Successful Campaigns

Dear friends, Thank you for signing "Object to plans to remove two mature trees and a bench from Market Street Hoylake". I am pleased to say that the plans have now been changed and there is no mention of removing the bench or trees now. Thank you to everyone who raised this and everyone who has signed it. Thanks also to Nomad who have made the changes to their application.

The white paper was published! But there is still work to be done https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/apr/26/gambling-uk-white-paper-online-casinos

Great news! 03/11/22 The news we have all been waiting for has at last arrived! The Port of Dover recently announced that it has abandoned its plans to dredge the Goodwin Sands for landfill for their port development. As you can imagine, after six and a half years of campaigning this news is extremely welcome as it clearly shows that development does not need to come at the expense of the environment. We would like to thank you all for your encouragement, donations and support, without which we would not have achieved this positive outcome. This campaign has definitely been a huge joint effort. We would like to recognise the support provided by our MP Natalie Elphicke who understood both the need for the port development and our concerns for the marine environment. We have no doubt that she was instrumental in encouraging the Port of Dover to source the necessary landfill elsewhere. Despite this result being a vindication of all we have fought for, we know this is just a battle won, not the whole war and we will not be resting on our laurels. We are acutely aware that assurances need to be sought from all the major stakeholders including The Crown Estate, the Environment Agency and the Marine Management Organisation that they will never allow the Goodwins to be exploited ever again. Thank you again for staying with us over the past six years and we look forward to keeping you updated on our continued work to Save Our Sands. Best wishes, Joanna and Fiona

12/09/22 It's been almost two years since we started our campaign to stop the proposed merger between Queen Victoria Hospital, East Grinstead, and University Hospital Sussex, but finally we have received the news we have all been working towards. All work on the merger has been stopped and we have been informed that this is not a pause but a final decision not to go ahead with the merger now or in the future. Recent whistleblowing by consultants at USH and the subsequent CQC reports highlighting significant ongoing patient safety concerns have proved that merger with them would have been a disaster for QVH. We want to thank each and every one of you that has been involved in supporting us during our fight to save these internationally respected specialist services. We now need leadership put in place that understands and values this unique hospital and its staff. Not a leadership team that is willing to sell it off the highest bidder, instead a leadership team that will fight for its future by building on its strengths and working with like-minded organisations. Thank you all for helping us to get our voices heard!

The Government has decided that the prescription charge upper age exemption will remain at 60, meaning that it will not align to the State Pension age. https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/aligning-the-upper-age-for-nhs-prescription-charge-exemptions-with-the-state-pension-age/outcome/aligning-the-upper-age-for-nhs-prescription-charge-exemptions-with-the-state-pension-age-government-response#introduction

Campaign win! Thanks to all your support and dedicated campaigning the Economic Crime Bill has now passed through Parliament. The bill introduces a crucial register for property owned through offshore companies. This is an important step to stop tax dodging and corruption. Other important legislation is in the pipeline. This is an amazing success. We will keep campaigning until we have closed every last tax loophole. We all deserve a fairer tax system. Thank you so much for your support. You can sign up here to take part in future campaigns: https://www.taxjustice.uk/sign-up.html.

WHAT A CAMPAIGN WIN! 🙌 Thanks to each and every one of you that signed the petition, we caused the gov to open a consultation into the ban and more than 50,000 incredible people fed into it, sharing their views on a ban. It's now their move. Will they listen and take action to ban some of the most polluting single-use plastics sooner rather than later?? Visit our website to stay up to date on what's happening and find out how to get more involved with our vital plastic pollution campaigning work https://www.citytosea.org.uk/ With love from us and love from the oceans, Jo and the City to Sea team 🌊

After over two years of campaigning and thousands of people signing this petition, the Chancellor has closed the holiday let tax loophole! Since 2019, nearly 36,000 homes around England have been lost to the tourist industry, and many more in Wales and Scotland. This announcement should help make more homes available for local people, which will make rents more affordable. Thanks to everyone to who got involved and helped us bring attention to this issue by signing the petition: you made this victory possible.

STOP PRESS: This morning (10th March 2022), Leeds Bradford Airport’s Chief Exec announced that he has withdrawn the airport’s planning application. This is a victory for our climate and our communities. It means that the airport cannot extend daytime flying hours nor remove night time flying controls. As they said in their own planning application, this means they don't have the capacity to increase passenger numbers above 5 million a year. Here’s the key sentence, in the Environmental Statement at para 1.1.4: “The Airport is forecast to continue to grow over the next decade reaching 7 million passengers per annum by 2030, assuming that existing operational restrictions imposed by existing planning controls are amended through the current planning application.” Well that can’t happen now! Make no mistake, this victory is down to people power - you and the thousands of other people who signed our petition, took action, donated funds and never gave up hope that we can make the right choices today to build a better tomorrow for everyone. We will keep a close eye on what the airport’s Australian owners do next and we will act again if they try to break any rules that limit any rise in passengers above five million. We remain vigilant and ready to continue the fight to protect our climate and communities. But for today, we’re celebrating success! A massive ‘thank you’ for backing the campaign. The GALBA committee

This is the thin end of the wedge for Edinburgh, we have already lost several health facilities in Edinburgh. Livingston is not accessible to the elderly, as it takes over an hour by public transport.