Many users of Stoke Park value it as our little slice of 'countryside' in what is an ever-increasingly developed area of Bristol. We don't want that green space criss-crossed with wide modern tracks. We are concerned that this path will be the first of many, and will lead to the urbanisation of Stoke Park as the council seeks to turn it into a “destination park” (words they have used to describe their longer term aims). There is a valid argument for providing some form of improved access to the park for those people with mobility issues, or for parents with buggies and/or toddlers. However, if this is to happen then it should cause the absolute minimum of visual impact via a different route (i.e. not their proposed routes) and provide the added benefit of linking up to the existing woodland paths, to maximise the benefit to those users. We feel that the council have presented their idea and consultation in a very steered way in order to single-mindedly pursue what they want, and are concerned that transport mitigation money is being used in this way. Although the council have consulted on their specific route proposal, they could of/should have engaged with the community much earlier in the process, to seek ideas about where any path should go and what it should achieve. We are therefore expressing that we object to the council's proposed path and the consultation process which they are using to support it. See an alternative proposal that some local community members of Friends of Stoke Park came up with - https://www.facebook.com/stokeparkpath/ Council proposal for 'active travel connection' - https://travelwest.info/projects/stoke-park-accessible-path-proposal

The unitary authorities in Southend and Basildon & Thurrock have listened to local people and rejected the local STP plans, a huge reorganisation of our local NHS driven by massive cuts. https://www.theenquirer.co.uk/more-protests-over-planned-nhs-cuts-and-proposed-hospital-merger/ Although we won the first battle to keep A&E services at Broomfield, these current plans will see many emergency patients, once stabilised, transferred to Basildon. In one way these plans are far worse for people in the Chelmsford and the mid-Essex health area, than they are for people in Southend. Southend at least has a direct train route to Basildon. If you want to get a train to visit a relative in Basildon from here you need to go via London. The public transport links are woeful. Chelmsford to Basildon by public transport is bad enough. Halstead to Basildon is virtually impossible. Yet support from friends and family is vital for patients in recovery. Councillors in Southend and Thurrock have put our representatives with responsibility to scrutinise these plans on Essex County Council to shame. Our county councillors now need to step up to the plate and stand by the people of mid-Essex. It needs to be made quite clear to the health secretary that Chelmsford and mid-Essex rejects these plans every bit as much as Thurrock and Southend.

So many societal problems could be avoided if we treat the new and younger generation well and nurture them through the Education System and into adulthood. But this requires adequate funding. Why do Britain's roads deserve vastly more money in the Budget than our schools?

Every year vast swathes of rainforest that supports orangutans as well as thousands of other species are decimated by the palm oil industry. Palm oil is a hidden ingredient in many common household products and only one company so far has said enough is enough and pledged to remove it from their own brand products. If they are successful other brands WILL follow suit. People need to know the dangers and devastation that their eating habits are causing. The advert is not political it is 100% educational. I do not work for Iceland, nor do I have any links to the company. I am however passionate about the survival of the planet and the fate other species who share it with us.

Students are struggling to cope with such a lengthy exam and it is impacting their results. One of my students collapsed from exhaustion in the middle of their exam (it was their second exam that day and they had been writing for over 5 hours). We urge you to consider dividing the exam into 2 separate exams. This will help students to improve their ability to focus and will also prevent students with access arrangements for extra time from suffering almost 4 hours in a drama exam. We should be testing their knowledge not their stamina!

Many users of the Thornes Park Athletics Stadium and the park itself, regularly need more than 3 hours parking. Both Gymnastics and Bowling sessions run for 3 hours or more, changing and set up time has not been factored in, athletics meets sometimes last all day. The Council is supposed to be encouraging people to have healthy lifestyles and should not put obstacles in their way.

