The junction between Downs Road and Rendlesham Road (E5) badly needs a Zebra crossing. Hundreds of people including huge numbers of children (and cyclists) cross to and from Hackney Downs Park at this point. But these streets are used as a rat-run by local road users, many of whom drive too fast and with little or no regard for pedestrians in the area, and there is no official place for people to cross safely. At present the speed bumps where Rendlesham Road joins Downs Park give pedestrians the illusion that this is a safe place to cross, that cars will give way. The junction is used at busy times of the day when parents are taking their children to the many nurseries and schools in the immediate area, and car users and pedestrians are constantly at odds with one another. Clarification about who has priority to use / cross the road is needed so that everyone stays safe.

Harrow Council has been told by the government that its budget is being cut by £75 million over four years. This is approximately 55% of their current budget; this is shocking. The council are looking to save this money in part by sacrificing local charities. The charities do an awful lot of work behind the scenes, stopping people from having to use the overburdened services at Northwick Park Hospital. These cuts are short sighted and will cost the council a lot more money than they save in the long term. They will also have disastrous effects on the demand for welfare in Harrow and compromise the service given to everyone. People will be left isolated and without support. David Cameron has even recently said on the radio that councils should not save money by getting rid of charities as he wants all services to be family orientated. Moreover, the people that use these charities could suffer from discrimination in the future as the charities concerned help people to stand up for their rights. They also help vulnerable people to function and integrate or re-integrate in society. To sum up, cutting the charities are the wrong thing for the council to do and could result in the closure of numerous vital facilities and support centres for people who need them.

Whilst Dartington Hall Trust care for their historic estate and undertake many worthwhile arts and social projects, they are going against the wishes of almost all the people that they share the parish with. Their stated aims of 'social justice ' and'sustainability' are being ignored locally. We challenge DHT to LIVE YOUR VALUES in Dartington Parish - and not to sell our countryside for cash. Once their proposals are included in our district's plan, our village will be surrounded by houses and destroyed forever.

Our country is polluted enough with airports and the infrastructure that goes with them. They are large enough already so that people who live in their vicinity are suffering serious noise and air pollution not just from the aircraft themselves but from the vehicles transporting people to and from the airports. Plus there are the delivery vehicles for food, drink, fuel, etc, etc. We have reached breaking point in this "green and pleasant land". It will cease to be so before very long. Business is perfectly capable of video-conferencing in this modern age. With the channel tunnel and shipping there are other means of transport. We must learn to live within our means and if this means we go no longer go on long-haul holidays on the other side of the world, then so be it. Otherwise we will destroy the planet : we cannot move to another one : there is only one planet Earth. We must remember : "We do not inherit the Earth from our parents; we borrow it from our children".

Why it matters I am addressing this petition to the above three party leaders because I have no real idea who will form the next government after May 2015. Our national railways were privatised in the 1990 with the usual promises of better services, cheaper fares, less or no pull on the taxpayer and ownership by us, the British public. Despite the fact of course that we already owned the railway. As with every privatisation before and after it the results have been very different to those promised. However it is true that many train companies that run franchises in the UK are publicly owned, but by other European countries. Arriva is a wholly owned subsidiary of the German national rail company Deutsche Bahn, and runs the Arriva Trains Wales and Cross Country franchises. The French national rail operator SNCF has a majority stake in Keolis, which operates the Trans Pennine franchise in partnership with FirstGroup. Keolis is also a minority partner in the Govia rail operating company, which runs the Southern, Southeastern and London Midland services. The Dutch state railway company Nederlandse Spoorwegen owns Abellio, which has a 50% stake in Serco-Abellio, which runs the Merseyrail and Northern Rail franchises. Abellio also runs Scotrail. European governments make millions of pounds a year in dividends from their British operations. From the subsidies paid by British tax payers. Please do not read this piece as an 'anti-foreigner' rant. I simply do not understand how paying other governments vast profits to run our railways is good for the British people. Since privatisation billions of pounds of tax payer subsidised profits have gone into the coffers of other governments. There is one railway still at the moment in the hands of the UK tax payer. The state-owned East Coast railway paid £225m to the government in the year to March 2014. In our hands now but for how long. We are about to sell our stake in Eurostar. Who to? It seems the French State Railways SNCF. As a side word I can tell you that last year I travelled First Class on SNCF from Tarbes in the South West of France to Paris, a journey of about 600 Km, for a cost of 45 Euros. Subsidised? Probably. Should I thank the British taxpayer for their contribution? So the publicly owned East Coast Railway paid £225m in 'profits' to the UK taxpayers. What should we do with it now? Privatise it seems. And one of the front runners to take over this publicly owned success story? It seems its a joint venture between Keolis and Eurostar, subsidiaries of France's state-owned railway company, SNCF. So should I book my return journey to Tarbes now or wait a little while. After all it could be even cheaper in a few months.

