All residents in mobile park homes, caravan and motorhome owners and people living in rural areas have to pay inflated prices for the supply of these gas bottled. During winter months, this cost puts a huge financial strain on all residents in residential park retirement homes (mostly retired )and users. The cost of electricity is regulated but not bottled gas, so its time this was regulated as well. If it can be done in Spain then why not here.

Essex County Council have announced plans to close 25 libraries and to turn a further 19 over to be run by local communities to save money. My local library, in West Mersea, employs 2 people for 21 hours a week. Not only will they lose their jobs if these closures go ahead, but so will all the staff at the threatened 44 libraries. My library is thriving. It is always busy with people of all ages reading newspapers and periodicals, borrowing books, DVDs and CDs, accessing the internet, researching their family ancestry and speaking to others. Libraries are fantastic assets to the community and need to be saved. No libraries in Essex should be closed or downgraded to being run by volunteers The elderly population of Essex need these libraries. Many do not have computers and some of them may not speak to anyone else in their day. We need local libraries in local communities which can be accessed on foot or bike, by all sections of society. Please think again before implementing these closures.

SSE is a privatised utility building Scotland's flagship renewable energy project. They are in receipt of £2.6bn of taxpayers' money. The ITF union and RMT union have discovered that HM Government has relaxed the rules for migrant workers in order to allow SSE to import workers from Indonesia and Russia and pay them less than the minimum wage, let alone the going rate for British offshore workers and seafarers. Furthermore, this is happening in a region that has already been hit by the downturn in North Sea oil production. Thousands of offshore workers and seafarers have been laid off in the last couple of years so there are local men and women eminently qualified to take up these roles. That opportunity has been denied to them because the UK government is collaborating in importing non-EU workers to undercut local workers and the UK minimum wage. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/oct/21/migrants-building-beatrice-windfarm-paid-fraction-of-minimum-wage

Brockham, in Surrey’s Green Belt, is about to be subject to a new and controversial type of oil extraction and production. This involves the use of chemicals, acids, reinjected waste fluids and gas flaring which can release toxins into our air and water sources. These risk harm to our health and environment. Astonishingly, no statutory body is monitoring air or water quality, nor have they required disclosure of the type and quantities of chemicals to be used. This is because the site is being allowed to operate under an old-style environmental permit appropriate for a simple nodding donkey type pump – NOT the new technique about to be deployed. The Environment Agency has been in the process of putting in a modern-style permit for over 2 years, but it is still unclear when this will be completed. The Environment Agency wrote last year: “We are in the process of bringing their permits up to a modern standard, including a declaration of chemicals used. As a result that information will only become available in time.” The time has surely come. The new 'sidetrack' hole was drilled without authorisation or planning permission in January 2017 when Angus Energy misled Surrey Council into believing they were simply performing maintenance work. Despite being misled, Surrey County Council shockingly issued retrospective planning permission in August 2018. We have serious concerns over the operator's competence and integrity. Angus Energy now have carte blanche to commence extraction from unconventional geology using new methods that are neither properly regulated or monitored. Brockham is in an area with much groundwater and numerous water courses and we are highly concerned about the water pollution risks this new activity presents. During a recent test from the same rock formations at Balcombe in Sussex, the same company Angus Energy hit "unexpected high-pressure water" through "fractured communication" with other layers, highlighting the reality of the risks we face. We are also concerned about the impacts on public health from the gas flaring and gas engine combustion, which are projected to produce significant emissions of nitrogen dioxide (NO2), volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and undetermined quantities of Hydrogen Sulphide (H2S). Brockham will be amongst the first sites in the country to attempt commercial production from shale rock. The target Jurassic Kimmeridge layer has been compared by the authorities to the Bakken Formation in North Dakota, where the use of hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling brought about mass industrialisation and thousands of wells. In the interests of people's health and the environment this new activity should not be allowed, at the very least until a new Environmental Permit with stricter modern regulation and control is in place. We simply seek to properly respect and protect our health and environment and are asking the Environment Agency and Government to do the same. - - - [1] Brockham Oil Watch are raising funds to commission professional baseline air and water monitoring. https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/brockham-oil-watch?fbclid=IwAR1kPGcARen3kaNHqysTe7JfrbhVHlTMOjUGpmiaqeKM4HAJUvk7IlDNMdU [2] More detail here: https://drillordrop.com/2018/06/14/residents-uncover-regulatory-loophole-at-surrey-oil-site/ [3] and here: https://drillordrop.com/2018/10/23/leading-surrey-councillor-lists-challenges-of-working-with-weald-oil-companies/

Lancashire voted against allowing fracking in their county, and the government undemocratically over-ruled this. Fracking is well known to have a seriously destructive impact upon the environment. The freedom to make a peaceful protest is something to be proud of in this country, and with these sentences, the judiciary have violated that right. Only by over-ruling the sentence can this basic human right be restored.

