Q: Why is the building important? A: Dunelm House was completed in 1966 by the Architects' Co-Partnership and engineered by Ove Arup. Ove Arup was born in Heaton, Newcastle Upon-Tyne and was one of the greatest engineers of the 20th Century. Arup played a crucial role in pioneering engineering works worldwide, serving most notably as the designer and supervisor for Durham’s own Kingsgate Bridge (Grade I listed), and as design engineer for the Sydney Opera House. Arup, an honorary Geordie, considered Kingsgate Bridge one of the most important projects of his career, requesting that his ashes be scattered from the bridge following his death in 1988. Kingsgate and Dunelm House are physically connected, as a marriage of structures that depend upon each other. This makes Dunelm House and Kingsgate Bridge two of the most significant structures in the UK, if not Europe, if not the World! And they are on our doorstep in Durham. Why would you want to lose or damage either? Q: It’s a load of ugly dirty grey concrete - knock it down. A: Yes, it is dirty. It is white concrete. And it needs a clean. If you had not cleaned your house for 51 years, it would look grim too. The building needs major work, which Durham University calculate would cost £14.7m. It might seem like a lot of money, but this is a fraction of what recent building projects have required, and is comparable to renovations and extensions to other university buildings. And just think what it could cost to demolish it, bury it in a landfill (how unsustainable!) and rebuild on the same site. Q: The building 'is not able to accommodate new uses, so we should demolish it. A: This statement has been reached as part of the University’s ‘strategic masterplan’, which wants to put another building use on the site of Dunelm House. Of course, this doesn't work without significant investment. So perhaps the masterplan has not been adequately evidenced or justified in trying to impose a new function on an existing building - it’s like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. Why not simply adjust the masterplan? Demolition is highly unsustainable, wasteful and very costly financially and environmentally. It should always be the last move when all else fails, and your building is literally falling down. Dunelm House is not falling down - it was designed by one of the greatest engineers of the 20th Century. Q: But the building has a leaky roof! A: Yes it does. All roofs leak at some point (even Durham Cathedral’s roof leaks - it doesn't mean we should knock it down). Most new roofs are only guaranteed for 20 years. Dunelm House's roof is 51 years old, and so like any other building it needs a new roof! Durham University has been aware of the leaky roof for over 10 years. Now is the time to fix it. Q: It will cost too much to repair it. Isn’t it cheaper to just build new? A: Durham University have carried out detailed estimations on the redesign and repair estimated at £14.7m. Dunelm House has a gross internal area of 3980sqm, making the refurbishment cost an estimated £3600 per sqm. That seems like a lot of money, but it is cheaper than the cost of Durham Universities new Ogden Center for Fundamental Physics (the new abstract timber building) which is costing £11.5m for 2,478 sq. m – that’s a whopping £4640 per sqm! Refurbishing the building could be cheaper than building new. A completely new building on Dunelm House’s site could cost millions more due to the cost of demolition and disposal to put Dunelm House into a landfill, not to forget the complexities of the site due to the topography, retaining walls, structures required and access issues that make this project site very complex – and as a consequence very costly! Q: We want a shiny new building by some famous international starchitect. That will put Durham on the map and make it a world class city! A: Durham is already a world class city, with a world class University. It has a diverse architectural grain from across the past millennium, and this includes the twentieth century. Durham University has been an amazing patron of modern architecture, particularly during the 1960s. So why undo that good work and lose it all now? Yes, hire great architects with lots of imagination and creativity. BUT, please look at what other highly successful refurbishment projects of Modernist buildings there have been. Look at Park Hill refurbishment in Sheffield (Hawkins Brown) or the Barbican refurbishment in London (AHMM) completed in past 10 years. Both hugely successful developments, prestigious, award winning, high profile, world class buildings that simply recognise and celebrate the value of Twentieth Century Architecture. Go on Durham, you can do that too!