The main concern here is with the cocktail of chemicals used in the fracking process, many of which are known carcinogens and endocrine disruptors. Although regulations are tighter here than in the US, nevertheless there is still a great deal of uncertainty about the effects of the fracking process on local communites. Fracking will accelerate climate change. Fracking will not lower energy bills. Also studies have shown that methane can be leaked during the process. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas - 20 times more so than CO2. We want a complete ban on fracking in scotland.

If investors stop funding these damaging industries they will have to change their view of the world and maybe even consider diversifying into the renewable energy sector which will not only clean up the planet but provide millions of jobs which will do more for the economy than unconventional gas and oil.

On the say-so of just 3 councillors and the silencing of Full Council on the issue, Brixham Town Council is seeking to fill the sudden vacancy of Town Clerk by automatic internal appointment. A town council is the tier of government closest to the residents who pay for it and who pay the salaries of its employees, and as such it should be the most transparent in the use of residents' money. A town council must be above any suspicion of favouritism or cronyism. It is obliged to appoint on merit the best person available to fill the key post of Clerk and if it does not advertise the post it cannot know who is available. It must consider all applicants and carry out a fair, open and transparent appointments procedure. Although this is currently an issue in Brixham, South Devon, the principle applies equally to all town/parish councils throughout the land. NB 9 October: I have now resigned from Brixham Town Council because of this unprincipled act and the culture of cronyism which allowed it..

Stefan McCormick was sentenced to 24 weeks in prison for snapping his 4 month old puppy's legs. When vets attempted to examine it, the dog "screamed" out in pain. The puppy had to be euthanised due to the severity of his injuries. The RSPCA Inspector says he still finds it difficult to talk about the case. He said: "It involved the most disgusting, brutal violence on a defenceless Staffy pup. It still troubles me to think what he went through physically and mentally."

Apart from Scotland more and more power has been taken by central government in London. Recently Jim O'Neill has proposed that 15 big cities should have devolved budgets. George Osborne is reported to agree with the idea but not necessarily 15 cities. Scotland has been promised even more devolution. The rest of the UK should start the same process. Senior politicians talk about 'localism' but that means nothing without local budgets. And why 15 cities. All areas both built up and rural should have increased power. This might also reverse the increasing voter apathy which is damaging our democracy

We want the chairman to take real steps to make sure this quarrying doesn't happen. This area of ancient, beautiful woodland, has been used and enjoyed by locals since before the Doomsday Book. This vital natural landscape is used, treasured and cared for on a daily basis by many of the 79,000 residents of Tamworth and more from Hopwas and surrounding areas. The industrial use of this ancient site should not be allowed because it cannot be replaced and because the short and long term damage to the ecosystem in this small woodland will be unsustainable. Planning permission should be refused on many grounds, all relating to Staffordshire County Council's: Best Value Performance Plan Children and Young People's Plan Strategic Plan Sustainable Community Strategy Crime and Disorder Reduction Strategies Development Plan Minerals and Waste Development Framework The objection to development of this natural heritage, extends to a national level, as well, and representation needs to be made to government by our representatives from Staffs Council, on behalf of all the people signing this petition. Lagarge Tarmac are the owners of the wood, and as such, must acknowledge it's value as a site of local and national natural heritage and not attempt to profit from it as a quarry of any kind.

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