Transition in Action, Totnes 2030, an Energy Descent Action Plan

2026-2030

All existing houses in Totnes have now been retrofitted to a high standard
Roof surfaces have become a valuable commodity, with businesses selling the rights to put photo-voltaic on the roofs of their properties for as much as £10,000
A survey shows that 100% of householders can tell a casual enquirer the depth of the insulation in their loft, walls and under the floor. Many of them put it there too
The survey also reveals that 30% of the local community live in buildings with some shared or communal space occupied by people to whom they are not directly related. Most agree they prefer to live this way.

Many young people spend their gap year staying in the area, but getting involved in a natural house building process. They volunteer, and live and work as part of a team for nine months, during which time they build a house or shelter and learn all the relevant skills by doing so. Employers particularly seek out young people with this experience, as research has shown that young people who have done this tend to be able team workers who excel in any team situation
Alan Sugar’s new series ‘ The Baleprentice’, puts 10 novice natural builders onto a building site with the brief to build him a straw bale retirement cottage. Each week he weeds out the member of the team who is pulling their weight the least, and throws them off the site.

SHDC publish their latest guidance on building and planning, and for the first time, barely mention the word ‘cement’, as this has become a very expensive and rare material. They also publish guidelines on what they call ‘Filling in the Gaps’, which is the filling in of spaces between existing houses. In streets with semi-detached houses, there is a growing demand to join more houses together, so as to make the existing houses more energy efficient, create space for new people, and to transform streets of isolated residents into co-housing developments. Although such developments take a lot of facilitating at the community level, the first two pilots prove highly successful and look rather Venetian
South Hams Green Bonds, which have been issued since 2014, are found to have made a substantial return for investors and a major contribution towards the development, building and retrofitting of Totnes and District.