The two Feasibility Reports and Summary for the Community Energy Project are now available to view and download on the Greener Great Coxwell Website, please go to : www.greenergreatcoxwell.com and choose 'Bulletins' from the menu.
 
Alternatively, go straight to the Bulletins page using this link: https://greenergreatcoxwell.com/community-energy-blog-page/
 
Any feedback gratefully received to: [email protected].
​

Please come along and meet our consultants who are working to produce a feasibility study into connecting all our houses in the village to low carbon hot water for heating and hot water. Known as a Heating Network, it is very standard in Scandinavian countries but pretty innovative in the UK. I’m sure you have lots of questions and Monday’s meeting is set up for you to have them answered.
 
This will be their only visit so please join us. 7pm in the Reading Room.

​Best wishes
Annabelle (Chapel House) and Ken (Danes Court)

web: www.greenergreatcoxwell.com
mail: [email protected]

Greener Great Coxwell Limited is registered in England as a registered society under the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014. 

Registration number: 8761

The consultants working on our community heat network project, Locogen, are coming to visit the village on Monday 12th  and Tuesday 13th September. We will welcome David Lindley-Hood (Consultancy Director) and Senior Consultant Jack Byres who will come down from Edinburgh. 
Anyone interested is invited to meet the consultants on Monday the 12th at 7:00 in the reading room.  Their final report is currently due at the end of September.

Please come along to hear progress of their energy modelling activities and discuss their work comparing different possible Community solutions.  There are many issues to discuss - I am sure we all have probing questions for them. This will be their only visit so please make the most of it.

If you have any other questions please email us.

​Regards
Greener Great Coxwell

web: www.greenergreatcoxwell.com
mail: [email protected]

Greener Great Coxwell Limited is registered in England as a registered society under the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014. 

Registration number: 8761

Come and visit us at two forthcoming events to see some of the work Greener Great Coxwell have been involved with on Wilding and Natural History and get the latest on the Community Energy Project, Queens Green Canopy and Village Pump Restoration:

Promoting a wildlife-friendly garden – advice from Greener Great Coxwell:
 
Every domestic garden space has potential to become a resource for the wildlife living in its immediate setting and even those living in its wider landscape. If you want your garden to be more wildlife friendly there are a few simple guidelines to follow.

Focus on the plants that grow well on your soil. Look at the native trees and shrubs in you locality and plant some of these or their near relatives.

Choose bee and insect friendly herbaceous and annual flower plants. Use herbs in borders. Nectar rich garden centre plants and seed packets now show a bee logo on the label.

Transform part of your lawn into a wildlife meadow by letting it grow uncut from February to October. Plant spring bulbs into it in October and wildflower plants in March. When you cut it in October, remove the spoil.

Provide water, including a birdbath regularly cleaned and replenished, daily when fledglings are around and/or a small pond planted with native water plants and with a “beach-end” to allow safe access.

Provide shelter for amphibians, and insects by creating an undisturbed pile of rocks and another of wood and twigs for nests and hedgehogs. Allow weeds to flourish in a chosen area.

Provide insect and bird boxes.

Choose bird feed according to the birds you can see in your area. Do not overfeed Pigeons or Corvids. Clean your feeders weekly when in regular use. Place your feeders near a tree or bush for quick cover. The small birds will be more relaxed.

Compost as much of your vegetative material as possible letting very little go off site. 

Then watch and wait!
 
Anne Hardcastle (Greener Great Coxwell)

Amphibians in and around Great Coxwell
 
Have you seen any frogs or newts in your garden or around the parish recently? 
 
You may remember this recent post in the Parish newsletter:
 
‘Greener Great Coxwell (GGC) is concerned about the apparent decline in the number of these fascinating creatures in our village over recent years. There are likely to be a number of reasons for this including loss of habitat, environmental pollution and predation.  GGC would be pleased to hear from people in the parish with their perception of whether numbers of these animals declined, or even increased, over recent years.
 
Have you seen any newts or frogs in your garden pond or anywhere else in the parish recently?
 
Do you plan to encourage these animals to your garden by establishing a wildlife pond?’
 
