The petition I started last year with 38 Degrees to remove all plastic from tea bags succeeded in persuading the UK's largest tea bag manufacturer, Unilever/PG Tips to remove plastics from their teabags. But the other leading UK teabag manufacturers are still using plastics in their teabags. The issue of having these plastics (polypropylene) in teabags is a concern. 20-25% plastic in each teabag is not a small or insignificant amount when multiplied up by the millions and millions of tea bags consumed daily. These plastics do not biodegrade in the environment. There have been many campaigns to keep plastics and microplastics out of our seas, highlighting the harm they do to marine life. But the same is true of plastics on land as they can cause harm to birds and small mammals. We need to keep ALL plastics OUT of our environment. We know that it is possible to use other materials that are biodegradable and I am told by a major European teabag paper manufacturer that there is a “Gold Standard” of cellulose-based bags that will readily compost in your garden compost bin, which, in fact, goes a stage better than the PLA-based bags about to be employed by PG Tips and Coop. With your support, we can make the other UK teabag manufacturers remove plastic from their tea bags.

Last week was one of the coldest weeks we’ve had in a long time . Whilst out on the street we saw people sleeping in door ways with nowhere to go. Local support workers and people who work for homeless shelters told us they were completely packed and didn't have enough space to let in more people. Recently, in Bristol and London, homeless people have been dying on the streets from hyperthermia. In Brighton alone 17 people died in 2017. And last week a homeless man in Lincolnshire died in his tent. This cannot go on.

It is inhumane to imprison people indefinitely, without being convicted of a crime, often with no legal representation. As one of the detainees has said "We want the Home Office to listen to us and stop the injustice of indefinite detention..It is the uncertainty that is most difficult, I can deal with imprisonment if I know my sentence. But here, there’s no criminal record, and no clarity about what's going to happen to me. It's a pain that we all bear on a daily basis." (Al Jazeera 28.2.18 - https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/02/women-detained-yarl-wood-hunger-strike-180228195926024.html)

It makes sense to build at Temple Quarter ( Arena Island) because: 1.It is located next door to Bristol Temple Meads train station, the major transport hub in the region, set to grow its numbers over the coming years and in line for major development from GWR and Network Rail. 2.Local train stations and lines go directly to Temple Meads and visitors from outside the city can already easily travel from their towns, mitigating pollution and congestion. 3.Bus routes from all over the city already go to the area and the new metro bus lines will also enable quicker access to the site. 4.It is in a central position allowing many locals to either walk, cycle, or take public transport to the venue. Historically South Bristol is underserved by access to facilities, work and opportunities mainly located in North Bristol. The Arena Island would enable fairer access. 5.Other successful arenas are built in the centre of cities, don't have lots of car parking and work perfectly well. 6. We believe Buckingham group are ready to start work for a fixed price of £110 million, within the budget set by BCC. 7. The arena would further accelerate the economic development of the Temple Quarter Enterprise Zone, much needed. 8. The arena would be owned by Bristol City Council and profits can be put back in to fund local services. 9. Money has already been spent there - in 2007 £13 million had already been spent to purchase and clear the site. The total cost of the arena, £91 million, will be funded by the council which will provide £38 million and the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership funding the remaining £53 million. 10. Identity - an arena building in the centre would become an iconic emblem adding to the city's reputation, feeding the city-scape and helping to bring more international recognition to our great city, a site next to South Glos would not have that same setting or impact. It doesn't make sense to build at Brabazon Hangar in Filton because: 1. An arena at the Brabazon Hangar is car-centric, and given the current lack of travel alternatives, would go against the attempts of the city, local institutions, citizens, businesses and communities to create a more environmentally friendly city and would increase air pollution which is already at illegal levels. 2. It would create further gridlock for roads around Filton and the M4/5 unless significant transport developments are put in place, which would take many years to achieve. 3. Roads across the city will be gridlocked with thousands of people attempting to cross the city from the south, centre, west and east. 3. The likely economic benefits will be passed on to South Glos and surrounding areas in north Bristol, already bestowed with higher than average economic opportunities. 4.The Brabazon is already privately owned by YTL, a Malaysian group. How much of the profits will go back to Bristol's economy? 5. The location doesn't encourage overnight stay, 'the night time economy' or tourism as much as in the centre would. It doesn't have the enormous range of accommodation, eateries and other attractions on it's doorstep that the temple quarter site already has.