At the Chepstow Town Council meeting on 12 September 2018, a discussion was had about the possible removal of the gun tribute to Able Seaman Williams. Two town councillors openly questioned the connection of the memorial gun to Chepstow Town and a third called for a vote, on removing the gun there and then. Fortunately, a vote was not taken on the night. The discussion point was not on the formal Agenda nor captured in the Minutes with the Town Council dismissing the discussion as conversation. The memorial gun was gifted to the town by King George V to mark the outstanding bravery and in memory of William Charles Williams who was also awarded the Victoria Cross posthumously. Relatives of Able Seaman Williams still reside in the Chepstow area today. Chepstow Town Council lists that one of its roles on behalf of the community is to undertake 'the regular cleaning of the Town's War Memorial' presumably the Cenotaph and memorial gun. Given the current state of disrepair to both, it is clear the Town Council have failed in this regard. In minutes dated September 2016, Action 88 - a resolution was made to accept two quotations which had been sought for the specialist repairs and cleaning, Action 89 provided a full report to be tabled at the meeting on the memorial - requests for this report (89) have been made but not yet provided. Further action has happened since, and after enquiries were made this week, it was confirmed that specialist cleaning will not take place until March 2019. There has been no confirmation however on when the repair work will be undertaken on the gun which gives residents cause for concern. We the undersigned, are outraged that the Town Council is even considering, without any public consultation, removing such an important, historical structure and vehemently oppose any attempt to remove or move the gun. And we are outraged that the Town Council has not undertaken its duties in respect to the war memorial particularly given that this year sees the 100 year anniversary of the end of WW1. The plight of the gun and it's dire state was highlighted in the Chepstow Beacon on 2 November.

I want to highlight the sparsity of resources in the NHS for treating patients with eating disorders. This is a national issue but it has to begin somewhere. I mention anorexia in particular because it came into our family, but the same points apply to all eating disorders. The eating disorder charity BEAT states: "Anorexia has the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric disorder, from medical complications associated with the illness as well as suicide." So where is the funding? Where are the specialists? The Royal College of Psychiatrists report: “We are seeing waits of up to 16 months for non-urgent referrals. It is really worrying, because we know that the more quickly people start receiving treatment the quicker they are to respond to it.” Anorexia is an illness. Despite what some people might think, no-one chooses to be anorexic in the same way that no-one chooses cancer. It is a physical illness and it is a mental illness but it is also a neglected illness as far as the NHS is concerned. In the East Riding of Yorkshire, until recently, there was no provision for eating disorders. This year, CAMHS has established an Eating Disorder Service. What about those patients who are not children? Those patients like my own loved one. Four years ago, a beautiful, talented, artistic young lady whom I love with all my heart fell prey to anorexia and I watched in impotence as she shrank before my eyes. She was 16 and resisted medical treatment for the best part of a year. Once she accepted help, her GP was wonderful at keeping an eye on her and referring her to a general mental health therapist but there were no specialists in eating disorders or any specialist treatment. Early in 2017, when my loved one became so ill that she weighed 5 stone and had a BMI of 12, she was admitted to a gastroenterology ward at the general hospital. The doctors and nurses were marvellous but they were not experts in the treatment of eating disorders. However, they found her a place at a residential ED Clinic in Grimsby, 54 miles and a drive of an hour and a half away. Grimsby is not in East Yorkshire; it’s in Lincolnshire. Still, we were lucky. Did you see the programme, ‘Wasting Away: The Truth about Anorexia’, which told the story of news reader Mark Austin’s daughter? I watched in tears as their story unfolded in an almost carbon copy of our own. Now if someone in the public eye, with a doctor for a wife, had no clue what to do, and if help wasn’t readily available to them, then what chance did we have? Mark Austin's research taught him that there are only 200 beds for ED patients in Britain and his programme revealed a young woman from Nottingham who was sent to Edinburgh for treatment. Her mum had to make a 600 mile round trip to visit her. UK eating disorder statistics • 1.6 million people in the UK are affected by an eating disorder • 11% of the 1.6 million people struggling with an eating disorder are male • Eating disorders are more common in individuals between the ages of 14 and 25 years old • There are up to 18 new diagnoses of bulimia nervosa, per 100,000 people, per year • 1 in 100 women aged between 15 and 30, are affected by anorexia nervosa • 10% of people affected by an eating disorder suffer from anorexia nervosa • 40% of people affected by an eating disorder suffer from bulimia nervosa • The rest of sufferers fall into the BED (binge eating disorder) or OSFED (other specified feeding or eating disorder) categories of eating disorders • Research suggests that the earlier that eating disorder treatment is sought, the better the sufferer’s chance of recovery These UK eating disorder statistics are derived from data published by Beat and Mind. For the sake of the futures of our young people, we need to hold the government to account, locally and nationally, to keep their promises and to ensure that there is money in every local authority for ED Services.

