*Newsflash* - Welsh government pledges to use wool in public buildings. Please add your signature so that English, Scottish and Northern Irish governments follow the Welsh government's lead. https://www.farminguk.com/news/welsh-government-pledges-to-use-wool-in-public-buildings_56471.html?fbclid=iwar1ggxqeqvhx5nqqmdkge0av06mzro-qcmbsl-l9iue51rfbtdlukgu4zyq These 1000 wool fleeces are about to be incorporated into the manure heap. What a waste of a once valuable resource. A sustainable product that could be used to insulate homes for all government grant supported buildings. Sheep farmers receive less for their wool than the cost of shearing the sheep. Last year David Jones, who is pictured with his wool above, received 28p a fleece and paid the shearer £1. This year the value it set to drop by at least half. Hence he and many other farmer's across the country, decision to plough their wool into the fields as fertiliser. Last week Stuart Fletcher a farmer from East Sussex posted a similar photo on Facebook and to date has had nearly 2 million views and tens of thousands of 'likes', 'shares' and 'comments'. When asked as to why Stuart posted this photo, he said "because is made me sad". https://www.facebook.com/Fletchersflock/posts/1671402433029379 Wool is sustainable, fire-retardant, bio-degradable, and the most efficient form of insulation. On the 1st January 2021 sheep farmers may be further affected by possible new tariffs on sheep meat of at least 40%. Currently over half our sheep exports go to the EU and will never be substituted by trade deals with the USA or Japan, for example. Sheep farmers' incomes are being squeezed at every point. This Campaign has now been endorsed by; NFU NFU Scotland NFU Cymru Ulster Farmers Union British Wool (formerly The British Wool Marketing Board) National Sheep Association The Campaign for Wool - patron HRH The Prince of Wales Country Landowners Association Tenant Farmers Association Please sign this petition, because; - We want to revive our wool manufacturing industries, - We want to make this government use our money to insulate our buildings with a home-grown sustainable product, - We want to help sheep farmers make a decent income from their fleeces, - We want to create manufacturing jobs, - We want to maintain the upland landscape, - We want to put a smile back on Stuart's and other sheep farmers face's. Royal endorsement of wool - HRH the Prince of Wales stated “Wool is a product that the most brilliant boffin in the most hi-tech laboratory could never create.” And “it is important to remind people of how valuable and sustainable wool is as a fibre and as a natural material”. Links BBC News - Chancellor announces £2Bn of grants for home owners to install energy saving improvements. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-53313640 NZ Campaign Newshub (New Zealand) article https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/rural/2020/07/govt-accused-of-greenwashing-over-failure-to-use-kiwi-wool-in-public-buildings.html The Shropshire Star https://www.shropshirestar.com/news/farming/2020/07/20/low-cost-of-wool-forces-shropshire-farmer-to-use-fleeces-for-compost/

This street has been an eye sore for years. It is targeted by fly tippers, litterers, criminals and is an environmental issue with many rats often spotted. It is pulling down prices of houses costing home owners thousands and making it harder for people to get insurance. The people of Whiteinch should not be left behind anymore whilst Partick and other areas are being redeveloped.

Due to high levels of ill health and disability, people over 75 can become isolated and dependent on their TV for companionship, entertainment, news and information which in turn can aid their mental health

This is a climate crisis. The UK is one of the least wooded areas of Europe, with just 11.7% woodland cover compared to around 37% for the EU.* Under the Conservatives' initiative - Nature for Climate fund - it said it would treble the tree-planting rate to cover 30,000 hectares (approximately 30 million trees) every year by the end of the next Parliament in 2025. Not enough is being done. Some major environmental benefits: - Adapting to climate change and reducing its effects. - Improvement of waterways and decrease in incidences of flooding - Protection and conservation of our UK wildlife diversity, including protection of livestock. Major economic benefits: - Creation of green jobs - trees don’t plant and nurture themselves - Decreased flooding risks mean reduced government spending - Climate change damages economies: investing in the planting and management of trees will remove carbon dioxide and create a healthier, more productive society for all. Plant trees, not tarmac. *House of Lords European Union Committee, Sub-Committees (Environment and Agriculture) ‘Inquiry into the adaptation of agriculture and forestry to climate change: The EU policy response’

