** UPDATE** - 17/03/14 - Thanks for pressure from 38 Degrees members, Transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin confirms Camden Town section of HS2 project will be axed: http://www.camdennewjournal.com/news/2014/mar/transport-secretary-patrick-mcloughlin-confirms-camden-town-section-hs2-project-will-b However, the new plans to redevelop Euston are more damaging than first thought. We need the petition to keep growing to pile up the pressure!** Camden is a vital contributor to the UK's economic success, contributing 1% of its GDP. It is home to hundreds of small businesses and the world famous Camden market, which is one of London's most visited tourist attractions. Yet the current plans for HS2 will rip Camden apart for no real national benefit. The reason is two-fold. 1. HS2 Ltd is planning to link the existing HS1 service at King's Cross St Pancras to the new HS2 interchange at Old Oak Common. It has chosen to do this by rebuilding the North London line between the two points and installing two new lines. Although 6.3 km will be tunnelled, 2.3km will run straight through the heart of Camden, unnecessarily causing devastating loss and damage. 7 bridges will be demolished or rebuilt; homes and shops will be demolished; 1 national freight line lost; 13 new construction compounds, 2 major engineering head houses and numerous material stockpiles will be built. Camden Lock Market, one of the UK's top tourist destinations, will be lost or ruined. Losses to Camden's famous creative industries are estimated to be in excess of £600 million, plus 9000 jobs. The scale of construction is gigantic. There will be significant road closures and traffic construction fanning out from Camden to Bloomsbury and Swiss Cottage for over a decade, plus an extra 600 lorry movements per day. Residents' health is at risk: there are no plans to protect them from adverse air quality, dust, vibration and noise levels. But it does not have to be this way. Tunnelling the link under Camden would either negate or massively reduce all the other impacts and cost the government only £170 million. 2. The problems in Camden will be compounded by the rebuilding of Euston station, and surrounding areas, to accommodate HS2 trains. This work will also be on a massive scale. Whilst we support redevelopment in this area, the plans currently proposed by HS2 Ltd are the most destructive under consideration, and will cause massive damage to the surrounding area including the demolition of 250 homes and the probable bankruptcy of the much loved Bangladeshi restaurants in Drummond Street. Traffic will be gridlocked over a wide area. There will be up to an additional 1000 lorries on the roads every day. We urge the government to adopt an alternative scheme - such as Double Deck - which would cause a fraction of the damage and create a world class station that the UK can be proud of. Overall, direct losses to Camden from HS2 construction work will amount to £1.01 billion. Indirect losses have not been calculated. Over ten years, the gross domestic output (GVA) affected by HS2's current plans is estimated to be £49.8 billion, which will have a significant impact not only on Camden, but on the wider UK economy. Camden Conservatives support Camden Council's cross-party opposition to the impact of HS2 on Camden

This is not a scare story: Beverley's beloved common, Westwood, is under threat. There is a proposal to allow temporary access across a portion of the Westwood to permit the developers easy access to the old Westwood Hospital Site. If this were to happen this would set a precedent that could then be used by other developers to access other potential development sites adjacent to the Westwood, such as the Grammar School, Minster School, Archery Field, East Riding College, Longcroft Lower School, Longcroft Higher School and potentially Grosvenor Place. If any such access is granted, it is unlikely that it will ever be removed completely and damage will be done to the integrity of the Westwood as well as its fauna and flora: trees will be cut down, hedges broken through and grasslands compacted and altered forever. This, over time, will result in the loss, piece by piece, of the Westwood we know: a Westwood we have a duty to pass on to our children in the condition we inherited it. Beverlonians have protected our commons for centuries, are we really going to throw this away for the sake of six or so lorry movements per day over 18 months? If we do, we would be betraying those who fought for these commons in the past. There is a vociferous, ill-informed campaign promoting the idea of access across the Westwood, however, the emotive campaign they are running is full of omissions. The facts of the case are set out below. Town Route: Problems Congestion in the narrow streets; Increased traffic movements on these streets; Increased noise for the residents. Westwood Route: Problems The route of this access road will cross and damage ancient common land; The route will damage the existing grassland; The route will involve the removal of a section of species-rich hedgerow; The route will involve the removal of a small tree; There will be increased traffic movements on the Westwood; The temporary road will set a precedent. Town Route: Mitigation Measures The developers have said they will limit lorry movements to 12 per day during demolition ( c. 2 months); The developers have said they will limit lorry movements to 6 per day during the construction phase, 16 months; The developers will use a small lorry; There will be no lorry movements during the rush hours nor at school pick-up and drop-off times. Westwood Route: Mitigation Measures The developers say they will re-instate the grassland; They will replant the hedge; They will replant the tree. It would appear that the problems associated with the town route can be easily mitigated against and the very small number of lorry movements per day is more than reasonable, especially when you take into consideration the number of movements there used to be when the Westwood Hospital was open and when the new housing estate is built. These movements included ambulances, delivery vehicles, skip lorries, gritting lorries and patients being picked-up and dropped-off. Concern has also been raised regarding the danger to schoolchildren at Minster School. The developers appear to have taken this into account in their plans and will schedule no lorry movements during the rush hour or at school pick-up and drop-off times. In truth the biggest risk to school children is local residents speeding along The Leases or rat-running up Central Avenue and Thurston Road to get to Cartwright Lane. In terms of the access across the Westwood, there appears to very little that the developers can do to mitigate against the damage they will cause. Whilst they have said they will reinstate everything they damage, in ecological terms this is easier said than done and, in most cases, is impossible. Their route will destroy a species-rich hedge which cannot be replaced in our lifetimes. The problem of precedent cannot easily be undone, once the access route has been constructed. This will encourage other developers to do likewise in order to develop other sites, more difficult to access than the old Westwood Hospital site, by insisting on temporary access across the Westwood. This would open-up areas, such as Grosvenor Place and Minster School to development pressure.

