Surrey Waste Partnership are reviewing their Plan for Waste Management in Surrey and want you to help shape it. Please take part in their public consultation between 17 May and 12 August 2010 and tell them your views.

Do mention the need to encourage waste reduction, in the first instance, and the requirement for plastic recycling collection, perhaps in place of the now removed bottle banks. This could be provided by Recresco, who currently just collect Tetra Paks.

Sue Williams, and her husband Richard, who run Bookham based Sue's Preserves are on the lookout for local produce to use in their homemade cakes, jams, relishes and chutneys.

If you're a local grower and fancy making some money, whilst helping to support a local producer, then why not contact them.

Meanwhile, if you fancy sampling some of their products, they are on sale locally or can be delivered within Mole Valley.

On Saturday 3 July North Leatherhead Community Group is undertaking `The Big Tidy Up' and is looking for volunteers to help out with litter picking from 10am until 4.00pm. If you would like to get involved, meet at the Tesco's entrance to the woods at 10.00am.

This promises to be a fun day out for all the family ending in a free BBQ at 4.30pm at the Fire & Iron Gallery. There will also be prizes, stickers, food and drinks through out the day. The Group is looking for the local community to come with their family and help whilst having fun. This is an excellent opportunity to learn about the area, hidden to many, that is full of history! Prizes will be awarded for the most unusual item found and maybe, just maybe, there will be gold in the woods! Everyone is welcome, even if you can only spare 10 minutes.

The area behind Tesco's in North Leatherhead holds many historical remains, from the Romans to an old brick works that used to be on the site many years ago. There have been lots of remarkable finds, including Roman coins. Since then litter, fly tipping and years of mess and grime have blanketed the area, making the land look unsightly and deterring visitors. However, underneath lies a wonderful woodland with many rare plants and invertebrates, waiting to be uncovered.

`The Big Tidy Up' is organised by North Leatherhead Community Group and supported by Tesco's, The Fire and Iron Gallery, Mole Valley District Council, Mole Valley Housing Association, Crime Disorder Reduction Partnership and further supporters.

For more information and to get involved with The Big Tidy Up Please Contact Simon Woodhams, North Leatherhead Community Group Project Worker on 01372 361082 or email swoodhams.lcg@live.com

Bookham, Fetcham and District Garden Society are holding their Flower and Produce Show on Sunday 4th July, at the Old Barn Hall, Great Bookham, starting at 2.30pm. As well as plant stalls, there will be a raffle and refreshments. Email Derek Bean for more info, or 'phone him on 01372 458711.

 At village day on Saturday 19 June Transition Bookham are planning to launch a garden share scheme for Bookham.

There are now a large number of people on waiting lists for allotments in the village and on the other side, there are gardens that are unused or even unloved.  Some owners haven’t got the energy, or the time or simply the enthusiasm to look after a substantial garden.  We will call on garden owners who are prepared to let somebody with an interest in growing their own food use part of their land in exchange for some produce. Hopefully a few matches will be made creating lovely organically and locally produced fruit and vegetables.

 A similar scheme is already up and running in Ashtead, and Dorking have a community orchard they are very proud of.  Land can also be registered via a national scheme launched by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall at www.landshare.net

For any queries contact: esther_s_phillips@hotmail.com or on 01372 456 905

Epsom Beekeepers are looking for people who are willing to have a beehive in their garden.  I have copied the rest of this posting from their website which you will find here: http://epsombeekeepers.co.uk/

Derek Smith

Would you like to have bees in your garden but do not have the time or energy to be a beekeeper? 

How about hosting a hive?   This will give you the pleasure of discovering the fascinating world of the honeybee and also an understanding of this craft without all the work.  You can be satisfied that you are supporting pollination and biodiversity.

We at Epsom Beekeepers have members who find it difficult to find a safe space for their colony of bees.

Have you got a garden that might suitable?

The requirements of a site are:

Will the site cause a nuisance to neighbours or the general public?

Is there convenient access with minimal carrying for the beekeeper to bring in equipment?

It is essential that it is out of the public gaze.

Consideration must be given to public footpaths and your use of the land.

An experienced beekeeper will visit you to assess the suitability of your site.

If interested contact  Catherine :  e-mail: camdel36@yahoo.co.uk

On Wednesday 21st April 2010, Transition Bookham held a meeting as a follow up to the launch event in March. With an attendance of about 25 people, we all first introduced ourselves and gave brief(ish) reasons for why we'd come along. These were numerous, at different levels of awareness but, clearly, we all had a shared purpose.

