South East Forum For Sustainability

Brighton Pavilion Feb 2009

You’d think perhaps that this photo is pre-emptive of the weather forecast for the South East for the next few days. Actually  it was taken in the February cold snap this year. Snow on the beach was quite an unusual sight.

2009 has been quite an unusual year in many ways. SEERA as you all know has been abolished. To be replaced with the South East Partnership board. SEFS no longer has guaranteed seats and it has been a battle to find our niche so we can continue input to regional policy, in particular the development of the Regional Strategy. However there is a realisation that stakeholders need to be involved in the Strategy’s development and we are hoping that the New Year will see things moving forward on a positive footing.

REGIONAL STRATEGY
Work has started on the development of the Regional Strategy  and the Partnership Board has published a project plan. SEFS is aiming to comment on this before the Partnership Board agrees it in the Spring. Along side this the Sustainability Appraisal is being developed and Christine Drury with Ian Hepburn’s help will be ensuring SEFS is fully engaged with this process.
We hope the work SEFS does in relation to the Regional Strategy will be able to be as effective as our engagement with the South East Plan. It remains to be seen whether the Partnership Board is willing to take sustainability issues seriously but we were pleased to notice the Board has recently published a Climate Change feature on its website.

To keep up to date with Partnership Board news you can subscribe via their website to regular news updates.

Community Action on Sustainability and Low Carbon
At the AGM in October it was inspiring to hear about action taking place on the ground to develop low carbon and sustainable communities through the presentations from Jacinta Thorley from the South East Rural Communities Council and Fiona Wellings from the Greening Campaign.
There is so much going on in the the region and Climate South East are currently doing a survey of activity to try and get a detailed picture of what is happening and what support is required. The survey takes a few minutes to complete and is online until Wednesday 23rd. Please do add your details to help build as complete a picture as possible of all activity in the South East.

Local Transport Plans Round 3 (LTP3s)
SEFS has always had an active involvement in regional transport issues and this continues with our monitoring of the new round of LTPs. These are being developed now as I write by your local council. You can read more about them and what groups are already doing to influence them in the LTP post. SEFS isn’t able to engage with all the LTPs around the region but we hope to be able to share help, advice and case studies as we gather them.

Events
SEFS General Meeting
Usually SEFS has a General Meeting in March/April time. However, P&EC has decided that it might be more helpful to have the next one in June after the election. The provisional date is 15th June so please pencil this into your diaries. There will be more information in the New Year.

RAISE Events
There are two RAISE events coming up which may be of interest Tuesday 23rd March (Central London) Third Sector Engagement with Local Strategic Partnerships and Wednesday 3rd March VCS Health and Social Care Event (Guildford). Details for  both can be found on the RAISE website

FORWARD TO 2010
2010 promises to be another challenging one for SEFS, the Partnership Board will be more established and SEFS will be working with other stakeholders to ensure strong representation. Where we can we will engage in the development of the new Regional Strategy. However, no one is quite sure what the general election will bring. A change of parliament could mean a  whole new system of governance is introduce. SEFS will continue to network while members still feel there is a value in us doing so (which at the AGM we were given to believe there was), and while we still have the financial resources and time to do this. Do continue to support SEFS by renewing your membership using the SefsMembershipForm. However, please note P&EC has decided that there is a need for us to increase our standard fees slightly as these have not changed for 10 years. Don’t let this put you off though, all donations, small and large will be gratefully received. Reminders will be sent out in March.

We are grateful to SEEDA for the financial support they have given us over the last 2 years, to Surrey Wildlife Trust for providing financial administration and employing me, and now to the Environment Centre who as of the beginning of December are now providing that service.

I hope you all have a good Christmas and a Prosperous New Year.

Best wishes

Alison
SEFS Coordinator