Transition Epping

Hi Everyone!

Glad to be back to blogging as have finally found the time and can let people know whats been happening.

So since I last posted on this blog we have had a family bushwalk along the STEP Track from the end of Boundary Road, North Epping to Turramurra and back. It was a great day with a newly updated track put together by the Downes Street East Bushcare with help from National Parks and Council. Feel free to take the work yourself.

Another item in the second half of last year was the Recycled Art competition which was at the North Epping Village Fair. It was a great success with some very happy and deserving winners. Below are the winning artworks

.

"After Mondrian"
Open Category Winner
(excellent use of bottle caps)

   "Zac the Budgie"
  People's Choice Winner
  (great use of bread tags!)

   "Leo the Fluffy Lion"
   Primary School Winner
   (fluffy coat made from plastic bags)

So all in all it was a great if busy year with many events happening and some great community spirit being had by all.

Now onto 2013!!

We have now had our Transition Epping Brainstorming meeting for this year and so have some dates for events that you can all have a sneak peak at :)

These are in calendar month order:

• Saturday 16th February - weed n' feed (Weeding the community garden in North Epping followed by coffee and cakes at the local dehli)
• Sunday 17th March - 'hug-a-tree' Significant Tree ID Day. The idea is to walk around the local area and take note of trees of local natural and historical significance. If anyone knows some history about  a special please let us know and we might even have you take part of the walk!
• Saturday 14th May - Roma Street Park Community Garden Workshop. This will be with Cameron Little who is a great environmental educator who had such a success last year with revamping the Epping North Public School veggie garden. Everyone got so excited and involved! Cameron will show everyone how to set up the garden beds which will culminate in the formation of another community garden. Afterwards people can take a sheet home detailed what we did and how we did it so they can do it at home.
• Tuesday 18th June - Film evening where we will be showing "Home". The film is almost entirely composed of aerial shots of various places on Earth. "Home" is about the diversity of life on Earth and how humanity is threatening the ecological balance of the planet.
• Saturday 20th July Guerilla gardening - Planting out the "garden islands" in Oxford Street. More details to come.
• Saturday 10th August -  Local craft and produce trail around North Epping. Honey, dyes etc.
• Sunday 8th September - Family bushwalk from North Epping to Pennant Hills Park.
• Sunday 13th October - Workshop - potentially beer making.
• November 2013 - North Epping Street Fair and Art Prize. Potentially also the Twilight Markets.

TRANSITION EPPING OFFICIAL LAUNCH

After our formation a year ago and a successful series of sustainability workshops earlier in the year, our launch was held on 19 October – over 30 people attended. We had a raffle of locally produced goods such as vegetables, herbs, eggs, biscuits, mini-quiches, jam and honey – all donated by Transition Epping members or supporters! Tim Thornton, a local resident, gave a great presentation about his family’s personal journey towards achieving energy efficiency (and a reduction in power bills of 50%). We had about four tables of swap and share items and lots of information about sustainability initiatives and local businesses to support. Everyone was given an update on our projects (see below). If you expressed an interest on the night in one or more of the projects below one of our committee members will give you a ring over the next week or so to tell you a little more about what we have planned.

OUR PROJECTS

• Verge garden at the North Epping Shops: We have offered to assist John Bykerk, owner of the North Epping Shops on the western side of Roma Street, with labour and advice on revamping the verge garden along Roma Street into an attractive and functional food and native garden. John has kindly donated the narrow lawn area at the southern end of the carpark for a community garden and has included our ideas in his landscape drawings for the upgrade! Negotiations with Council are going well.
• Solar technology: We are in the process of finding a reputable supplier of solar panels to negotiate a good deal for local residents wishing to install solar technology and save heaps on power bills. We hope to have our scheme in place very shortly!
• Practical skills workshops We are calling these our TESS workshops (Transition Epping Swap and Share) and we hope to run them bimonthly next year, starting in March with a follow-up visit to Tim’s place to look at his energy saving initiatives. Each workshop will feature our swap and share table for pre-loved goods, a meet and greet session and learning about practical skills such as bicycle maintenance, composting, jam making…anything really that will be of use in the future; it depends on what skills you all have and wish to share. Please get in contact and let us know! Food garden at Epping North Public School Helpers are needed over the summer school holidays to water the garden. We’ve helped build the compost bays. Thank you to Jenni Bennet, Environment Coordinator, for letting us share in this fabulous project!
• Web presence team: We have a presence on the Transition Sydney website at www.transitionsydney.org.au and also a blog at http://transition-epping.blogspot.com. Thank you to Mark who has organised both with help from Don and Colin.
• 295 Bus We will be examining ways to improve the convenience of this service to encourage more patronage.
• MEMBERSHIP: We need members to raise funds for our projects (membership application attached with rates)! We are also considering incorporation (costly with insurance) but are currently auspiced by Permaculture Sydney North.

If any of the above projects appeal to you, please email me back so I can put your name on the list to be contacted when we need help and/or have more information. Transition Epping is about each of us doing something small to spread the load to build a more connected and environmentally friendly suburb. The committee and team members would love to meet you! Various committee and team members will be at the market events below. FRIDAY 12 NOVEMBER Epping Twilight Xmas Market OLHC Oxford St 5pm to 9pm (in the hall) SATURDAY 20 NOVEMBER North Epping Street Fair at the shops 10am to 2pm Kind regards Transition Epping Committee Sandra Nichols (Coordinator 9869 1351; 0438 415 715), Deborah Burt, Juliet, Munro (Treasurer), Louise Brady, Mark Cachia (Web team), Paul Taylor, Al Sibrava, Mike du Plessis (Solar team), Colin Hoving (Solar & web teams), Don Munro (Web team), Martin Nichols (295 Bus team).

OUR MISSION: To explore, promote and implement practical actions for an environmentally sustainable and supportive community in North Epping (and surrounds).