Meeting last week

We had an excellent RCEL meeting last week with representatives from eight churches in the Reading and Wokingham area. Rob Weston updated us on the exciting progress of the Park URC green energy project, explaining the difficulties of getting planning permission due to the fact that planning regulations in such circumstances do not currently put a value on reducing carbon. He plans to arrange a conference in the autumn to help other churches and users of similar buildings to follow suit and RCEL will take part in organising this.

We were very disappointed to learn that Wokingham Borough Council had unanimously voted against the Rushey Mead wind farm.

I reported on the RCCP and Operation Noah meetings described below and we began preliminary discussions for a meeting in the autumn to encourage more of Reading's churches to become EcoCongregations. Owen Jewiss from St Barnabas Emmer Green introduced Caversham One World Week group's plans to organise an event further into central Reading this year and lots of ideas and offers of help came forward to progress that. Owen also reminded us about Revd Dr. Gillian Straine's new book, For Creed and Creation. A Simple Guide to Greening Your Church and reported on the Oxford diocese's plans to encourage churches to instal pv panels across the diocese. Rachel Chilton of Tilehurst Methodists reported on further campaigning from the Stop Climate Chaos Coalition and Friends of the Earth and the correspondence she has had with Alok Sharma MP on this. Owen also reported on CAFOD's latest campaign to reform UK law so that mining companies have to be transparent about their accounts and pay fair tax in the countries where they work. CAFOD are also promoting a specifically Roman Catholic green church award in conjunction with EcoCongregation called the Live Simply Award.