• Save the Music Festivals at Bredy Farm
    This is a desperate plea for help, for the sake of not only our livelihoods and our passion, but for the young local people we employ, the musicians we support, the enjoyment of a hundreds to thousands of our loyal supporters, what they bring to the local economy, and the fear of Burton Bradstock being allowed to become truly Jurassic by nature. An abatement notice has been served based solely on a number of complaints that were sent in to Environmental Health after the event had taken place, which runs the risk of stopping any future events from taking place at Bredy Farm. We have worked incredibly hard throughout the years to make the events here at Bredy Farm a success. Although not our sole professions (Charlie runs the day to day jobs on the farm and Abi is a veterinary surgeon) we have put our hearts, minds, lives and souls into them to make them incredibly special for everyone and anyone who attends, whether it be their first ever "music festival", or they are a lifelong festival goer, and as result we have all of you wonderful, friendly and loyal supporters to show for it. Each year we donate to a good cause, last year we gave £1000 to the local primary school which enabled them to enrich the children's lives with a day long African Drumming workshop - the money also made their theatre production at a local venue possible. This year we were hoping to donate a similar sum of money towards helping the homeless in the local area, either through shelters, food sources or clothing banks. The family friendly weekend music events that we hold occur on 9 days out of 365 days of the year and the live music starts at midday and finishes at 11:45pm, with background music at the bar until 2am. We are a 500 person family friendly festival and we are considered to be a statutory nuisance. When you compare us to the likes Glastonbury, Bestival, Boomtown, Reading Festival, etc. who are not only a considerable deal larger than us, but also play music until the early hours of the morning (ours finishes at 11:45pm), you wonder how this could be possible? Despite having statements from several residents explaining that the music could not be heard within their houses or after the hours that our licensing ended as well as a history of the village petitioning and campaigning to get any novel enterprises that bring life to the village shut down, environmental health have, for one reason or another, without justification, bowed to their actions. The village are renowned for not accepting change and we believe the reason there was such a barrage of complaints that came in specifically for Bredy Farm after the event had taken place is because the main complainants had sent letters to residents to complain about the "noise coming from events at Bredy Farm", rather than encouraging people to complain about the "noise over the weekend", which should have initiated an investigation as to where the noise was coming from rather than immediately serving us an abatement notice. The key leaders of the campaign to get the events shut down coincidentally own neighbouring holiday letting and campsite businesses within the village. The Environmental Health Officer managing the case, did not witness the apparent "nuisance" nor investigate whether any other events were being held on the same weekend. There were, in fact, several other parties being held on the same weekend one within the heart of the village, and another being held to the East of us for an 80th birthday party, which involved "very loud music until the early hours of the morning". Despite the previous two events, where there has been factual audio recordings to show we are not causing a statutory nuisance, and the continued close work with Environmental Health to jump through hoops to try to reduce any sound travelling from the events, we have been issued with an abatement notice following on from a barrage of complaints all coincidentally directed at Bredy Farm. But, how did the people KNOW that the noise was coming directly from us? Letters were distributed by certain companies within the village to their residents encouraging them to complain directly to EHO about Bredy Farm events. Please do have a look at what we do: Camping Be Cider Seaside - May event 2018 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5FRO_M-tAA SouthCider Festival - June event 2018 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_79YUEgAYik Despite working closely with environmental health and improving the noise at each event, we are now having to expend an enormous amount of time and money to try to appeal the unnecessary abatement notices, which also run the risk of stopping any future events taking place. Spread the word and thank you for taking the time to listen to us, we really appreciate your support! If you can help us in anyway, please do get in touch.
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    Created by Abi Charlesworth
  • Remove condition 16 of the licensing Act for Polzeath Pancake Shack
    This is important for us as we pay a license to trade and we have overnight free camping which sometimes our spot gets parked in and we cannot trade, we are paying a license to trade and the council license team seem to think it’s not their problem if I can’t trade! Which then means I can’t provide a service to all my customers who come to Polzeath for my pancakes!! I employ local staff, and my carbon footprint is zero, I live here, all year round. Please sign and share and let the council know why you think this is important to you and your families when you come to visit Cornwall.
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    Created by Seahem Sodhi
  • Housing Policy Needs Urgent Change
    Increased supply and quality comes from competition and incentives, not from over regulation or divisive taxation policies. There's a hole in the bucket and it's not being refilled quickly enough. Private landlords are selling up in droves, thus reducing the pool of better quality homes available to rent. Private investment into much needed rental housing is being strangled, and this MUST STOP! National and Local Government policies are discouraging private investment into rental accommodation, especially in recent years. This is already negatively impacting housing development and the wider economy. If the supply of private rental accommodation continues to contract, demand will cause rents to increase and ordinary people will find it even harder to find flexible and affordable housing. Taxing suppliers, whether directly or by stealth, is always passed on to consumers. In this case, that means upward pressure on rents. There have been several forms of stealth taxes and indirect taxation applied to private housing providers. These include; the taxation of finance costs, increased Stamp Duty Land Tax, banning tenant fees and Selective Licencing. Government and Local Councils need to stop milking private housing providers like cash cows and reverse all such policies before further suffering is caused. Badly informed campaigning could also undo all the good things the Housing Act 1988 achieved. We urge Government to be mindful of this.
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    Created by Mark Alexander
  • Student Nurse Student Finance Reduction
    Student Nurses who are in receipt of a bursary receive over £500 less in their third academic year of study. Their final year of study is the same length as years one and two making the reduction on loan unjustified. This has been in dispute for nearly a year with no explanation as to why the reduction occurs.