Hillside Animal Sanctuary has offered to re-home feral goats from the eastern shore of Loch Lomond to prevent them being culled. Hillside urged RSPB Scotland to halt the cull, which is being carried out to protect Pollochro Woods. The area is viewed as a site of special scientific importance. RSPB Scotland have previously said they would consider alternative solutions in March, but that the cull will continue until then. They are now saying that they will continue with the cull in September. Wendy Valentine of Hillside Animal Sanctuary said it had offered to give the goats a home for the rest of their lives rather than have them shot. Ms Valentine, whose sanctuary in Norfolk is home to more than 2,000 rescued animals, added: "It is a shame that an organisation that is set up to look after the welfare of animals should take a stance that goats should be culled. "We have rounded up herds of Highland cattle that have gone wild and Highland ponies, so goats would not be any different. We have 70-80 of them already. Hillside's offer to re-home the goats follows an approach from the Scotland For Animals charity, which has also enlisted the help of Humane Wildlife Solutions, a Borders-based company specialising in pest control without killing. John Patrick, from Scotland For Animals said: "We have presented a do-able option that is not going to cost them (RSPB Scotland) any money. "I would have thought they would have jumped at the offer if they really are pro-conversation, pro-nature and pro-wildlife."

Our Ancient Woodlands have evolved over hundreds of years and cannot simply be replaced by new plantings of trees, no matter how many trees are planted for every one destroyed in an ancient woodland. These Ancient Woodlands have very complex relationships, for instance between some of our rarest Orchids and Fungi. But there are many such relationships which cannot be replicated in a new planting. These complex relationships between trees, flowering plants, insects, birds, mammals, amphibians, worms, nematodes, bacteria and fungi would be destroyed if the destruction of these Ancient Woodlands were to be allowed.

