Low Carbon Ringmer

Low Carbon Ringmer is a community initiative launched by the Ouse Valley and Ringmer Liberal Democrats. Ringmer’s LibDem councillors have recognised the need to offer leadership and practical help in encouraging residents to do their bit for the environment, but they are keen to play down the party political element, so the campaign becomes seen as a community rather than a political initiative.


During the debate on Glyndebourne’s application for a wind turbine, it became clear that the village as a whole could do more to combat global warming. This added fuel to the arguments in favour of the turbine, which had its independent advantages and disadvantages. Without taking sides on that debate, there appears little doubt that the arguments against the turbine would have been morally stronger if the village had been able to point to greater efforts of its own to combat climate change.

The prime mover behind Low Carbon Ringmer is Ringmer’s district councillor Chris Bowers. He has been involved in the environmental movement for over 20 years, and in 1990 founded the Environmental Transport Association, a service and campaigning organisation set up to counteract the road lobbying activities of the AA and RAC. Over the past 16 years he has worked as a communications consultant to the European Federation for Transport and Environment, a Brussels-based umbrella organisation of national and regional lobby groups. Chris chairs the Low Carbon Ringmer working group.




Also heavily involved is another Ringmer district councillor, Peter Gardiner. A retired professor of engineering from Brighton University, he has earned considerable respect in his 14 months on the council, and is now lead councillor for planning on Lewes District Council.

Peter was Head of the School of Environment at Brighton University, which gained a considerable reputation from a wide range of work including structural use of timber as a green material, containment of radioactive deposits in soils, investigating harmful microbiological distributions in rivers, air pollution and a series of habitat studies including South Downs grasslands using GIS methods. He was also a Director of the Brighton Environmental Body, a company set up to carry out green research on pyrolysis, recycling cars and waste.


Among other people who have played a leading role on the Low Carbon Ringmer steering committee are Julie Carr (former lead councillor for the environment on Lewes District Council and now mayor of Newhaven), Rob Parsons (who played a major role in Ringmer getting broadband internet access), and Rosalyn St Pierre (county councillor for Ringmer, Barcombe and eastern Lewes).

To contact Low Carbon Ringmer, please email lowcarbonringmer - at - gmail.com. To contact either Chris Bowers or Peter Gardiner, please email chris.bowers - at - lewes.gov.uk or peter.gardiner - at - lewes.gov.uk.