Protect Quantock Hills

Sorry but why is the 38degrees starting yet another campaign?  We should be focusing on the NHS!

The Government is giving away the greatest national institution this country has ever created – forget the hills.

Shepway DC is planning to allow disgraceful development in tiny and attractive location of Lympne which is in AONB   – Alan Titmarsh is aware and is disgusted. 

I think you should check out SWORD. They are a campaign group in Nuneaton fighting the local council over plans to build 350 houses on farm land on the outskirts of town. They have been shafted time and time again by the council who will basically do anything the developer wants. Key documents have been withheld, decisions over turned for no explanation etc etc. see more at http://www.saveweddington.org.uk

This is a terribly important issue as the outcome of this
and other such irresponsible planning proposals (e.g. see the current
Sandleford issue – http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-dorset-16135594)
could set a precedent for similar decisions nationwide. If we make an effort
now to stop this looting of our shared national treasures we can set our own precedent
for the future.

A beautiful piece of common woodland in my parents village
in Bucks was earmarked for destruction to make way for a golf course by some ****hole
of a developer – the locals had to form a conglomerate to buy the land
themselves. This is unlikely to be a valid course of action in less affluent
areas, but it’s an interesting solution nonetheless…

NorthTyneside Council are trying to build 600 homes right next to the only City nature reserve to contain red squirrels in the UK. It is on green fields and will block wildlife corridor and forage areas. A Liberal council I wonder if Somerset Council is liberal? OINK OINK!

The simple expedient of searching Google indicates that shale gas exploration is being proposed for the Mendip Hills on the other side of the A38:
http://www.thisissomerset.co.uk/Shale-gas-worth-exploring/story-13611915-detail/story.html

I live in Stony Stratford Milton Keynes, we have had huge pieces of land taken for housing, and now many of the green area’s have gone  joining up many estates.  Stony Stratford is fighting a redevelepment its self which will see 100 year old trees demolished if the MK Council accept. most people who live in Stony are happy the with the way things are as we cannot cope with  the traffic as it is now, with out this new develepment.
Stony Council have a problem as I am given to understand a huge company(Australian) owns the land, and wants to redevelope, I am not sure how much is heresay but it does bare out the pressure the council is under for some develepment to take place, regardless of the residents wishes.  I can only give what Iv heard so cannot say all is 100% but!!

Hve signed petition will you please condiser signing my petition to save penrhos nature reserve HolyheadAt the moment Anglesey Aluminum own the land and they have decided to sell the land it owns(600 Acres in all), including Penrhos nature reserve/Coastal Park. (200 ac…res) An option to buy has been agreed… with Land and Lakes Ltd, a development company, (they want to develope 1/16th of Holy island) who propose to build a large holiday village on the coastal park site. This will require the felling and removal of much of the forested area, and a great deal of the unique ecosystem will disappear under the foundations of over 500 buildings, access roads and footpaths. Once built there will be no public access, except for a narrow strip of footpath around the coastal margin (this is already protected/enshrine in law). This development means the Nature reserve will cease to exist!
The reserve forms part of the AONB (area of outstanding beauty) and the sandbanks and mudflats of the Beddmanarch Bay, part of the Beddmanarch & Cymyran Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). ( 1 of only 4 in the world i think don’t quote me on that!) Nesting birds require undisturbed conditions development of this scale will threaten nesting ringed plover and many more species of birds.
In 2009 Anglesey gained Global and European Geopark status because of its unique geology while Penrhos nature reserve headland Gorsedd-y-Penrhyn has been designated as a Regionally Important Geological and geomorphological Site (UKRIGS).
Besides this There’s a wide community of plants and animals (otters, squirrels badgers) that depended upon this stable environment, the sundry trees(housing theGreater Spotted Woodpecker, Tawny Owl to name two) and other plants from the woodland, comeliest flower beds, interwoven with huge swathes of bluebells, snowdrops in spring, to the tree canopy, charm. We do not want to lose The ‘unique selling point’ of this area yet to be fully realized! That is why your support is so valuable to us! PLEASE Jthat provide such a wide range of different habitat niches (eg. roosting bats Pipistrelle and Daubenton’s bat), essential for the biodiversity of the entire area.
You can probably see why the people of Holy island want to preserve the integrity and accessability of Penrhos Nature reserve, for the whole community and visitors alike given it’s natural unspoilt charm. We do not want to lose The ‘unique selling point’ of this area yet to be fully realized! That is why your support is so valuable to us! PLEASE jOIN US__‹^^›__‹(•¿•)›__‹^^›__ by signing our 2 petitions Save PENRHOS Nature Reserve Holyhead