There is currently a proposal to make 20 million pounds worth of cuts to the Birmingham Parks Budget . This means reducing staffing in the 6 major parks down to only 2 hubs with these expected to manage every other country park and park space run by BCC in the whole of Birmingham. This will mean no more supported schools groups, a huge reduction and diminishment to our green spaces, no more eco action and nature events ... or secret santa, or nursery for plants to make our city beautiful, no more community action liaison work, no more drug and alcohol support group work, no more keeping an eye on our country parks to keep them safe places for us to visit, reduced visitor centres and significantly less maintenance of these precious spaces across our city. Without regular care will fall into dereliction and disrepair. We need these major parks for our kids to play in, for us to walk in and keep fit, and we want to know they are staffed and safe! Birmingham is the UK's second city with the most green space of any uk city these spaces don't just look after themselves. They need dedicated care to remain the nurturing places we all know and love. Unfortunately central conservative government has slashed the council budget for Birmingham (a labour council) disproportionately compared to say that of conservative Oxford. It's not right!!! The consultation document is worded to try and get those who do respond to agree to these draconian cuts as a good idea...we need to stop them and the consultation is only open to respond to until the first week in January 2017.

As a parent whose child attends West Acton Primary, I have a concern for the effects it will have on our children and for the local residents living in the area. Some waste will eventually rot, but not all, and in the process it may smell. The noise, dirt and increased traffic in a already congested area and other polluting effects. We urge you to take action against the waste dump coming to our beautiful neighbourhood. This could effect people suffering with asthma and health of your children attending school at West Acton and other local schools.

I live beside the Park and walk my dogs there every day. Not knowing much about this problem, at first I thought I might be selfish objecting to the expansion of the Football Club. But then I realised that Meadow Park had been given to the town over 100 years ago for the community to use - not to be owned by an exclusive corporate company for profit which, needing to expand again, should be accepting national guidelines and moving further away from a town centre anyway. It should certainly not be taking community property of such practical and intrinsic value to the whole community who may or may not follow the league. A couple of weeks ago, there was a 13 strong flock of geese making a pit stop on our little park which prompted another impromptu discussion about the value of every blade of grass or tree contained there. Non of that is up for sale or lease to anyone. Obviously this little oasis in the midst of cement, patrimony of the community, antidote to the stress of urban living and venue for community events right in the middle of the town is valuable. The Boreham Wood Football Club has been allowed to gradually encroach on the park and now wants to take, fence off and profit from our space so what is left cannot accommodate traditional town events in the future Besides the need to protect dwindling urban park space (Borehamwood is growing alarmingly), Meadow Park is anyway used for many other outdoor activities. And there are football youth groups playing every week (they are not permitted to use 'the expensive' Football Club facilities which are private). If lots of us come together to sign the petition, we might be able to convince the council to stop the plans.

Unsustainable palm oil production is causing irreversible destruction of rain forest habitat for some of our planets most endangered species such as Orangutans, Proboscis monkeys and Cloud leopards as well as causing human misery and threats to health through environmental pollution, land grabs and poor working conditions. Without immediate and direct action from consumers many of these species could be lost from the wild by 2020, sustainable alternatives are available and it is our responsibility to act. I have recently returned from Borneo after a 3 week course studying rainforest ecology and conservation and witnessed first hand the catastrophic scale of the damage being caused by ruthless palm oil companies who show little or no regard to the precious and delicate ecology of the rainforest. To see a mother Orangutan with her young child in the wild is a truly magical experience but also heartbreaking to consider that this may not be possible for future generations to behold, please join me in calling on all food suppliers in the UK to take responsibility for their actions and to raise public awareness on what cost their food really has on the planet.

The amount of waste that can be recycled in Leeds is skyrocketing. With Leeds being in the top 5 biggest cities in the country and top 20 places for tourists to visit in the UK we should be setting an example for our neighbours both local and further adrift.

Cardigan Bay provides a home for many species of vulnerable marine life, some species such as the Atlantic grey seal are internationally important. From the reefs and sandbanks, small organisms in the benthos, to the largest population of breeding bottlenose dolphins in the UK, the complex biodiversity of this Bay is what makes it special. We feel that opening up this area to commercial scallop dredging would be detrimental to the ecosystem and significantly impact not only Welsh marine biodiversity but the lives of the local people who depend on the Bay for income, livelihood, and enjoyment. Mae Bae Ceredigion yn gartref i nifer o rywogaethau o fywyd morol bregus, rhai ohonynt – megis morlo llwyd yr Iwerydd – o bwys rhyngwladol. O’r riffiau i’r banciau tywod, o organebau bach y benthos i boblogaeth fwyaf y DU o ddolffiniaid trwynbwl sy’n bridio, y fioamrywiaeth gymhleth hon sy’n gwneud Bae Ceredigion mor arbennig. Teimlwn y byddai caniatáu treillio am gregyn bylchog yn yr ardal yn niweidiol i’r ecosystem ac yn cael effaith sylweddol ar fioamrywiaeth forol Cymru ac ar fywydau pobl leol sy’n dibynnu ar y Bae am incwm, bywoliaeth a mwynhâd.

