IN total, 20 people watched the short film 'Peak Oil — Imposed by Nature', which brought home to everyone just how important Peak Oil is.

Paul Sousek talked about the likelihood of the 2008 energy crisis repeating itself at higher intensity as soon as any recovery begins, driving the economy back into recession. It is likely that 2008 was the last year of the 'Age of Growth' and 2009 marks the start of the 'Age of Decline' in economic terms. All this makes it imperative that we engage in Transition from high energy to low energy society ASAP, increasing the resilience of our communities to better withstand the coming shocks.

It was agreed to approve the formation of Transition Bude. A steering group was formed of five volunteers, plus one from each sub-group, which are: Food Group, Transport & Energy Group, Education, Awareness & Events Group. Further groups will no doubt emerge over time.

The meeting was enthusiastic and numerous ideas emerged, which will be taken forward by the groups. Also major exhibition and other events are planned for September and October. For further details see the http://www.TransitionNC.org&quot;>www.TransitionNC.org <http://www.transitionnc.org/&quot;>http://www.transitionnc.org/> website, Resources section and Bude section or email [email protected]">[email protected].

We live in extraordinary times – an economic crisis the like of which we have not seen before and an increasingly widespread realization that something pretty awful is happening to the planet. To add to this there is one more very important factor we have yet to take on board – our dependence on oil and the fact of its diminishing supply.

Oil is the magic-like substance upon which our civilized, comfortable lives depend and we have enjoyed the benefits of its awesome power for a long time. We only need to reflect on the fact that among other things oil in the form of petrol multiplies the physical force of each human being 70 times to appreciate what it will mean when it becomes too scarce to be readily available. Now is your chance to familiarise yourself with this huge threat, and, not just that but to join up with the new group prepared to do something about it – Transition Bude.

As gloomy as the situation is, and the need for us all to grasp the full consequences of its implications, we need not assume that there is nothing we can do, because there certainly is. But, we need to do it quickly and we need to do it together. Many others in the country are finding that there are plenty of things we can do, and, furthermore, that in the process a great deal of fun can be had with the possibility of recovering much that was good in our past: things we need to relearn and a way of life that was concentrated far more than it is now on community partnership.

Let's take food as an example. What can we do? For a start we can begin to join together to get space locally to grow vegetables. If no allotments can be found by our council then surely we can do something to get the many uncultivated gardens in the district productively tilled by willing gardeners able to help out those unable to do it themselves, and share the produce. Other towns are planting communal areas with fruit and nut trees in an effort to increase self-sufficiency.

We need to join together to act to help supermarkets stock more Fairtrade produce of goods not available locally and also to stock much more local produce. At the same time we need to encourage local businesses by providing a permanent market facility for traders and farmers to sell their goods to us directly. These aims are both necessary and achievable and should keep us busy for a while.