PEOPLE SAID "a community resource not luxury flats": after a petition, an Independent Inquiry and a local referendum (July 2015) 96-98 Shoot up Hill was listed as one of the community facilities to be protected from any change, in the Fortune Green and West Hampstead Neighbourhood Development Plan. Both occupiers: the current day centre and People's Centre who run projects after day centre hours and weekends are recognised as communities (alive, developing and growing). But now the council is looking to reverse this decision changing the use to residential, in order to eventually sell it on the open market. THE IMPACT OF DAY CENTRE CLOSURES: The council wanted to close the day centre at Shoot up Hill in 2012. Day centre closures leave many people with learning disabilities even more isolated, stuck at home, without meaningful occupation, friendships lost, ever more dependent on their family carers. (see Mencap report “Stuck at Home”). PERSONALISED (choice) BUT NOT ATOMISED (excluded): the council justified the closures saying that people wanted other choices than day centres and they should go out and about in the mainstream, using their personal budgets. Many people with learning disabilities are ready to embrace the changes in social care and to take control of their individual lifestyles using personal budgets to make choices. But the “community out there” does not yet provide the environments, activities and social opportunities they need and deserve and which give them a sense of belonging. Some people also need the continuity and familiarity of a vibrant and inclusive community where they they are understood, fully accepted and welcomed and can choose from adapted and suitably challenging activities, and develop relationships with all sorts of people. PEOPLE'S CENTRE = AN ALTERNATIVE: a group of family carers campaigned against the closure and in April 2012 the council agreed to delay the closure and give them time to develop their proposals and raise money to buy the building. People's Centre was then set up as a not for profit organisation to fill in a gap in provision and offer an alternative to a traditional day centre, taking advantage of personalisation: excellent individually tailored choices of activities, social and employment opportunities and support to people with a wide range of learning disabilities in a friendly, INCLUSIVE environment as well as new opportunities for the wider neighbourhood; modelling successful inclusion and supporting people to access other community venues. NOT BACK TO INSTITUTIONS!: the council recognises the need for “building based” services but want to build a single, purpose built, large institutional facility (Greenwood Place) grouping people with all manner of impairments in discrete units: learning disabilities, mental health, dementia, autism, multiple and profound learning disabilities. People will be segregated according to what they cannot do, as well as set apart from the neighbourhood (in a back street, semi industrial area). Moreover Greenwood Place also lacks capacity to provide facilities for the current and growing numbers of people with high support needs. SMALL SCALE, INCLUSIVE, COMMUNITY RESOURCES, INSTEAD: People's Centre is developing a friendly and welcoming community place where people of all abilities and backgrounds complement each other, can get the support they need and engage in meaningful activities as well as go out to other places. We will model good practice. BUILDINGS AT 96-98 Shoot up Hill ARE IDEAL: two semi detached houses which front a main road, look just like the neighbouring houses and allow for flexible use. They been adapted with accessible lift, WC facilities, changing room etc. There are no equivalent premises in the area and the cost of providing such facilities in another building will be prohibitive as well as wasteful. WHAT WE ARE DOING NOW, outside day centre hours and weekends: - Weekly creative, social and therapeutic sessions for adults and young people with learning disabilities supported by volunteers, family and support workers. Open to everyone in the neighbourhood. Cafe with freshly cooked delicious food. - a “Unique Products” enterprise where people with and without disabilities work together. - weekly sessions and special events for unpaid carers in Camden - Saturday Stay and Play for families with children with disabilities, siblings and friends. - (soon) Weekend specialist yoga to families with a member with disabilities. - Open Days, Special Concerts, Carers Week Day and Community Festivals bringing together people of all ages, backgrounds and abilities to make music, art and enjoy life. VOLUNTEERS: from all backgrounds and abilities help make it happen FUNDING: we have received funding from Co-op, National Lottery, School of Social Entrepreneurs, Comic Relief, Camden Carers Service, SIBS, a local Hampstead Trust, Baily Thomas and individuals. SUSTAINABILITY: our business case demonstrates that we can be a sustainable enterprise, taking advantage of the changes in adult social care which give people with support needs the means to decide on the services they want and combining this with provision of opportunities for the wider community and small businesses. We are continuing to develop the service offer and detailed business plan. CAPITAL FUNDING: People's Centre are working to raise capital to buy the building and keep it for the local community. This won't be possible if the building goes up for sale in the open market as a residential property. SUPPORT PEOPLE'S CENTRE PETITION and the opportunity to continue providing support for people with severe learning disabilities, their families and carers and creating an inclusive community resource for local people. We need 100s of signatures http://peoplescentreforchange.org.uk/ [email protected]

This is a nature reserve and contains an array of wildlife that will be affected as a consequence of building on the green land.