UPDATE: Unfortunately, Ballymore went ahead and cut down all the trees on their site. They did this without any recognition of our opinion and sentiments, so just four Network Rail trees remain. One of these is the flagship sycamore tree, which thankfully has just been given a Tree Preservation Order by Camden Council. While the TPO is good news, this stunning tree is still very much at risk, because Network Rail has the power to overturn TPO orders without question or recourse. Therefore, the fight to save the trees must continue - in the sincere hope that we can protect this surviving sycamore from irreparable harm. HISTORY: This is a last ditch personal plea to Ballymore Developments and Network Rail to save 35 mature, functional trees alongside the railway track at West Hampstead Overground station, nearly all of which are due to be felled by the end of January. Residents have been enjoying the unique treeline views and sunsets over the railway for aeons, but these are due to disappear all of a sudden in the matter of minutes that it takes to axe trees in the 21st century. This is not only an effort to preserve the character and ecology of the area. It is also an appeal to developers and big business everywhere to open their hearts and to take account of the effects of their actions on living beings and nature - to consider an objective which is not just about financial gain. There has been a huge campaign by locals to try and stop this devastation, but to date to no avail. The protests of local celebrities have been documented in The Observer and the London Standard, as well as in local papers and blogs. Emma Thompson has called the culling of the trees an "act of vandalism and ecosavagery" and Downton Abbey actor Jim Carter pleads, "In a densely packed residential area like West Hampstead, all our green amenities are cherished and provide a much needed habitat for wildlife as well as visual relief from the enormous increase in hard landscaping …… I would urge them (Ballymore) to reconsider as a matter of utmost urgency.". Talking of hard landscaping, to be specific, what our Downton Abbey butler is referring to is a huge concrete residential development, unprecedented in this area. Nine buildings, the tallest a boggling twelve storeys in height, will begin construction at the end of January 2014. This leviathan will be situated exactly opposite London's West Hampstead tube station and next to the Overground station. Camden Council appear to have given Ballymore planning permission carte blanche, so this is why only personal and public appeal can save the trees now. Ballymore have tried to blame Network Rail "policy" as the reason they have to cull all the trees, even those that are within feet of the railway fence. But policy is not law and they are not compelled to follow it. We also believe that Camden have not followed their own guidance as to their conditions for developers. In the planning guidance document provided by Camden to the developer (which is the basis for granting the permission) there are two areas which we believe they have not held up: Page 6 "Ensure appropriate relationship to adjoining open space and ecological corridors and provide new open space". Page 14 "and protect and enhance green infrastructure and urban greening". Sadly the community realised too late that Ballymore were targetting all trees and not just "some" as stated in the public meeting two years ago. Yes, Ballymore say that they will plant new trees (74 seedlings), but obviously it will be decades before they reach the size of existing trees. They have commissioned a study, which declares that the existing mature trees are all of poor quality, one justification for this is that the trees are "self-sown". A curious statement considering that nearly all the trees in the world are self sown! The study also states that these trees, which have been there for aeons, have only about 20 useful years of life left to them. Some of these are beautiful old specimens, so this is questionable, to stay the least. It appears that Ballymore's "study" has been prepared without interest or concern for the community or the trees, it has been construed merely for the benefit of the people who are planning to destroy the area. "West Hampstead Square" has been designed without any plans to replace the mature trees with any greenery whatsoever on the north side of the development from where the trees will be removed. This huge project has been planned as an island, without reference or care for its local habitat, either residential or ecological. Please challenge the developers and Network Rail, for the sake of all those who face such circumstances - sign and circulate this petition! Thank you

London Road is currently very unwelcoming to cyclists and the plans miss a golden opportunity for improvement. One of the most dangerous parts of the road for cyclists is the two-lane section leading to Cleveland Place opposite Thomas Street, where the council plans to replace the shared cycle path and replace it with car parking. The consultation plan on which the scheme is based does not appear to have been made public and was limited to residents of the immediate area, whereas the changes will impact all those who pass through the area daily. The area should be regenerated by making it a pleasant place to explore on foot or by bike, not by squeezing in more cars.

Too many destructive decisions have been taken behind closed doors resulting in a budget deficit largely created by (at best) mismanangement, and the resulting closure or reduction in all the services the citizens value. The recent campaigns to Save The Edgar Street Trees, Libraries & Museums, Customer Services, social and health care, and other current campaigns we have also supported in the last year, have highlighted the items that the public consider most important to their society and the unholy debacle caused by a small cabal of councillors refusing to listen has resulted in a huge amount of anger and frustration. This campaign continues .... so please keep signing and sharing.

We know that even exploratory drilling will constitute a high risk to our water, our environment, our health, our wildlife as well as involving a heavy lorry traffic and noise pollution and the processing of toxic water pumped out of the coal seams. Drilling will also threaten our buildings with partial subsidence, if these applications are successful they will pave the way to the industrialisation of our countryside.

Horizontal hydraulic fracturing, ‘fracking’, is a way of extracting oil and/or gas. Water, sand and toxic chemicals are injected at high pressure into underground rocks to shatter them. This releases the gas/oil which can be collected. But investing in carbon-intensive fossil fuels is a distraction from the need to decarbonise our electricity supply. And it's hazardous. Studies show that fracking pollutes water supplies (with arsenic and lead), causes earthquakes, and spoils local communities. And there are nightmare stories coming form the States. Like in the town of Dimock, PA, residents have reported their water turning so brown that it stains crockery. Their water was later found to contain methane, and a host of toxic chemicals. But it gets worse. "My son had sores up and down his legs from the water." " My daughter... would have to get out the of the shower and lay on the floor." Those are the words from Greg Saunter, a local resident, whose water supply was shut off for his own good. He cannot shower in his own home. Or drink water out of his taps. Fracking has ruined his life. It cannot happen here. We call on the council to preserve the quality of life of its residents, and reject all planning applications for fracking.