A greenway will increase cycling in Bournemouth and the surrounding areas, increase health and fitness, decrease congestion, lower pollution, decrease cyclist commuter time as well as shield them from cars, offer a scenic solution to help commuters escape urban Bournemouth, a greenway will make up for the areas lack of decent cycle infrastructure, greenways have also been shown to have a massive positive economic impact.

https://www.facebook.com/CarfreeGlasgow/videos/370608413272820/ Glasgow is the only city in the UK to have a six lane motorway cutting right through its heart. Yet, less than half of our households have access to cars. For the last 45 years we have all had to put up with a continual stream of traffic roaring through our city. Enough is enough. We want the chance to breathe fresh air and to hear ourselves think. We need the time and space to come together to start to imagine a more equal and sustainable future for our city. - Scotland has the worst health and lowest life expectancy in Europe. The physical inactivity encouraged by car use is more hazardous to health than smoking: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-18876880 - Glasgow has toxic levels of air pollution that breached World Health Organisation standards in 2016. Air pollution causes strokes, heart attacks and asthma and is responsible for over 300 deaths in our city every year: http://www.foe-scotland.org.uk/air-pollution - A quarter of our city's carbon emissions come from traffic, contributing to dangerous climate change. 2016 was the hottest year on record and the third of record-breaking heat in a row: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/nov/14/2016-will-be-the-hottest-year-on-record-un-says We need bold and inspiring action to begin to address the crises caused by car use. We must radically re-think our cities so that everyone can get around easily and live healthy and happy lives without need or aspiration to own a car. Like many other cities around the world, Glasgow must also start dreaming of a time in the future when the outdated motorway infrastructure of the 20th century can be re-imagined and re-used in different ways. Our annual ‘carfree day’ will be the start. Paris (2015) - "Carfree day draws crowds to Champs-Élysées" http://ichef-1.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/10BF/production/_85778240_85777672.jpg http://cdn.citylab.com/media/img/citylab/2016/04/champs_elysees-1/facebook.jpg http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-34374125 Seoul (2005) - "City tears down an urban highway so it can breathe again" http://innerself.com/content/images/article_photos/x460/south_korea_restoration_project.jpg http://thewire.in/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Korea-Seoul-Cheonggyecheon-2008-01.jpg http://grist.org/infrastructure/2011-04-04-seoul-korea-tears-down-an-urban-highway-life-goes-on Seoul (2016) - "City transforms ageing overpass into skygarden" http://www.mvrdv.nl/media/uploads/Web_07(1).jpg http://www.mvrdv.nl/media/uploads/Web_01.jpg http://www.mvrdv.nl/projects/seoul-skygarden London (1996) - "Reclaim the Streets party on M41 motorway" http://media.gettyimages.com/photos/crowd-of-protestors-reclaim-the-streets-mayday-london-uk-1997-picture-id558219803 http://digitaljournalist.eu/OnTheRoad/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/gallery-colour-reclaim-the-streets-rts/0428_10slide.jpg http://media.gettyimages.com/photos/reclaim-the-streets-camden-1990s-london-uk-picture-id558225853 http://www.urban75.org/photos/protest/m41report.html "Why Carfree Days Can Transport Us Towards A Brighter Future" http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/joe-irvin/why-carfree-days-can-tran_b_12099536.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/anne-hidalgo/parisians-and-seoulites-w_b_12215902.html "Six Freeway Removals That Changed Their Cities Forever" http://gizmodo.com/6-freeway-removals-that-changed-their-cities-forever-1548314937 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeway_removal Dallas (2012) - "Turning ugly overpasses into vibrant parks" http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/18zbxmsm9ul1cjpg.jpg http://gizmodo.com/five-cities-turning-ugly-overpasses-into-vibrant-parks-1259568561

