Protecting Preston’s Royal Lime Trees: A Call for Transparency and Common Sense For more than a century, the Royal Lime Trees on Victoria Road have stood as a living memorial to the coronation of King George V and Queen Mary. They are part of Preston’s heritage, part of Walton‑le‑Dale’s identity, and part of our landscape. Like the vast majority of residents in the area, I have grown up and known these trees all my life - they are highly revered and held in great esteem by us all.  Yet the Environment Agency’s current plans for the Preston Flood Alleviation Scheme would see all 21 trees cut down. As a retired specialist in piling and geotechnical engineering, I have spent months trying to understand why. What I have found is deeply concerning: • The EA has not produced any structural or geotechnical evidence showing that the existing embankment or retaining wall is failing. • They have not carried out the hydraulic modelling needed to understand the consequences of allowing the embankment to collapse — including risks to nearby homes. • The soil investigations disclosed so far are insufficient and incomplete, falling short of national standards. • The proposed design is far more intrusive than necessary, involving an 18‑month road closure and the construction of a 6‑metre‑high concrete secant piled wall — a method the EA has already struggled with elsewhere in Preston. • Crucially, several safer, cheaper, and less disruptive alternatives exist, but these have not been properly assessed. At the South Ribble planning meeting, councillors made clear they did not want to approve a scheme that destroys the Royal Limes. They only did so because they believed the EA’s claim that “there is no other way.” The evidence shows that this is simply not true. I am calling on our MP to request an independent review of the Victoria Road design. Preston deserves flood defences that are effective, environmentally responsible, and based on sound engineering — not a scheme that destroys heritage, disrupts communities, and ignores viable alternatives. The Royal Limes have stood for 112 years. They deserve better than this.

It is a crazy war and we should not be part of killing, maiming innocent people in Iran and elsewhere

The people of Groombridge overwhelmingly support the proposal to turn Groombridge Place into a Pig Hotel.  We are excited by the prospect of having such a wonderful venue on our doorstep.  We would be relieved that Groombridge Place will be sensitively renovated, improved and cared for into the future.  We will extremely disappointed and angry if this opportunity is allowed to slip away due to bureaucracy and lack of vision on the part of TWBC.

Purley Sports Club application for outdoor music and alcohol license  Purley Sports Club have applied for a license to play live and recorded music outside (live bands or disco amplified), 7 days per week between the following hours: Sun to Thurs 12:00 to 23:00 Fri & Sat 18:00 to Midnight  01:00 Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve They have also applied for a license to sell alcohol outside between the following hours 6 days per week: Mon to Weds 11:00 to 23:00 Fri & Sat 11:00 to 23:45 01:00 Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve We will be challenging this application as a potential Public Nuisance and require your support.  We believe it will cause a significant increase in noise and disturbance to the local and wider neighbourhood. Please sign for your vote to be validated. • Public Nuisance: Potential for excessive noise from music, patrons leaving the premises, or increased traffic congestion. Also covers concerns about litter or odor.

These people take a family’s holiday money when the caravan doesn’t exist. They steal identities, images of real caravans and sell then as there own. 100’s of family’s each your in North Wales alone are being scammed like this, causing great distress.  There’s are 100’s of scammers in these caravan groups on Facebook and nothing is getting done.  Police need to be active in these groups. And witnessing it for them selves.  I own 4 caravans and manage 4 caravans in North Wales and I see people getting scammed on a daily basis.  It’s heart breaking seeing  families lose their holiday.  There’s hundreds of victims in North Wales alone if not thousands every year and it’s getting worse. The owners of legitimate caravans also become victims as the scammers are taking potential revenue from us and damaging reputations when they have been cloned by a scammer. 

Business-as-usual in our economy isn’t working. From the cost of living and doing business, to rampant inequality and low pay, while the rich get richer and the planet suffers - real solutions are urgently needed. At the heart of this is a broken economic system. With a Scottish general election on the horizon, we need the next Scottish Government and Parliament to prioritise the economic and wellbeing needs of ordinary people. A big growth in social enterprises, cooperatives and community and employee owned businesses means putting people and planet first. Supporting these inclusive, democratic businesses will help fix our economy and build a stronger, fairer, greener future for everyone in Scotland.

We see hope in every cup of tea poured in a community centre and every friendly voice on the end of a helpline, in every kids’ football ref and in every helper at the local toddler drop-in, in everyone who donates to food banks when they do the weekly shop and everyone picking litter from our beaches and parks. Life is hard for a lot of us right now. Just getting by week to week is a struggle. But we also know our communities are full of hope and care. In fact, they’re built on it. But too often these acts of hope, and the people doing them, go unnoticed.  That’s why as part of the A Million Acts of Hope, we want to create the UK’s biggest ever thank you card: a huge, collective tribute to the people in our local communities who make life a little easier and the world a bit brighter. To prove that kindness is the quiet majority. To say, “we see you”, and to show that despite what we see in the headlines, together we can make hope louder than hate.

