Cigarette filter tips traditionally take decades to breakdown, and are polluting our oceans and rivers. Up to 38% of waste found in our oceans are cigarette butts. There is no reason to continue using cellulose acetate for this.

Since Latymer School has decided to sublet their sports facilities, local residents have experienced an unprecedented rise in illegal parking and antisocial behaviour including cars running their engines for prolonged periods contributing to worsening air quality and noise pollution. Parking in front of driveways, dropped curbs or in private car spaces on the mall is recurrent and antisocial . We have a number of families with buggies and older residents with mobility issues and it is only right that people are able to drive out of their homes on weekends and park in private car spaces. Furthermore, cars are often parked at entrance of the roads from/to the A4 which is not only illegal but very dangerous. We believe that by extending residents’ parking to the weekends and the policing of this through wardens and fines this behaviour will be kept in check and the negative social and health externalities currently paid for by local residents will be internalised by monetary fines paid for by the offenders.

Local campaigners have been opposing this plan on the grounds of intolerable climate and radiological damage since 2017. Her Majesty now has a direct role to play in either facilitating or stopping this plan in its tracks.  Her Majesty’s Crown Estate signed an Exploration Agreement with West Cumbria Mining on 21st July 2017.  This agreement ran out on 2nd October 2020.
 
 Also on 2nd October 2020 Cumbria County Council were minded to approve West Cumbria Mining’s plan.  (The Secretary of State told the council they could refuse but not offer final approval for the plan, pending his decision) 
 Developers, West Cumbria Mining require Her Majesty to agree to an Exploitation agreement in order to extract the coal.
 
 Her Majesty has visited Sellafield, the world’s known riskiest nuclear waste site.  Sellafield would be just five miles from the deep undersea coal mine.  Mass void removal is known to induce seismicity.  As well as this certain seismic risk the mine would be directly below the radioactive sediments which have settled on the Irish Sea bed from decades of Sellafield discharges.  The radioactive sediment which includes plutonium is named as the Cumbrian Mud Patch. 
 There have been many peer reviewed and independent reports indicating that subsidence/disturbance of the Irish Sea bed will resuspend these decades of radioactive wastes into the sea.  It takes just 4 years for radioactive wastes from Sellafield’s discharge pipeline to reach the Arctic. Far less time to reach our own coasts. The New Scientist has reported that Sellafield "reprocessing plant has released 40 000 billion becquerels of caesium-137. “So far, about 15 000 billion becquerels have reached the Arctic. This is between two and three times more than the contamination from Chernobyl, which is reaching the Arctic via the Baltic and North Seas.”  https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg15420811-400-sellafield-leaves-its-mark-on-the-frozen-north/
 
 
 Mike Berners-Lee the climate expert has said of the Council approval of the coal mine that "12 Cumbria County Councillors have serious climate blood on their hands after approving the coal mine yet again - even though the case for has been shown to be 100% bogus. Unlikely there is anything any of them can do in their lives to undo this much damage.”   
 
 For myself as a long time nuclear safety campaigner and the person who took on the legal challenge against the coal mine with the help of top lawyers Leigh Day,  I know that the climate impacts although massive, are the tip of the iceberg. The nuclear impacts are of a magnitude literally out of this world as it is well known that the high level radioactive wastes sitting at Sellafield could annihilate the planet many times over.  This and the certain risk of resuspension of the Cumbrian Mud Patch wastes means that this coal mine puts the whole planet at direct risk of a nuclear fall out there would be no coming back from. 
 
 
 Please be on the right side of history and refuse to sign the Crown Estate agreement with West Cumbria Mining for further Exploration and Exploitation of coal reserves under the Irish Sea 5 miles from Sellafield and directly beneath the Cumbrian Mud Patch.
 Exploration Agreement with West Cumbria Mining https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/07143398/charges/lXWNTRigei_OaJQXhs2MwyKZ7ms Report into Radiological Impacts of the Coal Mine by Tim Deere Jones https://issuu.com/wildart/docs/west_cumbria_mining_-_radiological_implications_of

The Planning enquiry into the Super Sewer fully noted the risk of operating in such a built up, residential part of South London, with two schools very close to the site. Some of the properties have been partially protected from sound pollution from the site, but for some others, it was not feasible to upgrade sound protection. A large number of Bermondsey children use Chambers Street and Bevington Street to get to their schools. Engines cause fumes that affect children with Asthma. Covid has affected kids enough, those living nearby need respite from the disruption of light, noise and fumes from the site.

