Hi, my name is Peter Draper and I have been active in the field of community development in and around Cardiff for over 25 years. Having worked or been on the board at Cardiff City Farm, Amelia Trust Farm, Valeways, UNA Exchange, Cardiff Council Sustainable Development Team, Rounded Developments and the Sustainable Traditional Buildings Alliance my knowledge and experience is quite wide. I am also currently on the MSc Building Surveying course at UWE. I have been involved with Renew since the start both as a Co-ordinator and Mentor. Renew was a real lifeline for us as an organisation. It has allowed us to get in early with groups and help them understand their buildings and hence not make the normal mistakes that community groups suffer from. Providing people with a holistic overview as well as detailed levels of understanding has been a real pleasure.

Tell us about an experience of your work with Renew…

There are so many. We have worked with over 50 projects scattered across Wales. We have assisted groups from Wrexham to Fishguard in a wide range of projects, mostly based around making their buildings more sustainable. Most groups are looking to reduce costs, but actually a lot of savings are available just from culture change, re-assessing needs and making slight adjustments here and there.

What is your vision of your region in 2050?

I would like to see a Wales where we live in harmony and people are striving towards a low impact lifestyle. GDP growth is a thing of the past, we are looking for socially driven outcomes and satisfaction rather than monetary gain. Transport and homes are all powered by renewable energy and we still have the fundamental fabric of our built environment intact. We are also members of the EU again and we have balanced out trade and wealth to mean that mass migrations are a thing of the past.