Rode Climate Emergency Group was formed in 2021 after Rode Parish Council formally declared a Climate Emergency. The group expanded in 2022 to include representatives from Beckington & Norton St Philip. It is open to anyone with an interest in saving the planet, and helping to inspire our community to take action to reduce our climate footprint.
In 2023 we became members of Community Energy England, as we start our journey exploring the potential for local community energy projects. If you are interested in getting involved in this particular aspect of our work, please contact Jim McAuliffe (details below).
The Climate Emergency Group agreed the following objectives for 2023:
- Support local bus services. The results of the Climate Change Survey we conducted in March 2022 showed that the provision of good public transport was by far the biggest single issue that villagers wanted to see prioritised. Bus services in 2023 are much improved – but there is a real danger that this could be temporary, with future government funding uncertain. Once again it is a case of “use it or lose it”, and we will work with other groups to help increase local utilisation of bus services (in particular, the D2).
- Work to deliver public EV charging points in Rode, Norton St Philip and Beckington (and generally support the transition to low carbon transport). Rural villages like Rode/NSP/Beckington have a higher than average proportion of homes without access to off-street parking, and hence public EV charging points are vital to encourage the transition to lower carbon transport in such communities. The costs and infrastructure issues are significant, however, meaning we almost certainly have to work with Somerset County Council to achieve our goal.
- Continue to inspire change through community events. We held a successful first “Big Green Weekend” event in September 2022, and another in June 2023. We also plan to hold a series of public talks on some key environmental issues (topics initially being explored include: recycling, insulation, electric vehicles, and waste water treatment).
- Support the provision of safe walking/cycling routes. We will work with Beckington PC to support their project to better link Rudge/Beckington to Frome, and investigate the best way to incorporate Rode (and potentially Norton St Philip) in this link.
- Improve communication. Look to better communicate the opportunities for carbon-reduction in our local communities (eg: show-casing best practice, highlighting initiatives, publicising events, etc). We hope to have a new website in 2023 (achieved!), which will be a huge help….but we’ll also aim to use existing channels such as The Link, other local parish magazines, Facebook, Instagram, The Leveller, etc.
For more information (including becoming a member of the group, or attending one of our meetings), please contact Jim McAuliffe: