ACT Newsletter August 2026

Welcome to ACT’s latest newsletter keeping you informed of the activities our Groups have been working on. Do get in touch if you are tempted to join in with any of our projects!

Featuring:
Is Climate Action Becoming Less Of A Priority To The British Public? (part 2)
Local Government Reorganisation
Support Your Community
Film Inspires Hope As Well As Fear
Wildlife Warden Update
Climate Update: 10 Things YOU can do to tackle climate change — starting NOW
Minimising Base Load Energy Consumption
Teignbridge Community Network Event
ACT Events
Produced by Scott Williams

Is Climate Action Becoming Less Urgent For The British Public? (Article 2)

This is the second article on this theme- see the first in the April Newsletter.

The whole purpose of ACT is to support our District Council and the residents of Teignbridge to work towards achieving carbon neutrality.

So I was drawn to recent research that suggests the proportion of people who support urgent action to reduce carbon emissions and reach net zero has fallen in the past five years. If we are all going to stay motivated to continue to take actions, big and small, and within our own capacities, we need to understand why this is happening.

Research from King’s College London, Ipsos and the Centre for Climate Change and Social Transformations found that only 3 in 10 people now say the UK should achieve net zero before 2050, down from 5 in 10 in 2021. There is also declining support for climate policies such as low traffic neighbourhoods and a subsidy for green cars.

However, a 64% majority still say the government target should be 2050 or earlier. The majority of all age groups and all political parties except Reform still favour this. But there are some inconsistencies such as a recent study which shows 80% support for expanding the UK’s renewable energy infrastructure, including 65% of Reform supporters.

A number of commentators offer ideas about the inconsistency between continuing concern and declining urgency about the crisis. Professor Duffy of King’s College London suggests issues related to climate change have increasingly been drawn into “culture war” debates in the UK. The public see a tension between ‘believers’ and ‘sceptics’ (64%) though 68% do not consider themselves to be in either of these categories. This may contribute to why the urgency people feel has been affected, despite our continuing wish to see Net Zero as soon as possible.

Other commentators offer the idea that more immediate priorities have taken over from the climate, such as inflation and the NHS (see my comment article in the April Newsletter). The importance of action to reduce costs to households is underlined. There is an urgent need for unifying narratives and policies on climate change, which will improve all our lives, across the political spectrum.

The polarisation of views, on climate or otherwise, is a great distraction. To quote the late MP Jo Cox, ‘We have more in common than that which divides us’.

Mandy Cole
ACT Public Engagement Group

Local Government Reorganisation

Action on Climate in Teignbridge has been working with our district/local councils, organisations, businesses and local people since Teignbridge District Council declared a climate emergency in 2019. Our work has significantly increased climate knowledge and action for our planet. Climate change is the most important issue for our world; it is much more important than local government reorganisation, yet the reorganisation that has been decided upon for our district will cripple Teignbridge District Council over the coming two years and is likely to take up the equivalent of two or three days work a week! It is very likely that much of the council’s important climate change work will be shelved.

The proposed reorganisation carves up a district that has a real identity and a District Council that has worked hard for many years to provide good, low carbon and nature-friendly services. Teignbridge is an excellent example of urban towns and villages sustained by its extensive rural areas. The proposed reorganisation is nothing short of a land grab to extend two large urban areas along the currently protected coastline.

Equivalent LGR initiatives have shown that savings can only be achieved when populations of the newly created council exceed 500,000. All the proposed areas apart from the remaining rural rump will have a population around or below 300,000. This being the threshold where major financial costs will be incurred both for set-up and ongoing operation.

Other serious threats of this proposed reorganisation include the loss of valuable members of Teignbridge Council staff, who are already overworked and are likely to move away from a dying council.

ACT supports a judicial review of this unexpected decision. It isn’t democratic and many local MPs and councillors are opposed to it. The Local Government Reorganisation decisions were made by Steve Reed. We need to know whether Angela Rayner, the current Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government supports that view – or whether she feels that the money required would be better used in other ways.

notes:

ACT will work as normal until there is a final decision and the arrangements are clearer; TDC continues to exist until April 2028
Teignbridge is the most significantly affected council — being split three ways: 6% to Torbay, 21% to Exeter, 23% to the Devon Council
New unitary authorities take over 1 April 2028; elections in May 2027
Existing district wards remain for Exeter, Torbay, and Plymouth; Devon’s ward boundaries still to be determined
The decision is not yet legally final — Devon County Council is considering a judicial review ; local MPs (including Steve Day) are largely opposed
Of the five proposals, the one chosen, proposed by Plymouth and Exeter Councils, was ranked fourth by those who responded to the consultation
Practical implication for ACT: TDC will be effectively unavailable for partnership work during the transition
ACT will share these thoughts with the new Secretary of State, local MPs and Councillors

Audrey Compton
ACT Wildlife Wardens

Support Your Community

Anyone out there who wants to contribute a bit of time to ensuring ACT continues to operate as a Community Interest Company (CIC)?

