At Whincroft (2a Upper Colquhoun Street) we have sought to restore the garden and put back features that overtime have been lost within this important Hill House Conservation Area. We have re-established garden paths and planted 19 new trees in total, a mixture of cherry blossom, japenese acers and fruit trees. I hope you will then come to understand the importance of the mature beech tree to the amenity of our garden. It will take many years for the new trees we have planted to come to a level of maturity that they can be fully enjoyed in our garden and be seen from the street and surrounding properties to contribute to Helensburgh as the ‘Garden City of the Clyde’. We have financially supported the Helensburgh Tree Conservation Trust by sponsoring the planting of 3 pink cherry blossoms on the grass verge outside our property. Trees are important to the CA. Helensburgh has the only urban tree collection included in the National Tree Collections of Scotland in which there are only 23 in the whole country worthy of this accolade. Council Officers should have 1. Requested a tree survey from the developers at 4 West Lennox Drive at the outset of the application process reference 23/00652/PP 2. Applied a degree of professional scepticism to the applicant’s vague plans for inadequate tree protection instead of blindly accepting them 3. Considered if the west extension warrants development in the first place when it is so obviously going to damage the beech tree and we now believe possibly a large silver birch tree. 4. Discussing what are the sensible options a developer could take to undertake an extension that does not require the tree roots to be severed and could the drain pipe be re-routed away from the tree roots The value of trees is often difficult to monetise and so often simply ignored by a developer. Some factors that should be considered include: 1. Moderating climates, particularly in urban settings 2. Filtering out pollutants 3. Suppressing noise 4. Providing a feel good factor 5. Providing a key source of shelter and food for wildlife and biodiversity. 6. Adding to the outstanding Hill House conservation area Any building work, renewed service or new service that runs through the root protection area (RPA) of the beech tree is likely to affect the ability of the tree to function or survive - and to allow a property developer to use a narrative that council officers have failed to adequately challenge requires Councillors and the public to protect this special part of Helensburgh and reject the developers plans. Help us save this magnificent Copper Beech Tree for future generations! If you have ever used the post box outside 2a Upper Colquhoun Street, Helensburgh you will be familiar with the sight of the towering copper beech tree in the background which sits over the hedge (to the right of the house Whincroft). This 22m tree is estimated to be 175 years old and predates the house next to it (completed by A N Paterson in 1915). This ancient tree is part of the Helensburgh Hill House Conservation Area and should automatically have protected status. However, we need your help to ensure its continued survival as the tree roots extend into the property next door and developers’ plans to “frame the spectacular views to the south and west of the site…” with a double story extension that could potentially damage the tree roots, and possibly endanger the life of the tree itself. Please help us by showing your support for the Tree Preservation Order we have lodged with Argyll and Bute Council and sign this petition. If you feel as we do that beautiful trees such as this deserve protection, please take action and voice your support for Tree Preservation Order 01/24 to David Logan, Head of Legal and Regulatory Support, Argyll and Bute Council, PA31 8RT

preserve our heritage and stop the destruction of this beautiful building

Everyone needs regular access to nature - it’s vital for our physical and mental health. And to solve the climate and biodiversity crises we need to be better connected to the natural world. Yet the public only has a right to roam over 8% of England. The Countryside & Rights of Way Act 2000 created this partial right, but it’s unfinished business – for instance, there is no right of access to rivers or most woods. Huge swathes of our countryside are locked away behind barbed wire fences and hostile signs saying ‘Keep Out!’ and you can be shouted at just for going for a swim. What’s more, access to nature is hugely unequal – over a quarter of all constituencies in England effectively have no right to roam at all. While the wealthiest areas enjoy 80% more paths than the poorest. Access to nature should be open to all of us, not a privilege enjoyed by the few. Even where we do have access, our freedoms are under threat. When the wealthy landowner Alexander Darwall won a court case to extinguish the right to wild camp on Dartmoor last year - the last place in England it was legal - it took huge protests to overturn the ruling on appeal. It doesn’t have to be this way. We need to demand that all UK Party Leaders commit to bold new access reform if they are in government. We believe England should follow the example of Scotland, Sweden and Norway, where people have enjoyed far broader rights to access their countryside, so long as they do so responsibly. This isn't about a free for all: we would still have sensible exclusions to protect crops, privacy and wildlife. But exclusion would have to be justified, not assumed. It's time we enjoyed the same rights to access our beautiful countryside here in England! Sign this petition to help us campaign for a new right of responsible access to the countryside this election so that everyone has the chance to reconnect with nature.

Too many council officials are forgetting the actual people they serve and appear to be wilfully serving themselves. For example the legally binding carbon budgets are being ignored by our local authorities: www.gov.uk/guidance/carbon-budgets After the horrific Post Office debacle which has been strung out for years, do we really trust that these officials have our best interests at heart? Or is it all about commercial financial gain at our expense? We need to take action and stop these people from ruining our health which ultimately ruins lives.

We want visitors to feel safe when they are here at the sanctuary. We don't want them to have to worry about a car driving past them at 60mph. We also have a lot of wheelchair users who should also feel safe when crossing the road.

It is important because local dog walkers will no where to put there dog waste

Overall, UK consumers drink 2.5 million litres of bottled water a year. Just over half of the UK population, or 51%, drink bottled water once a week or more. 7.7 billion plastic bottles are bought across the UK each year, resulting in substantial amounts of single-use plastic waste. Research has found that more than 90% of bottled water brands contained microplastics. Single-use PET plastic water bottles take 400 years to decompose. Health professionals tell us that the increased consumption of sugary drinks by children and young people is a significant factor in the alarming rise of obesity and diabetes rates. Providing drinking water in parks and other places where children and young people play and congregate would be a great way to encourage hydration without damaging their health or the environment. Furthermore, single-use plastics cause deaths to 100,000 marine mammals and 1 million seabirds annually if these enter the waterways. Sheffield City Council can play their part and tackle the plastics crisis.

