Mass Balloon release proposed ban in Portsmouth

kml · #1 (**permalink**) 07-03-2008, 11:53 PM

Thought I would share this good bit of news with you all.Portsmouth city council are proposing a ban on the mass release of balloons by charities and alike.The environmental officer has been convinced by wildlife organisations that balloons are harmful to the enviroment and wildlife.The charities who use the balloon releases to raise money are campainging against the ban.Fingers crossed the ban will be intruduced and the charities will find alternative fundraising methods.

naturelover · #2 (**permalink**) 08-03-2008, 12:08 AM

Thats very good news,thanks for letting us know.

tufftie · #3 (**permalink**) 08-03-2008, 07:13 AM

Let's hope they succeed in keeping the ban in place and that other local councils jump on the band wagon too. Having worked in this field for a charity I can tell you that there are many ways to fundraise, most producing more donations than a quick one off awareness stunt.

Kayleigh · #4 (**permalink**) 08-03-2008, 03:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kml

Thought I would share this good bit of news with you all.Portsmouth city council are proposing a ban on the mass release of balloons by charities and alike.The environmental officer has been convinced by wildlife organisations that balloons are harmful to the enviroment and wildlife.The charities who use the balloon releases to raise money are campainging against the ban.Fingers crossed the ban will be intruduced and the charities will find alternative fundraising methods.

I have Crohns disease and was appalled to find out that they use balloons to raise money. I am going to sent them an e-mail to highlight this problem..

Jez · #5 (**permalink**) 08-03-2008, 05:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kayleigh

I have Crohns disease and was appalled to find out that they use balloons to raise money. I am going to sent them an e-mail to highlight this problem..

Hi Kayleigh I've never heard of crohns disease what is it? Would you mind telling?

Kayleigh · #6 (**permalink**) 08-03-2008, 06:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jez

Hi Kayleigh I've never heard of crohns disease what is it? Would you mind telling?

Its a bowel disease. I have had two ops(Called resection)where they cut out the diseased part remove a thickening and reconnect it back together. The thickened part produces bowel obstructions, when you eat sometimes the food cannot pass through so it makes you sick and causes excruciating pain..There is also a similar conditoin called colitis..This is their web site if anyone needs
any more info..
NACC - National Association for Colitis and Crohn's Disease

nightshade · #7 (**permalink**) 08-03-2008, 06:44 PM

Balloons and Plastic bags kill the Leatherback Turtles that visit our shores and also many more marine creatures suffer from ingesting what they detect as jellyfish

demicav · #8 (**permalink**) 08-03-2008, 07:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kml

Thought I would share this good bit of news with you all.Portsmouth city council are proposing a ban on the mass release of balloons by charities and alike.The environmental officer has been convinced by wildlife organisations that balloons are harmful to the enviroment and wildlife.The charities who use the balloon releases to raise money are campainging against the ban.Fingers crossed the ban will be intruduced and the charities will find alternative fundraising methods.

good news for our wildlife.

kml · #9 (**permalink**) 08-03-2008, 07:45 PM

Sorry to hear you suffer with crohn`s my Dad had this and believe me I know how awful it can be.It`s worth sending the charity an e-mail as this has all come about by people contacting the council highlighting the dangers of the balloons. Hopefully it will all go through and other cities and towns will follow suit.
Will keep you all posted on the progress and fingers crossed.

Kayleigh · #10 (**permalink**) 08-03-2008, 10:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kml

Sorry to hear you suffer with crohn`s my Dad had this and believe me I know how awful it can be.It`s worth sending the charity an e-mail as this has all come about by people contacting the council highlighting the dangers of the balloons. Hopefully it will all go through and other cities and towns will follow suit.
Will keep you all posted on the progress and fingers crossed.

I sent them an e-mail I have just got an acknowledgement..But hopefully it will give them food for thought..I let them know that some city's were banning balloons and it was bad for wildlife..

tufftie · #11 (**permalink**) 09-03-2008, 09:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kayleigh

I sent them an e-mail I have just got an acknowledgement..But hopefully it will give them food for thought..I let them know that some city's were banning balloons and it was bad for wildlife..