The pollution and noise from a rotating stock of 12 busses would dramatically reduce the quality of life of people that live and work around Old Haymarket, an oasis in the centre of Liverpool. The car park currently averages over £100,000 a year in takings and we as a city blighted by Government cuts cannot afford that. Two mature trees would be removed. LCC claims that more new trees will be planted but they have a proven track record of not fulfilling similar promises. Old Haymarket/Manchester St used to be derelict and dangerous - it is now a thriving community because residents and businesses moved there. This oasis in the city will be destroyed. Eight businesses, including a hotel, and hundreds of residents will now be expected to share a loading space for two vehicles. People will lose their jobs and property prices will be affected. The car park is part of the curtilage of a Grade II listed building, the fantastic Queensway Tunnel entrance. Not appropriate for vehicles weighing up to 80,000 kilograms (176,370 lb) to be driving around and polluting and certainly not in keeping with the surroundings of the structure or that of the UNESCO World Heritage Site it sits in.

This will help reduce the ever growing amount of plastic clogging up our planet. Think; there is over a 1000 students in my school. If we all use a plastic fork every day for a week that is 5000 plastic forks, then 20,000 a month, and in a school year that is an unimaginable amount of plastic .Think. Then imagine this all over the country. This is an unnecessary amount of plastic doomed to be lunch for an innocent sea creature. We have to stop this now and #STOPthePlasticTide because the health of the planet starts with us - the human race.

Over the year 2016-2017 nearly 174,000 allegations were closed and 149,450 (86%) of tip offs were incorrect allegations. Over the financial years 2015-2016 and 2016-2017 332,850 cases were closed following reports by members of the public (of benefit fraud). Of these 287,950 were found to have no or little evidence to substantiate the claim (87%) We need to stop the culture of hunting out benefit fraud, as most of the time the allegations are incorrect. Going through this process has a detrimental effect on disabled and chronically ill people’s mental and physical health. We believe that if the public are to remain involved in reporting on alleged benefit fraud then they should not be allowed to do this anonymously and should have to give at least their name and national insurance number. This will help to make people think about their actions before picking up the phone, will help to reduce bogus allegations, and will make improvements to this culture of thinking people on benefits are scrounges and that disabled/chronically ill people are faking (when in fact they are probably faking being well most of the time). If someone is found to be a serial malicious reporter then they should be fined and banned from giving tip offs again. The general public have a slim view and understanding of what disability/chronic illness ‘looks like’ resulting in more reports of benefit fraud and disabled/chronically ill people being scared to leave the house for fear they’ll be reported increasing isolation in communities and fears that your neighbour is spying on your every move. Let’s stop feeding this narrative. Please help us make some positive changes to the benefits system. Together we rise! Faye Dempsey, Ellie Hicks, Alison Morton Articles of interest: www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/feb/01/spy-on-your-neighbour-britain-demonisation-benefit-claimants-disabled-people www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/benefit-fraud-public-tip-offs-legal-action-police-no-evidence-dwp-work-pensions-department-a8144096.html

