As part of the CCF initiative we’ve got a carbon footprint calculator on the front page of the Warmer Colglen website. It’s a great tool to see how much carbon you are producing — go on have a go, its a reall eye-opener!
Category: Ideas
Colintraive and Glendaruel Development Trust is recruiting a Project Officer to co-ordinate the “ColGlen Warmer Homes” project.
The initiative aims to –
- Provide advice and assistance to householders in taking steps to insulate their homes and reduce their energy bills
- Provide advice on various energy efficiency measures
- Help householders make informed choices regarding installation of biomass heating systems to further reduce their carbon footprints.
The post holder will have –
- An understanding of home energy efficiency (preferably in hard to heat homes)
- Knowledge of various sector specific advisory and funding agencies
- Project management skills
- Ability to collate and analyse data and calculate C02e values
- Awareness of specific challenges faced by rural communities
The post is offered on an 18 months, self-employed basis and attracts a salary of £22,000 per annum
Applications in writing, with accompanying CV, to:
The Chairman, Colintraive and Glendaruel Development Trust, The Village Hall, Colintraive, Argyll, PA22 3AS or e-mail to cgdt@cgdt.org
Closing date for applications 19 March 2012 with interviews held 23 March in Colintraive.
The successful candidate should be available for an immediate start.
Plans for the use of the community forest at Rhubodach, opposite Colintraive are now in consultation mode, and residents of Colintraive and Glendaruel have been invited to make their views known by visiting the site, or contact the new forest manage Emma Cooper.
The plans are to be discussed at the next Community Council meeting in Colintraive Village Hall, at 7.30, Thursday 26th Jan.
Please click on this link to have a look at all the documents, or phone 01700 500 541 and ask for Emma.
And of course do let us know what you think as well!
One of the ongoing discussions we have been engaged in is seeing a way forward for Glendaruel what with the CRtB on the Hotel, the initial plans drawn up by the Hub Group and the ongoing progress the Village Hall Committee are making towards renewing the hall. To aid the community’s thinking we organised a session with all three groups at the Village Hall facilitated by Donald Walker and building on the decision-making matrix that the Development Trust has already developed.
Here’s Donald’s Review of the meeting:
The group listened to a short introduction of the aims and process and then heard 5 minute summaries of the activities of each of the working groups. The group were given the opportunity to ask clarifying questions and then worked through 2 set exercises which were designed to generate a consensus over next steps.
Using the presentations and the knowledge of the group, the team assembled a number of criteria which will be used to evaluate options. These criteria were forced ranked 1 to 10 although it was agreed that there could be an opportunity to combine or reclassify some of them at a later date.
The team then selected a number of “wants and needs” for the community and listed these in no particular order. The “wants and needs” were written in way that did not describe the solution; so, the community wants/needs access a licensed premises rather than the community wants/needs a pub. In this example, a pub is one possible solution to the requirement to access a location which is licensed to sell alcoholic beverages.
The team used a 1-3-9 scale to score the relationship between the “want/need” and the criteria where 1 = remote relationship/influence, 3 = moderate influence and 9 = strong relationship. This scale is designed to force a separation between items which have a big impact and those which don’t.
Next steps
The team agreed that this activity should not delay or derail any activities planned by the Village Hall team.
All those present agreed to re-convene for a further 2 hour meeting in the new year to complete the table. During this second session, the team agreed to define each of the criteria to improve clarity and to make the description more objective.
The team also agreed to complete a third session which would be designed to form solutions to each of the wants and needs. These solutions will be evaluated using the same approach as the prioritrisation matrix.
The presentation and matrix are attached so that all interested parties can see what was covered and participate in the process.
Glendaruel Discussion Presentation 5MB
This is Donald’s opening presentation outlining the method and the way outcomes are achieved.
XLS Spreadsheet
If you have Excel and would like to contribute your scores to our next discussion, please send them into us. Remember to score only 1s, 3s and 9s!
PDF of spreadsheet
For those of you who don’t have excel, here’s the pdf which you can open using Adobe Acrobat Reader, freely available from adobe.com
2012 looks like being a big year for our community and the projects we’re bringing forward.
After two fabulous evenings at our village halls (well done organisers) and a series of power cuts over the festive period which rather stymied everyone, we’re now looking at getting things moving pretty quickly.
If you have an idea for a project, event or business which would be a community enterprise, please let us know, particularly if it uses wood, forest land or hilltops! We’re available at the Village Halls during the week, and always through the contact page and the comment facility on this website.
TV and newspapers all wanted to know more about the Adopt a Kiosk scheme and Heather Munro’s idea to house a defibrillator in one of ours. Brilliant stuff!
Here’s the BBC Story & Report
Here’s the Scotsman story
We’re delighted to announce that we have received approval for our application to the Investing in Ideas programme for developing our plans on the Old Shop in Colintraive. Structural and architectural assessments will be made prior to the trust and the Colintraive Steering Group reporting back to the community on the final shape this project will take.
Well done Rhona for getting this funding in place!
The Government has launched the Renewable Heat Premium Payment Scheme to help householders across the country with funding towards the cost of installing renewable heating systems. The new £15 million initiative, which is now open to applications, will support up to 25,000 installations. Approximately 4 million householders in the UK – including ColGlen – do not have mains gas and have to rely on more expensive, higher carbon forms of heating such as oil and electricity. The scheme will mainly focus on these households. The following technologies will be available through the scheme –
- Ground Source Heat Pump – £1,250 grant (for homes without mains gas heating)
- Biomass Boiler – £950 grant (for homes without mains gas heating)
- Air Source Heat Pump – £850 grant (for homes without mains gas heating)
- Solar Thermal Hot Water Panels – £300 grant (available to all households regardless of the type of heating system used)
Grants will be available on a first come first served basis and the scheme will close on 31 March 2012.
Interested? Householders can call 0800 512012 or visit www.energysavingtrust.org/RHPP