Vision: A place to live where everyone has enough to eat, enough green space, freedom from light, noise and chemical pollution, which is safe from crime and traffic risk and where they feel part of a community where they know their neighbours, their local shop keepers and have a locally based social life so they can lead a heathy and fulfilling life in a sustainable way.
Mission: We will take a catalytic leadership role to inspire individuals, voluntary organisations, the public sector and private organisations to work together to achieve this.
Our Goal: To bring the balance of C02 emissions in Abbots Langley to sustainable levels
DRAFT Strategic Action plan (comments welcome)
In order to achieve the goal we must:-
Understand how close people in Abbots Langley are to having a healthy, fulfilling and sustainable life
Be clear what the evidence says about what makes a healthy and fulfilling and sustainable life.
Make everyone aware of the evidence on what enables a healthy fulfilling and sustainable life
Understand how important this is to people
Understand what people need/would like in our locality to achieve this
Understand what individuals, organisations and mechanisms we have to bring this about
Develop a list of changes for us to action, and for those we want others to action
Develop a costed plan for our action list and where necessary raise the money
Work with others and help them budget/raise the money to take the actions they are able to take
Carry out before during and after surveys of what is changing for our residents and their reaction to it.
Publicise what we are doing/have done and help influence others to do it too.
Survey the population to establish how far the locality meets the vision and how important the elements of the vision are to them.
Do an organisation audit to find out which orgs could help and work with us to achieve the vision
Do an informal leadership audit to find out who our informal leaders and thought leaders are so we know who to go to
Research the most effective methods of bringing about the vision and bring in speakers to talk to out residents about these methods.
While taking the strategic approach above get started with the simple actions below.
Immediate tactical action plan to make a difference in our area
Reduce costs for our residents
Add water fountains and bottle refilling stations near sports areas and play areas to reduce litter and minimise cost to parents and the environment of keeping people hydrated.
Add trees especially food trees to act as a co2 absorption and a sound barrier as well as help drive out food poverty by providing free food. Industry in fruit trees in the gardens if all council owned property.
Add bike racks outside all the shop areas to encourage cycling.Create more cycle paths by narrowing roads rather than widening pavements
Encourage the installation of solar panels on houses, schools, businesses and council property.
Increase available allotments and consider another community orchard.
Encourage all local food markets and selling of nearly new goods.
Support a community cooperative to buy bulk organic food and redistribute it locally.
Support a local credit union
Create a local currency, support the lets scheme
Have a day once a year when residents can put unwanted items outside for others to help themselves to and then do a road side collection to get rid of the rest – give charities the option to tale what they want of the rest.
Create some give and take boxes where people can bring things they don’t want and take things they do (works in other countries)
Have a thermal imaging camera for hire so households can see where they are losing heat and can take action.
Make Abbots Langley a nicer, safer place to live.
Create a 20 mph limit in all residential areas to make walking and playing outside safer and more pleasant. Reduce the road through the village to one way and widen the pavements to make it safer and nicer to shop and spend time there – add seating and greenery and a play something for very young children to make shopping nicer for them and their parents.
Buy the canal side land where the old dump was and turn it into a green canal side walk
Plant wild flowers in all the banks and reduce mowing to a meadow cut to encourage birds, bees and butterflies and reduce cutting costs.
Provide bins in the street for recyclables. Make it easy for shops and local businesses to recycle.
Reduce or cease use of pesticides and herbicides on council owned land and/or label if it is sprayed
Put more zebra crossings in and signage that shows the time it takes to get to places by walking to encourage walking and make toad crossing easier and safer. Helps make car drivers see they have a lower priority than walkers of cyclists. Have good maps showing all the paths on the website and notice boards o people can find their shortest route easily.
Check that there are enough benches in the right places to encourage elderly or disabled walkers. Put benches by bus stops to make waiting there more comfortable and bus use more attractive. Ideally improve bus shelter to protect bus passengers from wind and rain while waiting.
Ask the school to discourage parents from taking their child to the classroom door – instead expect children in the juniors to walk into the gate by themselves. Provide zebras and crossing assistance.
Become zero tolerant on litter, redundant posts, fly posting.
Review all the safety signage in the village and reduce it to an absolute minimum
Add more wild areas for children to play in.
Create a welcome pack for all those moving to Abbots to let them know about local amenities, clubs and events.
Review the lighting and make sure foot paths are well lit up to 11pm weekdays and 12pm weekends. After that lets go dark everywhere so we can all get some sleep and reduce costs and save co2. Convert as much as possible to solar powered and low light polluting
Encourage a vibrant local community and economy
Support the hub project.
Hold or encourage the holding of events in the village to encourage use of local shops.
Support transition streets – a community building green programme that works residential road by residential road.
Help people to get to know their neighbours by encouraging street parties, street based activity such as neighbourhood watch.