Community Composting goes urban
A community composting club has been set up in Lansdown, Cheltenham.
By the end of August the club’s priority is to have recruited 40 members, a target which they are well on the way to reaching.
Community composting is when local people join together to compost green garden waste to provide a regular supply of good quality peat-free compost. It brings the local people together and helps those who cannot make their own.
A launch meeting was held on the 10th May, and a good turnout, combined with positive and encouraging support from the attendees resulted in a decision to go ahead and form a committee comprising Peter Clegg (chair and project manager), Richard Buckley (treasurer), David Hardie (company secretary), Brian Stone (design & construction) and Miggi Lorraine (membership secretary).
The site will be at Well Close House, Lansdown, on land owned by St Vincent’s and St George’s Association. There are already several successful rural Community Composting clubs in Gloucestershire but the Lansdown Community Composting Club would be the first urban one!
By the end of August the club’s priority is to have recruited 40 members, a target which they are well on the way to reaching.
In an exciting development it has recently been announced that the club have been awarded £2435 through Cheltenham Borough Council’s Cheltenham Community Pride Scheme. Further funding applications are progressing.
Construction of the site is planned to begin in late August and be completed by the end of September just in time to take the autumn glut of garden waste. The club has a sustainable business model and the blessing of the Environment Agency, Gloucestershire County Council, Cheltenham in Bloom and local councillors.
The County Council have continued their policy of backing projects of this type by providing £1000 in start-up support, and will make ongoing recycling credit payments once waste starts to be composted.
For more information, or if you are a Lansdown resident and wish to register your interest in joining the club please contact Peter Clegg at peterclegg@phonecoop.coop or telephone 01242 233527.
Why not set up a Community Composting project where you live? If you are interested in finding out more please contact Kate Cole of the County Council at katherine.cole@gloucestershire.gov.uk or call her on 01452 426525.
12 August 2011