Since the opening of Westwood Cross and the insertion of yellow lines all around the commercial centre of Ramsgate, residents have seen many businesses close down and struggle. Recently, new businesses have been opening and long-standing businesses have persevered. Unfortunately, double yellow lines throughout the commercial centre of Ramsgate mean that many shoppers prefer to use the big chains who can offer parking causing a loss to local businesses. If the yellow lines were replaced by free 30-minute parking, people would have the incentive to whizz round Ramsgate's small businesses and ensure the longterm sustainability of our precious town centre with its diverse businesses run by local people.

The Developer Ashfield Land Ltd has categorised this development as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project. The implication of this is that it by-passes the normal Northamptonshire planning application process and is determined directly by the Secretary of State who quite possibly has no knowledge of our local environment and might not even visit the affected villages before making his decision. Whilst South Northamptonshire Council are fundamentally against this development as it is contrary to their local plan, their power to reject it has effectively been taken away from them.

Hilperton Marsh [aka the Gap] is a flood plain and building over 200 houses risks increasing the risk of flooding for homes and businesses in the area and overloading the current water courses and drains. What's more it's a beautiful open area of green fields, historically dividing the village of Hilperton from the town. It is an easily accessible area used by both local residents and people from other areas for recreation and to enhance the quality of life for both young and old. Trees and hedges that support wildlife including bats, owls and kingfishers will be felled. The Hilperton relief road which has been built across the centre of the Gap is now being used as an excuse to build on the land - not the purpose that it was constructed for. Both Councillors for this area are opposed to these plans. One Councillor, Cllr Steve Oldrieve said: " The whole of the Hilperton Gap is vital to the well-being of our community and we cannot allow unwanted piece-meal speculative housing developments to destroy it." It's time to stand up to Save the Hilperton Gap. If enough of us support this petition it will put pressure on Wiltshire Council to refuse planning permission and consider alternatives to protect this land for future generations.

After long resisting the call to make land ownership transparent in Scotland, the Scottish Government has finally said that it will make provision for ‘a public register of persons who control land in Scotland’ – but the details remain unspecified and, with the Holyrood parliamentary session ending on 23 March, there may be no time to review or amend the proposals. We need the Scottish Government to fulfil their belated promises on transparency of land ownership. In 1617, James VI of Scotland (& I of England) brought in the Register of Sasines Act to counter fraud in land transactions by creating a register of title to record who had sold what to whom, but today in Scotland – four hundred years later - the owners of at least 3.45 million acres (22.1% of all rural land) cannot be identified, largely because the owners shelter behind nominees, many registered in offshore jurisdictions (eg the British Virgin Islands). It is clear that the prime reason for concealing ownership is to avoid tax (eg Land and Buildings Transaction Tax and Inheritance Tax) and to ‘launder’ ill-gotten cash. Parliamentary committees (and the SNP 2015 Conference) have urged the Government to make radical improvements to the law and ensure transparency in land title, so that the people of Scotland can know who owns Scotland. But the Government resisted all changes to its Land Reform Bill until mid-February, when the Minister relented and stated that she would be making provision for ‘the creation of a public register of persons who control land in Scotland’ so that they could no longer ‘hide behind obscure company titles or trust arrangements.’ The belated conversion of the Minister is welcome, but it may come too late to implement the measures in full before Holyrood breaks up on 23 March. We are now very short of time and we need to get it right in this Parliamentary Session: a four hundred year delay is enough!

Beachy Head is not theirs to sell, it is part of our National Heritage and should not be sold off. Selling it into private hands puts us all in danger of loosing something that belongs to the whole nation. They talk about giving the farmers security, when they are taking away the security of people who live in council accommodation, backing businesses that keep people on minimum wage on zero hour contracts,so that they don't even know what they will be earning each week.It,s just another short term fix, like selling the woods and forests to raise money to plug the gaps that they have created themselves. Even if I cant walk on this land I want the possibility to be there for my children and grandchildren, if it is sold it; gone forever.