On 26 September 2018, four protesters received lengthy custodial sentences for their part in blocking fracking trucks from entering Preston New Road site. The civil space for local communities to protest against the shale oil and gas industry in the UK is becoming more and more restricted and this represents a growing threat to fundamental rights to freedom of expression and assembly. This is exemplified by: - The granting of sweeping civil injunctions to private companies, giving them special legal treatment in the face of widespread public protests. - Central government proposals to bypass local councils by making exploratory drilling a ‘permitted development’ - removing the need for planning permission and for local communities to raise their objections through their local representative body.

In 2002 The Body Shop discontinued the refill facility offered in some stores owing to a lack of demand. Previously it had been possible to refill shampoos and shower gel bottles with a view to avoiding unnecessary waste. They stopped it fifteen years ago, but in that time the impact of plastic on the environment has become increasingly apparent and people are keen to find ways to reduce their waste. The Body Shop have said that they are introducing recycled plastic into their supply chain, but recycling uses energy and they would still be using virgin plastics. The best way to 'do our bit' is to reuse. Tell The Body Shop that you would use refill facilities if they were made available again.

It's one thing to deny funding towards building the Tidal Bay Lagoon, in Swansea (A green and 100% renewable energy source). Further more, to announce the establishment are funding over 100 MILLION in to nuclear power plants in UK is frankly, below the belt. BUT, to dump the nuclear waste in wales, on the belly's of our shores is audacious, to the point of beyond belief. The British Government, YOUR GOVERNMENT, are planning to dump 300,000 tonnes of toxic waste surrounding Cardiff bay. This waste will the be carried through the strong Severn River currents outwards, towards the natural, beautiful, award winning beaches of the Gower peninsular, Swansea. Towards the Irish east coastal areas. The current will also take the nuclear infected water up stream to the heart of the river, where river banks, vegetation and marine life will also be affected. This NEEDS to be prevented. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FOOD FOR THOUGHT: During the the massive media speculation around the re-naming of the Severn bridge, Prince Charles was quoted: "Why weren't the welsh people notified and asked about this" To which he followed - "No wonder they are not happy". Naming a bridge is one thing, This is another level.

The summer of 2018 has already drawn unprecedented levels of attention to the growing effects of climate change, with record breaking temperatures and serious moorland fires in the hills surrounding Manchester. As the world suffers a record-breaking and deadly global heatwave, the need to transition away from fossil fuels could not be clearer. The Museum of Science and Industry has an important role in inspiring children and young people to become the climate scientists and energy system engineers of the future. Fossil fuel companies like Shell have no role in that future. By partnering with Shell, the Museum of Science and Industry is giving legitimacy to a company who actions are endangering the environment on a global scale. Naturalist and Broadcaster Chris Packham has already signed in support of our campaign stating that: 'As the world swelters and wildlife struggles in this unprecedented heatwave, MSI has decided to partner with Shell, one of the corporations responsible for fuelling climate change. A museum dedicated to science education should not be helping promote any company that is actively exacerbating this planetary emergency until they show a serious proactive drive to switch to renewables. And thus far this is not happening.'

I myself am disabled and I now have to walk 20 minutes to the new bus stop, then walk 20 minutes to work. This is without standing around waiting for buses. If I choose to catch the new bus - 27 I will have to wait around for another bus to take me to the city. Also a lot of elderly people live on my housing estate and the change will make it harder for them to go to Harbourne as it does not go down the high street and also when they want to go to birmingham they will have to change buses and wait around for another one, this will be especially hard for them and myself in the winter months.

The UK government sold two licences to frack in Scotland (Petroleum Exploration and Development Licenes - PEDLs). Now the Scottish government has been handed control of licensing and this gives them the chance to end the threat to the health of communities across the Central Belt once and for all PEDL 162 comes up for renewal on June 30th - we say, don't renew it. PEDL 133 has some years to go - we say, revoke it. And state that no further licenses will be sold. INEOS, who own both licences, recently went to court to say the Scottish government doesn't have the power to ban fracking. But if Holyrood has the power to licence, they also have the power NOT to licence. Support our petition and also contact your MSP and ask them to support us when the question comes up in the Scottish parliament.

From The Yorkshire Moors, to Sherwood Forest, to the Fylde Coast, our countryside - and our democracy - is at risk. The government has announced plans to streamline the planning process for fracking. If this goes ahead, it will be as easy to drill an exploration fracking well as it is to build a conservatory or erect a fence. These plans are deeply undemocratic - they twist planning laws to give the government and fracking companies the power to override the will of local people - who have fought relentlessly to halt fracking at every turn. These proposals could see scores of new drilling sites appear over the next couple of years in the English countryside – with the risk of untold environmental, landscape and climate impact. This is the government taking desperate measures to make fracking happen and it’s up to us to stop the proposals before it’s too late.