Hello All

Next Green Coffee is on Tues 2nd Sept 9.30-11am at the Gooseberry Bush, 115 Kingston Rd   SW19 1LT. You are invited along to this - or else come along to the one after on 7th Oct. Everyone is welcome at Green Coffee, so please feel free to pass this invite on.

We spent much of August Green Coffee discussing ideas for a greener and better Wimbledon Town Centre. We're grateful to Leigh for overseeing this and she is putting forward a green vision for Wimbledon Town Centre to the Future Wimbledon Ideas Competition. 

Ideas discussed at Green Coffee included pleas for more seating and better planting/care of trees along The Broadway, to a call to make The Broadway a showcase for green ideas. All new building to Zero Carbon standards, integrated design (e.g. water diversion from rooftops to water street trees), and a Community and Environmental Centre in the heart of the town centre that would include community space, a recycling centre and a Grow Up Box to hydroponically farm fish and salads.
 
Other news included an update on the Mega Recycle, the new Passivhaus planning application and a letter HERE asking residents to water any new street trees.

Plans are now being made for the Abundance Fruit Day on 20th Sept - if you can help on the day or contribute jams, chutneys, cakes or plants then please contact abundancewimbledon@gmail.com
 

1. Wimbledon – Croydon Tramlink consultation
There are proposals to extend the tram to link South Wimbledon tube station with Sutton, via the existing Morden Rd stop. Various routes are suggested and there are some issues with the tram crossing green spaces and with disruption to roads. Find out how to send in your comments HERE and a map HERE. 
 
2. Please water new Street Trees – and pass it on!
The recent dry spell has meant that many street trees are struggling, especially those planted in the last 2-3 years. Sustainable Merton has issued a letter asking residents to water new street trees. Find a copy of the letter HERE. Please do pass this letter on to your organisations or print it out and put up on a noticeboard. Many thanks.
 
3. New community grants from the Wimbledon Guardian
Apply for a grant of up to £10,000 from the Gannett Foundation, the charitable arm of the Wimbledon Guardian group. Money is available to registered charities for projects providing a lasting benefit to communities. Find out more and apply HERE by 12th Sept. This is new funding, and adds to community grants from the Wimbledon Foundation (Wimbledon Tennis) announced in July Green Coffee HERE.
 
4. Scarf stretched between nuclear arms factories
After nearly two years of knitting, Wimbledon’s pink contribution to the Wool against Weapons campaign will join other pink scarves from around the country on Saturday 9th Aug. The 7 mile long pink scarf will be stretched between Burghfield and Aldermaston, to highlight the existence of these two nuclear arm manufacturing facilities. Find a photo of the Wimbledon scarf HERE. POST MEETING NOTE: the Wimbledon Guardian published a news article HERE and photo HERE.
 
5. South London Botanical Institute
Green Coffee member Caroline is now working at the SLBI managing refurbishment and development of the institute, as well as still doing one day a week with Merton Chamber of Commerce’s Greening Business project. The SLBI is well worth a visit and has an active event calendar with interesting talks, walks and workshops. This includes ‘plant fun’ activities for children during August, a lecture about Transition Town Tooting and series of sessions on herbal medicine, weeds and winter tree identification in Oct/Nov. The institute is located in Tulse Hill, a few stops away on Thameslink. Find more details HERE
 
6. Update on Merton Mega Recycle
The door-stepping campaign has been completed and the team successfully talked to 33% of residents. It's early days and the impact has not yet fed through to recycling rates which remain at around 38%. [However it’s been reported that since this meeting the recycling rate for July has improved!]

Mega Recycle representatives have taken part in assemblies at 39 primary schools. ‘Style Junkies’ workshops will be offered to primary and secondary schools as well as Wimbledon Art School and will focus on recycling garments. Mega Recycle offers to give talks to local groups to encourage more recycling and to answer those tricky questions about what should go into the recycling boxes. So if you’d like a Mega Recycle representative to come along to your residents’ association, 'friends of' group, club or any sort of group, then please email Jane.Alexander@merton.gov.uk
 
7. 25 new Smart Bins
Smart bins use solar power to compress waste and inform the council when bins are nearly full. Following a trial period in a few locations, 25 more smart bins will be installed in parks across the borough – see HERE
 
8. FUTURE WIMBLEDON    Let's have a Green Vision for Wimbledon !
Love Wimbledon and Merton Council are encouraging businesses and community groups to put forward their ideas for the future of Wimbledon Town Centre. Find more information about the Ideas Competition HERE

Following a brain-storming session with Wimbledon East Hillside Residents’ Association, Leigh gathered ideas from Green Coffee. She will make a submission drawing on ideas from both groups.

