Over 200 riders a week use the site, and around 50 of these are part of a Riding for the Disabled group. Based at Throstles Nest Farm for 35 years, the site is also home to a pony club.

We have recently seen a huge discrepancy in pay rises between university bosses and university lecturers. For example Dominic Shellard at De Montfort University received an 11.6% rise while his lecturing staff received a 1% rise. Keith Burnett at Sheffield University received a 29% rise while his lecturing staff received a 1% rise. Edward Acton at the University of East Anglia received an increase of 8.6% while his staff received an increase of 1% and John Last at Norwich University of the Arts received a 13% pay increase while his staff received an increase of 1%. The national average for Russel Group Vice Chancellors pay increase is reportedly 7.8% while university lecturers are receiving a 1% rise this year and a real terms pay cut of 13% since 2008. The success of each university is a joint effort of all staff, Lecturers and Vice Chancellors alike, and no singular staff member should take credit for the hard work of everyone involved and be the sole recipient of large pay increases. Two excellent examples of camaraderie are Paul Curran of City University London and Simon Gaskell from of Queen Mary University London, the latter spurned a rise of £50,000, which will now fund five scholarships. Unfortunately voluntary rejections of inappropriate rises in salaries like this are rare. References: Dominic Shellard, http://www.dmu.ac.uk/documents/about-dmu-documents/board-of-governors/dmu-annual-accounts-2012-2013.pdf Keith Burnett, http://www.independent.co.uk/student/news/fury-at-105000-pay-rise-for-sheffield-university-boss-sir-keith-burnett-after-he-refused-to-raise-employees-salaries-to-the-living-wage-9084027.html Edward Acton and John Last http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/education/inflation_busting_pay_rises_for_bosses_of_university_of_east_anglia_and_norwich_university_of_the_arts_1_3195023 Paul Curran & Simon Gaskell http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/news/vice-chancellors-reject-pay-rise/2009824.article

In March 2013 in the face of a great deal of opposition from local residents the London Borough of Enfield agreed to allow L&Q Property developers to build 231 dwellings on a heritage site in Cockfosters, North London. This site is 10 acres of Ancient Woodland containing Ancient Oaks and other trees hundreds of years old. It is also home to two European protected species, 6 species of bats and great crested newts. Other animals including badgers and foxes also make their home here. There are stag beetles, hedgehogs, water fowl, butterflies (one of which is on the endangered list), there is protected flora. There are two ponds, both of which are mentioned in the Domesday Book, and a Roman well. The planning consultation was flawed but we did not have the money to take on such large corporations in the High Court. Now, despite conditions being placed on the developer, they are already felling trees and planning demolition of the existing buildings next week. Natural England placed a condition on them when they granted the licenses for the bats and newts that NO work could be undertaken until a rigorous search of the site was undertaken between March and May. The developer and Enfield Council are clearly circumnavigating this condition and doing as they please. Enfield Council and Natural England MUST enforce these conditions.

With rising sea levels and climate change (whatever the cause of that change) the problem of flooding is not going to get better, it will only get worse. Everyone, especially the Government, needs to be better educated about the management of our water courses, or hydrology, in order to make informed, intelligent choices about where we focus our limited financial resources. Flooding caused devastation to people, our economy and our environment. We must act now to change Government spending habits which currently serve to increase flooding rather than decrease it. I refer people to the well referenced article in the Guardian as a starting point: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jan/13/flooding-public-spending-britain-europe-policies-homes Follow the references for more details.

As a Year 9, 13 year old boy and soon to be in Year 10, I find it difficult to agree with the fact the Gove has changed the way we have to now do our GSCE's. Having two older sisters now in university, that passed their GSCE's, I would like to do the same. But now, that has all changed, even though being a bright young boy, I still know that my chances of passing are much, much slimmer for me and my peers. Also taking in the fact that Gove has made re-sits unavailable, which makes these exams even more difficult to pass. In addition to this, me and my fellow peers have to now face the fact that today's GSCE's are no longer based on knowledge, but instead pure memory. This could be very difficult to a person that has memory loss, I know this because I can easily forget things and never remember unless someone reminds me. Why has Gove changed the way we do our exams now? Well, simply because he believes that if he could pass his exams in this manner and soon go onto having a good job, why cant every one else? Before thinking this he should have thought about the fact that not everyone is the same, every person had their distinct, almost unique way of learning. Thank you for finding spare time to read this. Please sign.

I am disabled and it caused me a great deal of unnecessary stress and physical discomfort to have to go though a very complex form answering the same questions again and again when the DWP have already had the reasons for my claim. All they need to do is ask a patients GP or consultant to do a simple patient report that can be printed out from their computer to answer all the questions that are required. I am one of millions of people who have to do this and I am sure there are worse people than myself who will find this both distressing and painful. The reason l say distressing is because you realize what you are living and trying to cope with everyday. I was in so much physical pain after filling in this form again l was sobbing with the pain. Doctors don't put patients on morphine with a cocktail of painkillers for nothing. It is just common sense and it is about time someone said enough is enough. We are claiming DLA/PIP because we need to not because we want to.

