On Friday 12 July LSC members attended a visit arranged by Eco Church at St James’s Piccadilly to Beddington Zero Energy Development housing community in the borough of Sutton.
BedZED is the UK’s first large-scale eco-village. 20 of us from St James’s, Kensington Unitarians, Greenspirit and Sustainable Haringey arrived for the tour of the site, conducted by Katherine Lund-Yates of https://www.bioregional.com/ which champions One Planet living.
Participants were impressed with what they saw\;
“Thank you so much for organising the Bedzed visit. I was very pleased to visit this iconic zero carbon housing community because it is often cited as an exemplar site. It was interesting to hear about the things that have not worked so well, in addition to things that have been a success. In particular, it is heartening that a sense of community has been fostered on the site and that people are keen to stay. It looks like a well-loved space and is bursting with greenness! ” PH
“Seeing Bedzed was an encouraging insight into a cohesive community where eco-living solutions are made straightforward and accessible. It was very insightful being able to see inside a home; I was able to get a real sense of the quality of living and ‘comfortablity’ that the residents experience – and that living in a sustainable way, with a vastly reduced ecological footprint, needn’t be without creature comforts. For that reason, Bedzed seems to appeal to a broad demographic.” OH
“There was much to impress us at BedZed. A sustainable community that people clearly enjoy living in; innovative technology; small gardens for every property, even the studio flats; well insulated properties and very low fuel bills. But the bit that impressed us most was the meadow, shared by all the residents. We visited on a warm, sunny day and it was filled with bees and other insects enjoying the meadow flowers – a special open space available to everyone.” ST
The only disappointment expressed was “I found it inspirational, if disappointing that the BedZ example hasn’t become the norm by now.” CT
Bioregional are developing new schemes using the One Planet Living sustainability framework. Go to https://www.bioregional.com/one-planet-living/get-involved-with-one-planet-living
For two short videos about the work of BedZED and Bioregional, see
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFrqRJbCmIQ and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60es4dTm8Q4
Thank you to David Carter for organising the visit as well as lunch places and a walk by the river Wandle and around Beddington Park, where people were thrilled to see a demoiselle.
Thank you also to Katherine Lund-Yates of Bioregional for giving us an informative tour of the scheme and for answering so many questions.
