Permaculture adventures in Sector39

A hastily written response to a negative article in the SHROPSHIRE STAR complaining of occasional release of odours caused by the composting process at cwm harry

Dear Anwen,

Stink? We are turning it into a tourist destination!

I read your piece on Cwm Harry on Friday with great interest and would love to respond to the article.

Whilst of course i have sympathy for those complaining about he ‘stink’ fom the community composting unit at Cwm Harry in Newtown my first thought was more about the nature of the plant itself and I wondered if people were aware of the potential importance of this ground breaking project.

There are of course tight environmental controls over such things as commercial composting and the Trust is regularly monitored by the Environment Agency to ensure there is compliance with regulations. There is a regular body of staff working there who really just get used to the sweet smell of compost and dont see it as a problem at all. It is a matter of perception to a degree, we all get used to traffic noise and fumes and other discomforts and I wondered if a lack of understanding of the project’s goals might add to the grievences, so I wanted to outline what the project is all about.

As a new recruit, i started working there a month ago I am full of enthusiasm for their work. In fact we are developing the back lot of the site as a community resource and garden where we are teaching food growing skills and promoting local food production. We take visitors from the community and school groups, have regular volunteers and even the occasional green tourist!

We live in intereting times, as the Gulf of Mexico fills swith spilt oil we are reminded that ten calories of oil are currently used to produce a single calorie of food in our modern system of production. Modern food production is simply not sustainable as it is so reliant on oil, which is of course a finite resource. Here at Cwm Harry we are not about preaching to anyone, but we do have a strong feeling that composting, recycling nutrients and more local food production will be an increasingly important part of food production in the near future and I am proud to be a part of that ground breaking research.

We are planning open days and other comunity events so there will be lots of opportunity to come and find out more about the project and a chance to make up your own mind –  is it the sweet smell of a more sustainable future or the unbearable stench of decay? you decide!

As a new recuit these are my personal views and not necasserily those of the Trust.