Community Screening

Thursday 2nd May

The Plough Hotel, Stenhousemuir

7.30- 9.30pm Free admission 

Four Corners – Investigative Journalism
Transmitted in Australia on ABC1 on Monday 1st April 2013. Gas Leak raises concerns about the Coal Bed Methane industry (known as coal seam gas industry in Australia) on prime time television.
This community screening is an opportunity to hear the evidence from Australia and discuss the lessons for the Scottish context with other local residents.

 

CBM awareness stall on Falkirk High Street Saturday 13th April 2013

CBM Community Mandate available online

Just click Community Mandate Form fill in and send into Falkirk Planning Office.

A plague o' both your houses

In March 2013 two community meetings were held to address concerns about the Dart Energy planning application for 14 Coal Bed Methane well sites within Falkirk and Stirling Council area. Local residents – most of whom will be directly impacted if the wells go ahead – discussed ‘visions’, positive and negative, of their communities’ future.

During the discussions two stories summed up the social, as well as the environmental, injustice of the proposed wells. Both stories relate to the importance of people's homes and how a threat to your home is a direct threat to your family, your standard of living and your well being.

"Who is going to buy a house on a well line?" - a local man voiced concern about future house prices.

One resident described living in his dream home which, "ticked all the boxes" for everything he had aspired to in a family home. But he had been keeping up to date with the planning concerns and believed that, despite community efforts, the wells would be given permission. He was going to cut his losses and try and sell his house before the final planning decision, believing he would lose more money if he waited until the wells are up and running and the communities’ fears are realised: "Me and the wife are putting our house on the market and will take our chances".

Seated not far away, a young woman spoke about being brought up in Grangemouth, an industrial town on the fenceline of the petrochemical industry, 4 miles from where she lives now. She chose her current home because she wanted to bring up her family in a healthier environment. Having moved to Larbert very recently, she believed she was moving to a desirable, up and coming area, and her new house had a view of fields and hills. But within 2 weeks of moving into this new home she received a 20 metre neighbourhood notice for the DART planning application. It turns out she lives very close indeed to an intended drilling site she know nothing about. The more she hears about the planned development the more she feels she has made a mistake in her choice of area. Having just moved, she is not in a financial position to move again. Instead of being able to settle into her new home, she already feels a sense of being trapped and misled.

This is an insight into the considerations of just two families within the local community awaiting the outcome of the DART application. There are many more such stories. A final decision has been delayed to allow Falkirk council to commission its own research into aspects of the planning application, and the Community awaits the date of a Planning Hearing. It is hoped this Hearing will allow local people’s concerns to be heard alongside the planning and scientific evidence. The outcome of the community’s ‘visioning exercise’ was a well-thought-through objection to the DART application from which it is hoped the wider community can learn. If others sign up, this may provide a mandate for an alternative future without CBM wells on the near horizon.

Norman Philip

co-ordinator Friends of the Earth Falkirk
www.foefalkirk.blogspot.com

Follow to local residents facebook page for updates on the situation at:www.facebook.com/FAUG.PEDL133

Tinsel Show- Grangemouth Flaring

Music by Karine Palwart, Tinsel Show "In the East the fires are burning, spires of stone and steel, smokestack engine turning, wheel upon wheel." Written about her memories of seeing Grangemouth from her bedroom window in Banknock, the other side of Falkirk.

The Big Dig Falkirk

THE BIG DIG- Saturday 16th March

Friends of the Earth Falkirk invite you to join them working on their town centre gardens from 11am this Saturday 16 March. Please meet at the Bean Row urban allotment off Cow Wynd, dress appropriately and bring any tools you may have.

Friends of the Earth Falkirk has “Big” plans for its gardens this year

Following the huge success of its town centre gardens last year, Friends of the Earth Falkirk are delighted to announce that they are the only group in Scotland to register with the UK-wide Big Dig campaign. On Saturday 16 March 2013, people all over Britain will work in urban community gardens with the aim of involving local people in creating vibrant community food gardens, which can reduce anti-social behaviour, provide fresh, healthy food and put pride into communities

Norman Philip, the coordinator of the group said, “We would invite people to join us from 11 am at our urban allotment on Bean Row. We will be tidying the allotment as well as working on our herb patch outside Asda and our wildflower border on Arnot Street, outside the Polish club. No experience is needed and people of any age will be made welcome.”

Friends of the Earth Falkirk maintain four gardens in the town centre through the council’s orphan land project. The urban allotment on Bean Row (off Cow Wynd) was particularly successful last year and culminated in the group organising a soup and stovies day for everyone involved – the main ingredients having been grown on site.

The Big Dig is coordinated nationally by Sustain: the alliance for better food and farming.

Friends of the Earth Stirling Public Meeting

To discuss Dart Energy's

proposals to extract Coal Bed Methane

in Stirling, Clackmannan and Falkirk

7.30 p.m. Monday 28^th January 2013 

Methodist Church, Queen Street

Stirling FK8 1HL

The Story of Stuff Short Film Night

"Talking Rubbish"

An evening of short

films and discussion

Wednesday 30^th January 2013

7.30-9.30 FREE EVENT

The Princess Royal Trust Carer Centre,

1a Bank Street, FALKIRK FK1 1NB

Community Garden Film

Please have a look at the Friends of the Earth Falkirk Community Garden Film. If you haven't seen our four gardens in Falkirk this will hopefully give you an idea of what a handful of enthusiastic people can do when they put ther minds to it. As well as creating gardens it has created a community.

