Labour MP Nick Palmer has offered an unreserved apology to our prospective parliamentary candidate David Watts and unequivocally withdrawn the allegation that he made that Cllr Watts had avocated sending aid to the Taleban. The text of Dr Palmers apology reads:
"In my last e-mail I said that David Watts had said that we should have sent aid to the Taleban. I accept that he did not say this and what he actually said was that we should have sent aid to Afghanistan. I accept entirely that David was referring to the people of Afghanistan, and not to the murderous and misogynist Taleban, and I withdraw unreservedly my previous comment and apologise to David for the distress caused."
David is delighted to have received the apology and that his position and reputation have been fully vindicated. he now regards this matter as closed.
Friday, 24 April 2009
Tuesday, 21 April 2009
Labour Party Smears
An e-mail circulated by Labour MP has made a wholly untrue claim about our Prospective Parliamentary Candidate David Watts. Dr Palmer claims that Mr Watts has suggested in debates between the three local parliamentary candidates that Britain should have sent aid to the Taleban. This claim is wholly untrue and is a serious smear on the reputation and integrity of Mr Watts. Dr Palmer has been asked to withdraw the comment and to make a complete and unreserved apology. Mr Watts is also considering whether libel proceedings should be brought against Dr Palmer.
Sunday, 8 June 2008
Prospective Parliamentary Candidate Selected
Broxtowe Liberal Democrats have selected Cllr David Watts as their parliamentary candidate for the next general election. Cllr Watts, a lecturer in law and management, was the candidate for the Lib-Dems in the 2001 and 2005 general elections, and has been one of the strategists behind the rise of the Lib-Dems locally.
Speaking to party members at the selection meeting Cllr Watts said:
"This is a time of unprecedented opportunity for us. People are disillusioned with politics in general and the Labour Party in particular. Broxtowe residents have shown that they want to vote Lib-Dem locally, and we now have to give them positive reasons to vote Lib-Dem in the general election as well.
Speaking to party members at the selection meeting Cllr Watts said:
"This is a time of unprecedented opportunity for us. People are disillusioned with politics in general and the Labour Party in particular. Broxtowe residents have shown that they want to vote Lib-Dem locally, and we now have to give them positive reasons to vote Lib-Dem in the general election as well.
Wednesday, 5 March 2008
Council tax increase just 9p per week
Broxtowe Borough Council has tonight agreed the budget for the next year, the first by the new Lib-Dem led administration. The average council tax rise will be just 9p per week. Councillors in the debate pointed out that even this increase would have been less were it not for the Government taking money from Broxtowe and similar councils to keep council tax rises down in the southern shire councils.
Tuesday, 4 March 2008
EU Referendum Vote
We were very disappointed to see that our local Labour MP was one of many who voted against allowing the people of Britain to have a vote on whether or not the UK should remain part of the European Union. We believe that being in Europe is the best for Britain, and we would like the opportunity for the people of Britain to affirm this. Sadly Labour have denied them this.
Friday, 22 February 2008
Green Belt Threat - The Facts
Cllr Michael Rich, the leader of Broxtowe Borough Council, has today issued the following statement following media reports of plans to build in the green belt in Broxtowe:
"There has been much coverage in the local press about greenbelt sites and I am grateful for the opportunity to try to explain what is happening.
The RSS Panel report by Professor Crow, first reported in the press well before Christmas, was clear in stating that the greenbelt area to the west of Nottingham serves a useful purpose and should be protected. As Broxtowe Borough Council Leader I have written to the Government Office for the East Midlands to reinforce this and I will continue to lobby for the retention of all greenbelt sites in the borough.
The response to the Panel report, probably in April/May, will be in the form of an allocation of a number of dwellings in Nottinghamshire and a couple of adjoining districts, with the figure possibly broken down by district.
Arrangments are in hand to set up a committee of senior members of the authorities concerned, to take a first look at the figures when they become available, with comments going back to government if it is felt there are errors or misunderstandings in the calculations. When some kind of concensus has been reached, there will be consultation on where this housing could be located and the councils are required to make this as open and transparent as possible. Finally I expect there to be a public enquiry under a government inspector.
In anticipation of this housing allocation, planning officers of the authorities concerned agreed jointly to undertake a new factual survey of all available sites in South Nottinghamshire. A tender document was raised, see www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/cdplanningsuesbrief2.pdf, in order to recruit a firm of consultants to carry out the work, paid for by a government grant. When their report is complete, local councils will have the information to make an assessment of the housing figure demanded of the area by the Government.
Authorites are in any case required by government planning guidelines to have gone through this process, before any proposals can be put forward for public consultation and then consideration by government inspectors.
In the meantime, because of the concern raised by the press reports, many residents have written to local council planning offices, who, at this stage, cannot respond as there are no firm proposals. The MPs for Nottinghamshire have also received numerous letters and emails.
A process is being followed, as required under the planning rules, and until that process is complete, there are no proposals to build houses on any specific greenbelt site, despite the wishes of local land owners. There are still brownfield sites requiring development and as far as I am concerned, these should be our first priority.
Whatever comes out of this process, I and the leading group on Broxtowe are committed to protecting the few remaining greenbelt sites we have on this side of the city."
"There has been much coverage in the local press about greenbelt sites and I am grateful for the opportunity to try to explain what is happening.
The RSS Panel report by Professor Crow, first reported in the press well before Christmas, was clear in stating that the greenbelt area to the west of Nottingham serves a useful purpose and should be protected. As Broxtowe Borough Council Leader I have written to the Government Office for the East Midlands to reinforce this and I will continue to lobby for the retention of all greenbelt sites in the borough.
The response to the Panel report, probably in April/May, will be in the form of an allocation of a number of dwellings in Nottinghamshire and a couple of adjoining districts, with the figure possibly broken down by district.
Arrangments are in hand to set up a committee of senior members of the authorities concerned, to take a first look at the figures when they become available, with comments going back to government if it is felt there are errors or misunderstandings in the calculations. When some kind of concensus has been reached, there will be consultation on where this housing could be located and the councils are required to make this as open and transparent as possible. Finally I expect there to be a public enquiry under a government inspector.
In anticipation of this housing allocation, planning officers of the authorities concerned agreed jointly to undertake a new factual survey of all available sites in South Nottinghamshire. A tender document was raised, see www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/cdplanningsuesbrief2.pdf, in order to recruit a firm of consultants to carry out the work, paid for by a government grant. When their report is complete, local councils will have the information to make an assessment of the housing figure demanded of the area by the Government.
Authorites are in any case required by government planning guidelines to have gone through this process, before any proposals can be put forward for public consultation and then consideration by government inspectors.
In the meantime, because of the concern raised by the press reports, many residents have written to local council planning offices, who, at this stage, cannot respond as there are no firm proposals. The MPs for Nottinghamshire have also received numerous letters and emails.
A process is being followed, as required under the planning rules, and until that process is complete, there are no proposals to build houses on any specific greenbelt site, despite the wishes of local land owners. There are still brownfield sites requiring development and as far as I am concerned, these should be our first priority.
Whatever comes out of this process, I and the leading group on Broxtowe are committed to protecting the few remaining greenbelt sites we have on this side of the city."
Thursday, 14 February 2008
No to Nursing Home
An application to build a 77 bed nursing home in Beeston was rejected by the Council's Development Control committee last night after Lib-Dem councillors branded the application inappropriate. Local ward councillor Steve Carr and chair of the committee David Watts both spoke about the application, saying that a building of such a size was wholly unsuited to the location, and that the impact on neighbouring proporties on all sides was unacceptable. Following this opposition the plan was rejected unanimously by the committee.
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