Green Coffee members put forward the following ideas:

• Provide more places to sit outside and eat lunch; more recycling bins (as they are often full); introduce green roofs and walls; more butt bins
• Pedestrianisation; prioritising pedestrians with unobstructed crossings and mixed use roads
• Re-instate 20mph along The Broadway. Making it 20mph borough-wide would make it much easier for drivers.
• Trees - better planting & better care. Plant a single species (e.g. lime, plane, sweet gum) in groups of 3 to have more visual impact. In groups of 2/4 at junctions of roads (Griffiths, Quicks. Trinity, Russell, Kings), visually separating residential roads from the town centre. Outside of the YMCA would be a good location for tree planting. Also, a trimming strategy should apply to all trees in the town centre, including those on private land. (Many town centre trees have been over-trimmed.) Lighting cables can sometimes strangle growing trees, so there should be a regular check on this. Diversion of rainwater from roofs of shops to water street trees
• Introduce a ban on leaving engines running whilst stationary. The power to issue fines was introduced in 2002, but has rarely been used. Islington just recently announced it would be fining drivers for this.
• All new build along The Broadway should be Zero Carbon, showcasing sustainable building methods. This should be supported by the council’s planning department. Use advice from the Society for Protection for Ancient Buildings when upgrading older buildings as they have generated a lot of useful information on the thermal efficiency of different materials.
• Build a community hub – including community space to replace the lost St George’s Rd space; an environmental centre to provide information and workshops on recycling (plus collection of small volume items), reducing domestic energy use and growing food (especially for children). There should be a high interest centrepiece to attract visitors e.g. a Grow Up Box, combining a fish farm with hydroponic salad growing, with produce being sold to local cafes and shops. Find out more HERE
• A positive campaign to reduce energy wastage by businesses, including replacing all light bulbs, turning off lights at night and closing doors of shops.
• Re-do the steps at Wimbledon Station – being on an angle makes it difficult for many people to negotiate, especially the blind and disabled. 

Leigh outlined the ideas emanating from WEHRA discussions. Her vision for a green Wimbledon town centre based on ideas from both Green Coffee and WEHRA will be circulated separately once it has been submitted to Love Wimbledon in September.

If Green Coffee members would like to submit their own list of ideas, then we could do so! Please get in touch if you have some ideas to add.

9. New planning application for Merton Park Passivhaus
A new planning application will be submitted for a Passivhaus in Merton Park. Edyta will let us know when the application is made and urges people to support it as a showcase for sustainable building.
 
10. The Magic School Bus and the Climate Challenge
The Magic School Bus by Cole and Degen is a series of children’s stories looking at different aspects of science. The one relating to climate change explains the concepts in a clear and interesting way. Edyta highly recommends this book for young children.

11. Abundance Fruit Day - 20th Sept
Fruit Day is the fund-raising event of the Abundance Wimbledon project. There will be lots of jams, jellies, chutneys, lovely fresh juice from the fruit press, pie-making, cakes and more to sample and buy, plus advice on looking after your fruit tree, music from the acclaimed International Ukulele Orchestra and teas and coffees from Mister P.

Also this year, we’re hosting 'Abundance Art' - you'll be able to watch artists paint, draw or model the Fruit Day landscape!  This is part of Wimbledon Autumn Arts.

We need lots of help to make Fruit Day work. So if you can help on a stall for an hour or make some cakes, jam or chutney or donate a plant, then please get in touch with abundancewimbledon@gmail.com or call Juliet on 8946 2514/Joyce on 8946 3750.


 

First Thursday of the month at 8.00pm
Merton Cycling Campaign meeting
All Saints Centre, All Saints Road, SW19 1BX
Meet other cyclists, find out about rides and other events and the latest on campaigns. Please contact Charles, Borough Coordinator Merton Cycling Campaign tel. 8949 0708 or email info@mertoncyclists.org.uk for more details.

every Wed morning 10am - early afternoon
Phipp’s Bridge Community Allotment
Join Gillian and her friendly group to grow fruit and vegetables. Disused land has been turned into a productive garden through people working together. You are welcome to join in, regardless of your gardening expertise - and you'll have the opportunity to take home some lovely fresh produce. If you would like to come and have a look or get involved, then please contact  Gillian tel. 07956 170141 Find out more HERE

every Thursday at 10.30
Merton Green Parents
Coffee in the Wood, 99 High Street, Colliers Wood
How do you balance the demands of being a parent and leading a more sustainable life? It can sometimes be difficult. Merton Green Parents provides a place to swap sustainable parenting tips and meet other like-minded parents.