Research shows that herbicide use has multiple harmful effects on human and animal health, and causes environmental pollution and degradation. Glyphosate has, according to recent studies, been linked to the death of bees. It weakens their gut bacteria making them more susceptible to disease leading to a higher bee mortality rate. Bees play an essential role in our ecosystem because of their primary mission, which is pollination. This action allows plants to reproduce. Bees are among the most effective pollinating insects alongside wasps and butterflies. Globally, there are more honey bees than any other pollinating insects. They are vital to pollinate the plants that produce the food that we eat to survive. Pollination is vital to the health of the global food system. And a single bee colony can pollinate 300 million flowers in one day. If the bees go extinct, a ripple effect will be felt through the ecosystems, such as a plant die-off that will impact the entire food chain. "The absence of bees and other pollinators would wipe out coffee, apples, almonds, tomatoes, and cocoa, to name just a few of the crops that rely on pollination," Graziano da Silva, scholar and director-general of the Food and Agriculture Organization from 2012 to 2019. There have been 3 successful lawsuits against Monsanto (now owned by Bayer), which brought glyphosate-based herbicides to the market in the 1970s, and there are many more cases going to trial. Nineteen countries have already either banned or restricted the use of glyphosate, and 5 more have plans to do so imminently. Many towns and cities across the world have made the decision to go pesticide-free, using methods such as hot-foam, flame weeding, scraping, acetic acid solution and accepting a certain level of ‘weediness’.

Nothing angers the British public more than multinationals like Amazon, Google and others paying ultra low levels of tax. The Biden plan is a once in a generation opportunity to put that right. The US president has proposed a new global minimum tax rate for companies to tackle this behaviour. After a year in which many big tech firms have done well, we need to build back better and move beyond our outdated global tax system. The UK could benefit to the tune of £13.5 billion a year. With the UK's corporate tax rate due to go up to 25% in 2023, a 25% global minimum corporate tax rate would help to level the playing field for many British businesses who can’t dodge their taxes.

The benefits of good out door space are not only for children’s physical health as we are living in a generation where more and more young people are stuck in front of computer screens but it also supports with children’s mental health which in recent months has been highlighted in the media. Also some children on the estate suffer with Autism, Learning Difficulties and Down syndrome and would benefit from a much improved outdoor space. The community keeps on growing many childrens families do not have the financial means to keep leaving the estate to find things to do with their children as most activities come at a cost. Commissioning a park as other housing estates have is the right thing to do. The estate of Skye Drive has a park and so does Bannerbrook Housing Estate in Coventry. Saxon Rise, Saxon Heights and Saxon Meadows does not have this facility.

Ezekiel Herman is a Dad of four who is the only tenant in his tower block: Saxelby House on the Druids Heath estate. Ezekiel's neighbours have all been cleared from the block as part of the £42million regeneration the council has imposed upon the area. Ezekiel has been on his own in the block for seven months and desperately wants to leave too - the block is unsafe, cold and scary now it's empty. But Birmingham City Council refuse to offer Ezekiel a suitable alternative property and are now trying to evict him. They will only offer him 1 bedroom properties which would mean he would be unable to spend time with his children or care for them when needed. When Ezekiel appealed this, he was offered 2 bedroom properties - but only in retirement blocks with wardens and safety alarms which they have admitted "the children would not be able to live in". Birmingham City Council claim that this is due to their reallocation policy, which "suits the city but will not make everyone happy." Despite numerous requests by Ezekiel, interventions by his doctor who has made clear that this has affected his health, and proof that he is responsible for the care of his children, they have refused to budge. Ezekiel is not the only person affected by this policy. We have heard from other residents who felt pushed out of their homes after Birmingham City Council informed them that turning down property offers would result in them being taken to court. Some residents were lucky to find a property they were happy with. But more are unhappy: they have been made to move far away from schools, jobs and their families, or accept properties in poor condition. At the root of this is the choice Birmingham City Council made at the beginning of the regeneration to evict all affected residents and demolish towers before building any more homes. This means that they are increasing the number of Brummies who need council houses by hundreds, but building no extra properties to house them. This affects not just the people of Druids Heath, but everyone in Birmingham, and adds to the chronic social housing shortage in the city. As more clearances are due to take place on Druids Heath, and with the future of the entire estate currently unclear, this policy must be changed, more homes must be built, and Ezekiel and all his neighbours must be treated fairly.