By the end of this year, Paul, our treasurer, is finally hanging up his calculator having done the task for nearly seven years.

If you are good with numbers and have a few hours to spare every three months or so, please get in touch. We have an established system/tools to track our ~£15k turnover, which of course you can adjust to suit your way of keeping the books, and submitting quarterly/annual reports. The earlier we have someone in place the easier the handover!

Unsure if you can commit before knowing what’s involved? No problem, we can explain things before any decisions.

Fuad Al-Tawil
Energy group coordinator

Film Inspires Hope As Well As Fear

We had a full house at the July 10th screening of the People’s Emergency Briefing in The Pavilions,Teignmouth. That’s nearly 200 people, a majority of whom stayed for the discussion after the film, which was one of over 2,400 screenings so far in the UK and was organised in partnership with Teignbridge District Council.

Martin Wrigley, the Newton Abbot MP, was in attendance, as were several councillors, including Jackie Hook, Executive Member for Environment, Climate and Sustainability. The mayor of Teignmouth, Lily Chasteau, also came along.

During the discussion, several people reported feeling more fearful after watching the film. The facilitator, Mandy Cole of ACT, asked for a show of hands and estimated more than half the audience felt that way.

One participant described moving from anger and frustration to genuine fright, but with increased motivation to act. Another acknowledged fear but was also inspired by the practical steps the film detailed. A third, who said this was her second viewing of the film, said it still evoked fear, but also hope.

She said: “I’ll tell you where I get my hope from, mostly, is being in this room, because I think you’re probably all lovely people who are really scared of our choices.So let’s make a different one. What people are forgetting is that we’re the 80%, we’re the ones with the power, we are the silent majority.”

She said one action she took after her first viewing, and will take again, was to tell two people about the film. “And one person went to a screening, and they’re really pleased they did. Because most people are so scared of this and they don’t have all the facts. The people in power will listen to us when we’re noisier than we are now. So go and tell someone about this film.”

Martin Wrigley said his conclusion from watching the film, and being at the national emergency briefing the film is a record of, was “We cannot carry on doing what we’re doing right now; we have to make changes at every level. Part of that is individual, part is local groups, part is councils making a difference, part is national, and part is global. But we all have to do our part in what we can.”

He encouraged the audience to write to him, but acknowledged in answer to a question that it’s not enough, because our voting system makes the government incapable of long term planning. It’s helpful, though, to write and point to good research he may have missed and could use to make an argument in Parliament.

“What we have to do,” Mr Wrigley said, “is have a government that believes they can make a change and that’s what we’ve been missing in the past couple of years. They haven’t been bold enough, they haven’t been pushy enough, they haven’t believed they can change things as fundamentally as they need to.”

One of the actions we need to push the government to take is to hold a televised national briefing about the risks from climate and nature breakdown. Please sign the petition calling for such a briefing.

Pauline Wynter
ACT Public Engagement Group Co Chair

Wildlife Warden Update

After reading Vicky’s comprehensive report on Wildlife Warden projects on Dartmoor, we have been awarded £1,000pa by Dartmoor National Park Aurthority for three years!

Devon Biodiversity Records Centre ran a habitat survey morning course for a large group of us at Woodah Farm. This has been followed by several County Wildlife Site Surveys around the District – thank you Survey Team!

Our surveyors have also re-surveyed many of Teignbridge District Council’s open spaces – part of our work with them to see whether some small management changes can increase plants and insects.

We had a morning for district and county councillors here – 10 councillors and 10 wildlife wardens, who talked about what they had been doing; followed by a meadow and brook woodland corridor walk – and of course, lots of coffee and cakes. A great success and possibly extra funding.

Albert Knott ran two evening ‘glow worm walks’ for wildlife wardenm on the Moor.

There was a well-attended social meeting at Glyn and Helen’s lovely wildlife farm near Dunsford.

Vicky and I ran an Introductory meeting for seven new wildlife wardens – on the evening of England’s match – and they still came!

I led a ‘Love your Weeds’ walk around Chudleigh car park – around 40 species of plants thrive there, mostly useful and beautiful (except for the MacDonald-like Buddleia!). This is part of our work to reduce complaints about ‘untidy’ streets and car parks when spray use is reduced.

Audrey Compton
ACT Wildlife Wardens

Climate Update: 10 things YOU can do to tackle climate change — starting NOW

I write regular articles in Reconnect Magazine, here’s our current top 10 list of actions you can take….

Climate change can feel like a huge problem — but there are plenty of things we can do that make a real difference. And when we do them together, our impact multiplies.

