SUPPORTERS of Sustainable Crediton have been out in force celebrating the group’s achievements and planning for the future.

Among the new ideas and campaigns which found strong support at Saturday’s meeting were a local energy company, the Boniface Trail campaign for a safe cycling route to Exeter, and suggestions for helping the high street thrive.

The group’s first event in 2007 was a showing of Al Gore’s film An Inconvenient Truth.

Since then the group’s achievements have included saving over eight tonnes of plastic from landfill through the waste plastics collections, which now extend to Cheriton Fitzpaine and Sandford, and the launch of the Crediton Local Pro-duce website, promoting local seasonal food through recipes, shared suppers, and fruit and vegetable gardening.

The group’s regular community markets and seed swaps continue with the next seed swap on Feb-ruary 22 in the Old Town Hall.

Founder-member Dee Ross said: “When a few of us started Crediton Climate Action, as we called it then, at the beginning of 2007, of course we hoped something would come of it, but we didn’t know what.

“To see so many people here today with lots of new ideas is really encouraging.

“It’s surprising what can happen when people get together.”

Energy saving has been another theme – the solar panel project had installed 72 sets of solar panels by April, 2012, and hundreds of people attended open house events to learn more about renewable energy and sustainable living.

Gerald Conyngham, chair of Sustainable Crediton for most of the past seven years, said: “I think the group has also had an influence on local policy makers.

“We’ve run seminars for councillors and senior officers at Mid Devon District Council, and our joint evening event with the town council in January, 2012, attracted 80 people and enough ideas to fill a 19-page report.”