We then reviewed the jottings that had been done, for possible groups, at the launch (food, recycling, make do and mend, conservation, energy, transport). This raised numerous questions and started lively discussions, and also highlighted areas of overlap.

Out of this brainstorming came the realisation that more awareness of existing resources was desperately needed - for example, what facilities exist for passing on unwanted items (Freecycle, Freegle, LETS, St Nicolas church, etc.), or recycling things that the council don't already take.

We are fortunate to have lots of existing groups and organisations in Bookham, and it was felt that collaborations could be initiated to pool resources and people. Don't forget you can subscribe to receive email updates from the Green Mole Forum.

Food featured highly, with one person mentioning that they had underused greenhouse capacity! Capel Goes Green, who very successfully raised funds by collecting unwanted apples and selling them back as juice, was mentioned. Esther is keen to hold an informal get-together, as now is the time to start any planting. She'd especially love to hear from anyone interested in garden sharing schemes.

It was agreed that a local swap day would be a good first event to involve the whole community and raise publicity (possibly Swap It September - paying homage to Swap It Surrey which closed on April 30th, or D³Day - Don't Dump Donate!) a day to allow people to give away/swap anything (at a venue, like the barn hall, and/or at the kerbside - a Bookham-wide garage sale). Large items requiring collection could be advertised on a noticeboard.

There was lots more to cover, but, as is always the way, we ran out of time. Thanks to everyone who came for being part of this exciting new venture. The next meeting will be on Wednesday 26th May, 7.30pm in St Nicolas Church Room (hall attached to the church, path behind the clock tower), when we will establish flexible working groups. Please consider being part of the steering group and find out more about Transition Towns.

On the evening of Saturday 13th March the launch event for Transition Bookham (part of an international initiative to help communities to reduce their carbon emissions and prepare for the decline in fossil fuel availability) was held, at Bookham Baptist Church.

Trevor Sokell, of Bookham Vision, started by updating us on a Survey of Bookham residents taken last year. It was clear that not only did people participate in 'green' activities, but there was also an interest in doing more. Approximately 100 respondents had ticked a box for transition/greening initiatives.

There followed a screening of the movie The Power of Community: How Cuba survived Peak Oil, a fascinating look at what happened when the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 left Cuba with limited supplies of oil. The movie highlighted just how much modern society relies on fossil fuels, from transport to food production, manufacturing to heating.

Cuba is being studied as a blueprint for how the rest of the world will cope, as supplies of easy to access fuel peak. A return to local, sustainable, organic food production, the use of permaculture, public transport and  bicycles, an increased number of local, national health and educational institutions, renewable energy in remote areas and, most importantly, community initiatives, helped Cuba survive its Special Period.

After the movie we discussed it's significance to the issues we face, we heard examples of what Transition Dorking has been up to and took questions with answers given by members of Transitions Ashtead, Bookham and Dorking and The Green Mole Forum. The evening was rounded up with a chance to contribute ideas towards possible groups, ie. food, energy, recycling, transport, etc.

A follow-up meeting is to be held at St Nicolas Pastoral Centre, Bookham, on Wednesday 21st April from 7.30-9.30. This will look at the group ideas and take the viable ones forward. Subjects will include car sharing for school runs, community gardens and garden shares, a solar club and recycling beyond that which the council already provides.

Compost Works' Hugh Baker is holding a meeting at 7.30pm on Monday 15th March at 8 The Drive, Fetcham KT22 9EN, to plan for the year ahead.

Open to all, whether you'd like to volunteer to help at one of their events, want to get advice for your group or to find out how composting might fit in with your activity, or you're simply interested in composting.

With local food production being a key issue of Transition Town and Community Garden groups, Compost Works plays a vital role by providing expertise. On a more practical note, it's shredder hire service continues to be a boon (and money saver) to those of us who like to prune!

We have decided to screen The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil as part of Transition Bookham's launch event. This will take place at Bookham Baptist Church on Saturday 13th March from 7.30pm. Here is the evening's agenda, do come along -

• 7.30pm Bookham Vision to introduce Transition Bookham
• Outline of programme for the evening and introduction to the film
• The Power of Community - How Cuba Survived Peak Oil
• Briefly explore film's message and relevance
• Local Transition group members share their experiences
• Question and answer session with 'expert' panel
• Outline some possible interest groups within Transition Bookham
• Contribute to possible groups by jotting down ideas and doodling!
• 9.30pm Finish

As you can see it's quite a full schedule, so we'll have limited time to explore all aspects of Transition and will only scratch the surface. The follow-up meeting will be on Wednesday 21st April, from 7.30pm, at the St. Nicolas Pastoral Centre.

For more information check out our Transition Bookham page.