Graham,
I agree that mobilising all the available organisations will add more weight to the argument. But I feel launching something this late could be detrimental - is there no way that something can be instigated online now? I doubt I will have the time to travel to Cambridge.
Can I also suggest that links to where these petitions can be found are placed on other member's web sites (e.g. I can place something on glassyeye.com, which gets several international hits, particularly the US), as this will spread the word even faster. We need to be very pro-active.
Individual action, such as the online government petition, will also reach a far wider audience, in particular those people who might not even be aware of BH. The decision by the Dudley MBC is extremely premature, but acting now will give the petition at least a month to gain support.