Replies received (anonymised where necessary)
 

1. We certainly have/had newts – when we downsized the pond we saw a load and moved them to the new pond, also the odd toad and frog.  Not seen anything yet this year but I have not looked either.
2. I have seen a number of frogs in my garden. They are small to medium in size and frequent my back garden.  No sign of anything else. 
3. When we came to the village nearly 22 years ago we had masses of frogs in the garden pond and all over the garden. Since then they have declined and we rarely see any. We do however have newts that breed in the pond and when cleaning it out find baby newts. Also dragon flies lay eggs there too.
4. Just reading the newsletter and saw the bit about amphibians. As you know I raised this last year as I had noticed that there were no tadpoles in the pond near the barn. This was always alive with tadpoles and was the only place I had seen frog and toad spawn. I was so upset last year to see so many fish and no tadpoles. I went back this year and again there were none, but there didn't seem to be so many fish. 
5. We had quite a few frogs and toads but after a visit from a grass snake a few years ago they disappeared.  Our garden is walled and I don’t think it would be easy for frogs and toads to gain access to repopulate our wildlife pond. 
6. A small toad came to visit us yesterday morning, we saw one exploring our hallway. We didn't think he/she was very happy indoors so I picked it up and put it in the pond. At one time we had plenty of frog spawn and frogs, but not for a year or two, but I have seen a grass snake. 
7. We have a fairly large pond in our garden and over the years we have seen changes in the number of tadpoles. In 2020 the pond was teeming with them and they had begun to change into frogs, then one morning we saw 3 grass snakes in the pond and the tadpoles were almost completely gone.  2021 no frog spawn.  This year we had 6 clusters of frog spawn and tadpoles emerged, unfortunately on this occasion the goldfish had most of them. There do seem to be more grass snakes around lately and one theory is that more people have compost heaps.
8. Five or ten years ago I always used to see a toad or two around the large pots I have on the patio and at that time I found one had got into a bag of compost too, I guess to hibernate, but I have not seen a toad for a couple of years now.  I used to see a frog or two in the stream area when I did an annual tidy up of the stream at the bottom of my garden. I have not been able to work on the stream recently but last year saw a good size frog as well as a froglet in an overgrown area further up the garden. I haven't seen any this year yet.  I am planning to create a small, secluded area with water for birds etc, and I hope this may in fact encourage more wildlife of varying types but it hasn't been constructed yet.
9. When we came to Great Coxwell in the late 1960s, in early April for a few days large numbers of frogs made their way out of the fields to deposit their frog spawn in the village pond.  We used to help them cross the road and through the gate without being squashed by cars. Every year there were lots of tadpoles of frogs toads and newts in the village pond.  I walked around the village pond yesterday and there were no tadpoles and scum on the surface. Something appears to have been put in the pond that has killed all life therein.  This has caused me great concern. It needs a test sample to find out what is going on.  In answer to your question there has been a drastic reduction in numbers of frogs and toads in the village. I have a small wildlife pond and do have tadpoles. Due to the dry weather the water level is low.
10. We had one lot of frog spawn this year (we used to have more) and many tadpoles ensued.  We also have at least one frog in our pond (seen today).  We also have seen newts, so the tadpoles will provide them with plenty of nourishment! 
11. I have seen a frog/toad in my garden yesterday – I think it was probably a toad, but will look out for further signs in the pond!
12.  We found 7/8 frogs in the pond here. There is a massive layer of plant material that I was trying to separate and when I did that we kept seeing them come up out of the water- one at a time. 2-3 big ones and 3-4 smaller ones. They seem to come out to sunbathe most days although now everything is really growing so it’s getting harder to spot them.

Thoughts and observations
 
Anecdotally we seem to have fewer of these creatures in our local environment.
 
Without robust rigorous research we can’t be sure as to the reasons for this.  There are grass snakes in the village but there are other predators which feed on frog spawn and tadpoles such as fish and newts.
 
Snakes are protected and it is illegal to kill or harm them.
 
It is inadvisable to put pet goldfish in wildlife ponds as they will eat tadpoles.  Separate ponds for wildlife and ornamental fish are advised.
 
The pond next to the barn is regularly tested (monthly) for water quality and has been sprayed with selective herbicide to kill the pennywort.  This would have had no impact on the fauna in the pond and in fact should improve the viability of the pond.  There are fish in the pond and they may have contributed to the decline of the numbers of amphibians.  Greener Great Coxwell is working with the owner, the National Trust, to improve this important local feature
 
Although it is not illegal to move frogspawn and tadpoles from areas with high populations of amphibians to ponds which lack them, this is discouraged as it may spread disease and other non-native plants.
 