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CARRIES A LOT OF WEIGHT THIS ONE ☞ ~♥♥♥~Welsh assembly petition https://www.assemblywales.org/epetition-list-of-signatories.htm?pet_id=661

Help save wildlife in Gosforth and Jesmond Dene from greenbelt housing development
http://www.jesmonddene.org.uk/?p=102
An incredible resource of wildlife and green space is under immediate threat by Newcastle upon Tyne Council. This threatens to undo years of hard work to bring back species and maintain our precious wildlife in the region. The council are using the old addage that it is more complex to build on brownfield sites when what they really mean is more expensive. I wonder who these houses will benefit, certainly not low income, so why is this land up for grabs?

I think many folks do not understand the extreme pressure local authorities are under to cut costs and become leaner and meaner – they simply cannot afford everything they used to. If your family suddenly lost a third or more of their income, would you not have to change your lifestyle to suit? There has already been a cull of tens of thousands of public service staff, with those left behind trying to keep things going as best they can with diminished resources. I know some who are off work ill, as a result of the increased pressures and one who actually took his own life! It’s a simple and unfortunate case that unless people are prepared to pay to keep beautiful places like the Quantocks in public ownership with increased taxes this is what will increasingly happen. Whilst I applaud the efforts of 38degrees, their supporters and efforts, they do not seem to come up with alternatives but simply oppose. It never ceases to amaze me how people expect public services to have an never ending pot of resources but are the first to complain when their council tax goes up. You can’t have all you want I’m afraid – the politicians and bankers of the last 30 years have bankrupted us. Unless this country sees a total shift away from unfettered capitalism that we have had since Thatcher came to power to a world where making a buck isn’t the be all and end all then nothing will really change.

Will do, these profligate property developers!
 could you sign mine!!
https://www.assemblywales.org/epetition-list-of-signatories.htm?pet_id=661

Perth and Kinross Council in Scotland have agreed to a run of river hydro scheme being developed in the Birks of Aberfeldy – a SSSI site with rare and ‘protected’ plant, fish and mammal species, and the inspiration for Robert Burn’s poem.  The land is also gifted to the community as Common Good land.  So the waterfall will be put into a pipe and the river reduced for much of the year.  Looks like another hydro land/river-grab for private profits.  Local people still deciding whether to grant permission or not.
http://www.hipshire.com/community_councils/area12.html

JUST DONE AN EMAIL OF OBJECTION HOPE THIS HELPS
SAVEPENRHOSX

We have a major land grab for profits happening in Wales.   The Welsh Government have sold the rights to apply for planning permssion to turn our forests into large scale windfarms.   Obviously trees and windturbines don’t mix,   so this will involve a major deforestration program.

Please can we set up a 38degrees campaign on this issue covering all of the Welsh Forests.

The Bishops Stortford Town Council have a fight on their hands to stop a massive new development in the town which is proposed by a company called Henderson’s Global Investments. The scheme was approved by the larger East  Herts District Council where the people who gave the planning permission are not Bishops Stortford councillors, rather they are councillors from other towns who know very little about the issue here. Many residents do not want this massive development which will disrupt the town. The town’s Civic Federation is also against the scheme. Unless the planning permission system is changed , things like this will continue: People from miles out of town deciding what’s best for the town is not democratic!
(More details are available in the local Bishops Stortford Observer newspaper)

Just don’t do it, LNRs are for everyone

1. I’ve been told today that Surrey Wildlife Trust (possibly the most important WT  because of the massive amount of land it’s supposedly caring for) are selling land at Cranleigh, Surrey  which was given to them to manage as a nature reserve. It’s being sold by Savilles and can be found in  Southern farmer advert.

