A very big thank you to everyone who helped in our fight against Tesco. Now we need to fight Round 2!! This green lung, just to the east of Halstead High Street comprises woodland containing 9 Trees under Tree Preservation Orders and natural springs that provide a wetland environment for amphibians. There are also 16 WWII air raid shelters, 9 of which are listed: as a group this is a very rare thing. Braintree District Council plan to ‘regenerate’ the site, to build more roads, properties and shops and demolish all but one or two of the shelters. We want this land to be conserved for present and future generations, to be a green haven, a heritage site and something that the town can be proud of. Thank you again for your continued support - let's see if people power can win again!!! Eileen Penn Halstead 21st Century Group 'Preserving our past for the future' This is a large area of natural woodland, with several very mature trees, full of wildlife: deer, bats, owls, hedgehogs, squirrels, rabbits, newts, frogs etc. It is also home to one of the largest collection of Air Raid Shelters in the country, sixteen in total, which are of a huge historical importance. The many bats are also known to roost in them. These shelters were for the use of the mill workers (Courtaulds Mill was nearby) in Factory Lane East and the Mill Managers who lived in cottages in Vicarage Meadow. It would be lovely if this could all be retained for the people of Halstead and others to visit. All the mature trees could be retained and some of the grassy areas made into parkland, with the rest being maintained as a nature reserve.. Each air raid shelter could have an information board, with likely items from the war years on display. And the many deer and other animals could be allowed to continue roaming free. Alison shea

The independent documentary that was screened on BBC 2, "You've been Trumped" made the case that land belonging to the residents of Menie has been stolen by Donald Trump by way of forceably taking over land that does not legally belong to him. The documentary showed the bullying tactics that were used and that the local council, Grampian Police force and the Scottish Government allowed this to happen without any intervention. Nobody, regardless of how much money or influence they may have, should be allowed to forceably take over anybodies land or property.

20mph speed limits should be the norm in communties in Wiltshire, making them nicer, safer and healthier places to live. Many forward thinking Councils already have widespread 20mph limits and Wiltshire Council should follow their example.

Barnet Council closed the library last April because of budget cuts, and are planning to sell it off. The library has been a vital hub for the community since 1934 – providing everything from personal finance advice and pilates classes to computer access, as well as offering warmth for the elderly struggling with heating bills and a safe, quiet place for kids to do their homework. Occupy London activists occupied the library in early September, and re-opened it for the community. Thanks to books and computers donated by local people it is now being run by community volunteers on a rota basis. The occupation has the blessing of many residents who are delighted to see the locked doors of the library flung open once again. But Barnet Council have started eviction proceedings. Help us to keep our library open. We need 7,000 signatures to trigger a debate by the council. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-kDo7tVgAA

This is so important for childrens lives of those who were granted a Freeing Order for Adoption and which may have been granted after the 28th September 2010 cut off date. It left a legal 'loop-hole' which means the Freeing Order (which frees the child from his or her birth family legally) may not be fully valid, so any Adoption granted on the back of such a Freeing Order may not be totally watertight legally. This has many implications for the future of such children and the Scottish Government needs to make this legislation totally clear. My family are suffering financially and emotionally because of the uncertainty this has caused, we have been waiting more than 2years now for clarification. Please sign the petition to help put pressure on the government to clarify things once and for all. Thank you.

We know that GCSEs are not working. We know that our education system is working solely due to the immense and highly admirable efforts of those who work tirelessly to improve the chances and opportunities of young people. We have the opportunity, as a people, to radically evolve this system. For a summary of why this government's proposals are likely to cause immense damage, see http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/sep/17/michael-gove-gcse-reforms?newsfeed=true. Some of the world's most foremost experts in education, who have all achieved spectacular results, have suggested a very different route. See for example http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html. Rather than ignoring them, the government could and should make use of their considerable expertise. By taking the small step of revising the proposals through a committee of learning experts, the government has the opportunity to make positive and informed reforms that will benefit each and every child in the UK for generations to come.

This area is vital to the local community. We have a shortage of sports pitches and community open space on the Western side of the town The Council should be putting the local community before profit.

These teachers and pupils have worked hard to succeed. This government is not supporting children, especially children in the state sector and especially children who do not come from priveleged backgrounds. All children are our future.

