The River Thames does not belong to one person or a corporation, yet the Thames Path in Tower Hamlets is blocked in many parts by residential developments and industrial units. Opening up a continuous route from Tower Bridge to river Lea can serve as an excellent clean air route for cyclists and a low pollution walking option for residents and visitors. A continuous Thames Path will allow cyclists, walkers and joggers to enjoy this city’s greatest natural asset, and open a new route from east to west, free of pollution. It will create opportunities for sightseeing and café society and regenerate east London.

Rosendale Road is a major school route, home to two primary schools and several nurseries, with thousands of families travelling along it at key times. We suggest HGVs cannot drive on it between 7-10am or between 3-7pm. The second phase of the Streetscape scheme is due to go ahead in the next few months, along Rosendale Road. It is great that this will improve the street for walking and cycling. But new zebra crossings will create more opportunities for pedestrians to interact with traffic. And the cycle track will narrow the roadway for motor vehicles. We believe restricting HGVs along the route seems a logical addition to the scheme, ensuring it works better as a whole. Please sign our petition if you agree.

Huge and illegal volumes of sewage continue to blight Whitburn. 760,000 tonnes of untreated sewage were discharged into the sea at Whitburn in 2019. Sewage pollution is a contributor to climate change. Background Our sea life at Whitburn is being destroyed by Sewage; the rock pools at Whitburn beach once teemed with wildlife but are now barren. The dolphins that are sighted daily swimming near the sewage overflow are forced to make their way through a soup of sewage when discharges are taking place. The seagrass meadows in the nearby River Tyne estuary have been devastated by sewage flowing from nearby Combined Sewer Overflows. https://bit.ly/3bHG7db Seagrasses can absorb more carbon up to 40 faster than terrestrial forests and these ecosystems become sources of CO2 emissions when they are degraded or destroyed. A major driver of seagrass decline is nutrient pollution from sewage. Discharge levels of wastewater (sewage) into the North Sea at Whitburn, South Tyneside, are controlled by an environmental permit (245/1207) which was authorised by the Secretary of State after a public inquiry into the local sewage system was held in October 2001. It is a bespoke permit with strict conditions aimed at limiting the levels of sewage discharges. Despite these conditions, the sewage system at Whitburn (in a landmark ruling) was found by a court (ECJ) in 2012 to be not in compliance with the Urban Waste Water Directive. Too much sewage continues to be discharged into the environment at Whitburn without the required treatment. In 2015 a new sewer was built which directs new flows to the Whitburn system and no application was made to vary the permit to allow for these new flows. These new flows contravene the conditions of the permit 245/1207. Huge volumes of sewage are discharged during light to moderate rainfall - normal seasonal and climatic conditions. The system remains in breach of environmental law as the discharges are only allowed in 'exceptional circumstances'. The application to vary permit 245/1207 will retrospectively permit new flows to enter the system. Extra flows to the sewage system increase the volumes of sewage discharged through the Long Sea Outfall at Whitburn and so increases sewage pollution in our coastal waters. This sewage pollution harms the environment and risks the health of recreational users of the sea at the popular resorts along the North East coast. The application by Northumbrian Water Limited to vary the permit has been required by the Environment Agency to be made (5 years after the new sewer was constructed) only after a complaint was made. The application is being considered presently without any public consultation. Public consultation lets people and organisations take part in the Environment Agency's decision making. (Image is courtesy of John Short)

When cars and lorries are waiting at schools or level crossings with their engines on, also known as engine idling, studies show that it can have an adverse affect on children's health. That's why Stowmarket Eco Future Group decided to come together to ask Suffolk Country Council to take action on air pollution caused by engine idling. Every bit of carbon emission that can be saved is not only vitally important for the planet, but also for the health of our children and young people who breathe in these damaging fumes. That is why we are asking Suffolk County Council to pass a Bylaw which prohibits engine idling outside schools. With over 260 schools and colleges in Suffolk, this would make a significant difference to the health of people and the planet.

On current trends, our children will experience an unthinkable 3 to 5 degrees of global warming within 80 years! 2020 was the joint hottest year on record and the hottest six years on record have all occurred in the last six years. The UK Government’s target is to go carbon neutral by 2050. But this is too late, because the world is set to exceed the dangerous limit of 1.5°C warming by 2040, causing irreversible harm and costing millions of lives. In fact, Government advisers also say that the UK is not on track to meet its own target. We call on Bristol Council to show leadership again, by declaring support for the Climate and Ecological Emergency Bill (CEE Bill). Bristol City Council was the first UK local authority to declare a Climate Emergency, and has a strategy for a carbon neutral Bristol by 2030. The CEE Bill is a game-changing vehicle for positive action. It is a draft law which has been introduced to Parliament and already has the support of over 100 MPs. The Bill would ensure that the UK Government plays its fair and proper role in limiting global warming to the 1.5°C recommended by scientists. It would include our carbon emissions from aviation, shipping and international trade, which are currently ignored! It would set up a Citizens’ Assembly, representative of the people who make up UK society, to advise on the Government’s emergency strategy. We call on our elected representatives to show climate leadership! When we get to 3,500 signatures from people who live, work or study in Bristol, our petition gets debated in Council!

