Our aims: • An immediate pause on any sale or disposal process by NHS Property Services. • An agreement in principle that, should disposal proceed, the site be transferred at a nominal cost of £1 to the people of Moretonhampstead, acknowledging its historic purpose, community value, and original donation to the town.  • Sustained support from the Integrated Care Board (ICB), our MP ,and NHS property services (NHSPS) to develop a health and community hub on the site which would include; district nurses, a care agency, GP overflow and local wellbeing services. Moretonhampstead Community Hospital was built in 1900–1901 under the patronage of the Hambleden family for the people of Moretonhampstead and the surrounding area. Although it no longer has inpatient beds, it remains an important community asset, well suited to hosting local healthcare, district nursing, a care agency, and wider community initiatives. It has been extensively and continuously used since it's inception.  NHS Property Services is now preparing to sell the building on the open market or to a charitable community bid. This follows more than a decade of effort by the local GP practice, Wellmoor, and other groups to secure a future for the site. The Parish Council has also supported attempts to keep the building in public use. To date, our MP has offered intermittent but inconsistent support and has not secured any sustained stability for the building, while Devon ICB and NHSPS have shown no willingness to invest in it, either financially or philosophically. The last remaining vestige of NHS provision in the hospital was the district nursing team, co-ordinating local housebound care and using the building for ad-hoc clinics, catheter changes, patient reviews, and complex leg dressings. We were informed earlier this year that the district nurses were required to leave because the roof was leaking and the building was unsafe. Once vacated, we understand Devon ICB was able to declare the site surplus to requirements and instruct NHS Property Services to begin disposal. Following the eviction of the nurses to a local industrial complex, I have since been informed by NHSPS that the roof has been repaired which seems at odds to the original narrative.  NHS Property Services has not allowed local organisations full access to undertake an independent survey, preventing the community from developing an informed proposal for its reuse. The GP practice supports a community-led plan or retention in the NHS, but cannot afford to purchase the hospital and cannot relocate. It must remain at the existing health centre, which also requires investment for renovation and improvement. It already maximises the existing space and frequently has to turn providers away who would otherwise operate locally if adjacent space in the hospital building was available. There have been unfulfilled assurances from Devon ICB about preserving some parking on the hospital site to enable an expansion of the health centre. This makes either retaining the hospital within the NHS or transferring it into community ownership even more important—allowing the building to host local healthcare, district nursing, a care agency, and community wellbeing projects, while GP services remain based at the health centre. Local residents, the GP practice, and community groups could take responsibility for the hospital if given the necessary time, access, and support. This would protect the building for NHS and community purposes and prevent its loss to private development. Watching the building drift toward a quiet sale is regrettably unsurprising. Rural primary care and rural communities have long been treated as peripheral—too small to prioritise, too remote to understand, too insignificant to influence larger strategies. Efficiency has eroded locality, often at the expense of what worked, because it is too subtle or complex to measure quickly and itemise on a spreadsheet.  The government’s 10-year plan for the NHS barely acknowledges rural general practice. Our population faces real difficulty travelling to Exeter or Okehampton for alternative services. The population demographic is heavily skewed to the more elderly with increasingly complex health needs, with spasmodic and limited public transport accessing care is a problem. The system continues to pursue larger hubs, larger networks, and administrative geographies that do not fit. Yet all practical evidence points the other way: small communities function well. We support one another, we adapt, and we deliver forms of care no distant “neighbourhood model” can replicate. The hospital has stood for more than a century, shaped by the same landscape that shaped the town. Conan Doyle wrote of Dartmoor that “The longer one stays here the more the spirit of the moor sinks into one’s soul.” It has sunk into this building too—into its granite walls, into its purpose, and the generations it has served. Bureaucracy may miss what is obvious to those who live here: this building is not surplus; it is an anchor. If it is lost, it will be because the system has forgotten what community healthcare looks like.

It might be your parents or a relative that this could happen to. These are very elderly people and some confused or with Alzheimer’s and being moved would greatly affect their health and wellbeing. If Reform want to win the next General Election they are going about it the wrong way by targeting the elderly and care homes. If they need to save money look at other ways. 