We are concerned that for Sheffield City Centre, this Development Framework in its current form would increase air pollution and carbon emissions and would diminish a vital city centre green space. Sheaf Valley Park has been widely commended as an innovative and essential part of our city centre infrastructure. The Development Framework’s proposal to drive a dual carriageway through this park is deeply damaging, retrogressive and contradictory to the Council’s own transport, carbon and air quality targets. How can building a new dual carriageway ( swapping the existing dual carriageway with the existing tram line ) in the centre of the city reduce carbon and improve air quality when most independent research clearly states that new roads increase traffic and carbon emissions? It will not contribute to improving air quality and in fact will make air quality worse for Sheffield City as well as residents of Park Hill and the wider neighbourhood. New roads increase carbon emissions: It will not contribute to lowering carbon emissions and will have a substantially negative impact on total net carbon emissions for the project. Of equal concern is the apparent lack of strategic linkage to a clear vision for Sheffield City Region and Sheffield City Centre. The Development Framework is predicated on a series of engineering and land-based asset assumptions. It does not respond to a long-term net carbon zero future for Sheffield nor does it comply with or respond to the City Council’s own multiple strategic and policy commitments. There is so much more which requires an approach that goes beyond specific sites, traffic circulation and engineering design. The whole document appears to be lodged in a 20th century car dominated policy framework, driven by trying to address historic road-based development objectives, without any balanced evaluation of the viability, practicality or value of these assumptions. It is a deeply retrogressive and old-fashioned perspective on city development. The regeneration of the Midland Station ought to be a beacon and demonstrator for Sheffield City Region, pioneering less car traffic on roads; more active transport infrastructure; more greening and a brave and ambitious commitment to integrated, zero carbon transport systems. Instead it feels like a throwback to the 1960s where ring-roads of polluting traffic encircled our cities and personal mobility trumped mass transit systems and where there was scant regard for the impact of fossil fuels and their impact on our natural environment. We welcome the principle of the grey to green conversion of multiple roads as part of the wider strategy. This should be the opportunity for our city of Sheffield to grasp taking a new direction rather than a process of retrogressive transport planning.

Parliament declared a Climate Emergency over a year ago - and still not enough is being done to stop the worst effects of the climate crisis - in the UK and across the world. The Climate and Ecological Emergency Bill, which already has the support of 70+ MPs, calls for the UK to make and enact a serious plan to cut our emissions, protect our nature, and give ordinary people a real say on the way forward, through a citizens’ assembly. The climate and ecological crisis is the biggest threat to all life on Earth we have ever faced, it is vital we act now and this bill would be a very encouraging step. But for this Bill to stand a chance of becoming law, a majority of MPs need to support it. That’s why I am calling on our MP Rushanara Ali to please support the Climate and Ecological Emergency Bill. Please join me! You can find out more about the Climate and Ecological Emergency Bill here: https://www.ceebill.uk/

There have been numerous incidents over the years on this stretch of road and something needs to be done about it now. There are residential areas on this stretch of road, Pit Row and Tinglebridge. It is very precarious on that road currently to put it mildly because of all the blind corners. We propose that 30mph speed limit be put in place from elsecar side before Pit row, round to past junction with Tinglebridge & Tinglebridge Lane.