See the following quote from the BBC Countryfile website:
 
‘Don’t move spawn or tadpoles into a different pond, as this can spread non-native plant species and amphibian diseases. Ponds that already contain spawn may not be able to support the increased population, and ponds that don’t have any spawn are unlikely to be suitable for frogs — if they were suitable, the spawn would already be there. There are many reasons why a pond may not contain frogs, and one of the most common explanations is newts.’
 
 
Ian Mason (Greener Great Coxwell)

Help us Bring Affordable Green Heating to Great Coxwell 
The current energy crisis has highlighted the need for the UK to move towards a secure, decarbonised energy system. To achieve this, carbon emissions from buildings need to be reduced to a minimum and the replacement of gas-fired heating systems with low carbon heating is vital.  

What is Greener Great Coxwell Energy Group doing? 
Greener Great Coxwell Energy Group is investigating decarbonising our heating systems by using low carbon technologies and replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy. We have contracted Locogen to explore the feasibility of installing a low carbon heating scheme within the village of Great Coxwell, as well as the potential opportunities for renewable energy generation in the surrounding area to produce clean electricity for the village. 

What can you do? 
We’re asking residents of Great Coxwell to complete this survey and help us collect energy consumption data. This information will allow us to carry out detailed energy modelling and costing exercises to generate financial and carbon assessments of the preferred energy system(s). It’s the first step towards a more secure, cleaner energy future for Great Coxwell. 

Many thanks for those of you who have replied to the survey. We now have over 40 responses if you can please complete the energy survey at :  https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/L9HZBGX  we need Energy use figures to model demand. 

Thank you
Greener Great Coxwell
web: www.greenergreatcoxwell.com
mail: [email protected]
Greener Great Coxwell Limited is registered in England as a registered society under the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014. 
Registration number: 8761

Many thanks for those of you who have replied to the survey. We now have over 30 responses but our consultants need more! Can we ask anyone who can to please complete the energy survey at

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/L9HZBGX

we need Energy use figures to model demand.

Apologies if you have already replied. Completing the questionnaire implies no commitment and the information will be strictly confidential to the energy team and the consultants. We are arranging for a fact-finding visit by the Consultants there will be a chance for anyone available to meet with them. We will let you know the details.  If you are not already signed up for our Community Energy Bulletin, you are still welcome to complete the survey and you might like to go to the website: greenergreatcoxwell.com to sign up  or e-mail [email protected].

Thank you 
Greener Great Coxwell 

mail: [email protected]

Greener Great Coxwell Limited is registered in England as a registered society under the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014. 
Registration number: 8761

Can we ask anyone interested to please complete the energy survey at

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/L9HZBGX
 
Apologies if you have already replied. Completing the questionnaire implies no commitment and the information will be strictly confidential to the energy team and the consultants. 
 
We need data from a representative sample of properties to enable a better estimate of our energy requirements to be made. This will allow the consultants to model different heat demand profiles for Phase 2 of the study. Time is limited so we would appreciate a quick response - apart from the information on energy use (from your energy bill) the questions are very simple and wont take more than a few minutes. There is also space to add comments. 
 
Our consultants, Locogen, have completed the Phase 1 Report -  the desktop assessment of benefits and risks of potentially technically feasible energy schemes. We will make the first report available on the website as soon as possible - they concluded "there is potential for a heat network in Great Coxwell - hot network solutions are potentially viable". However, in order to continue this work we now need more detailed information on the energy requirements of the village. 
 
If you are not already signed up for our Community Energy Bulletin, you are still welcome to complete the survey and you might like to go to the website: greenergreatcoxwell.com to sign up  or e-mail [email protected].

Thank you 
Greener Great Coxwell 

web: www.greenergreatcoxwell.com
mail: [email protected]

Greener Great Coxwell Limited is registered in England as a registered society under the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014. 
Registration number: 8761

Have you seen any frogs or newts in your garden or around the parish recently?
 
Greener Great Coxwell (GGC) is concerned about the apparent decline in the number of these fascinating creatures in our village over recent years. There are likely to be a number of reasons for this including loss of habitat, environmental pollution and predation by snakes.  GGC would be pleased to hear from people in the parish with their perception of whether numbers of these animals declined, or even increased, over recent years.
 
Have you seen any newts or frogs in your garden pond or anywhere else in the parish recently?
 
Do you plan to encourage these animals to your garden by establishing a wildlife pond?
 
Please let us know.  Email to: [email protected]
 
Many thanks
 
Ian Mason (on behalf of Greener Great Coxwell)