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 108,000 acres (over 60,000 football pitches) of land? Would he farm the vast majority for profit, or would he use some of 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 this staggering amount of land. In total the estate is worth over £10bn! Forget the churchyards - they’re just the tip of the iceberg.  How are the Church Commissioners stewarding their land in England? • Only 4% of the Commissioners’ land is covered by trees (compared to the UK’s already poor 13% average). • Over half of the special habitats on their land are in an unsatisfactory state. • The Commissioners’ land includes 5000 acres of degraded peat in the Fens which is emitting tonnes of carbon every year instead of sequestering it. As one of the biggest landowners in England, with a moral duty to care for all of creation, this is a BIG problem! Dear Church Commissioners: the Church of England, which you serve, is playing an important role in protecting all of God’s creation from the climate and biodiversity crises through initiatives such as Eco Church. Yet most of the 108,000 acres of land under your control is still part of the nature loss and climate change problem, when it could be part of the solution. The UN has recommended that we need to rewild 30% of land globally by 2030 to avert the worst environmental collapse. If you met this target,  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. Committing to rewilding 30% of the land you own 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. 

Having been an Uber driver for over six years, I cannot count how many times I have been blocked off for unthinkable reasons. Say, if you don't like music when driving and you tell the rider, once they step out, they write whatever they want about you and that is it. "A specialised team is investigating the matter" and it takes way too long.  Drivers work under unnecessary panic and duress making working with Uber such a worry-full experience. Many drivers I know have gone through ordeals with their working for things they can't comprehend at all. Many fear to make their voices heard and they soldier on with the gross unfairness at work plus the ever-challenging situations on the roads.  As drivers, we need to make our voices Heard. No one is going to pull our log for us as we look on. Let us put our experiences out for a better and fairer working environment. It starts with you, so help yourself and share your scenarios of unfair treatment in this kind of work. 

People from across Dartford are in shock with the senseless killing of a group of geese, who were viciously run down along Anchor Boulevard last Sunday. There is no excuse for such behaviour and it's been hard to come to terms with anyone choosing to harm innocent creatures in this way. Crossways Boulevard and the surrounding roads have long been dangerous for humans and wildlife alike! Whilst we acknowledge steps taken by local representatives, local authorities and the police to implement road safety measures such as Public Safety Protection Orders (PSPOs) and Dartford Council installing an ANPR camera in 2023, a speed camera being installed here would ultimately be the most effective deterrent.  We would also like to see more being done to protect wildlife! Currently there is just one wildlife warning sign by a roundabout. We are pushing for the installation of "wildlife crossing" signs at the locations where geese and other wild fowl most frequently cross over to and from the 3 lakes that are positioned in this busy location.  It's imperative that action is taken and that KCC do all they can to protect wildlife in this area, to create an environment where people and nature can co-exist more harmoniously. Dartford Animal Rescue are in contact with Kent Wildlife Police to try and bring the perpetrator to justice. Unfortunately, nothing can be done to change this appalling act of violence, with an individual choosing to behave in this cruel manner. What we can do now is to gather our strength as a community and to highlight the urgent need for road users in general to be sensitive to wildlife living along here.  Petition by: Green Party Councillor Laura Edie and Ciara O'hare, on behalf of Dartford Animal Rescue Team. 

Removing the trees would be at the expense of the environment, both in a GREEN sense and in as much as the loss of said trees would be detrimental to the “tree-lined avenue” presentation enjoyed and appreciated by residents and visitors alike along this busy thoroughfare. The character of this part of the city’s “leafy suburb” would be further eroded. Felling the trees would have a negative impact on the area and the removal of mature trees will affect the value of property in the immediate vicinity.  The felling would set a precedent and potentially lead to the destruction of all the trees along the entire length of Neville Street