This is a philosophy that encourages people to think about what will happen in our towns and villages when the oil runs out. In the future it is likely that we are unable to rely on (or afford) the big transport and food distribution systems that we have at the moment and communities will need to be increasingly self sufficient – relying more on our individual communities, neighbours and friends and less on the big brothers such as (boo hiss) Tesco’s. OK, so what does this have to do with Martinstown? Well, the idea is that we individually and collectively begin being more self-reliant now – so that we are ready for the inevitable food price hikes, fuel shortages and carbon squeeze. This weekend I thought about what I could do personally, grasped the nettle and began to act. In Cowleaze, our street sign has been flaking its paint for several months, looking increasingly decrepit and unloved. I began thinking about how the county council (who are responsible for street signage) would deal with this if I raised it as an issue. Dorset Works is part of the county council and is responsible for everyday highways maintenance including inspections, repairs and replacement of signs. The inspectors (if we were lucky enough to persuade them) would need to travel to Martinstown from their base in Dorchester to view the damage, maybe taking a few hours of time, some transport costs and the associated carbon impacts. Our sign was very flaky – I think they were unlikely to offer to re-paint it on the street corner – but they might send another person out to take it back to the County’s sign shop for an overhaul. More likely, they wou As well as additional staff and fuel needed to collect and re-position the sign, there would be the energy used to manufacture a new sign and deal with the waste of the old one…..can you see where this is going? Recently the county council reported a number of signs being stolen from West Dorset. On their web site they say: "An average warning sign costs about £70, but it could cost up to £300 to replace a village nameplate” This is transition in action. Hope you like it. Why not start raising and acting on ideas of other things that we could do for ourselves in the village and share them here for us all to see? |
Have you ever thought about the carbon footprint and the costs that it takes to look after our village? Recently I went along to a meeting at Hardye’s school on Transition Towns 
ld just replace the sign with a modern one, losing the traditional signs and our heritage for more of the transfers-on-plastic kind that have been scattered all over the village. 