If you have the time you'd be better giving them a bell tomorrow and finding out the names and email addresses of the marketing, fundraising and PR managers (they may or may not turn out to be the same person!) - and emailing them direct. Something is much more likely to happen that way and you will get a proper reply - which may give you something to work on. Good luck with it.

clare · #12 (**permalink**) 09-03-2008, 07:37 PM

Excellent news - I always whince when I see balloons being released - whether it's for charity or more usually as part of some PR/Media stunt. I really wish people realised what damage these do to wildlife and that all releases get banned.

kml · #13 (**permalink**) 10-03-2008, 01:05 AM

The Marine Conservation Society (MCS) have a huge report on their website about the effects the balloons have.They have all documents available to download.
How is it that even toddlers (carers of) can be prosecuted for accidently dropping their food yet people who willingly release ballons are not even spoken to let alone fined ?

tufftie · #14 (**permalink**) 10-03-2008, 01:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kml

The Marine Conservation Society (MCS) have a huge report on their website about the effects the balloons have.They have all documents available to download.
How is it that even toddlers (carers of) can be prosecuted for accidently dropping their food yet people who willingly release ballons are not even spoken to let alone fined ?

Because of the lack of media coverage about the problems they cause wildlife and the environment.

Blackbrook Eye · #15 (**permalink**) 10-03-2008, 03:35 AM

Surely ballon releases are a form of fly tipping and as such should be dealt with in the same way, or am I wrong again ?

tufftie · #16 (**permalink**) 10-03-2008, 08:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blackbrook Eye

Surely ballon releases are a form of fly tipping and as such should be dealt with in the same way, or am I wrong again ?

I hadn't thought of it like that - i guess it would or rather should count as fly tipping then. Only they don't all end up in the same place - just balloons scattered all over the place which probably demotes it to littering, which doesn't make it any better aesthetically or environmentally.

Kayleigh · #17 (**permalink**) 10-03-2008, 03:06 PM

Just had a reply back from NACC..

Quote:

NACC does not release balloons into the environment. All the balloons used to make balloon arches for the NACC Walks are taken down on site and properly disposed of. We used to hold balloon launches for publicity but the Trustees decided this should stop for exactly the reasons you described.

I hope that reassures you about remaining a NACC member.

Best wishes

Richard

This is good news hope other charities follow suit..

tufftie · #18 (**permalink**) 10-03-2008, 05:50 PM

Hey, just goes to show it's worth having a little POP at times!!!!

kml · #19 (**permalink**) 11-03-2008, 10:35 AM

Great news Kayliegh.Maybe people are stating to listen.

I`m in the process of getting some evidence together and sending it to the enviromental officer of another large city and the MP.

witham · #20 (**permalink**) 11-03-2008, 11:34 AM

This is very good news and I do hope other councils etc do the same, we have picked up partially deflated balloons in our area over the years, they are a menace and if they get eaten by inquisitive animals can kill

Purplepixii · #21 (**permalink**) 13-03-2008, 02:45 PM

Just watched our local news here and this story featured on it

Apparently, Brighton Council (I think it was Brighton, I just caught the end of the report) are considering the ban also.

Charities are reported to be not very happy about all this!

Pixii

tufftie · #22 (**permalink**) 13-03-2008, 04:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Purplepixii

Just watched our local news here and this story featured on it

Apparently, Brighton Council (I think it was Brighton, I just caught the end of the report) are considering the ban also.

Charities are reported to be not very happy about all this!

Pixii

I'll try and remember to tune into the local news later on then (bet I forget!) and see what they say

Wouldn't surprise me Brighton are usually pretty good when it comes to this sort of thing

The charities wont be very happy - it's a cheap publicity stunt for them ...

LOL - it's probably what your donations go towards!!

kml · #23 (**permalink**) 13-03-2008, 05:20 PM

Just to update you all there has been a meeting yesterday. in which Councillor Jason Fazackarley (who is in charge of enviromental issues) was said to have come under fire from the Tories in the guildhall.Today he has said that nothing has changed and he stands by his pledge to back the ban.
I was amazed to read that he has had only 12 letters/e-mails from members of the public supporting the ban.
There is a meeting with the executive on the 19th march and the matter will be considered.

tufftie · #24 (**permalink**) 13-03-2008, 10:05 PM

Lets hope he stands firm then and nothing changes in the meeting. Only twelve letters doesn't surprise me because when it comes to things like that people are very apathetic. Also if there were petitions signed they would only count as one objections, no matter the number of names on it.

If you need to campaign and want / need more letters in the only way is to print a load off and get people to sign, date and address them - then take them into the council by hand and get them to sign for it at reception. The local councillor should be able to get them printed off - if you can find someone willing t do the leg work.