Family Mosaic and Sherry Green Homes want to demolish social housing, replace the creative hub of Old Tidemill School and build over the entire Wildlife Garden, a unique and mature haven, for people and wildlife alike in Deptford. Replacing it with 210 dwellings, 176 of which are for private rental with a small communal grass lawn and sanitized play spaces. This development will not benefit the local community and will remove a vital green space in an area of local deficiency. URGENT. PLEASE OBJECT TO THE COUNCIL PLANNING DEPARTMENT ABOUT THE CURRENT PROPOSALS It’s really straightforward. All the info is here: http://oldtidemillgarden.wix.com/deptford#!campaign/qzn1j

13 climate protesters are facing prison to silence protest against new runways which would wreck Government policy to protect us from catastrophic climate change. The Paris agreement underlines the need to cut emissions now. Aviation is the fastest growing source of carbon emissions and the only way to reduce emissions from aviation to a safe level is to reduce the number of flights. Despite David Cameron’s ‘no ifs, no buts’ election and manifesto promise to not build a new runway following massive public outrage at the proposals, the Government is now breaking its promise. There is more than enough aviation capacity for people’s annual holidays and the declining number of business flights. Airport growth is driven by a minority of frequent fliers who take the majority of UK flights to second homes and tax havens. Meanwhile, emissions from aviation are destroying people’s lives. People in the Heathrow area, who already have to breathe illegal levels of air pollution and suffer intolerable noise, would now see their homes destroyed. People across the UK have been flooded at Christmas, and every year hundreds of thousands more people die due to climate change - mostly in poor countries in the Global South, the people least responsible for emissions. The Government is expected to make its decision on whether to expand Heathrow or Gatwick – or neither, if we are successful – this year. It’s one or the other: build new runways or protect us from climate chaos. The people in the Global South who are dying due to climate change already have no voice in the debate. We can show them that jailing peaceful protesters will not silence those of us who do.

As a cultural hub that has long served the local community and embraces all cultures around Ladbroke Grove, The KPH has been listed as Asset of Community Value by the local authority. However, we feel that more protection of this unique venue is required in order to safeguard it against closure and unsympathetic development. Situated in an area of high property value, developers have spent two years running an aggressive legal campaign to rid the venue of its current manager and redevelop it for sale to an estate agent. The case is particularly urgent due to a complication arising from a legal dispute between the current manager, Vince Power, and the freeholder, SWA Developments Ltd. If an appeal hearing on 17 March 2016 is decided in favour of the latter, The KPH faces immediate closure. https://player.vimeo.com/video/155539254?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0 The KPH has been a pub and entertainment venue for 150 years and is located on a busy junction on Ladbroke Grove. It borders on what used to be the slums of Notting Dale and North Kensington and is in walking distance of world-famous Portobello Road and the more affluent streets of Notting Hill and Holland Park. It has a colourful past of serving famous and notorious patrons, from John Christie to The Clash. Under its current management, The KPH has succeeded in attracting members of the area’s diverse social and ethnic backgrounds, warmly welcoming new arrivals as well as long-standing regulars from the Irish and West Indian communities. There are already too many examples of pubs closing in the area. Even if the facades are kept intact, conversions into supermarkets, estate agents and luxury flats have a lasting effect on the neighbourhood’s distinctive look and feel. This particular section of Ladbroke Grove has retained some significant original features and is in danger of irrevocably losing its distinctive character. The KPH is one of many pubs facing closure in the current climate of aggressive property development. According to CAMRA statistics, 29 pubs are closed every week across the UK. Music venues face a similar fate, and the Music Venue trust is at the core of a campaigne to protect grassroots music venues like The KPH. Unfortunately, the anticipated legislative changes may come too late for the KPH. https://player.vimeo.com/video/147334918?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0 Please sign and share this petition asap.

We call on Lewisham Councillors to reject the planning application for a 19 storey tower block beside Catford Station, where there is already an approved plan to meet Lewisham's housing needs. This plan should be enforced and any future proposals consulted on widely. A 19 storey building is wholly disproportionate and out of keeping with the human scale of the area. Approval would set a very dangerous precedent that would affect the whole of Catford.

At present drivers go through the pelican crossing when it's turning red, and also when it is red. This crossing is used by many school pupils including those at Queens Park Community School, Capital Academy and Malorees Junior School. It is only a matter of time before a child gets killed by a driver. Brent Council needs to put a red light trigger camera and warning sign at the pelican crossing before a death not after one. Prevention is better than Death!