all matters transportwise!
  • Contact Helen Sumbler on helensplanetpurbeck@gmail.com or 07767 644947 for a chat. Helen would appreciate help coordinating this team. If you’re interested and able to help please contact her direct. 
 

 
Newsletter Team 
What have we done so far?
  • We produce the monthly newsletter
What are we doing right now?
  • Producing the next newsletter
What’s next/future plans?
  • More newsletters
Interested in getting involved?
  • We want to produce the perfect newsletter; one that’s so good it makes all eight Dorset MPs resign the Whip and leads over 85% of the population to join the campaign to turn Dorset into a world centre of ideas and actions to build resilient, thriving, self-sustaining communities that help to minimise the malign effects of climate change, regenerate wildlife and create justice and opportunity for all. 
  • We need news, ideas, suggestions, case studies… any examples of great climate and biodiversity initiatives that we can pass on… Please let us know on dorsetcan.news@gmail.com