Chesham Town in Transition

Chesham Local Produce Market: Britain's Greenest Market!

Chesham Local Produce Market has officially been recognised as Britain’s most environmentally-friendly market. The market swept the boards at the How Green Is Your Market? competition run by the National Market Traders Federation, winning both the Southern Region as well as the overall National prize.

The local market beat off stiff competition from markets as diverse as Hovingham Community Market in Yorkshire and Darlington Borough Markets to be crowned the greenest market at an awards ceremony in Barnsley.

Chesham Local Produce Market was established a year and a half ago in a partnership between Transition Town Chesham and Chesham Town Council. The market was founded on Transition Town principles, with the aim of making local food, drink and crafts more readily available to Chesham residents, thus reducing the community’s food miles and supporting local businesses. The majority of traders come from within a 10-mile radius of the town and have the environment in mind when farming or making their products, from using organic cultivation to tree-planting and recycling.

The fact that the market also works to benefit Chesham’s community made a big impact on the judges; one free pitch is given to a Chesham-based charity or community organisation every market and the market works closely with High Street traders to promote a vibrant economy in the Market Square area.

Chesham Local Produce Market takes place on the fourth Saturday of each month from 10 am to 2 pm in the Market Square.

A Tree is Not Just for Christmas!

Allow the festive spirit to live on this year by having your Christmas tree turned into mulch and chippings for Chesham paths and parks.

At no cost to you, you can deposit your real Christmas Tree (no fake ones, and no other rubbish, please) at the hard standing on Moor Road (near Chesham Moor Gym & Swim) on Saturday 7th and Sunday 8th January.

If you have any questions, please contact the Town Hall office on 01494 774842 (Monday to Friday 10 am to 4.30 pm) or email admin@chesham.gov.uk.

Simple to use Energy Monitor - now available from Chesham Library to hire (free of charge)

The first step to saving energy in your home is knowing how much you currently use and these monitors are a quick and easy way to do this.
Chesham Library now has energy monitors free to borrow for up to three weeks.
Follow the simple instructions and start recording your current energy usage. You can then take simple measures to try to reduce your energy consumption and monitor it again after a few months to see how you are doing.
Similar monitors are also available to buy at a cost of £30-£50. For more information, take a look at the following website which has a good comparison table of various models:
http://www.nigelsecostore.com/acatalog/Energy_Meters.html

Chesham Gardenshare Project

TTC Launches Gardenshare Scheme

What is Landshare?

Landshare brings together people who have a passion for home-grown food, connecting those who have land to share with those who need land for cultivating food. Landshare arrangements can range from an individual sharing a patch of their garden to schools, companies, or communities.

There are more than 100,000 people on allotment waiting lists in England alone. That’s a lot of people looking for land to grow things. Do you have a spare bit of garden you’re not using and you’d like to share?

Chesham Gardenshare Project

Transition Town Chesham want to run a local Gardenshare project just for our local community, we hope that running things locally will generate greater interest and involvement. Chesham has some great allotments, but they have very long waiting lists - so there is definitely demand from people wanted to ‘grow their own’ in this area. So please read this leaflet and consider if you would be interested in becoming involved, or email us at:

gardenshare(at)transitiontownchesham.org.uk

Landowners
We are looking for people who have:

• Private gardens with room for one or more plots

• Farm land that may not be commercially viable for a farmer - but would be great for one or more growers

• Development land that is perhaps waiting planning permission, but in the mean time could be used to grow food.

• Businesses with large estates

The land needs to be available for a minimum of 12 months (one growing season), in order for the project to be worthwhile.

Land owners benefit from having their land used productively, making new friends, and receiving a proportion of the growers produce as ‘payment in kind’ for the use of the land, approximately ¼ to 1/5 of total produce.

Growers
We are looking for people who:

• Live in or around Chesham

• Want to grow fruit or veg in Chesham

• Are happy to grow on private land

• Are happy to give a proportion of their produce to the landowner

• Have a range of experience from novice to expert

Helpers
We are looking for people who:

• Have some experience growing fruit and veg

• Have time to spend with someone who is a novice to teach them the basics of food growing

The Role of Transition Town Chesham

TTC aims to take the role of ‘matchmaker’ in pairing landowners with growers. We will keep our database updated as and when new landowners and growers register with us. Once we have made what we think is a match we will contact the parties and see if they are happy to swap contact details. We will also run Chesham Gardenshare meetings at various times throughout the year, and keep you informed of developments from time-to-time.

The Legal Stuff

All Gardenshare relationships function differently, and although it is not necessary, some landowners and growers decide they want a formal agreement. Although we at TTC can direct you to sample agreements we cannot provide advice on the legality of such agreements. Please seek advice from a lawyer if you wish to have a legally binding agreement.

We advise all landowners to inform their insurance providers of their Gardenshare arrangement. In the case of private gardens most household insurance covers public liability, however individual policies will differ. Land owned by companies and other groups will also have to check as to what their policy covers. Similarly, growers should also check with their insurers as to any personal insurance they may need when working on someone else’s land.

For more information, and casestudies on community gardening, landshare, and garden share, check out:

Local Produce Market

Join us on the fourth Saturday of every month, 10am - 2pm, Chesham Market Place

All the Fun of The Fair!

A review of Chesham Green Living Fair 2011

A massive Thank You to everyone that visited and took part in the Chesham Green Living Fair 2011. The day was testament to the creativity and ingenuity of local residents, and provided a wonderful launch pad for many ideas to make Chesham a more vibrant and sustainable town, including tangible plans for a community orchard, reinvigorating our high street, and a garden share scheme.... (read more + pics)