***New coal mines = climate crisis*** This mine will create 9 million tonnes of CO2 every year through coal burned in UK and European steelworks.That's three times what all the people of Cumbria produce every year [1]. It's 2% of the UK's carbon footprint, which makes it a decision of national importance. Top economists and energy experts agree that this mine cannot be 'carbon neutral' as Cumbria County Council claim, instead it will worsen the climate crisis. [2] ***Breaking the law*** The Heathrow judgement showed that the Paris Agreement [3] must be taken into account in decisions about new high-carbon projects, which is why Robert Jenrick must step in. The UK will host the UN climate summit COP26 in 2021, so starting a mega-polluting coal mine would undermine these vital talks ***No more coal for steel*** The UK's two steelworks are the biggest single-site emitters in the country[4] because of their current reliance on coal, but you can make steel without coal. The mine will lock the steel industry in the UK and Europe into using coal for decades to come, instead of switching to viable alternatives, when instead a transition to clean steel could begin right now.[5] ***The impacts on Cumbria*** The impacts of climate change fall first and hardest on communities in the global south, who are already being impacted. But Cumbria itself is also vulnerable to increasing sea level rise and flooding, which are predicted to get more severe if we don't keep global temperatures under 1.5 degrees [6]. The economic impact of the jobs the mine would provide would be far outweighed by climate impacts on the local economy. [7] As Communities Secretary, it's Robert Jenrick's job to refuse permission to projects that are harmful to communities and that conflict with the UK's international commitments on climate change. It's his job to promote alternatives that would be better for communities. We need a Green Recovery that invests in our futures, instead of being forced to rely on polluting projects for jobs. THANK YOU Learn more about the local groups leading the fight to stop this mega-polluting project: https://www.coalaction.org.uk/2020/09/07/campaigns-to-stop-woodhouse-colliery-cumbria/ REFERENCES [1] Small World Consulting: A Carbon Baseline for Cumbria https://slacc.org.uk/cumbria-carbon-baseline/ [2] UCL: Top Economists & Energy Experts claim Ministers mislead over coal & climate https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/sustainable/news/2020/sep/coal-and-climate-ministers-need-reject-misinformation-new-coal-mines [3] Heathrow Third Runway Ruled Illeagal Over Climate Change https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/feb/27/heathrow-third-runway-ruled-illegal-over-climate-change [4] EU ETS Emissions 2019 https://ember-climate.org/project/ets-2019-release/ [5] Materials Processing Institute Report Coal & Steel June 2020 https://slacc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/SLACC_Appendix-2_MPI-Report_11-06-2020.pdf [6] Areas in Cumbria that could end up underwater due to global warming https://www.lancs.live/news/local-news/areas-cumbria-could-end-up-18256314 [7] Presentation by Duncan Pollard on WCM https://slacc.org.uk/new-presentation-by-duncan-pollard-on-wcm/

Since the 1930s, our traditional wildflower meadows have declined due to human practices - we now have a responsibility to regenerate land wherever we can; from adding natural verges, and wildflower areas to tree planting and halting the use of pesticides. If managed sensitively, the Stray can add to a local diverse and ecologically complex environment to help reverse the decline of insects, including essential pollinators.

