The housing developer, Crest Nicholson, have a contractual obligation to care for the park on Baker Crescent. Shockingly, they have failed this community and after 2 years of delays, the only thing they have done, is replace some flooring, and fix one swing. Play areas are so important for children, for both their physical health, and as a way of engaging socially with other children in their communities. Sadly, children in the local area have now lost out on two summers of play and despite multiple attempts by the community and Dartford Borough Council to hold Crest to account, they continue to delay and push this issue down the road. 5th August 2024 - https://www.kentonline.co.uk/dartford/news/it-s-disgraceful-parents-fury-as-developer-leaves-dereli-310702/ Everyone has had enough of the platitudes and constant excuses for not updating this park. We are now coming together to demand Crest fulfil their obligations and provide the play park that is desperately needed, and that has been promised to this community. Photo shared with permission of Kent Online.

The proposed tiered VAT reduction scheme for deep energy retrofits is crucial for several reasons:  * Addressing Climate Change: Buildings are a significant source of carbon emissions. By incentivizing energy-efficient retrofits, the scheme directly contributes to reducing the UK's carbon footprint and achieving net-zero targets.  * Energy Security: Reducing energy consumption in buildings lessens reliance on fossil fuels and volatile energy markets, enhancing energy security and resilience.  * Economic Benefits: The scheme stimulates the green economy by creating jobs in the retrofitting sector, boosting demand for eco-friendly materials and technologies, and reducing energy bills for homeowners.  * Health and Well-being: Energy-efficient homes are warmer, healthier, and more comfortable, improving the well-being of occupants and reducing health-related costs.  * Social Equity: By making deep energy retrofits more affordable, the scheme helps to address fuel poverty and ensure that everyone has access to a warm, healthy home.  * Resource Conservation: Retrofitting existing buildings is more sustainable than demolishing and rebuilding, as it conserves resources and reduces waste.  * Future-proofing: Investing in energy efficiency now prepares the housing stock for a low-carbon future, ensuring long-term benefits for homeowners and society as a whole. In summary, the proposed scheme is a multi-faceted solution that addresses climate change, energy security, economic growth, health, and social equity. It is a vital step towards creating a more sustainable and resilient built environment for the UK.

Too many of our young people, including young families, are living in overcrowded housing, insecure private rentals or even being forced to sleep in their work vans.  Too many have had to move out, even though they work here.  The town is becoming 'unbalanced', with too many retirees.  Dorset Council did not take the opportunity to buy Jewson's in July 2024, and this and other sites, like Mountjoy School and J C Phillips, have gone to luxury retirement flats.  The new Labour government is providing councils with more finance to build social housing and our councils need to prioritise homes for local residents of working age from now on.

The establishment of a mega farm is critically concerning for several reasons. Firstly, modern animal agriculture techniques, particularly in large-scale operations, are notoriously cruel. Pigs and chickens are often subjected to extreme confinement, preventing them from engaging in natural behaviours. This leads to significant physical and psychological suffering for the animals. Secondly, the environmental impact of such farms is profound. These operations generate large amounts of waste, which can contaminate local water supplies and contribute to air pollution. The excessive use of antibiotics in these settings also poses a risk of developing antibiotic-resistant bacteria, which can affect human health. Moreover, the presence of a mega farm can have serious repercussions for local communities. The potential for foul odours, increased traffic, and noise pollution can degrade the quality of life for nearby residents. Property values may decline, and the local infrastructure could become strained under the increased burden. In summary, opposing the mega farm is vital to protect animal welfare, safeguard our environment, and ensure the well-being of our local communities. Promoting more sustainable and humane farming practices is essential for a healthier, more ethical future.

Section 60 is a racist power Official statistics show that Section 60 powers are used disproportionately against Black people. A Black person is 8.7 times more likely to be stopped than a white person during a suspicionless search operation. It's ineffective Nationally, in the year ending March 2023, 5% of Section 60 searches resulted in an arrest, up from 3% the previous year. And in roughly 71% of stop and searches, the outcome was recorded as needing ‘no further action’, similar to in recent years. An investigation into a police Section 60 operation in February by The Bristol Cable, which you can read here, found that: • Officers stopped and searched innocent children, at least one on his way home from school. He says he felt he was only stopped because he’s Black. • We spoke to a youth worker who supported the child who was stopped. The boy had been a victim of knife violence himself a month earlier, and this damaged his trust in policing, feeling that officers were out to get him, not protect him. • The police can offer no evidence that the suspicionless stop and search operation was a successful deterrent against knife violence. • Campaigners say the retort from police forces that Section 60 is used to protect Black communities from knife crime is shown time and time again to be a lie. Police have no metric to prove the operation’s deterrent-effect. • The police narrative that the operation was carried out with the consent of the community it impacted is misleading. • Community members have said the police communication at community meetings about the Section 60 operation, both before and after it was enacted, was dishonest. • The damage the operation did has contributed to the mistrust in policing in the areas it was used, undermining its anti-racism plan. • Campaigners say Section 60 is a racist power that amounts to human rights abuses – namely racial profiling and traumatising children.  • How meaningful can the force’s anti-racism reforms be, if it continues to use repressive tactics under Section 60?