Soup and Stovie Day

Friends of the Earth Falkirk celebrated the harvest of our Bean Row Urban Vegetable Community Garden with a Soup and Stovies lunch at the garden on Saturday 1st September. 

The event was an opportunity to share the stories of the transformation of the Bean Row garden form a disused piece of land to a productive vegetable garden in the centre of Falkirk. 

The soup and stovies were very tasty and all the better for having the produce grown on the very place they were being eaten- Local Food at it's purest. The day was a big thank you to everyone who has worked in the garden, be it planting or weeding, to those who donated plants and for those who have just shown an interest in the garden as it has been transformed in less than a year.

One of the funniest stories of the day was the men from the shop across the lane commenting on the bitterness of our peas over the summer. It was only when they pointed to the plants they had been picking from were we able to inform them that they were eating our beans. The beans were the first seeds we planted in the Bean Row Garden.

The plan is to fill the gaps created with the harvest to plan some winter crops.

We have already taken orders for next years event so we will just have to start all over again in Spring to get the ingredients for the soup and stovies.

Thanks for all the support we have received in regards to all four of our community gardens in Falkirk.

Norman Philip
Friends of the Earth Falkirk

Charities Day Book Stall

Friends of the Earth Falkirk had its annual book stall on the High Street. Although we made £42.50 the main aim of the day is to remind the shoppers that there is a local group in Falkirk who cares for the environment both locally and wider afield. We were able to promote our community gardens and invite a few people to out soup and stovies day. Thanks for volunteers who helped it it was good for everyone to have a chat and spend some time together.

Community Garden Workparty

The weather wasn’t promising as we embarked on a tidy-up of our town centre gardens but we’re well used to the drizzle this summer.  Norman and I started on the Newmarket Street site, planting some lobelia which was kindly donated by Falkirk Council, and removing the cigarette ends which are still unfortunately blighting the garden.  The herbs are coming along beautifully – the lemon mint smells wonderful.

We did a quick litter pick in Bean Row and admired the veg – looking forward to the Soup & Stovies Day at our AGM on 1^st September!  Norman took some great photos of the beans and other greens.

Kings Court looked fine so we headed for Arnot Street where we were joined by Jean.  We planted more of the Council bedding plants and I was surprised at how good the yellow marigolds looked in between the lavender.

As usual, we were encouraged by appreciative glances and nods from passers-by, and we had a more in-depth chat with a woman who has adopted a neglected piece of ground near her home and turned it into a beautiful garden which everyone can enjoy.
 

Sandra Burt, Community Gardening team

  

Beans means Falkirk Community Garden

Beans, potatoes, onions and carrots etc are all taking shape at our Bean Row Urban Vegetable Plot in central Falkirk

Spring Clean at Community Gardens

Before the April meeting, on the last Monday of the month, local group members gave all four of our community gardens a spring clean. At Bean Row the potatoes were earthed up, or hidden under earth to the surprise of Norman and Des, and more veg seeds were planted. The Arnot Street garden was giving a mow by the group's mower man- Des (see above) and a bit of a weed. We appear to be sharing the Kings Court garden with a number of groups of youths but we still gave it a clear up and planted some of our new plants bought with our Litter Strategy prize voucher for Jupiter. The ASDA herb garden wasn't left out and the herbs have spung into life with the latest spring sun.

All in all the gardens are blooming, including a range of wildlife friendly plants- which Corrie refers to as weeds. There has been a number of offers to keep the gardens clear of litter and weeds and to continue the voluntary effort which has achieved so much from so little so far.

45 miles Pedal Against Pollution ends at Grangemouth

Eurig Scandrett undertook a 45 mile sponsored cycle tour of central Scotland on the 28th April, for and on behalf of The Bhopal Medical Appeal. Eurig is Convenor of Scottish friends of Bhopal, a project of The Bhopal Medical Appeal.

“Amongst raising funds and awareness for The BMA, we aim to highlight that the issues Bhopal raises are not unique to this community alone. Bhopalis represents environmental injustice everywhere. All the places listed on the tour that Eurig is cycling to in Scotland have a history of resistance to pollution and by cycling between them, Eurig hopes to emphasise the connection between these communities and to highlight the common issue of how pollution from industry and its toxic emissions effect us all” says Ingrid Neil, also from Scottish friends of Bhopal.

Norman Philip, from FoE Falkirk, meet up with Eurig at the end of his cycle and provided a Carbon Cycle Tour of Grangemouth. During this final stage of the tour there was an opportunity to discuss the storied behind the corporate signs within the town. Dow and BP are using the London Olympics to try and present a green image despite the reality of their polution in Scotland and across the globe. Dow was even flying their Olympic flag at their factory gate.

Read more about the cycle and the the work of BMA by following this link
:http://www.bhopal.org/2012/05/pedal-agianst-pollution-central-scotland-cycle-ride-for-bhopal/

There is still an opportunity to make a contribute to support the cause.

http://pedalonparliament.org/contact/