For the 2nd time in 6 years a planning application for an 18-hole international golf course threatens Coul Links, within Loch Fleet Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), Loch Fleet & Dornoch Firth Special Protection Area (SPA) & Ramsar wetland. Councillors approved of this Groundhog application by a whisker on 6 Dec 2023, but the Scottish Government called it in on 8 Feb 2024 for review. The Screening Request was from a councillor by proxy on behalf of a defunct football club, but Scoping & Full application were adopted by an astroturfing & greenwashing stalking horse, Communities for Coul (C4C), purporting to represent the local populace (from a biased & oxymoronic ballot - see Updates ↓ of 16 June 2021 & 27 Aug 2023) but representing golf & tourism interests in coastal Sutherland, appointing the same developer, applicant of 1st failed planning application, & intending to dissolve! The 2023 golf course plan is similar to the ‘environmentally friendly’ design of the previous Coul Links Ltd planning saga, first mooted in Oct 2015, approved almost unanimously by councillors, but refused in 2020 after Scottish Government intervention. The decision followed crucial objection by government agency Scottish Natural Heritage (now NatureScot); recommended refusal by Highland Council’s Planning Officer; 1864 planning objections, a campaign by Buglife, Butterfly Conservation, Marine Conservation Society, National Trust for Scotland, Plantlife, RSPB, Scottish Wildlife Trust, Ramblers, Scotways & Not Coul (all objecting again); a Wembley Stadium capacity 38Degrees petition https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/conserve-coul-links-for-nature-not-golf-1 (please sign too); & 4 weeks of Public Local Inquiry, whose Report recommended refusal.   Scottish Ministers summarised in Feb 2020: “Reporters have concluded that the harmful impacts of this development to protected habitats & species would outweigh the potential socio-economic benefits. This proposal does not comply with the relevant provisions of the Highland Wide Local Development Plan & runs contrary to Scottish planning policy’s emphasis on protecting natural heritage sites & world class environmental assets. The Scottish Government has considered the reporter’s findings carefully & agree with the recommendation that planning permission should be refused”.   The developer to re-emerge is Mike Keiser of Bandon Dunes Oregon, Cabot Nova Scotia (NS) & Cabot Highlands UK. He was a donor ($56,000) to Heartland climate change denial institute https://littlesis.org/person/42895-Michael_Keiser & doesn’t have an impeccable conservation record in Oregon: https://oregoncoastalliance.org/bandon-dunesbiota-bulldoze-roads-and-dig-bore-holes-in-bandon-state-natural-area/. Cabot NS failed to obtain a lease to convert wild protected public dunes to a golf course: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/west-mabou-beach-provincial-park-cabot-golf-tory-rushton-1.6817243. The only substantial improvement to the previous course design is abandonment of the major juniper translocation experiment within the SSSI. Assertions common to both planning applications & their inadequate Environmental Impact Assessments were refuted by Inquiry. One fallacy is that golf will only impact 1% of the SSSI, which is predominantly tidal estuary & contains substantial areas of beach, saltmarsh & native pinewood. This ignores the effects of expanding wetlands, nutrient enrichment, disturbance beyond constructed tees & greens of biopoverty lawns, & intensively mown fairways, the effects of habitat fragmentation on ecological integrity & the retreating coastline. Holes 15, 17 & 18 (back tee) are perilously close to the sea after Storm Ciarán of Nov 2023. Equinoctial March spring tides of 2024 (stormy) & 2026 have eroded fairway 17, so the plans already require modification. Tees & greens would be excavated, recontoured, turfed with amenity grassland, fertilised & irrigated. Fairways, ostensibly to preserve biodiversity & naturalness, would be mown weekly during growing season, compacting irregular topography & gradually reducing any sward to the most mower & trampling-tolerant (from anticipated 25,000 rounds per annum) grasses & mosses, with no opportunity for surviving herbs to flower. Dune heath, chiefly of heathers, mosses & lichens, with sparser & tussocky grasses, would be obliterated by mowing, leaving habitat susceptible to more wind erosion than desirable. Mowing would nowhere produce a world-class playing surface & eroded areas would likely be patched up with introduced grasses, & 'weeds' treated with herbicide. C4C claims that golf development is the only way to fund conserving Coul Links for nature, with golf management ending management neglect (by the landowner, a 2017 developer), initiating removal of ‘invasive’ species. This is untrue, as a land management agreement with NatureScot has commenced & funds are available for future work. Gorse, birches, Bracken, Meadowsweet, Burnet Rose & unspecified willows are all perceived by the development team as undesirables to be severely controlled, despite their collectively supporting numerous insects, some rare, & nesting birds. While some control of first three species is desirable to preserve more valuable habitats, they are all natural & native components of dune vegetation. Recent updated policy on Ramsar site protection (9 July 2025) & the new Natural Environment Bill (29 January 2026) should mean Coul Links is better protected (see petition Updates ↓). Coul Links is not a wildlife garden but one of the most natural, biodiverse & intact dune habitat systems surviving in Scotland, where much has already been lost to golf. Naturalness, supported by size, is a chief criterion for SSSI evaluation & selection. 50% of the anticipated market for Coul Links golf would be from USA, jetting to Scotland to contribute to climate warming emissions & coastal erosion. DPEA: Scottish Government - DPEA - Case Details (scotland.gov.uk) Planning: https://wam.highland.gov.uk/wam/ ref. 23/00580/FUL Not Coul: https://notcoul.org/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bnm7krCGoGQ&t=4s Erosion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_Zpr6c1elI&list=LL Information: https://www.coullinksgolf.com/ Photographs: Coul-Links-Comparative-Photographs-by-Andrew-Weston-September-2024-FINAL.pdf Coul-Links-Supplementary-Photographs-by-Andrew-Weston-September-2024-FINAL.pdf 'Communities'4Golf: https://www.communities4coul.scot/

We are facing an unprecedented climate crisis crisis and the UK government simply isn’t doing enough. The Climate and Ecological Emergency Bill can help us change our course—making the government act with the urgency we need and involving everyday people in a Citizens’ Assembly that has real bite. If the CEE Bill is made law, the government would have to act fast, accounting for our entire carbon footprint while actively conserving nature here and overseas. The bill could set a precedent that can be replicated across the world. According to They Work for You, a website that documents MP voting records, Alister Jack "generally voted against measures to prevent climate change". Recently he refused to meet with a constituent to discuss environmental issues on the basis that he'd "already had discussions with an environmental group this year". It is vital that local environmental groups and concerned citizens have the opportunity to convey to Alister Jack the severity of the crisis we are facing and to demand his representation in parliament. Encouraging him to support the Climate and Ecological Emergency Bill would be a great start!

The dumped waste and fly tipping problem is having a huge impact not only on the environment but also with the families and the general public that live here and use/walk through these spaces. The rats are getting into cars and gnawing through cables and infesting homes! This is a huge issue and also over a prolonged period of time has affected the wellbeing and mental health of some residents. We need to act collectively as a community and get Richmond Council to listen to our voice! Please sign and show your support through this petition to get our community areas cleared and looking respectful again.