Science has not yet proven that GM food do not have a health changing impact on fauna and the environment. Neither in the USA nor in UK or Europe are consumers interested in GM modified foods. Please urge this government to stop licensing GM modified foods until science can prove, that these food will have no impact on any living beings health. Perhaps we should encourage all world citizens to stop breeding like rabbits and take birth control. Than there will be no need to destroy nature for GM foods and agriculture. Perhaps we humans could learn something from Badgers

The building of a three-story GP surgery is being proposed to replace three of the four surgeries in Salisbury, with the favoured location situated south of Lime Kiln Way to the west of Odstock Road, grid reference SU145282. Just three years ago the proposed site was designated a County Wildlife Site, and it supports a large population of wildflowers, insects, and birds. This site is of great importance not just because of its beauty and the luxury of having a patch of natural meadow on Salisbury’s doorstep, but also due to the sad fact that in the last 70 years Britain has lost 97% of its wildflower population[1]. Even if you do not have a particularly strong feeling towards wildflowers, you must appreciate the sheer importance of having a site like this to support insects and the birds that depend on them. Other options for the site’s location include the now-empty Friends Provident buildings in Castle Street, and the agricultural field directly opposite the proposed site, to the east of Odstock road. In total there are 17 proposed sites, with Lime Kiln Way being preferred presumably because it is cheaper to build on as it is owned by the Council. This proposed site will inevitably lead to increased traffic at the already highly-congested Harnham interchange, which would in turn lead to difficulties getting ambulances to and from Salisbury District Hospital as residents would need to get buses or taxis to get there. Though we all understand the need for a new surgery in Salisbury, our argument is that the currently-favoured site is not suitable. As a local resident I have seen many oil beetles there (three of the UK’s native oil beetles are extinct, and the remaining five species are on the decline[2]), among the numerous species of wildflowers, and the Red Bartsia Bee is also a resident to the site. The land surrounding the site supports breeding birds such as the curlew, lapwing, snipe, redshank, and turtle doves. This is a small, precious refuge of natural green space that is incredibly rare to find in a city – especially one undergoing concentrated housing development like Salisbury. On behalf of my fellow residents in Harvard Heights and East Harnham (both areas share boundaries to the Lime Kiln Way site), I implore Salisbury City Council and local MP John Glen to look more closely into more suitable, alternative locations, and preserve the rare habitat that we can still enjoy in Salisbury. The Lime Kiln Way site offers a sanctuary for flora and fauna to thrive in an area left largely undisturbed by human activity, and future generations will be thankful for us having protected it. Thank you for taking the time to consider this petition. Gregory Nicholson References: [1] http://www.bbc.co.uk/earth/story/20150702-why-meadows-are-worth-saving also, http://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife/habitats/lowland-meadows [2] https://www.buglife.org.uk/campaigns-and-our-work/oil-beetles

The County Council has a legal duty to provide waste disposal free of charge for waste created in the household and through this delegated decision the Conservative leadership is ignoring its legal responsibility to the communities of Staffordshire. The Council should use its discretion to charge directed to business traders and identify these specifically to charge for waste generated from their commercial activities. These new charges have been hidden in County Council paperwork from two years ago and did not receive any meaningful public scrutiny. Further the Council took felt sufficiently concerned about their legal position that they obtained specific advice and concluded that “consultation….is not necessary.” The County Council has a duty to consider the impact of any decisions a cabinet member takes and of particular note is that they acknowledge that the charges will have a detrimental effect on the most vulnerable in our community stating clearly the “…greatest impact on low income households.” They have pressed ahead regardless with this discriminatory practice. Secondly, the Council acknowledge that there could be “a small increase” in fly-tipping. We think they have underestimated the increase in fly-tipping which is costly to clean up for the District Council. The Council think that people won’t be tempted to put soil, hardcore and plasterboard in their own bins. We think residents are likely to try and avoid these charges and this will mean less recycling. The Council do not care that they anticipate “some complaints” in the short term because they believe the issue will blow over and we, the residents of Staffordshire, will continue to accept their ill-considered and flawed decision making to the detriment of communities. All quotes from http://moderngov.staffordshire.gov.uk/documents/s87805/Review%20of%20Household%20Waste%20Recycling%20Centre%20non-household%20waste.pdf