This film is highly important on so many social levels. - First ever (Big Budget) Black Superhero Film in history - Will show off true African culture in a positive light - A chance for the British public to see Africa in a positive light (Fictional or not) - The film being reported as "The most highly anticipated superhero movie of ALL TIME" but is not being treated as such by Odeon and or Disney/Marvel - I feel the film is discriminated against as a cinema viewing at that hour (13/02/2018 - 00:05) would be filled with young black male & females between the ages of 18-25 pushing up to around the age of 32 and this is of course discrimination at its finest This film has garnered a huge level of anticipation in the US & overseas, "Black Panther' Sets New Early Sales Record, Eyeing Possible $150 Million Opening Weekend" - Forbes "The movie-ticket site Fandango has announced that the latest Disney/Marvel superhero film is outpacing all previous movies released in the first quarter in terms of advance sales. It's beating out such hits as "The Hunger Games" (2012) and "Beauty and the Beast" (2017), says The Hollywood Reporter." - Fandango

We need answers from all parties involved. The school is a big part of our community.

Glasgow Green is in danger of suffering through over use. Locals, residents and those who use the Green have no obvious route to obtain information or to share concerns in relation to the 33 events due to occur in 2018. At present, the choice about whether to consult with the community lies with the few. The method by which views are collated are largely dictated by event organisers. Sign here if you think that consultation should be ongoing, meaningful and reflective of the collective needs of locals, residents and The Green alike. Thank you

As everyone knows if flood plains are built on the water has to divert somewhere else usually with catastrophic results !!! We have seen this over the years where villages have been washed away, animals drowned and homes have been destroyed with flooding !! The Government have told all councils they must provide more homes and totally disregard the dangers and destruction of building on or near flood Plains! This is happening now in Hale Village and Halebank . The Government and Environmental Agency are NOT acknowledging flood plains in our area even though they actually flood!!! We must all fight this immediately before it happens in other areas !!! Please sign the petition telling the Government they can't do this !!!

Barwell Sure Start Centre plays an important part in our local community. It provides help to families who need it, access to books for young children (especially important after the closure of the village library in 2016), a place for parents (new or experienced) to connect with others and form peer support networks, and opportunities for both children and their parents to learn and develop relevant skills. There are also many parent volunteers who have been able to build up skills and training that have helped them, or will help them, return to work when their children start school. This can be a real issue for parents (particularly mothers) who have taken time out of the workplace to raise children, and we feel that our local Sure Start Centre plays an important role in tackling this. Our Sure Start Centre also plays host to Health Visitor clinics and other medical professionals - these services are also now at risk of being moved out of the village stranding those families for whom transport is an issue and increasing barriers to access. Closing the centre would be a heavy blow to our village. Barwell has already lost it's library and post office, now we face the closure of the Sure Start Centre and the loss of all but one of the village's parent and child groups with it. If this closure goes ahead the nearest centre to our village will be a walk of an hour and half - far too long for families with small children and pushchairs. A large proportion of our village do not have access to a car and cannot afford to take yet another bus on a weekly basis. Travel will pose a serious barrier to accessing early years services and will prevent families with young children from getting the help that they need. We are also concerned that the proposals indicate a move to online advice rather than in person guidance from staff. We feel that this ignores the many families in our village and across Leicestershire without internet access at home. As previously mentioned we have already lost our library - there is nowhere in our village for those without computers to access the internet. Again travelling to do so involves taking another costly bus trip or walking for 90 minutes. Barwell needs it's Sure Start Centre to remain open. Parenthood can be very isolating and overwhelming, and the connections made with other parents through the Sure Start centres help to prevent issues growing and becoming worse. If we lose our Sure Start centre we run the risk of leaving parents, particularly new parents, in a vulnerable and lonely position with no obvious way to get help - and that is how problems get worse. As recently as 2014/15 (while deciding whether to close our library) the Council themselves described Barwell as an area of deprivation within Leicestershire, and noted that 1 in 5 children did not have access to books at home. Barwell is exactly the kind of community that Sure Start centres are there to help - and we refuse to let the County Council take this vital service away from us! The public consultation currently taking responses can be found here. Please have your say and tell the Council to keep the 24 Sure Start centres under threat open! https://www.leicestershire.gov.uk/earlyhelp