In September 2025, Britain Owes Palestine submitted a 400-page legal petition to the UK Government detailing evidence of unlawful acts and war crimes committed under British rule. It argues that the current situation in Palestine was, in many ways, “Made in Britain.”  The case centres on three claims:  1. Unlawful Occupation: Britain acted unlawfully as an occupying power following the 1917 Balfour Declaration and the 1922 establishment of a ‘mandate’ that violated the Covenant of the League of Nations.     2. Oppression and Inhumane Acts: To exert control over occupied Palestine, Britain perpetrated a widespread pattern of murder, persecution, torture and repression of Palestinians amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity. During the Arab Rebellion (1936-1939), up to 528,000 Palestinians – around 38% of the population – passed through some form of detention.    3. Abandonment and Partition: Britain’s withdrawal left Palestine destined to violent partition and decades of division, which over 30 years of occupation enabled to entrench, and which Britain remained responsible under international law to prevent.    The document was drafted by leading human rights barristers Ben Emmerson KC and Danny Friedman KC, with regional experts Professor John Quigley, Professor Avi Shlaim, and Assistant Professor Victor Kattan.  The lead petitioner is Palestinian philanthropist Munib Al Masri, who at age 13 was shot by British soldiers and witnessed repeated violence against his community. He is joined by 13 other petitioners from a range of backgrounds.   On 21 September 2025, the UK formally recognised the State of Palestine. However, recognition alone does not address Britain’s historical responsibility.  The Britain Owes Palestine campaign calls on the British Government to acknowledge and apologise for its actions between 1917 and 1948 in Palestine, which helped shape the situation today. 

We believe this proposal is unfair and discriminatory. It goes against the principles of fairness set out in the School Admissions Code (2021), which requires admissions to be reasonable, clear, objective, and procedurally fair. It may also breach the Equality Act 2010, as it disadvantages certain groups within the Binfield and Warfield communities. Every child deserves a fair chance to attend their local secondary school. Take Action Please sign and share this petition to help protect fair access to Kings Academy Binfield for all local families. If you haven’t already, send your consultation response by 24 November 2025 to: [email protected] Together, we can make sure local schools remain for local children.

Since the Low Traffic Neighbourhood was put in place in Blackheath Westcombe back in November 2024 businesses have started to struggle. Now, a year later, and the Council has decided to make the scheme permanent despite its negligible improvements to air quality, despite its displacement of traffic onto boundary roads and despite the high levels of inconvenience that it has caused both residents and businesses. Many businesses in both Westcombe Park and Blackheath Standard are recording a drop in trade of up to 30% and some will not be able to stay open for much longer. We believe that we make a really valuable contribution to our community, making it unique and interesting in a way that only such a large proportion of independent businesses can do. We urge the Council to listen to us, support us and accept our demands in order to keep this area vibrant. We need a cast iron guarantee that 2 hours free parking will remain on the roads where all of our shops are situated. We need the Car Park on Old Dover Road to remain. We need the LTN scrapped in its entirety. Or at the very least, the hours of operation to reflect the hours of business i.e. from 7.00 until 9.00 in the mornings and from 5.00 until 7.00 in the evenings. Plus the cameras removed from Langton Way and St Johns Park.And a permit system linked to individual shops that allow deliveries to be made without penalty.

It is important because lives are at risk

Most people already personally know someone injured in a road crash. 20mph is not a silver bullet- it is a basic plank of road safety just like people wearing seatbelts in cars. It is proven to reduce the frequency and severity of crashes. Speed limits need to be judged not only in the context of what is safe, but also what makes for a liveable city in terms of noise, tailpipe and brake dust emissions, ease of crossing roads, pleasantness of being on the pavements and so on. The remaining 30mph roads are largely single carriageways with homes and businesses each side, schools on or very near them and often in busy pedestrian areas. For example: - Outside Widcombe Junior School (A36) - Along Bear Flat High Street (Wellsway A367) - Both sides of Newbridge Primary School (A4 and A431) You can view a map here to view what little is left to do to create a 20mph city.  We will look back on 30mph in urban areas just like smoking in pubs, and be shocked at how long we tolerated the prioritising of speed over safety.  Enough is enough. 