Menopause affects half of all patients GPs see on a day to day basis but sadly many women do not receive the support they so desperately need. 1 out of 4 women experience debilitating symptoms that affect their quality of life, with many giving up work or reducing their hours in order to cope. 50% of menopausal women say they feel depressed and are often misdiagnosed and given antidepressants. One third of women visiting their GP are not even made aware of HRT. Many women are incorrectly denied HRT due to existing or family health concerns. Many women are fearful of asking for HRT because of the widespread belief that it causes breast cancer, thanks to the headlines from 2002 when a flawed study incorrectly stated there was a link. Despite the study being discredited, this belief has continued to this day. As a result of these misunderstandings, only 1 in 10 women choose to use HRT. My experience of menopause started around 10 years ago and I consider myself to be in the 25% of women who experience debilitating symptoms that can change lives. I have experienced a myriad of symptoms, many of which I consulted various GPs about, resulting in x rays, ultrasounds, heart monitors and antidepressants. Not once was menopause mentioned. Despite my request for HRT to help with hot flushes and night sweats, I was advised not to use it because of the increased risk of breast cancer. Two years ago my symptoms became considerably worse, so again I sought HRT, this time successfully, but my GP was unfamiliar with the up to date products I should have been prescribed and gave incorrect information. I ended up having to pay a private Menopause Specialist for correct dosages. I have since developed a chronic condition related to menopause that so far no GP has been able to help me with. The right advice early on would have made a huge difference, but sadly it wasn’t forthcoming. Instead, it has taken many expensive appointments with private specialists to try and improve my health and I am still struggling. Luckily, I can afford to pay for expertise but many women do not have this financial luxury. Instead, they continue to suffer having been refused HRT by their NHS doctor, and have nowhere else to turn for help. My struggle has lasted about 10 years so far, but how much misery could have been avoided if even one of my GPs was fully up to date on research, symptoms and treatment? Unfortunately, experiences such as mine are all too common, and something needs to change. The frustrating thing is that HRT is so beneficial and can protect women from many chronic conditions including dementia, heart disease, Alzheimers, colon cancer and osteoporosis. Surely we should be encouraging all women to think about using it to help them live longer, healthier lives? The financial savings to the state would be huge in terms of reduced health care costs. Employers would also benefit from having highly skilled women stay in their workforce instead of losing them as they struggle to cope with their symptoms. And of course the benefits to the women themselves and their families would be huge. Menopause affects everyone. On 13 May 2021 I was shocked to read that a survey of 33 university medical degrees, carried out by menopause campaigner Diane Danzebrink, revealed that 41% of the courses did not have any menopause education on the curriculum. How many medical students are therefore leaving without any knowledge of the menopause at all? Some will go on to specialise in general practice where I believe the menopause module of their training is voluntary. How many newly qualified GPs take up positions in the community, in our area, with no knowledge or training whatsoever? I find it staggering in this day and age that the needs of women are deemed so unimportant that doctors are not required to complete training on the one thing that affects all women. I’m sure if something affected the health and well being of every single man in the population that a solution would have been found long ago. We are therefore asking you to do everything in your power to improve the training given to our GPs. A woman needs to be able to go to her GP and receive up to date and accurate information about the menopause, its symptoms and how it can be managed, in order to improve the quality of her life and long term health. The Menopause Charity has just been launched and its goal is to provide up to date information to women, GPs and other health practitioners. For the next year they are giving away one free place per GP practice on an accredited professional development course called, ‘Confidence in the Menopause’. I urge you to request that all GP practices take full advantage of this offer to ensure that there is at least one menopause specialist in every practice as soon as possible, and that other GPs are required to complete the training over the course of the year. This would be an excellent step forward which would impact positively on all the women within your region and on your budgets. For more information the link is below. https://www.themenopausecharity.org/training/ Thank you so much for reading this. We hope you agree that the training of our GPs in this very important and much neglected area needs to be addressed. Cate O’Neill

