Halesworth Climate Action Conference

Environment Minister Dr Thérèse Coffey will help launch Halesworth’s first ClimateAction Conference at a sell-out event on Friday evening.

The minister and a panel of experts will take questions from the public about action to prevent the climate crisis spiralling out of control. The Right Reverend Martin Seeley, bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich, will chair the discussion at St Mary’s Church, Halesworth.

The Panel event has sold out! However, for those without a ticket, the church has set a live feed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pj28-Gu-vS0

For the minister, there is good news. Dr Coffey supported Holton Pits’ successful funding application to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. News broke just before the conference that the Community Ownership Fund is matching the £100,000 raised by the community. This is a great victory, which will enable local people to keep Holton Pits in public ownership.

For the minister, there is also challenging news: disquiet over LionLink’s proposal to carve motorway-size trenches through the Suffolk Coast.

Members of the public have submitted more than 50 questions for the panel, and organisers regret it will be impossible to answer all of them.

Friday’s panelists include:

• Dr Therese Coffey – Secretary of State for Environment, Food and RuralAffairs, and Conservative MP for Suffolk Coastal
• Professor Peter Hobson – Chair Biodiversity,Writtle University College
• Adrian Ramsay – Co-leader of Green Party
• Professor Catherine Rowett – County Councillor for West Depwade, former Member of the European Parliament for East of England and campaigner for solar on Churches and community energy schemes
• David Kemp – EnvironmentAgency – CoastalTeam Leader (coastal flood warning and resilience)
• Richard Rout – SCC Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance and Environment
• Josiah Meldrum – co-founder of thriving food business Hodmedod’s, which sources pulses, grains, and seeds from local farms

More than 150 school children from Bramfield, Wenhaston and Halesworth along with their teachers will join the conference on Friday. Staff from Banham Zoo are providing educational activities and the Reverend Alison Alder has organised a creative programme for the children, involving a recycling quiz and other educational opportunities.

Also in St Mary’s Church, an exhibition about local environmental organisations is attracting wide interest.

The conference continues over the weekend in the church.

On Sunday 1 October, a morning session at the White Swan will focus on designing a Climate Action Plan for Halesworth and the Blyth Valley.

Conference activities on Saturday and Sunday are free to the public.

The exhibition runs until Monday 2 October

Visit halesworthash.com for more details