On April 1st a woefully-ill-equipped private firm, Coperforma, replaced the NHS’s South East Coast Ambulance Service in a botched privatisation of NHS services. The mobile phone app the company uses often doesn’t work, especially in areas of poor mobile reception and its own ambulance drivers have said the company is ‘out of its depth’. The result? • Cancer patients have missed oncology appointments after ambulances failed to turn up to collect them. • Patients with kidney failure have not been able to receive scheduled sessions of kidney dialysis for the same reason, with some missing two of their three treatments in a week. • So many patients have become stuck at the Royal Sussex County hospital in Brighton because their transport has not arrived that it has paid for taxis and other private vehicle suppliers to take them home. • Staff there have had to stay until midnight to ensure kidney patients arriving hours after their scheduled start time have received vital dialysis. • Coperforma vehicles have turned up to collect patients who have already died. Patients, relatives, NHS bodies, Trade Unions and local MPs have severely criticised the service’s performance but still local CCGs persist with the untenable private company. The previous public provider regularly had approval ratings of over 90%. For more information http://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/apr/12/patients-wait-hours-for-ambulances-nhs-transport-service-privatised-sussex http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/local/14432002.Patient_transport_company_out_of_its_depth__say_its_own_drivers/

As this means that families who get free travel will have to pay ridiculous prices.

As only weeds grow either side of that path maybe consider widening it making much more accessible to local nursery, school children and the local elderly residents. Come the summer the nettles grow and last summer were 4ft tall for a lengthy period of time before cut back. Long nettles hardly a safety net for the numerous excitable Young children on scooters and bicycles. After all are we not constantly striving to promote children being active? A high volume of children use this footpath daily and it's in a terrible condition. Also many local elderly residents use this footpath. Yesterday mid morning I tripped on this uneven and unsafe footpath and suffered mild head injury and a nasty bruise to my chin. I work as a Teaching Assistant in the local school and arrived visibly upset and shaken. I could have been that elderly resident, expectant mother or other.

Currently those with colinic/bowel disorders and who have a permanent condition as a result of this are rejected from the Blue Badge scheme. Granted that this is true of many others as well, but ostomates usually have to carry with them a set of spares (from clothing to appliances) and having easy and close access to these would be a huge relief, especially in an emergency. Believe me, walking through a supermarket car park knowing that you clothes are soiled is not pleasant, and being able to be back at the car and safety would be a huge physical and psychological benefit. Likewise, many ostomates end up with hernias as a result of their surgery, meaning that carrying heavy items and distance can be challenging if not actually harmful, let alone the issues of having to stack/pack these into a boot or onto a back seat. There are over 100,000 ostomates in the UK currently who have to fend for themselves (I speak as one of these). Seeing others abuse the scheme of course makes one think that it should be tightened, but not to the exclusion of those with genuine needs.

It is stressful for people to have to drive around, for example with a sick relative, or going to work, going for treatment or trying to visit a loved one. Imagine how you feel if you are a grandmother, taking your grandchild to hospital after he/she sustains a painful injury only to find yourself looking for a parking space for 40 minutes. You find a space but have a twenty minute walk, carrying one child, another child in hand. You have a long wait for treatment then get two fretful children back to your car. It has been bashed, and you have a parking ticket. Yes, this really did happen. The effects of that experience stayed with the grandmother for days after the event. Imagine taking a loved one for exhausting radiotherapy. You drive round and round. You and your loved one end up with stress over and above the anticipatory stress about the treatment. This happens at every visit. Imagine trying to get to work. You cannot car share. You have children and carers to drop off/pick up before your shift starts. You get a parking space eventually, you rush a fifteen minute walk before your shift begins, but find the inevitable parking ticket at the end of your shift. People do not live simple hassle free lives in today's world. These example do not fit with government policy in relation to exercise, or reducing pollution. These situation do not harmonise with policy to improve well-being. We need action now.

Currently the journey requires two or three buses to the hospital and can take up to three hours to travel there from some parts of Fleet and Church Crookham. Clearly this journey is not viable for many local people. An alternative route to include the train is complicated and saves little time and a return taxi can cost £40. A direct bus between Fleet and Frimley Park Hospital would allow everyone to have access to the hospital to attend regular appointments, visit relatives and get to work without transport concerns. It isn't just older and vulnerable people who would benefit, drivers can quickly become non drivers either temporarily or permanently due to misfortune. Congestion and pollution around Frimley would be eased by enabling both patients, visitors and staff to get there by bus and would take away the stress and expense of parking at the already overflowing car park at a time when housing numbers are rapidly increasing in Hart and Rushmoor. A bus to the local hospital is a social necessity and we believe that this needs to be implemented for Fleet and Church Crookham. Please sign the petition to add your support for this campaign

Nothing is more important than keeping children safe. There have been several speeding car near misses with young children on Eden Lane. Installing traffic calming measures on Eden Lane will hopefully prevent any future serious injury or death due to speeding.