Wandsworth Borough Council is pushing through, at breakneck speed, a proposal to sell 46% of the playing fields at Elliott School in Putney (15,070m² / 3.72 acres / 41% of the total site including buildings) for private redevelopment despite the school being a Grade II-listed building and despite a public consultation which showed 96% of respondents to be against any land sale. Lord Hill of Oareford, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Schools, has just given consent for these playing fields to be sold during the Olympics, despite the spirit of the law which protects them, despite their Grade II listing and irrespective of public opinion and statutory stakeholders. Unless challenged in the strongest terms, a devastating precedent is about to be set which will legitimise sale of public land in other boroughs and counties across the UK. THIS IS THE THIN END OF THE WEDGE: all schools and all public land are seriously threatened by the lack of opposition to such proposals. This is an opportunity to make a stand for green space, education, architecture and national heritage, public health, democracy, accountability, and, ultimately, sound stewardship of public assets and public income. A full briefing pack is available on the campaign's website: http://saveelliottschool.tumblr.com/ An e-petition to the Government to force debate in Parliament is here: http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/34446 If you have signed THIS petition, PLEASE SIGN THE GOVT. E-PETITION TOO! Questions welcome at [email protected]

The employees of Remploy are mainly disabled and their work there provides them with a high degree of independance, self esteem and the benefits of working with other people. closing these factories, especialy in the current economic climate is likely to throw them on the mercy of the benefits system.

The law is a discriminatory one which relies on an individual police officer's judgement and, as such, is open to abuse. The police officer is open to criticism for misuse of the order and under 16 year old's are vulnerable to overzealous application and miss-accusations. The discriminatory nature of the order encourages the hatred and fear of young people and allows some to feel justified in discriminatory attitudes toward them. It encourages those who have suffered at the hands of badly behaved youths to believe that they are all like that and to become more afraid. It will only serve to alienate young people and make them feel that the police are there simply to control them but not to protect them. Already young people in Bangor are avoiding going out to the cinema and to after school clubs for fear of being caught in the curfew or of being beaten up by the marauding gangs that this order implies are on the loose in the city center. Bangor is a lovely historic place with much to offer young and old alike. It suffers from very little anti-social behavior apart from a very few people in limited areas and the usual after pub and club problems present in all cities. It is suffering in the downturn from an empty high street (the longest in the country) but there was no rioting in Bangor last year, the out of town JJB sports, PC World etc were not ransacked as was seen in other towns and cities across the UK, so why Bangor? There was no consultation with the public or even their elected representatives on the City Council. This is despite the ACPO guidance that there should be consultation with the effected community and a Rowntree report, which concludes that these laws have only been effective where consultation and involvement had taken place. This law is badly worded, heavy handed, discriminatory and draconian and it should be stopped now!

The Channel Island of Sark has just 600 inhabitants. They lead a peaceful and historic way of life that has remained largely unchanged for hundreds of years. The islanders get around on bikes or by horse and cart - there are no cars or tarmac roads on the island. It is a unique and beautiful place, a rare piece of tranquillity in a chaotic modern world. But now the billionaire owners of The Telegraph newspaper, the Barclay brothers, are threatening that way of life. Twenty years ago, they bought the tiny neighbouring island of Brecqhou and built a huge mock gothic castle that looms over Sark. Ever since, they have been buying up every hotel, small business and piece of land they can get their hands on. The islands status as a tax haven means the brothers have to pay no tax on their fortune back to the UK. The Sarkees have been doing everything they can to resist their power over the island. In 2008, the Barclays tried to flood the island's first democratically elected government with their allies. When the islanders emphatically rejected them in favour of their own representatives, the brothers retaliated by firing everyone who worked in any of the businesses they had bought out - that amounted to a sixth of Sark's population losing their jobs. It doesn't end there. Those who speak out against the brothers' stranglehold on the island are publicly dragged through the dirt in the Sark Newsletter - a weekly propaganda piece written by the Barclays' lieutenant, Kevin Delaney. The islanders recently told the Guardian and BBC that they live in fear in a "culture of bullying and intimidation." The Barclay brothers company Sark Estate Management (SEM) has turned much of their good quality agricultural land over to vineyards, land that was traditionally used by the islanders for centuries for growing crops and grazing livestock. In November 2012 a peaceful protest at the Sark Mill vineyards against the spread of vines resulted in 120 Sark residents signing a petition asking the Barclays to reconsider their vineyard project but this was ignored. SEM continue to spray the vineyards with chemicals and residents fear for the health of Sark's pristine ecosystem and their fresh water supplies which come from under the ground. Sark is a dependency of the Crown but, so far, our government has left the islanders to fend for themselves. The Department of Justice has admitted that it has an "ultimate responsibility to ensure good governance" of Sark. They are aware of what's going on - former Justice Minister Lord McNally has already been to visit the island. It's time Lord Faulks, the new Justice Minister and Chris Grayling, the Secretary of State for Justice, lived up to that responsibility. You can find out more about the situation in Sark in this recent Panorama show: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01px74c/Panorama_The_Tax_Haven_Twins/ Or this earlier Today programme piece: http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_9709000/9709518.stm