The proposal to extend the Centurian Golf Club will destroy precious woodland, and the countless ecological services it provides to both the local land, community and the unique biodiverse ecosystem it currently supports. This proposal actively defeats the principles of the ‘Sustainability and Climate Crisis Plan’ the Council itself has set out. The planning proposal from the golf course must be dismissed, and the land must be protected for future generations. UPDATE: We will be keeping this petition open and sending it to St Albans District Council and Hertfordshire County Council in due course - please keep sharing and circulating, and thank you so much for your support.

Imagine a world with no dawn chorus. No murmurations of starlings. No robins. We are already very close to this and it is sheer stupidity on our part. The biodiversity crisis receives much less attention than the climate crisis. I am starting this petition because scientists have stated that one of the top ten crises of 2023 is bird decline caused by pesticides and herbicides. Indeed, over the past four decades, the number of birds across Europe dropped by a staggering 550 million. Thus far it was believed that the main reasons were habitat loss and pollution, but a research team led by Stanislas Rigal investigated data on 170 bird species across 20,000 sites in 28 countries – including records collected by citizen scientists – and concluded that the principal bird killer is agricultural intensification. More precisely, it is an increased use of pesticides and fertilisers, which not only deprive birds of food, but also directly affect their health. I am starting this petition in the hope that 2024 brings a positive change in those departments and policy making, a change which strongly encourages the greatly reduced use of the herbicides and pesticides which have been poisoning our cherished wildlife. And us.

Enough is Enough. From its refusal to return stolen objects, to its backing for BP, something is seriously wrong at The British Museum. Last year, Chair George Osborne said, ‘Our goal is to be a net zero carbon museum – no longer a destination for climate protest but instead an example of climate solution.’ That goal is in tatters. We know that over the last 27 years, BP has used its sponsorship of The British Museum to “artwash” its brand, cleaning-up its toxic reputation by associating its logo with the progressive values of art and culture. It has repeatedly used the museum as an iconic space where it can influence decision-makers during exhibition openings and at private VIP events. After decades of backing climate delay and denial, BP is still pushing the world deeper into climate breakdown. Earlier this year, BP said it would increase investment in the production of fossil fuels by about $1 billion a year, above its previous plans for the rest of the decade. This is the total opposite direction that we should be heading in. Crucially, BP’s business plans are not aligned with the goal of limiting global heating to 1.5°C, the target that world leaders have signed up to in the Paris Climate Agreement. Communities in Argentina, West Papua, Mexico, and Azerbaijan – to name but a few – have faced violence and imprisonment for standing up against BP’s extraction, pollution and corruption. And today, BP continues to work closely with human rights-abusing regimes in order to gain access to their oil and gas reserves, and used its exhibition sponsorship at the Museum to advance its business interests in countries such as Egypt, Iraq and Russia. But things can change. From the National Portrait Gallery to the Royal Shakespeare Company, most of the cultural sector has largely cut ties to fossil fuel funding, and a new ethical standard for sponsorship has been set. But once again, The British Museum has chosen to be on the wrong side of history. It has decided to back profit-making polluters, not the people. Enough is enough. It’s time to draw a red line - and stop backing BP.

We are seeking support from anyone concerned with the scale of pump storage hydro developments in Loch Ness. Loch Ness is the most famous loch in the world and is an iconic tourist destination. It's beautiful setting, legendary monster and rich biodiversity are at risk from these developments. The list of unknown potential side-effects of pump storage hydro on large lochs is extensive. For example, no research has been done on the impact of pump storage hydro on juvenile wild salmon as they migrate downstream through these lochs, and we think that pumping water on this huge scale will ultimately raise the famously cool temperatures of Loch Ness. The cumulative impact of consenting so many pump storage hydro schemes in one loch are totally unknown and none of the developers seem willing to commit to researching these fundamental questions. The sight of dolphins feeding on wild Atlantic salmon, within metres of the shore, at Chanonry Point is the greatest wildlife spectacle in the Highlands. This hugely popular tourist destination is at risk if wild Atlantic salmon continue to decline.

We need your support in objecting to the planning application HGY/2023/2099 for the installation of two retention basins in the playing field in Chestnuts Park, N15. Friends of Chestnuts Park and Haringey Council initially won some money for a scheme to improve the park including measures to stop the playing field from flooding. However, when investigations revealed this wasn't possible the Council came up with a new plan to spend the money which doesn't even actually address water-logging in the park. Instead, the current scheme proposes to drain water from local 'surface water drains' into a basin in the park. Even worse, an unknown number of household wastewater pipes are incorrectly connected to these drains. This means that household waste meant for sewage treatment will end up in the park. The scheme will reduce the available green space in an area of the borough with the least green space per person, with very limited flood risk benefit to a small number of houses. More details of our objections can be read here on the council's planning site https://publicregister.haringey.gov.uk/pr/s/planning-application/a0i8d000005U1n2AAC/hgy20232099?c__r=Arcus_BE_Public_Register&tabset-3892f=2 Thames Water have told us that though they can start this Spring it will take several years to fix most of the existing the misconnections. It's vital that the scheme does not get planning permission until the issue of misconnections has at least been investigated and the correction work begun, and a better scheme, that also addresses the flooding issues in the park, can be found. We have three days to stop the playing field in Chestnuts Park being dug up and damaged, for a risky scheme which will bring water which is known to polluted and foul-smelling into the park. This scheme cannot be allowed to go ahead at this time in its current form and location