Tenby Point might be off the beaten track, but this small community is making strides
in its journey to sustainability.
in its journey to sustainability.
By Anne Heath Mennell and Margaret Golder
TENBY Point? Where’s that? There are people in our shire who haven’t heard of it. Residents are happy to keep a low profile and maintain the tranquil nature of their small settlement. But things are stirring in Tenby Point – good things.
The story begins with an open-air community gathering in April 2022 to gauge interest in making Tenby Point a totally renewable community. Inspired by the achievements of Totally Renewable Phillip Island (TRPI), 30 households expressed interest in hearing more about the project. Totally Renewable Tenby (TRT) was off and running, with a voluntary working group doing all the groundwork.
TENBY Point? Where’s that? There are people in our shire who haven’t heard of it. Residents are happy to keep a low profile and maintain the tranquil nature of their small settlement. But things are stirring in Tenby Point – good things.
The story begins with an open-air community gathering in April 2022 to gauge interest in making Tenby Point a totally renewable community. Inspired by the achievements of Totally Renewable Phillip Island (TRPI), 30 households expressed interest in hearing more about the project. Totally Renewable Tenby (TRT) was off and running, with a voluntary working group doing all the groundwork.
Yackandandah is leading the way when it comes to community energy, and happy to share its experiencewith other small communities like Tenby Point.
Supported by TRPI, which is quite a long way down the track, members put in many hours making connections with other small communities, like Yackandandah and Venus Bay, which were generous in sharing their experiences of breakthroughs and setbacks and what they might do differently, in retrospect. This information formed a basis for thinking about what could work for Tenby Point, given that every community is different.
So, what could a Totally Renewable Tenby Point look like in 2030? Well, a visitor might see a solar array in one of the paddocks and small neighbourhood community batteries on power poles to allow storage of collective energy, energy sharing and trading via smart meters. Passing cars are all electric and there may be community and private charging stations and space for a car-pooling vehicle. There may be collection spots for things like used batteries and plastic plant pots, a community tool shed and somewhere for harvest/food sharing and swaps.
However, some of the TRT benefits may be less visible. Things like strong community connections both within Tenby Point, locally and further afield; sustainable, renewable, resilient power which reduces the impact of outages; healthy, comfortable and energy-efficient homes; healthy land and waterways creating habitats to support diversity of wildlife; and many others.
So, what could a Totally Renewable Tenby Point look like in 2030? Well, a visitor might see a solar array in one of the paddocks and small neighbourhood community batteries on power poles to allow storage of collective energy, energy sharing and trading via smart meters. Passing cars are all electric and there may be community and private charging stations and space for a car-pooling vehicle. There may be collection spots for things like used batteries and plastic plant pots, a community tool shed and somewhere for harvest/food sharing and swaps.
However, some of the TRT benefits may be less visible. Things like strong community connections both within Tenby Point, locally and further afield; sustainable, renewable, resilient power which reduces the impact of outages; healthy, comfortable and energy-efficient homes; healthy land and waterways creating habitats to support diversity of wildlife; and many others.
All the working group meetings were on zoom. Our co-ordinator, Laura, made the contacts, created a calendar of meetings and organised speakers for each meeting, facilitated each session and distributed notes afterwards which formed the basis of the “roadmap”.
“It was all about learning and it was fabulous,” recalls Margaret, a group member. “All questions were welcome and it really was inclusive and accepting of all perspectives.”
The roadmap was shared with the community in April 2023. The group asked for feedback from community members on the actions and directions outlined in the roadmap and how to prioritise what’s next. The roadmap will grow and change over time as circumstances evolve. Future actions will be worked out in collaboration with the community, with the facilitation/leadership of Laura and the working group.
The group will continue to expand and deepen its connections and partnerships with like-minded organisations and groups. An early priority will be to measure the impacts of improving current levels of energy efficiency by means such as insulation, draught-proofing, seasonal shading and double-glazing (possibly via bulk-buying deals). The more energy efficient our homes are, the less power needs to be generated and stored and emissions are reduced. It is also important that low-income households and renters are included in all planned initiatives.
Group member Hayley says: “I want to be part of a community that contributes to the abundance and life of this place, with respect. There is so much to learn and TRT is providing me with the space to actively learn about caring for community and ecology. Importantly, it’s not just people who need our houses cared for. Birds, frogs, wombats, echidnas, snakes all need their houses to be cared for. Totally Renewable Tenby provides a practical avenue to contribute to some of this care work on a daily basis.”
Laura, our hard-working co-ordinator, says: “I’ve loved finding out about people’s different ideas and perspectives on sustainable ways of living and thinking about how these ideas can go together to inform what a totally renewable Tenby Point could look like - it gives me hope when I think about how much we can achieve when we work together and include everyone's ideas for positive change.”
Tenby Point is lucky to have people who are doing serious work to address climate change in a proactive and positive way. It is increasingly obvious how critical this type of environmental work is. Let’s hope that Totally Renewable Tenby and like-minded projects in the Bass Coast are successful in ensuring that we can all survive and thrive in our beautiful places, in a climate-changed world.
“It was all about learning and it was fabulous,” recalls Margaret, a group member. “All questions were welcome and it really was inclusive and accepting of all perspectives.”
The roadmap was shared with the community in April 2023. The group asked for feedback from community members on the actions and directions outlined in the roadmap and how to prioritise what’s next. The roadmap will grow and change over time as circumstances evolve. Future actions will be worked out in collaboration with the community, with the facilitation/leadership of Laura and the working group.
The group will continue to expand and deepen its connections and partnerships with like-minded organisations and groups. An early priority will be to measure the impacts of improving current levels of energy efficiency by means such as insulation, draught-proofing, seasonal shading and double-glazing (possibly via bulk-buying deals). The more energy efficient our homes are, the less power needs to be generated and stored and emissions are reduced. It is also important that low-income households and renters are included in all planned initiatives.
Group member Hayley says: “I want to be part of a community that contributes to the abundance and life of this place, with respect. There is so much to learn and TRT is providing me with the space to actively learn about caring for community and ecology. Importantly, it’s not just people who need our houses cared for. Birds, frogs, wombats, echidnas, snakes all need their houses to be cared for. Totally Renewable Tenby provides a practical avenue to contribute to some of this care work on a daily basis.”
Laura, our hard-working co-ordinator, says: “I’ve loved finding out about people’s different ideas and perspectives on sustainable ways of living and thinking about how these ideas can go together to inform what a totally renewable Tenby Point could look like - it gives me hope when I think about how much we can achieve when we work together and include everyone's ideas for positive change.”
Tenby Point is lucky to have people who are doing serious work to address climate change in a proactive and positive way. It is increasingly obvious how critical this type of environmental work is. Let’s hope that Totally Renewable Tenby and like-minded projects in the Bass Coast are successful in ensuring that we can all survive and thrive in our beautiful places, in a climate-changed world.