My name is Emma Louise O'Connor and I'm a disabled Grenfell tower survivor from the 20th floor, yes I got out alive but so many of my fellow neighbors and animals didn't I'm passionate about getting rid of this housing 18 metres rule abolished just because the London fire brigade can reach that height why do our lives matter so less to the people who build these high rise yes the London fire brigade have equipment to reach above but every human life should never have a price tag on, London has 33 boroughs with only 102 fire stations is this enough when another Grenfell happens, the fire in hackney with those wood effect cladding outside that was only 6 floors high, with legislation to scrap the 18 metre rule it will be a goal to make all properties a fire safe standard. The goverment and councils needs to put lives before money and aesthetics.

Sitting on the southern edge of Colchester, the Middlewick Ranges is a former Ministry of Defence firing range that has become a much-loved wildlife space in an increasingly congested city. Locally known as ‘the Wick’, this 76ha mosaic of flowery acid grassland, sandy slopes, scrub, woodland and hedgerows is home to a rich diversity of animals. The Wick is a key breeding area for the second-best population of Red Listed Nightingale in the UK, and a home to nesting Skylarks and Vulnerable Barbastelle Bats, while small mammals and reptiles also find a refuge here. It supports almost 1,500 invertebrate species, including a quarter of all the UK’s spiders and a quarter of all the butterflies and moths found in Essex. This includes threatened species such as the Four-banded Weevil-wasp (Cerceris quadricincta) and the Endangered Necklace Ground Beetle (Carabus monilis). However, despite the Wick’s huge value for wildlife and people, the site has been earmarked for up to 1,000 houses in Colchester’s Local Plan, and the Ministry of Defence has put the site up for sale. This would be a disaster for its precious wildlife. This petition calls for Colchester City Council to recognise that Essex’s largest acid grassland is too special to be lost under concrete.  We urge the Council to take this vital opportunity to remove the Middlewick Ranges allocation as part of its Local Plan review and find an alternative site that is less harmful to nature. Please sign our petition to save the wonderful Wick! This petition is supported by Buglife, Butterfly Conservation, Colchester Natural History Society, CPRE Essex, Essex Field Club, Essex Wildlife Trust, Friends of Middlewick, Essex Birdwatching Society and RSPB. For more information, please visit the Buglife campaign webpage and the Save the Middlewick Ranges website. 

Many migrants face terrible consequences if unable to prove their right to live, study, work in and travel to the UK.  In March 2024, leaked Home Office records showed that database errors had already hit 76,000 people. One person whose Home Office records had been entangled with another’s said: ““We are hostages to this ridiculous system. We are left trying to prove who we are. My life is no longer my own. We are being made to feel like failures but it is the system that has failed us.”” The EU Settlement Scheme first introduced the digital-only immigration status in 2018, and organisations like the3million have persistently raised awareness of the problems people face. Read Vivienne’s story who has struggled to prove her right to work. She says ““It would make me so much more secure in my rights if I had a physical document to prove my status. I hope the government does the right thing and provides us with the peace of mind we need.”” Or read Rosa’s story who was detained at the UK border because they couldn’t find proof of her status. She writes ““I don’t feel comfortable with the thought of travelling. It’s left me thinking that an error in a system somewhere could lead to me not being able to come home. No one should feel that stressed and anxious. We need more security in our status, and having a physical document would help a lot.”” If the Home Office doesn’t pause its digitalisation programme, today’s temporary detention at the UK border will turn into a denial of boarding your plane, train or ferry from January 2025.  If your ‘status in the cloud’ is somehow broken, it will be next to impossible to persuade a foreign airline staff member, with dozens of people queued up behind you, that you genuinely do have the right to return home to the UK. Someone in this position will have NOTHING in their hands to show their rights. This is likely to cause a second Windrush scandal. Windrush was in essence about people who had rights but were unable to prove those rights.  There is a package of sensible steps that can be taken to mitigate this impending disaster - please sign this petition and share it widely.

Elderly people deserve better of you.

What would Jesus do if he owned 105,000 acres (60,000 football pitches) of land? Would he farm it for profit, or would he use it to restore forests, wetlands and meadows to help save our vanishing wildlife?  This is the dilemma faced by the Church of England whose wealthy and secretive investment arm - the Church Commissioners - own just such an impressive amount of land throughout England. In total the estate is worth over £10bn! Forget the churchyards - they’re just the tip of the iceberg.  But whilst 13% of the UK is woodland, only 4% of this Church land is covered by trees! Meanwhile, other measurements of nature’s health (SSSIs) suggest the land has even less space for nature than other big landowners have. As one of the biggest institutional landowners in one of the world’s most nature depleted countries this is a BIG problem. Justin Welby: the Church of England, which you head, has acknowledged the important role it plays in protecting all of God’s creation from the climate and biodiversity crises, and yet the 105,000 acres of land under the control of the Church Commissioners are still part of the problem not the solution. You have the power to call on your Church Commissioners to rewild some of this land and commit to making the Church a pioneering voice in combating climate change and biodiversity loss.  The UN has estimated that to face the threat of environmental collapse we need to rewild 30% of land globally by 2030. By pledging to meet the UN’s target and rewilding 30% of land held by the Church Commissioners you would be able to restore nature to land over half the size of Dartmoor! It would send a huge and powerful signal to landowners and governments around the world and could inspire a wave of rewilding action. Calling on the Church Commissioners to rewild 30% of their land would be an act of good stewardship for both people and nature, actively working towards a future more liveable for all.  Will you invest in nature and rewild your land?

We all have different disabilities and illnesses so the money we get are spent on different things to help us have a better quality of life. My domestic and gardener won't take voucher, I want to choose who I have in my home to help me with my disability, how do you feel about this. Please sign this petition to stop this from happening 

This issue goes to the heart of accountability and transparency.