The industrialisation of our countryside is unacceptable. All of the 'unconventionals' represent a direct threat to the environment, through: Irreversible pollution of the aquifer. Toxic legacy for the future. Subsidence and Seismic activity. Methane gas escape (potent greenhouse gas). Increased Carbon emissions. Natural Habitat destruction. Surface and subterranean explosions. Uncontrolled underground coal fires. Massive infrastructure development of the land. Increase in heavy traffic. Increase in noise, light and odour pollution. Pollution of waterways. Risk of toxic spills on the land. Extreme Energy will not create local jobs, neither will it reduce our energy bills. It will devalue our homes and scar the countryside. Despite industry claims, none of the techniques are 'established' or 'safe'. All well casings DO fail eventually and accidents DO happen. Increased use of fossil fuels should not be pursued as an energy strategy for the future. We wish to preserve our way of life, our beautiful countryside and we wish our legacy to our children and grandchildren to be a clean, unspoilt future not an industrialised toxic wasteland. We must protect and preserve our natural water resource. We must take the precautionary approach and not allow these new experimental industries to gamble with our lives and environment. We must regulate to ban ALL unconventional gas, coal and oil exploration and exploitation in Warwickshire. http://vimeo.com/72845389 Twitter: @NoUCGWarks Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NoUCGWarks Blog: http://noucgwarks.blogspot.co.uk/ email: noucgwarks@gmail.com

Fracking is quite possibly one of the most dangerous forms of creating energy ever invented. Whilst drilling chemicals are released into the ground with the water that get released into the environment. The chemicals are supposed to stay in the concrete pipes but they rarely do... The pipes crack and the chemicals leak into the environment and into our drinking water. Also the chemicals are released into the atmosphere leaving people and animals to breath this toxic mixture of chemicals into their body. The result is illness, disability, cancers, unable to drink tap water, our animals dying and our plants dying. The result is a whole toxic mess... And then there's the earth tremors and earthquakes.

Horizontal hydraulic fracturing, ‘fracking’, is a way of extracting oil and/or gas. Water, sand and toxic chemicals are injected at high pressure into underground rocks to shatter them. This releases the gas/oil which can be collected. The oil and gas industries claim that fracking will increase UK energy security and create jobs. But the amount of gas or oil estimated to exist in shale/coal bed formations and the amount that can be extracted are very different. The evidence in the US is that - contrary to extravagant industry claims of a century of natural gas - fracking wells are already dropping in production. It is an extremely expensive extraction method that cannot provide a long-term return. It cannot create either energy or job security. However, fracking is not just expensive economically, but more disturbingly in the costs to the environment and human health as well as that of livestock. There have been many instances in the US of ground and surface water contamination as a result of fracking activities, some of which have caused drastic health problems and even necessitated state or corporate provision of alternative drinking water. Access to drinkable water is one of the key achievements of developed nations. Water Aid states that 768 million people worldwide - roughly 1 in 10 - still don't have access to safe water. Do we in Britain, one of the most advanced nations in the world, want to risk members of our own population joining that number? Absolutely not. But that's exactly what fracking would risk. All oil wells are concrete-and-steel constructions that will eventually fail, and even in the short term, fracking wells have an estimated 6% chance of a fault of some kind (industry estimate). The specifics of local geology and underground watercourses cannot be reliably predicted or legislated for. For a fracking site to be profitable, hundreds of wells are required. The maths - and the logic - isn't difficult. This practice is simply too dangerous, and the return too uncertain, expensive and limited, to justify. As for jobs, they go where the political will and the entrepreneurs go. The oil and gas industry would have it be a choice between environment and jobs. This is misleading and profoundly unhelpful - the Council and indeed the Government should support job creation in the renewables industry which (unlike the oil and gas industry) is actually in steady growth, and will reduce carbon emissions... We therefore call on the council to preserve the quality of life of Gloucestershire's residents and those of the UK in general, and reject any and all planning applications for fracking including Coal Bed Methane and Underground Coal Gasification applications, whether now or in future.