Given that the Scottish Government is currently undertaking a planning review, this petition is evidence of public disaffection and the need to ensure public faith in the planning process faithful to the spirit of the recently legislated Community Empowerment Bill which states: “Scotland’s people are its greatest asset, and best placed to make decisions about their future... Our belief in local self- determination, through a strong Scottish Parliament, strong local authorities and strong communities, is the key principle... At its heart, community empowerment is about communities taking their own decisions about their futures”. The exceptional natural landscape and outstanding World Heritage architecture of Edinburgh is cherished by locals and visitors alike, yet the City today faces the greatest assault on its heritage since the failed Abercrombie plan for massive city-centre redevelopment of the late 1940s. Numerous large developments have taken place in recent years such as the Waterfront, Fountainbridge, Quartermile, South St Andrew Square, which have courted much criticism, most notably in the damning article “Scotland’s decaying capital city...” published Feb 2013 in Foreign Policy by Professor Richard Williams in which he stated, “Edinburgh has some of Europe's shoddiest attempts at urban regeneration”. In spite of a stated commitment to “co-operation, fairness, accountability and responsibility” and a pledge that, “this is a Council that will listen to, and work with, local people.... there needs to be strong process for looking at the quality of how the Council has reached decisions so that there is genuine scrutiny and questioning of the actions it has taken", widespread disillusionment continues to undermine the credibility of the Council. In the case of "Caltongate/ New Waverley" the Council showed flagrant disregard to the concerns of the local community and wider objectors, flouting local and national planning guidelines. The cumulative effect of controversial 'developments' is now putting the City's most prestigious accolade at risk, the World Heritage Status: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/oct/31/edinburgh-world-heritage-status-in-peril-developers Rather than uphold their duty to the City and Her Citizens it is evident that elected representatives and officials are beholden and enthralled to an unsustainable, discredited system of speculation and endless economic growth, on a finite planet, showing favour to large private interests who appear to hold considerable sway over policy and decision making rather than reflect actual public need. Such a reality is an affront to democracy and does much to damage public faith, divide communities and undermine long term social well being. Two hundred years ago the legacy of our ancestors was the New Town of Edinburgh. How will our descendants 200 years hence judge us? “Think Global, Act Local" Patrick Geddes

As a former Tory Treasury Minister, owner of Cubana - the well-known London Cuban bar-restaurant - and founder of Alma de Cuba coffee, we have been bringing Cuban musicians over to the UK for many years. The process used to take a day or two and cost a nominal amount. Now, all applicants have to personally travel to Havana for an interview. The applications are centrally processed in New York, taking weeks and costing thousands of pounds for an average sized band. Worse, a UK visa doesn't give access to the rest of the EU whereas under Schengen, most EU countries' visas give access to most other EU members. I'm not particularly enamoured with the EU, but by staying out of Schengen we lose a key benefit of membership and have to queue up like cattle to get into other EU countries and back into our own. Further, our visa regime is threatening to turn our once proudly open island into a ghetto. We all understand the imperatives of security and reasonable immigration controls, but what we have is heavy-handedness and bureaucracy from a Government which too often pays only lip service to de-regulation. Let’s tell the Government we condemn this harsh visa clampdown which is not only damaging London’s international standing at a cultural hub but disastrous for businesses too. Please sign our petition to Culture Secretary, Maria Miller asking her to review the current visa policy and let the music play!

Students are paying thousands of pounds a year to be at City - and deserve lockers as a basic part of their educational and student experience. Students - please say what you carry in your bag and why you need a locker below.

The service is a lifeline to many ordinary people, particularly those with mobility problems. Sheffield's FreeBee service is very popular and has been a great link to the new Moor Market. It is described on the Travel South Yorkshire website as “a huge success” and in 2009 after only two years of operating “carried its millionth passenger…, smashing predicted figures and receiving glowing feedback." We urge you as Councillors who represent people in South Yorkshire not to enforce these savage cuts and other associated 'savings' on the local population and instead look at the long-term value to society and the local economy this service provides.

Trying to raise funds for life saving medical equipment is hard enough without the extra cost of 20% VAT. Why should 'saving a life' be subjected to taxation?

Evesham is a lovely town with much potential! The Evesham area has a population of over 52,000 with over 23,000 living in Evesham town itself. We need more good, popular shops in our town centre to keep our town alive!! We all know what lovely scenery and historical buildings are here for townsfolk and tourists to enjoy but we need to offer more selection in the town centre itself. If you care about our town and would like to be able to do your shopping in your town, please show your support for the above companies to open shops here!