⚡ Switch to renewable energy

Choose a renewable electricity tariff, generate your own power with solar or wind where you can, and move away from fossil-fuel heating.

🌱 Eat more plants

Try making more of your meals plant-based. Eat less meat and dairy, choose seasonal food and avoid wasting what you buy.

🚲 Travel differently

Walk, cycle, use public transport and trains wherever possible. For longer journeys, consider rail before flying — and explore the amazing places we have here in the UK.

🏠 Make buildings work harder

Insulate your home, draught-proof, improve energy efficiency and consider low-carbon heating such as a heat pump. The same applies to workplaces, community buildings and businesses.

🛍️ Buy less — and buy better

Before buying something new, ask: Do I really need it? Choose durable, repairable products and avoid unnecessary consumption.

♻️ Buy local, second-hand and seasonal

Support local producers and businesses, buy pre-loved where you can, and keep money circulating in our local economy.

🔄 Reduce, reuse, repair, recycle

Recycling matters — but reducing waste comes first. Repair things rather than replacing them, reuse what you already have and share equipment you only occasionally need.

🤝 Share more

Cars, tools, lawnmowers, skills, food and even spare space can all be shared. Community sharing means less stuff, less waste and more connection.

🌳 Give nature a helping hand

Grow some of your own food, plant trees and hedgerows, create wildlife-friendly gardens, rewild where you can and protect the natural spaces around us.

📣 Turn individual action into collective action

Talk to your family, friends and neighbours. Join a local climate group. Ask businesses and your council to act. The biggest changes happen when communities act together.

And remember…

You don’t have to do everything. Start with one thing — then bring someone else with you.

If you’d like to join our Carbon Cutters group email Scott our CC coordinator (scott@actionclimateteignbridge.org)

Scott Williams
ACT CC Coordinator

Minimising Base Load Energy Consumption

The cost of energy is always a problem. In a perfect world energy would be abundant, clean to generate and free.

Sadly, energy comes at monetary cost to you, and environmental cost to the earth.
To reduce your energy consumption, a great first step is to look at your base load energy consumption.

Base load is the energy our homes consume all the time. When we are out, when we are asleep, when there is no active use of devices that consume energy.

The average UK 2-to-3-bedroom house consumes around 18,000 kWh of energy annually and pays around £1,850 for this energy. 10% to 15% of this energy consumption is likely base load, nothing to do with heating the house or water, powering the cooking or devices or keeping the lights on.

Here’s my suggested guide for minimising electricity base load.

If you have a smart meter, check your hourly energy consumption overnight or when you are out. How much power are you drawing? (hourly energy measured). If your average base load power is less than 50 Watts, you’re already expert at this!

Investigate what consumes your base load power to help you decide if this is or is not a necessary use of energy. There are several ways to do this. Find out more from me or read about the free facilitated sessions offered by ACT/TDC here. 

If you feel confident to do it yourself, take a look at the My Electricity tool to guide you and help record your findings.

If your electricity base load is say 200 Watts per hour, that’s 4.8 kWh of daily base load which seems trivial until you multiply that by 365 days in the year. That’s 1,752-kWh consumed before you’ve turned the lights on, heated the house, made hot water, washed and dried clothes and cooked. Those 1,752 kWh are your first £350 of energy expenditure each year. It’s worth deciding if you want to use all that power.

Next time I’ll investigate further steps.

Paul Bloch
ACT Carbon Cutting Team

Teignbridge Community Network Event

On Thursday 15 October from 1:30pm – 4:30pm at The Courtenay Centre in Newton Abbot (TQ12 2QA), the second Teignbridge Community Network Event takes place – a welcoming and inspiring gathering for town and parish councillors, community leaders, and voluntary sector organisations from across the district, with someone from ACT giving a short talk.

Teignbridge CVS and Teignbridge District Council bring everyone together again for an interactive and valuable session of themed networking opportunities, giving attendees more time to meet others who care deeply about their communities, share ideas and make connections. This is an opportunity to step back from day-to-day challenges, meet others who care deeply about their communities, share ideas, and explore how we can achieve more by working together.

What you can expect:

Connect with fellow councillors and community leaders from across Teignbridge.
Hear the latest updates on local priorities, projects and initiatives from guest speakers including representatives from Teignbridge District Council and Action on Climate Teignbridge.
Share experiences and learn from what is working in communities like yours.
Discover opportunities, funding, resources and support available to help your community thrive.
Explore partnerships and build stronger relationships across sectors.
Have your voice heard and help shape future conversations and action across Teignbridge

What’s in store?

Local Government Reorganisation: What does it mean for you?
Climate change and what to do about it

Networking and discussion sessions on:

Employment
Dementia
Families

Please note that at the time of booking you will be asked to indicate your preference for the themed networking opportunities, and to propose a question for one or more of the speakers.

To buy tickets click here