The coronavirus pandemic has exposed how deeply broken Scotland’s housing system is. Before the pandemic, tenants were already living paycheck-to-paycheck with exploitative and unaffordable rents. Because of coronavirus, many workers have lost their jobs or faced reduced incomes and have been unable to pay rent altogether. While some people have been lucky enough to quarantine in comfortable, warm, spacious homes -- far too many renters have had to see out the pandemic in cramped, dangerously poor-quality housing. So far, the Scottish Government has been woefully inadequate in its support for tenants, doing little more than introducing a temporary ban on evictions while home-owners and landlords have benefitted from mortgage freezes and millions in interest-free loans from the Scottish Government. We are now nearing the end of the eviction-ban, and as things stand, tens of thousands of people who have not been able to afford their rents are now shouldered with crushing debt burdens. This will cause an unprecedented wave of evictions across the country and will only further prolong this health crisis. It can’t be allowed to happen. That’s why we are demanding that the Scottish Government immediately: 1) Extend the evictions-ban for all tenants who have fallen into rent arrears as a result of the pandemic 2) Introduce emergency support measures to stop tenants facing enormous and unaffordable debt burdens from unpaid rent And in the long-term: 3) Implement rent controls to protect tenants from sky-high rents and punitive increases, as well as to guarantee that landlords can’t take advantage of new support measures for tenants by increasing rents 4) Build more social housing that is healthy, safe, affordable, and in quantities that will meet everyone’s needs

as it stands mortgage lender and banks will only times you annual wage by 3 maybe 4 so if you work at a low income/ minimum wage job its impossible to afford even the most basic or run down property let alone affording a property that can provide a standard of living that is acceptable. it is absolutely ridiculous perfectly acceptable for people to pay £700 plus pcm on rented accommodation yet apparently can't afford £400 pcm on a mortgage. This has to change!

The statue of slave trader Edward Colston stood in the centre of Bristol for 124 years, where it has stood as an offensive provocation to the black community, in the literal centre of our city. For at least the last 30 years the statue was the subject of controversy, and many pleas to Bristol City Council that it be removed; finally, in June 2020 the matter was taken into the hands of the people, who forcibly removed the statue, as BCC were clearly unwilling to do so, despite voluble popular feeling. Within a few weeks, in an act of guerilla art, the empty plinth of the Colston statue was filled with a sculpture by renowned artist Mark Quinn of Jen Reid, a BLM protestor involved in the removal of the Colston statue. In contrast to their 30 years of procrastination over removal of Colston's statue, BCC sprang into action to remove this popular addition to Bristol centre within 24 hours of its installation. The people of Bristol were not consulted about this removal, and we'd like the new, improved statue put back until such time as a long-term replacement can be found. It won't be permanent, we understand, but it's an appropriate placeholder that symbolises Bristol's rejection of racist iconography, and our pride in our multicultural community. People should have a chance to see it in place, and allow it to heal some of the harm done by 124 years of glorification of Bristol's shameful involvement in the slave trade, and the council's subsequent disrespect for its black community. - [Jen Reid] recalled climbing onto [the plinth] after the Colston statue was pulled down and spontaneously raising her arm in a Black Power salute. "It was like an electrical charge of power was running through me." "My immediate thoughts were for the enslaved people who died at the hands of Colston and to give them power. I wanted to give George Floyd power, I wanted to give power to Black people like me who have suffered injustices and inequality. A surge of power out to them all. Creating this sculpture is so important as it helps keep the journey towards racial justice and equity moving, because black lives matter every day." “This sculpture is about making a stand for my mother, for my daughter, for black people like me. It’s about black children seeing it up there." “It’s something to feel proud of, to have a sense of belonging, because we actually do belong here and we’re not going anywhere." We're asking Bristol City Council to restore the statue to the plinth, so that Jen's daughter and other children can see it.

In July alone, 3,848 job losses have been announced in the Welsh Aviation industry. That figure only covers sites with union membership and agreements. There could be many more jobs at risk. Until the pandemic, Welsh Aviation had seen 10 years of growth – with excellent apprenticeship schemes bringing young women, as well as young men, into highly skilled engineering jobs. In 18 months, perhaps less, this sector will be back on track – as long as these jobs are protected. If not, they'll be gone forever. We are calling on Central Government in Westminster to listen to Welsh aviation workers and stop this tsunami of job losses.

There is a perfectly good access road from Callywith College that was built for the explicit purpose of providing access to this new development. This road currently sits unused. The proposed access road from Castle Street however, will result in demolition of an existing home, currently housing a young family of 5 with disabled children. It will blight a neighbourhood of vulnerable residents with significantly increased traffic. And will cause avoidable and unnecessary environmental damage through the destruction of a hedge row, and the tearing down of oak trees.

We are seeing an increase in both motorbikes and cars speeding through the village, putting themselves, other motorists and pedestrians and local families at risk of serious injury or death and creating excessive noise pollution. If you are concerned about this growing problem, please sign our petition calling for action to be taken to prevent future accidents and deaths and reduce noise levels.

This petition for policy change to enforce the wearing of face masks in Parliament is important because not wearing them poses the same risk of harm to members of the public as not wearing them in shops does.

Our health and well-being is important.