2.  Please take a look at Cherkley campaign website. Cherkley estate is Greenbelt in Surrey 
 
‘Surely the Council will not allow such treatment of an SNCI (rare & protected species present)within the Special Area of Conservation (EU Habitats Directive) buffer zone and a Most Important Biodiversity Opportunity Area and rare chalk grassland habitat to be treated with a total herbicide?’

http://www.cherkleycampaign.co.uk 

Just north of the Quantocks at Hinkley Point, local people have occupied a site where EDF are about to start “preparatory works” which involve turning 400 hectares of beautiful West Somerset landscape into roads and foundations for an unnecessary nuclear power station that hasn’t even got permission yet.

Please consider coming down to the occupation to show your support, and spread the word far and wide.

http://stopnuclearpoweruk.net/content/nuclear-reactor-site-occupied
https://www.facebook.com/pages/SEIZE-THE-DAY/97619367824
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2012/02/492309.html

I have been asked to share “dodgy council sell offs” – well, here is a dodgy GOVERNMENT sell-off.  The government HS2 “bullet train” proposal will slice through these

- 4 Wildlife Trust sites

- 2 Local Nature Reserves

- 9 SSSIs (Sites of Special Scientific Interest)

- 48 Ancient Woodlands

- 77 local wildlife sites

- 30 river corridors

- a possible further 50 sites (awaiting assessment by the
Wildlife Trusts)

-  key
Living Landscape scheme areas
- 4 Wildlife Trust sites

- 2 Local Nature Reserves

- 9 SSSIs (Sites of Special Scientific Interest)

- 48 Ancient Woodlands

- 77 local wildlife sites

- 30 river corridors

- a possible further 50 sites (awaiting assessment by the
Wildlife Trusts)

-  key
Living Landscape scheme areas
This is all to be done with little or no democratic process – no traditional planning process, just a “consultation” after which the government just rubber stamps it and vote themselves a Hybrid Bill to give themselves permission.  There has been no ecological survey done and AONB is being impacted – a grave precident.  All of this is at the cool price tag of £34billion at their present estimates.

This is shocking news and for a person that has used and enjoyed the quantock hills for over 20 years totally unacceptable !!! 

Knee jerk response? Yet another protest – with banners and slogans? A deeper question is why do councils own beautiful spaces in the first place. They are much better looked after by the likes of the National Trust and the Wildlife Trusts. Let’s get to gether and buy the council out.

Redcar and Cleveland Council are considering, and I understand already have plans, to sell off (or rent) part of Valley Gardens and woodland in Saltburn by the Sea for ‘leisure use’. This Victorian seaside town has been slowly and successfully reviving, and is now extremely popular. The residents association has worked very hard to upgrade the town and increase its status. If this plan goes ahead it will be totally out of character with the town and could block access to a very beautiful part of the woodland area and gardens.    There was a wildlife centre for public and schoos access which has already been closde and funding withdrawn from an extremely popular cafe where , even in winter people enjoyed the woodland ambiance sitting outside.

@ Filipa.  Hi Filipa.  The Surrey Wildlife Trust Land you speak of in Cranleigh isn’t owned by the Trust.  It’s privately owned, and only managed by SWT.  The land owner wishes to sell now that the lease has come to end.  I’m sure that SWT wish to carry on managing this nature reserve, but ultimately the decision remains with the land owner. 

Selling off more fields at Woolavington, outside the building area of the village, as the village is now full of houses. They now plan to build over 150 new houses, the village will be more like a town than a village. It dosent stop there just think of all the implications that will have on the area for the wild life.????

I will support this petition wholeheartedly.  We must all protect places of natural beauty around us, especially to retain the diversity of habitats for wildlife. 

PLEASE READ MY COMMENTS UNDER…..NHS POLL! A.S.A.P,WE NEEED a campaign to stop animal testing……. its the 38 degree’s news header…. under news..

Governments local and national are short sighted in their desires to develop or sell. However I must point out that all our natural environment is ultimately under threat and will be until the issue of immigration is honestly addressed. Already there is permanent damage – such as rivers being emptied - caused by there being too many people living in the south of England. Everything on or from the ground is finite an all can be shared but only if growth is replaced by sustainability.