Faye Cunningham died aged 27 after years of symptoms were repeatedly dismissed, mislabelled and not properly investigated. Abnormal results, safeguarding concerns and warning signs were missed across multiple services. Her death was preventable. Faye’s Law would help protect vulnerable patients, reduce diagnostic errors, and ensure people are treated based on evidence — not assumptions. No family should have to discover too late that a full medical history was never properly considered. Disclaimer This campaign reflects the lived experience and understanding of Faye’s family, based on available medical records and evidence. It highlights systemic issues and calls for policy reform in the public interest. It does not assign blame to individual clinicians.

The horrific mass stabbing attack left 11 people in hospital, but thanks to brave staff and passengers, lives were saved. Showing this kind of bravery in a nightmare scenario is incredible, and we’re calling for national honours to properly recognise these remarkable people. Sign the petition now to show how much we appreciate them and how grateful we are for their sacrifice.

Although these plans seem to enhance the country's need for green energy, their completion will bring about devastation for the marshland environment they plan to build their ten story converter station on, damaging a habitat used by a variety of bird species already under threat of extinction. It will cause disturbance to the nature and serene beauty of the area in particular the old Hoverport site in Pegwell bay which will be disturbed by drilling and trenching an undersea cable onto the site and used as a staging area for the massive amounts of hardcore and building materials used in the construction of the converter station, which will be the largest in Europe if it gets completed. This scheme seems to be the worst possible option for the environment but it seems to be the cheapest option for the shareholders of a private company which will maximise their profit at the expense of OUR natural resources and wildlife which is in desperate need of our care and protection. The net effect of this scheme will be the opposite of green energy as it will cause so much environmental devastation. We must not be hoodwinked by this private profiteering company to let them destroy so much natural habitat.

Right now, the government is propping up the declining oil and gas industry by giving oil and gas producing companies massive tax breaks - to the tune of £2.7 billion every year. Meanwhile these same companies have paid billions of pounds to their shareholders, all whilst laying off large sections of the workforce. This scandal has to end. This financial support could and should be redirected to create jobs and support workers instead. Part of the additional revenue created by ending these tax breaks could fund a targeted jobs guarantee for those currently working in high-carbon industries like oil and gas, that ensures they can find equivalent alternative employment or funded retraining. It’s time for the government to take real action – end tax breaks for fossil fuel companies, and back workers instead. 

⚠️  Shock planning return for Our Village?! 🏡❌ I’m honestly baffled 😳 to see this planning application back on Somerset Council’s table. Not often that happens — usually, once it’s gone through an officer’s report, that’s it. So why now? Here’s the kicker: it’s an outline application 😡. That means:  • No actual houses need to be built yet 🏚️  • They just get to change the principle of the land from agricultural ➡️ housing 🌾➡🏠  • And it could push our village boundaries further out 🚧 Meanwhile, there’s plenty of land already available ✅ — old factory sites, brownfield plots, areas in the local plan. We don’t need to eat up more countryside just to satisfy developers’ profits 💸. Also, I’m incredibly puzzled .. 🤷‍♂️why is there no new officers report or any assessment and  why  has gone directly to planning board From what I can see, this has all the same problems as the last plan:  • Wrong type of housing ❌  • Wrong location ❌  • Minimal benefits to the village ❌ And here’s a huge problem: we STILL don’t even have a secondary school locally 🏫. Children would continue to be forced onto circular bus routes to Shepton Mallet or Castle Cary 🚍💨, and those additional transport needs are often ignored. This isn’t just inconvenient — it’s a real community failure. And don’t get me started on developer 💰💰💰 contributions… supposedly to help the community, but Somerset Council has one of the worst records for making developers actually pay up 💀. “Oh, they can’t meet their profit margin” 💸… and the council rolls over. Seriously? 😤 We need homes, yes. But we need: ✅ Affordable homes ✅ Properly designed homes ✅ Homes in the right places Not another cookie-cutter sprawl ruining our village and our community 😡 Perhaps this is yet another incompetent error administration? By  who ? The developer ‘chancing it”.. someone else ? 🕵️🪽🐷🐖🪽- I mean given it is adjacent to a former pig farm perhaps flying pigs are as likely! If you care about our village, this is the kind of thing we can’t let slip through. Speak up, comment, and ask questions before it’s too late 🗣️✊