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

2010

Dartington Hall Trust makes land available for new allotments. 48 new allotments are created on two sites close to Totnes town. (Totnes Allotments Association celebrates with a ‘Come As Your Favourite Vegetable’ fancy dress ball.)
The first year of the Totnes Town Makeover Festival includes, among other things, the planting of a forest garden and vegetable garden on public land in Bridgetown. Local residents design the garden, and more people turn up for the planting, inspired by the ‘permablitz’ concept . Edible areas replace need for council mowing.
The Totnes Retrofit Street Challenge results in 8 of the houses putting raised beds in their front gardens. A team of students from South Devon College offer the muscle for their creation, and that summer, the streets host community parties to celebrate; all the salads consumed come from the new raised beds.
Training for Dartington & Sharpham Estate management teams in productive tree species begins. It is agreed that outside of the main gardens, any new plantings on the estate must be productive in some way. 50 almond trees are planted in the first 2 months and dozens of fruit trees are offered to residents on the estates to plant in their own gardens.
Adult education classes now teach composting, care of fruit and nut trees and food preserving skills such as drying, pickling and bottling.
Gardenshare expands to include land owned by businesses, public bodies, churches etc.

A farm at Sharpham transports farm produce to Totnes market by horse.
Ten Totnes restaurants begin supplying local sustainable fish – starting with crabs.
Local fishermen set up a sustainable fish cooperative.
The Linking Local Food project is launched – Farmers increasingly supply to local shops and consumers.
Sharpham begins recycling waste grape seed into massage oil. Local therapy centres are delighted.
More farmers extend grass fed livestock systems, reducing grain feeding.

Totnes Hospital joins the Soil Association’s ‘Food for Life’ initiative, and implements a target that 30% of its fresh food purchases will be locally produced and 40% will be organic. This proves to be a great boon to local producers.
TTT’s Totnes Garden Share scheme passes its 50^th garden, and South Hams District Council decides to begin funding the scheme as a key strategic tool for creating access to growing land. The scheme decides not to take up the funding, as it already operates well with very little input, and it is felt to be more resilient in the longer term for not having funding. Instead, the funding is used to set up a sister project, called ‘Eat my Street’, which looks to stimulate more commercial use of unused urban land. Within 6 months of it starting, a local couple start a business called ‘Salads Direct’. Instead of renting land on the edge of Totnes, they assemble at no cost (aside from the occasional gift of some produce), over 1½ acres of land within the town, some private gardens, some owned by South Hams District Council in the centre of town, and some just off the Plymouth Road. They supply fresh salads and herbs through a variety of outlets in the town.