Community Asset Transfer
Following general support from the village we have had an initial application accepted by Dorset Council for obtaining the lease of ten acres of land around the church from the Council. The next step was preparing a more detailed business plan which was submitted by the end of April. We now need to make sure that the land will be used as different people in the village want.
This business plan includes proposals for allotments, an orchard, trees, ponds, quiet spaces, recreational areas and a solar array.
Our April letter and our website www. greenmartinstown.org.uk give more details.
At this stage these are proposals. To firm these up we are holding a Public Consultation Morning on Saturday May 10th 9.30a.m – 12. 30a.m in the Village Hall. Do come along to see displays and discuss ideas with the GM Core Group. Or you can use our email address greenmartinstown@gmail.com to comment. We anticipate further discussion with the Council before their decision is made.
This is a wonderful opportunity for us all to have a space for community use and we can all play a part in making sure we use it for the best. If the response to the business plan is favourable we will continue to involve the village so that in the end we get what Martinstown is happy with.
Community Garden
This community garden space in the vicarage garden is now under cultivation and also available for more people to use and enjoy. There will be fortnightly open sessions, inclusive of children, for planting, weeding, sharing and picking. Anyone with an interest in growing things is very welcome to come along and help or use available space for growing vegetables or flowers. Do watch the entry in this magazine for more details.
The post office
Many of you may be hoping to keep our Post Office in Martinstown…you can help by using this Post Office as much as possible: it is open all weekday mornings. In this way you will also be reducing your carbon footprint! Thankyou to Karen for serving the community.
In the news – comment
The government has now closed all applications for its nature friendly farming scheme, the Sustainable Farming Initiative, which was unclear on how it would deliver the balance between food production and sustainable environmental goals. However it did provide some stability and the likelihood of a positive impact, including investments like cover cropping or creating ponds and ditches.
Existing agreements will continue. The reason cited is lack of money in the budget. Is this about-turn actually about putting short term finance above long-term priorities?
We have a government committed to economic growth, it is unclear how this squares with the 2050 Net Zero Carbon target. Since July there have been a number of environmentally positive measures and Acts but other policy decisions have not supported these. Let’s hope that the revised farming policies to be published later this year fit into such a framework.