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    Created by Bradley Crow
  • Access to free period products for all women in Scotland
    The 1st Musselburgh Senior Section want to end period poverty. We’re calling for free period products for everyone who needs them. We’ve been working on Girlguiding Scotland’s Citizen Girl challenge badge in our unit – which is all about exploring why our voices matter and how we can speak out on the issues that matter to us. This got us thinking about some of the barriers girls our age face and we decided to campaign to end period poverty after seeing how condoms are provided for free at our school but how girls currently have to pay for period supplies like tampons and pads. It’s not fair that girls have to pay for something they have no choice in! We’re really encouraged to see free period products will now be available in Scottish schools but think more needs to be done to end period poverty once and for all. That’s why we’re calling for free products in other public places like Community Centres, Sport Centres and Libraries and for a system to make sure these products are easily accessible and freely available to anyone who needs them. We also want to tackle the stigma around periods and period poverty – so girls and women know this isn’t something they have to hide or be ashamed of. Women worldwide, are incapacitated by an inevitable biological process, not one of their own making. Many women cannot afford this basic necessity, which impacts so heavily on their lives. We would like to ask that Angela Constance MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Communities, Social Security and Equalities, and Shona Robinson MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport, to help end the stigma around periods and make sure period products are freely and easily accessible to anyone who needs them, not just while we’re at school but throughout our lives.
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    Created by 1st Musselburgh Senior Section
  • A4063 Maesteg-Tondu Cycle Route
    Despite an increasing number of commuting and leisure cyclists that use this road since it was constructed, it is wholly inadequate for the purpose and it is only by luck that no cyclist has been seriously injured. Although there is a proposal for a cycle route from Maesteg out of the valley, it is not conducive for those wishing to commute via bike since it would involve narrow lanes and add at least an extra 15-20 minutes to the journey. Therefore, a route running the length of the A4063 over the ample grass verges is the only solution for journey times.
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    Created by Christopher Teague
  • Recycle food waste in Plymouth
    In the UK the average family throws away 22% of their weekly shop, which is worth £700 per year. Food waste is really, really bad for the environment. It takes a land mass larger than China to grow the food each year that is ultimately never eaten – all to produce food that we then just throw away. In addition, food that is never eaten accounts for 25% of all fresh water consumption globally. Not only are all of the resources that went into creating the uneaten food wasted (land, water, labour, energy, manufacturing, packaging, etc), but when food waste goes to landfill, which is where the vast majority of it ends up, it decomposes without access to oxygen and creates methane, which is 23x more deadly than carbon dioxide. Every which way you look at it food waste is a major culprit in destroying our planet, and in fact if food waste were a country, it would be the third largest emitter of greenhouse gases after China and the USA. So, the bad news is we are half the problem. But the good news is….. this means we can be half the solution! Ref: https://olioex.com/food-waste/the-problem-of-food-waste/
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    Created by Jane Bullard
  • Prevent the closure of Marks and Spencer in Clacton On Sea Town Centre.
    Marks and Spencer has served the people of Clacton since the 1930's, it is a stalwart of our town. The store is used by a vast age group of people due to the fact that it is easily accessible by bus, car and on foot. Closure in line with the opening of the new foodhall in Walton should not be an option. Marks and Spencer will lose a great number of customers as many will not travel to the Walton store or place orders online, as there will be no collection or return point locally. Please sign this petition and get the decision of the closure reversed. SAVE OUR MARKS AND SPENCER!
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    Created by Leeza Crampton
  • Keep M&S Newton Abbot open!
    It is a much valued and popular focus in the shopping centre, for both food and outlet bargains. If the store closes it will mean a very long journey for many locals to access their nearest M&S at Torbay.
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    Created by Peter Munday
  • Save Lincoln House of Fraser (Binns)
    This is a profitable, long-standing, socially important resource for the local community. It provides a good range of products and services, owns it's own lease, and is a much-loved part of a vibrant city with great staff who always make people welcome. There seems to be no economic or social case for its closure.
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    Created by Paul Jackman
  • Boots to pay staff in London the London Living Wage
    I have spoken to many Boots UK staff, who are all struggling to pay their bills from month to month. I think it is awful that members of staff who work 37.5 hours a week, are in a position where they are struggling to pay basic bills. Some even have to go to food banks to support their families. This needs to change. Staff members who currently work in London get approximately £3000 less than the London living wage a year. Based on the 2016-2017 Government figures for social housing in London, this equals to around 26 weeks rent. This is half a year's rent that staff are having to find by making cuts to their already tight budgets.
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    Created by Jenny Foster
  • Darlaston Inn ‘inappropriate’ development
    This well known spot deserves a more well thought through development. The Market town of Stone needs more independent businesses to bring sites like these back to life, to bring local people together. It does not need a corporate ‘service station’. Several planning issues are associated with this proposed development. - The property is in Green belt, and the over development will impact the openness which is unacceptable. - It adjoins a conservation area, so again is highly inappropriate - Road safety issues, multi stop, fast transactions from the centre of a busy roundabout. Will causes accidents and near misses for sure. - Environmental impact due to increased litter from the site itself, and from cars leaving the site. There are also light pollution issues during the evening on local residents. - Local economy, there are already two petrol stations within 1 mile (one within 1/2 a mile) and that excludes Morrisions. On top of the financial impact on those petrol stations, the council should be encouraging people to eat on Stone High street within local independent eateries that support local people. As is the policy! Support local businesses, not service station eye sores with drive thru take always.
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    Created by Gareth Mobley