Following the most recent accident of many, and multiple near misses, we demand that Swale Borough Council install safety calming measures in Church Lane, Newington This is the main route to the village school and Church and is used by many people, from the very young to the elderly, both driving and on foot, every day. Speed is a main factor in many of these incidents, and the usable road width is approximately no more than one car width. The lane is used by a large amount of traffic everyday; including cars, farm traffic and large lorries. We already have the support of the Parish Council and we would like the support of both the Borough Council and the County Council to install traffic calming measures forthwith.

Residents are sick and tired of their lives being disrupted by bad and inconsiderate parking, when Church services are taking place, and the danger of emergency vechicles not getting through, and access blocked to a joining courts.

The South East Local Enterprise Partnership (SELEP) - an unaccountable and unelected body - has allocated a total of £16.6m of public money to SeaChange Sussex to build the North Bexhill Access Road (NBAR). The road would be 2.4km long, and would therefore cost £6.9m/km. By comparison, the 5.6km Bexhill Hastings Link Road (BHLR) is currently predicted to cost £124.3m, or £22.2m/km. So according to SeaChange Sussex, the NBAR will only cost 13% as much as the BHLR, even though it is 43% of the length. There is a very strong case to be made that SeaChange Sussex has deliberately underplayed the likely cost of the road in order to secure funding, and that more public money will be requested once construction starts. It would not appear possible for the NBAR to be built for £16.6m, and it would seem very likely that SeaChange Sussex will return to SELEP to ask for more money at a point where the project is seen to be too far on to be abandoned. There is precedent for this locally: over the past three years, East Sussex County Council has agreed four separate increases in funding for the Bexhill Hastings Link Road. Currently, with the greenway and landscaping still unfinished, the road cost is 44% above the original predicted cost. It would be utterly wrong to allocate yet more public money towards the polluting and destructive North Bexhill Access Road, especially at a time when public services for the most vulnerable are being cut to the bone. SELEP must refuse to grant any further funds to the NBAR.

To protect children, property and the environment from heavy vehicles used during the construction of thousands of new and infrastructure unsupported houses in and around the area. And to force the developers and council to provide a major new through road to support this development as was originally promised.

Glasgow’s Subway network has being going in circles for too long! Built in 1896, Glasgow has the third oldest underground in the world but, unlike all other cities, Glasgow has never extended its Subway. The Subway is not accessible to the majority living in Glasgow and as a result is underused for a city of its size. The ridership of Glasgow’s Subway compares poorly to that of geographically smaller and less populated cities such as Lisbon whose annual underground ridership is 140.9 million, while Glasgow Subway’s annual ridership is 12.8 mil, despite having the larger population. Transport for London (London’s version of SPT) is currently building a new high-speed underground line Crossrail, now known as the 'Elizabeth Line' and has just released inspiring plans for Crossrail2, to be completed 2030. Remember when Glasgow was going to have a Crossrail too? Why isn’t Scotland’s largest city worth this level of investment? And why doesn't SPT have an ambitious long-term plan? http://www.crossrail2.co.uk Fewer cars mean less congestion, more space, and cleaner air above ground for cyclists, pedestrians and remaining motorists. Glasgow has the lowest level of car ownership in Scotland, and some of the worst levels of air pollution. Many people have no choice but to drive due to poor public transport provisions. An extended Subway network would provide a lifeline to isolated communities, improve everyone's overall mobility, and reduce reliance on cars and the problem of scarcity of parking spaces. In 2007, SPT produced a report that showed huge support for a Subway extension, and said they were “ in tune with the needs of the public”. “...we want what you want. This city needs a world-class Subway system. That’s what our passengers deserve. I realise an extension won’t come cheap and we still have lots of hurdles to overcome but, in my view, what the public wants, the public should get. This is a ringing endorsement from the people who would use the extended Subway.” Councillor Alistair Watson, SPT http://www.spt.co.uk/corporate/2007/03/survey-shows-spt-in-tune-with-the-public Since then, recent modernisation has only made cosmetic and technological improvements. Glasgow doesn’t need a novelty train - it needs an underground system fit to carry a growing 21st century population in a 21st century city! Don’t just take our word for it: “We need to face the facts that the current system is fraying at the edges. The Subway has served Glasgow well for over a hundred years but we now need to invest further in the city’s infrastructure. These proposals contain bold visions. They would give Glasgow a 21st century transport system for a 21st century city. What we now need to do is work out how we can make that happen.” Ron Culley, Chief Executive of SPT (2006 - 2010) http://www.spt.co.uk/corporate/2007/03/survey-shows-spt-in-tune-with-the-public “It is tragic that there has been absolutely no progress over the past decade in moving people from cars on to public transport. As the new strategy sets out, the past decade has seen a 2% increase in traffic levels, while public transport use has declined by 6%.” Colin Howden, Director of Transform Scotland http://transformscotland.org.uk/blog/2016/01/21/lack-of-progress-on-key-trends-shows-wasted-decade-on-scottish-transport-policy Let’s show SPT we haven’t forgotten their promise of an extended Subway system! If ‘People Make Glasgow’, then SPT and the government have to put their money where their mouth is! Sign the petition to extend Glasgow’s Subway and demand a comprehensive underground system fit to serve not just the few, but all the people of Glasgow! ___________________________________________ Follow the campaign: Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/glasgowtube Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/glasgowtube