Category Archives: Community Energy

SHARE News Bulletin October 2021


SHARE AGM

Our AGM on September 22nd was well attended, firstly at an informal “board report” session outside the Parish Hall, to show what we do and progress made during the past year.  The second, more formal part of the meeting was conducted inside the Hall, and was rounded off with drinks and snacks so that people could continue to chat.

It was especially good to meet and put names to some new faces.  Membership continues to grow and now stands at 109 full members and 77 associate members.

Draft minutes of the meeting are being circulated to members who were present, and will in due course be published on our web page (https://south-hill.co.uk/share/share-member-area/)

Insulation, insulation, insulation!

A well insulated house

There’s a great deal of talk about “retrofit” just now.  Houses built without a high standard of insulation (and this includes many being built at this very moment) can never hope to be truly energy efficient without addressing this problem.  

At the recent Cornwall Home Improvement & Self Build Show at Wadebridge, Sue went with the intention of finding out more about retrofit, but was a bit disappointed to be honest.  There were plenty of stands selling solar PV, air and ground source heat pumps, even MVHR (mechanical ventilation and heat recovery) systems, but besides being expensive to install, without high standards of insulation in homes, these can also be expensive to run.

Sadly, we missed a recent talk given by Kate Royston of TEC (Tamar Energy Community), “Retrofitting your home – What’s this all about?” .  Kate has kindly made available the presentation used for her talk – see attached.  She says costs are coming down all the time, and the ones in the presentation are on the high side.

Kate would be happy to come and talk to our members about this.  Please contact SHARE@south-hill.co.uk if you’d be interested.

Out And About

We’ve been thinking about possible visits to places of interest. 

One example is the tree nursery and a new rainwater harvesting system at Meeth Quarry near Hatherleigh in Devon (https://www.devonwildlifetrust.org/nature-reserves/meeth-quarry)

This Devon Wildlife Trust site has been developed from an old clay quarry whose industrial past has produced a fascinating landscape for wildlife today.  With 150 hectares of nature reserve we should be able to have a good walk and observe abundant wildlife too.

Trebartha, nr Launceston

We’d also like to visit Trebartha, near Launceston, where as well as extensive gardens they have a hydro-power turbine installed in 2015.  Trebartha Estate opens its gardens to visitors through the NGS – National Garden Scheme.  The next open day is in May 2022.

At a recent open day we learned that “water comes from an intake area, through a 1.2km stretch of pipe dropping 90m down to the turbine house.  The turbine is a 4 jet vertical shafted Pelton wheel with a 350kW generator.  It is estimated to generate an average of 1000MWH of energy per year – enough for about 200 homes – which is fed into the national grid.”  Naturally we’re interested in this as it links to our own hydro feasibility study.

There may also be an opportunity for us to learn more about methods of farming which are more in tune with the environment – fans of the Archers may have heard talk of “herbal leys” and such like!  Example: https://www.facebook.com/LeanneBarriballbiz/videos/1033684474135257

If you have any ideas for SHARE visits, please let us know.

Website: www.south-hill.co.uk/SHARE       email: SHARE@south-hill.co.uk 

Unlocking, AGM and Big Green Week


In advance of our SHARE AGM event, to be held at South Hill Parish Hall from 7.30pm on Wednesday September 22nd, we are contacting all members informally.  This message includes important information for members regarding the election of Directors.

As music fans will know all too well, during lockdown all gigs were either cancelled or postponed. At last that situation is changing as we head into ever more freedom. There has been a knock on effect; a lack of available venues, as everyone wants a stage at once.  The SHARE AGM has been affected by the same issues, as we’ve had to postpone last year’s AGM until now. The similarity with your favourite band is that venues have become in huge demand. Our own Parish Hall is seeing a great upsurge in bookings, taking advantage of its refurbishment.

We have hatched a Cunning Plan:  the format of the AGM will change slightly.

This September sees the national Great Big Green Week, (18th to 26th September) and we’ve chosen to hook into that for our Annual General Meeting.

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SHARE – Out and About Again


Lethytep Conservation & Wildlife Haven

In July, Saltash Environmental Action (SEA) arranged a visit to Lethytep for their members, which was publicised in the SEA newsletter.  Seeing this, we asked if some SHARE members could join in and included an invitation in our latest Member email bulletin.  In the end, only four of us were free to go on the trip, so Geoff, Mike, Ali, and Sue joined the lovely SEA members and Philip and Faith Hambly for the afternoon.

Philip and Faith have transformed 52 acres of meadows, lakes and ancient woodland into habitats that they manage for wildlife.  The amazing wildflower and hay meadows are managed the old-fashioned way using only carefully-timed grazing and cutting, resulting in a rich and varied habitat.  Though probably not financially viable as a working farm, Lethytep is a valuable resource for biodiversity and wellbeing and is open to visitors by arrangement and on planned open days in June and July each year.

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What is YOUR Carbon Footprint?


On Monday 25th January, SHARE members attended a Zoom talk on Community Energy Schemes by Dr Tim Jones of CEP.  Despite a few IT difficulties, the event was very well organised and interesting.

The talk, hosted by St Cleer Outdoor and Environmental group, ranged far and wide over the relative benefits and costs of non-fossil-fuel heating; Cornish “Dickensian” housing stock; transport and other topics.

A mention of Carbon Footprints inspired us to look back to 2019 when SHARE commissioned a Carbon Footprint Report for South Hill Parish.  Along with an analysis of energy supply and demand in South Hill,

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SHARE Hydro – Three Steps Forward and One Step Back


Rain stops play on SHARE hydro project… but only for a while

If you even glanced out of the window in mid-December, you may have noticed the rain…lots and lots of it. So even though SHARE are pushing full tilt to getting the hydro project monitoring, we have to recognise that the extreme downpours and Orange weather warnings all impacted what we do. But there has been plenty of progress all the same.

One step Forward

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SHARE Dippers and Waders!


No, not an ornithological sighting for the twitchers; rather a working party of wellies and waders to install the weir for SHARE’s hydro feasibility study.

The story so far: thanks to everyone’s generosity, we managed to raise all the funds necessary to get construction under way. Some of this started in isolation, but now we’re enjoying the luxury of Tier One, with socially distanced teamwork cranked into overdrive.

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Hydro-Power Project Crowdfunder


Crowdfunder Video

A feasibility study is needed to evaluate SHARE’s next renewable energy project, a hydropower scheme which will benefit our local community.

On our Crowdfunder page you can show your support by donating any amount over £1, to help raise this relatively small amount of money to kick-start our project.  Please help now.

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What exactly IS SHARE?


SHARE banner

SHARE is a Community Benefit Society

… but what in the world does that mean?

A community benefit society is a legal form for organisations that wish to operate on a not for profit basis for purposes that benefit the community as a whole.

Co-ops UK

SHARE’s Mission is: “Powering renewable energy into a secure and sustainable future for all”.

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CORNWALL COUNCIL HIVE EVENT


Carbon Neutral Cornwall Hive

The Carbon Neutral Cornwall Hive is Cornwall Council’s new online resource to help us tackle climate change – sharing ideas  and information about projects and activities:

  • find out how we can help Cornwall become carbon neutral
  • learn what other people are doing
  • be inspired by articles from guest bloggers
  • share ideas so we can tackle climate change together
  • on line event SEPTEMBER 26th 1 – 4pm

Click here to visit the Hive and see how to get involved