The telephone boxes in Epping High Street are a historic and cultural asset within Epping. They serve value to our historic town and we wish to see them retained and not sold. On the occasion that they are to be sold, we call on Epping Town Council to purchase them to be used as a community asset and therefore protected from removal in the future. 

Following an incident at The Council House on 24/03/2026 we are asking Nottingham City Council to remove anti-bird netting from this building and ALL Council run buildings in Nottingham  On 24th March, a pigeon (now affectionately known as Duncan) became trapped behind netting on The Council House, this resulted in Nottingham Fire and Rescue attending to attempt to free the pigeon. In this instance, the fire team were unable to rescue the pigeon, they also said they may have to reseal the hole they made for Duncan and leave him to die, however after a visit to the building this evening, Duncan could not be seen, we will however continue to check over the coming days for him.  This follows on from another recent incident at Nottinghams Mercure Hotel, documented by Humane Wildlife Solutions, where we saw multiple pigeons dead and dying in netting, showing the dangers to both animals and human health that this netting can cause. They thankfully agreed to remove the netting going forward.  With regards to Fire and rescue call outs for birds trapped in netting, while free at point of use, this can cost in excess of £450 PER HOUR for non emergencies. Managing incidents that are caused by these nettings are directly costing the taxpayer; Nottingham residents and businesses are paying their council tax to pick up the bill for unnecessary costs caused BY the council choosing to use bird deterring netting that, clearly, doesnt deter birds.  Further holes, that Duncan must have got in via, were seen in the netting today, meaning this needs to be addressed as soon as possible before more birds get trapped and suffer unnecessarily and more public resources used.  A government petition to ban this type of netting has reached nearly ten thousand signatures in recent months, we are asking Nottingham City Council to get ahead of the game and show the rest of the UK they are taking initiative on this issue and will pledge to remove netting from ALL council run buildings across Nottingham.

Children walk and cycle to primary and secondary schools next to a 50mph/70mph road, along a shared use footway/cycleway that is sometimes only separated from this traffic by a narrow verge. An email from the County Council Highway Schemes says that they will only take action to install a vehicle restraint system (barrier) if "vehicles have left the carriageway and have come into contact with pedestrians or cyclists".  It is unacceptable to promote Active Travel and advertise "Park and Stride" along this recognised route to school before first making it safe. There should not have to be an "injury collision" before a barrier is put in place, as is current policy.  Encouraging people to take to their bikes or walk only works when the routes in question are safe. The council's Active Travel Strategy July 2022 notes 5 core priorities, one of which is a “promise at all levels…to treat walking and cycling as a policy priority”.  Many people avoid cycling this route because of safety concerns; adding a barrier will also contribute to the Council's priority of increasing cycling and reducing car use. We are calling for Oxfordshire County Council to install a vehicle restraint system along the A40 London Road from where it turns to 50mph heading East, along through the 70mph by Thornhill P&R to the Holton turn. This stretch incorporates direct routes to school for Sandhills Community Primary School, Bayards Hill Primary School, and Wheatley Park Secondary School. Please sign and share this petition widely, and leave comments if this personally affects you or those you know.

This issue is very personal to me. I am living with the long-term effects of viral encephalitis from childhood, which left me visually impaired and paralysed, along with a brain injury and multiple complex health conditions. While I live with these challenges every day, I focus on staying independent and contributing where I can. I am unable to work, so I dedicate my time to voluntary work, supporting charities across Devon and helping others in my community. It gives me purpose and allows me to support people who may be facing their own difficulties. Through this, I have seen how vital charities are—but also how much they are struggling. On one occasion, I spent a full day fundraising and didn’t receive a single donation. At the same time, I am personally trying to raise funds for a suitable wheelchair to maintain my independence. NHS provision is very basic, and accessing grants is extremely difficult, if not impossible. This means people like me are left relying on charity and public generosity for essential equipment. I find it very hard to accept that while people are struggling to access basic support, individuals can receive tens of millions of pounds through lotteries and competitions. I believe this highlights a wider issue about fairness and priorities, especially when the NHS, ambulance services, and charities are under so much pressure.

To advance amateur dramatics, dance and music performances in particular but not exclusively, by providing facilities suitable for public performance and other community uses such as for example celebrations, exercise & wellbeing classes, home school hub, youth club, cinema club, AA meetings and art & craft activities. The facilities – including a full size stage - will be housed at Meeching Hall in Newhaven Town Centre for which the Trustees will be fundraising in order to retain and improve this hall for the public benefit. Charitable Objects * A place for performances * A place of celebrations; party packages * A place for passion projects; cinema club * A place for wellbeing practice; yoga; pilates; dance; AA * A place for pop up themed Cafes; repair cafe, seed exchange, crafting * A place that can be a hub for home schooling * A place to be used for Adult Education such as U3A courses Meeching Hall will be open to all Newhaveners: established, recent, young and old. Our Mission: Affordable – Welcoming – Can Do We like to say ‘yes’ to the community