It is important because not everyone wants to go down the D b s route It means brain surgery. the focus ultrasound scanner is an non invasive treatment and not as costly as D B S. I have essential tremor for 62 years, since birth and children are having to go through a living hell just as i did. I don,t want any one to go through the fiscal and verbal abuse I did .

Having seen my beautiful Bernese mountain dog collapse and shake with a heart beat pounding out his chest . No matter how much money I spend or what I do , i can not console my boy. It breaks my heart to see this, it’s for days on end because people can set them off whenever they want and what time they want , stress is not good for any human or animal, this affects us all.. Animals die from shock and fear . We are supposed to love and respect nature and our domestic pets not destroy them with fireworks . All I’m asking for is that we respect one another and come to a compromise to save our animals from the torture they go through around November . Please help !

Over the last decade, house prices in the borough have shot up by around 50%, meaning many local people and families have been priced out of the housing market. With a dire shortage of good quality, affordable private rental properties in the town and a very long waiting list for council properties, Southend Borough Council could utilise this land to build in the region of 400 new homes. This would not only substantially relieve chronic housing pressures, but also bring in much needed revenue to the Council which has seen its grant from central government cut by around £8 million year on year to the tune of £40 million in total. The NHS sold this publicly-owned plot of land, where previously a new NHS diagnostic and treatment centre had been planned, for £7.8 million in August this year. The value of this land once developed is estimated to be in excess of £40 million - potentially meaning a very handsome profit for a private developer and its shareholders! Southend Council's recent track record of building 'affordable' housing has fallen well short of its target of 30% with figures showing it has only attained a level of 19%. The term 'affordable' is something of a misnomer and in reality just means '80% of market value', which is not affordable at all for many many people. In January 2018, the New Economics Foundation looked into the planned developments on NHS land which had been sold off, or was due to be sold off. - Of the homes to be built for sale on NHS land, four out of five will be unaffordable to a nurse on an average salary. And where they could afford the mortgage repayments, a nurse would have to save for an average of 53 years to afford the deposit. - Only one in 10 of the homes built on sold-off NHS land will be for genuinely affordable social rent. (There are 1.2 million English households on the waiting list for social housing.) - The average expected sale price for these new homes, based on area estimates, is £315,279. This is 10 times the annual salary of a nurse. In Southend, the average property price is £304,774.

Five IUCN member conservationists, including members of the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC), have been charged with ‘corruption on earth’, the highest penalty for which is execution. The five environmentalists from IUCN Member organisation Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation (PWHF) are Niloufar Bayani, Taher Ghadirian, Sepideh Kashani, Houman Jowkar and Morad Tahbaz. Taher Ghadirian and Houman Jowkar are members of the IUCN SSC Cat Specialist Group; Taher Ghadirian is also a member of the IUCN SSC Bear Specialist Group. They undertake vital conservation work including efforts to conserve the Critically Endangered Asiatic cheetah. "Monitoring and researching species that live in remote landscapes, such as the Asiatic Cheetah, is a challenging task,” said Jon Paul Rodriguez, IUCN Species Survival Commission Chair. “As their numbers have dwindled, Asiatic cheetahs have become elusive, making it difficult for researchers to observe them directly. Novel techniques such as camera traps have proven indispensable in helping researchers gain valuable insights into the status and biology of threatened species worldwide.” The five conservationists had been detained by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in January along with four others and charged with espionage. Human rights campaigners and Iran’s government have said the charges against them are unfounded, according to media reports. The four others detained in January are Amir Hossein Khaleqi, member of the IUCN SSC Cat Specialist Group, of the IUCN Commission on Education and Communication and of the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas, Sam Rajabi, AbdolReza Koupayeh, and Kavous Seyed-Emami. Kavous Seyed-Emami died in prison for unknown reasons following his detention. IUCN has called for an independent inquiry into his death. Iran is facing environmental challenges including drought, water scarcity and dust storms, which have led to nationwide protests this year.