Market Drayton Climate Action has been busy recently sending out its key messages and seeking support from local residents in its drive towards improving the environment in response to climate change.
In early May the recently established organization was responsible for manning a ‘Home Energy’ stall at Morrisons in conjunction with the Marches Energy Agency – with the store’s customers given the opportunity to learn or be reminded about ways of reducing their household energy costs. Its members also took part in the Rock and Bowl Festival earlier this month, with a lively game about reducing carbon footprints. Looking ahead, it is planning to be present at the Go Green Festival at the Festival Drayton Centre in July and will be hosting a Climate Action Fun Day at Fordhall Farm in early August.
Throughout these events the basic objective has remained the same: to limit climate change through the improvement of people’s habits, the dissemination of knowledge and the lobbying of politicians and officials. Prior to the start of this year Market Drayton had no single organisation taking the lead on orchestrating its responses to environmental concerns, but MD Climate Action has hopefully bridged this gap.
Away from public gaze, the members of MD Climate Action have been busy preparing for a public survey of local transport needs, writing to the powers that be, collating all the diverse strands of information that exist within the town in relation to recycling and speaking to local shop and business owners about the benefits of selling or using sustainable products.
A widely known key concern at the moment is that the chronic shortage of public transport services forces the vast majority of local people to depend on motor vehicles for any lengthy journeys, to the detriment of the environment. That is, of course, if people have cars. At present there are no direct buses to any hospitals in Shropshire which makes it difficult for elderly people without them to attend medical appointments without going to considerable expense. The very limited bus services that exist also cut people off from jobs and education, as well as family and friends and shops.
As a step towards addressing these issues, MD Climate Action is commencing a survey of local transport habits and the barriers that stop people making increased use of buses. The survey will also endeavour to assess the amount of public support there would be for a practical solution to the current situation — the introduction of a bus service to Whitchurch, with its railway station and other facilities.