A current condition of our planning, is that once construction is complete, we must block up the passing place/entrance, and build a new drive, to the west, requiring the felling of 8 mature trees, to tie into our neighbours drive. The existing passing place/entrance provides an essential passing place for motor vehicles, horses, pedestrians and cyclists, who cannot pass each other on this narrow lane. The lane is a slow bend and you cannot see oncoming traffic once you have entered the lane between the passing place/entrance to Bridge Farm, and the crossroads of Stony Lane/Dog Lane/White Cross Road. Our entrance/passing place is about halfway along this 150m stretch of blind narrow lane. Without the passing place, vehicles have to reverse up to 75m, and ones reversing eastwards, have to reverse out of a poor visibility junction onto a national speed limit road. The lane is narrow and a pram cannot pass a car, without using a passing place. The lane is on the natural village walking loop, used by many people daily. The current proposal is that this passing place must be closed up and restored to its original lane configuration. The current approved plan is to build a new driveway to the west to tie into the existing at Bridge Farm. This route will require the felling of 8 mature trees. The trees are on our home's South West corner, and will provide shade in the summer, but let light through in the winter, modulating the thermal gain, reducing the energy required to cool and heat the house. Removing them will add to the climate emergency. We accept that about 8m of mature hedgerow was removed by our predecessors, however our proposal is to plant approximately 100m of native hedgerow on our other three boundaries, more then compensating for the environmental loss. So we believe that the passing place/entrance should remain both on highway safety grounds, but also on environmental grounds

The UK uses around 37,000,000,000 (yes, 37 billion) bottles and cans each year and we only recycle 56% of these. (https://www.recyclingbins.co.uk/recycling-facts/) This leaves over 16 billion bottles and cans littering our green spaces, parks and beaches. Litter causes harm to pets, wildlife and people. We need a Deposit Return Scheme, backed by the Government, similiar to the scheme in Sweden. For example, the Swedish scheme, applies to anyone who professionally fills or imports plastic bottles or metal cans with ready-to-drink beverages. They must ensure that the containers are included in the Government approved recycling system which includes a refundable deposit for every container. This scheme has been run by a company owned by the Swedish Brewery Association, Swedish Food Retailers’ Federation and Swedish Grocery Store Association, since 1984, at no cost to the Government or Local Authorities.(https://pantamera.nu/om-oss/returpack-in-english/) It is worth noting that Sweden's overall recycle rate is 85%. In 2018, Environment Secretary Michael Gove said, “It is absolutely vital we act now.” If it was urgent then, it is even more so now. Action is now required.

Householders are facing massive uninsured costs to raise or re-build properties along the Weaver Navigation and elsewhere following Storm Christoph. The Weaver is not known for flooding but climate change, cut backs by CRT, and massive new estates and flood defences upstream mean we now need to invest heavily in flood mitigation. The £5,000 grants will be a small but welcome contribution.

This is a needed faciality in a place that is severely lacking with any youth programs and social hubs. Rochdale does not have any proper places for people to go anymore never mind even skate without interruptions or weather problems. This will take so many Youth out of their houses, out of trouble and into a friendly, safe and encouraging environment to have fun and meet up with their friends. Even better to meet new People like themselves. Look around online ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjl5i92j7ng), These places are hugely successful community rocks for people. Such a success only 15 miles away. All over the South of England they are in much more abundance and show that they are crucial places for the community. The community spirit that skaters show for each other is incredible and the youth and people of Rochdale need this. I know personally myself from skating my whole life, that a lot of people in The Rochdale borough travel to a lot of places to skate at places like I'm purposing. Why shouldn't Rochdale have their own? Young People and Adults alike will finally have a place to skate and be a part of a community. Not only would it have such a good impact on the Community This would definitely bring more business and get people to travel to Rochdale to take part, just as everyone in Rochdale are forced to do and travel outside its borders for properly ran SkateParks.

When Exxon or BP create an oil slick, they are made to pay for its clear up. Rightly so! But the likes of Coca Cola and Nestle and many others are creating a plastic slick all over the world and they walk away without a care in the world. And they blame us! The world is struggling under the weight of all our waste, very little of it is actually recycled, and wildlife especially then oceans is suffering. Plastic is being found in the guts of innocent creatures everywhere and they are dying as a result. Fishing tackle and nets are being dumped overboard killing countless animals needlessly and no one does anything to stop it. Its time that producers were made pay for the costs they cause us in dealing with the waste disposal and recycling and also for stopping and clearing up the pollution in our environment. A scheme to incentivise fishermen not the chuck nets away is overdue. It is time for the environmental cost of plastic pollution to be taken account of. It is well documented now that certain chemicals in plastic are causing fertility problems in humans and wildlife. The end result of all this pollution is unthinkable. It is in humanity's power to stop it and we should start with making the polluters change their ways.

The CEE Bill, drawn up in consultation with leading academics, scientists, and lawyers, presents clear proposals for addressing our entire carbon footprint, while actively conserving our natural landscape here and overseas. As hosts of the COP26 international climate conference in 2021, the UK Government has pledged to provide climate leadership. Backing this vital Bill is a key step in that direction. This bill will ensure that the UK restores and regenerates its habitats. A low carbon future will build on the successes we have already achieved as a country, protect and uphold rural ways of life, and ensure that British agriculture is sustainable and prominent, which will lead us to a way of life based on sharing not selfishness. We need to be less reliant on countries like China, and instead invest in growing industries like renewable energy, battery manufacturing, and electric cars. This would be a natural step to take to reduce our carbon footprint. For more information: https://www.ceebill.uk/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrxRzLILTeI&feature=emb_logo

This is important because I want to preserve the old lanterns for future generations and to save them from being scrapped and lost forever.