Right now, an estimated 353,000 private renters are in arrears. Rent arrears have doubled since the beginning of Covid, and time is running out for the Government to prevent a homelessness crisis. Private renters are struggling because of the pandemic, and the Government has not offered enough enough support for those who have lost income. We need a Covid Rent Debt Fund to clear arrears, so that they cover average rents. Otherwise, thousands of renters will be extremely vulnerable to losing their homes, relying on their local councils to be rehoused, and risking homelessness, in just a couple of weeks’ time. Why we need a covid rent debt fund now. On 1 June the ban on bailiff evictions, which have been in place during the lockdowns, will be lifted. The courts have been processing evictions since September, which means that thousands of tenants will start being made homeless by mid-June. 60% of private renters had no savings at the start of the pandemic and a further 18% have had to use savings to pay their rent in the past year. How can these families and households afford to pay the rent, when they have experienced drops in their incomes, redundancies or a loss of business? The simple answer for many is they cannot. To make matters even worse, for the record number of people who now rely on Universal Credit because of the pandemic, many are now finding that benefits are not enough to cover the rent. People like Gareth from Worcestershire have had no choice but to fall into debt. He contacted us in April to tell us his story. “Since April 2020 my contracting business hit a full stop and I have been without income since that time… After 8 months I explained the situation to my rental agent who offered a slightly reduced monthly payment but still to be owed. So no benefit, just additional debt.” Renters are one of the most economically vulnerable groups in the country, and yet the Government still has not offered them more support. We need COVID rent debt fund.

Exmouth and the surrounding areas have a huge doggy community with many households owning one or more dogs. The beach lies empty for many months while we all have to find other suitable open spaces for us to exercise them on. Not everyone has a car so they are unable to go further afield to walk their dogs. The dog areas on the beach currently are only sufficient spaces to exercise our dogs when the tide is out, we can’t all plan our walks around the tides. Exmouth is a popular holiday destination and now more than ever people are holidaying here in the UK, we would attract more holiday makers if our beach had restrictions in line with the Cornish beaches. Surely this is a good thing, brings more revenue to our town.

Why is this important? Due to 74% of Chichester District Councils land being in the South Downs National Park or AONB areas which are protected against development - this leaves the coastal plain and the rural villages of the Manhood Peninsula and around the Chichester Harbour AONB, targeted to be overloaded with excessive numbers of new houses, with no adequate roads or sewage infrastructure to support them. The current system for providing affordable housing does not work. Developers are building houses that are not affordable. The Manhood Peninsula and the coastal and harbour villages to the west are the last undeveloped coastal hinterlands between Southampton and Brighton. These areas are mainly agricultural and of inestimable public value for food supply security, to protect the natural environment, to ensure adequate wildlife corridors and to support businesses involved in the rapidly growing green tourism sector. The Manhood Peninsula contains some of the South’s most important wetlands at Pagham Harbour and Medmerry and is one of the most vulnerable stretches of coastline when it comes to protecting us from future climate change impacts. The green spaces and fields between the villages to the west of Chichester and around Chichester Harbour are essential resources for wildlife and leisure activities. Long term holistic planning is critical to our environmental and economic future. The Government and District Council need to re-evaluate the housing numbers for the whole District before development devastates the unique and beautiful areas and villages that people choose to visit and value for their rural nature.

This is important as we have asked many times to put in measures to improve road safety where children play and go to school. The roads around Devonshire Road Park and the two primary schools are seeing speeds well in excess of the 20mph speed limit.

The Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act (2006) requires all public authorities to have regard for conserving biodiversity in the exercise of their functions. Planning policies and decisions should minimise impacts on and provide net gains for biodiversity. Artificial grass holds no biodiversity net gains. Burrowing insects, such as solitary bees can’t get past the membrane, and worms beneath the soil are compromised and unreachable by consumers within each habitat community. This is likely to have a negative impact on local bird populations and other consumers, as the food source within the food chain is being reduced and/or removed. Britain’s bees are in trouble with 35 UK bee species under threat of extinction. The implications of this on human food sources, are colossal. We need to be enhancing bee’s habitats and feeding ground, not destroying it. The health of each planter ecosystem is threatened, as a plastic environment is not life sustaining. Though seemingly small, this could have far reaching, negative impact. Harrogate Borough Council’s Carbon Reduction Strategy highlights the damaging effects of climate change and refers to the UK Climate Change Act 2008, which sets the legally binding UK-wide carbon budget. The removal of living flora has removed carbon sequestration and biodiversity. The use of artificial grass provides no biodiversity benefits, furthermore its production and degradation add to carbon emissions. Though this artificial grass may be possible to recycle, the financial and environmental costs of this have not been considered. Though it may be long-lasting, the threat to human health via micro plastics washing into local drainage systems; carcinogenic substances present, and possible burn hazards in hotter temperatures, has not been considered. Key points within the HBC Carbon Reduction strategy include: ‘The council has a corporate responsibility both as a large employer and a community leader to take action to reduce emissions.’ The removal of flora, use of plastic and lack of community consultation and engagement has directly contradicted this point. Priority 4 states to ‘eliminate all single-use plastic from their premises where possible.’ The use of this plastic grass was completely avoidable. Had the council consulted with the public, many alternative options could have been explored, supporting community involvement and well-being. With much research on nature supporting emotional well-being, and considering the current lockdown and rise in mental health concerns, engaging community with outdoor, nature-based activities should be a priority for our council. We believe in community and unity. Together, we are capable of truly wonderful things. We need a council that works with the community and supports community engagement. Considering the legally binding aspects mentioned above; biodiversity net gain and carbon reduction should be a priority for our council. The natural world provides us with water to drink, air to breathe, and food to eat. Everything is linked and everything we do matters. We must protect the environment for moral and economic reasons. We need more habitats, not more plastic.

Never before has our high street been in such a fragile state. Shops and other businesses depend on attracting customers both locally and from afar. They will arrive by different means - on foot, in cars, on public transport, taxis, by bike. Removing easy access by car and taxi removes a percentage of those customers and will effect the town's businesses. Why would the council want more pedestrianised streets when under their own admission they can’t maintain the existing ones?... “Inevitably, this means the beds end up being visually dull and nothing more than a magnet for cigarette butts, empty coffee cups and fast-food takeaway packaging. They look a mess and prompt almost as many complaints as we’ve had about the artificial grass.’’ We believe customers should be able to park close to our town centre shops just like they can at St James’ retail park. Please remove the planters to enable our high street to survive. Thank you for signing.

Residents of Strawberry Island Allotment Society (100 years) are experiencing ongoing access and parking problems due to Strawberry Island Boat Club refusing vehicular access and parking on adjacent land Our allotment is on an island and we’ve been there 100 years this year. 50 yrs ago, a boatyard and clubhouse were built and now boats surround the island and allotment. The present Committee of the boat club have, as of today taken away all vehicular access and parking. An initial agreement consisting of 6 spaces and any overflow to park in the club car park was rescinded the next day. No overflow and no access to emergency entrance at the back of the allotment for deliveries, with out 7 days notice in writing. Our fobs to the main gate have been deactivated. We no longer have vehicular access and can only enter through a side gate. No means of bringing plants/equipment/compost unless we carry it in from the road outside. Their lease clearly states that we are allowed vehicular access at all times. The land is actually owned by the local council, but they have passed us back and forth saying there is absolutely nothing they or their legal team can do. They drew both our leases up which could quite easily be amended to make it equal