Broxtowe Enews 27th October 2013

Welcome to Broxtowe Enews, brought to you by the Liberal Democrats and edited by David Watts, the leader of the Lib-Dems on Broxtowe Borough Council. May I give a special welcome to the new readers that we have this week.

1.       Eastwood Post Office

At their meeting last week, Eastwood Town council decided to buy the Post Office building for their new offices. This week they met and appointed a solicitor and an architect. This means that the council will now have a permanent base again in town. Although part of the building will be used for offices, the main area will be used as a community facility where, for a small fee, any group in town will be able to use the room. Another upside to this is that the Post Office will remain. If a developer had bought the property he could have ended the lease and put in an application to pull it down and build flats. Eastwood would then have been left with no Post Office.

2.       HS2 Benefits

Research by accountants KMPG, published this week, suggests that Broxtowe could benefit from the HS2 by between £154million and £331million. The council has set up a working group to look at the area and how we can ensure that we are maximising the benefits, and I have the honour of chairing that. We have our first meeting this week to get the process moving and we will be contacting interested parties in due course to invite them to participate as well.

3.       “No Trick or Treat” Posters

As usual as we approach Halloween the police have made available posters that people can display to show that trick-or-treaters should not call. These can be downloaded from http://www.broxtowe.gov.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=17538&p=0 or from http://bramcotetoday.org.uk/.

4.       Nottingham Credit Union, Rumbletums, Kimberley

The rescheduled meeting to discuss the proposed Nottingham Credit Union information point at Rumbletums will take place at the cafe (2a Victoria Street, Kimberley) on Thursday 31st October at 6.30pm. For more details about this contact Jeff Buck on jeff.buck2768@btinternet.com.

5.       Focus Deliverer Needed

The Lib-Dems currently need a new deliverer to deliver Focus in Bramcote on Chesham Drive, Sloan Drive, Wembley Gardens and Kilburn Close. As residents of these streets will know we deliver Focus every quarter in Bramcote, free of charge, to all of the village (as we do in many other parts of the borough). Delivery rounds take about 45 minutes each four times a year, so if you could help us do this we would be very grateful. Just get in touch with me if you can help. We’re always also grateful for any offers of help elsewhere so if you can assist please just let me know.

6.       County Council Minerals Plan

Notts County Council are currently consulting on their new mineral plan. This is a significant matter for Broxtowe as the mineral plan deals with, amongst other things, where and when open cast mining would be permitted. The consultation is available at www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/minerals and the closing date is Wednesday 4th December.

7.       Remembrance Day Parades

Stapleford’s Remembrance Day Parade takes place on Sunday 10th November and will lead to a number of road closures between 10.45 and 12.00. The parade starts on Halls Road, travels to Walter Parker Square on B5010 Derby Road for the Remembrance Service. Upon completion of the service the parade continues along B5010 Derby Road, turns right onto B6003 Toton Lane, then right onto Eatons Road. It then turns right again onto Victoria Street, then left back onto B5010 Derby Road where it travels back to the starting point on Halls Road.

Nuthall’s Remembrance Day parade will result in roads being closed from 10.30 to 12.00. Nottingham Road will be closed between Nuthall Roundabout and Watnall Road.

8.       Daybrook Learning Centre

This is based in Arnold but I’m mentioning it because the County Council say that their current consultation, about whether or not to close it permanently, would affect people in Broxtowe. If you wish to have a say then visit the County Council's website  where you can completing the council's response form on-line. The closing date for the receipt of comments on this proposal is Friday 6 December 2013.

9.       College House Fireworks

College House junior school in Chilwell are holding a fireworks night on Saturday 2^nd November starting at 6pm. Admission costs £3.50 for adults and £2.50 for children.

10.   Shortwood Farm

The consultation on whether to permit open cast mining at Shortwood Farm in Cossall has now reopened. This is because the county council rejected the original application for technical defects and it has been resubmitted.  I have ensured that the Borough Council have already resubmitted our complete objection to the scheme.

11.   Ambulance Response Cars

East Midlands Ambulance Service has unveiled new response cars to enable it to achieve the response time targets for 999 calls. The cars enable trained volunteers to give assistance prior to the arrival of the paramedics and are equipped with two way radio’s as well as medical equipment. One of these cars will be based in Beeston.

12.   Train Times

East Midlands trains have unveiled their new timetable for the winter and from December trains from Beeston to London will be up to 8 minutes faster, due to the work that has taken place this year. This is welcome news, but I’ve already seen on the web that the train I was due to get to take me to London tomorrow morning has been cancelled because of the storms forecast for tonight. Whilst talking about the trains may I also mention that Network Rail have submitted plans to install wi-fi at Beeston station which will be available for commuters to use.

13.   Stapleford History Society

The next meeting of the Stapleford and District History Society will take place on Wednesday 13^th November at Maycliffe Hall in Stapleford, starting at 7.30pm. The meeting will include a presentation about Hopewell Hall and entrance is £2.50.

14.   Parking Consultation

Notts County Council is currently consulting on introducing a residents-only parking scheme for Endsleigh Gardens and Muriel Road in Beeston. The consultation is open until 6^th November (sorry about the short notice – I missed this originally) and permits will cost £25 each, although they will be free for those over 75 or holding a blue badge. If you have any comments on the proposals please write to The County Council, Trent Bridge House, Fox Road, West Bridgford.

15.   Solar Panels at Ikea

The borough council have granted planning permission for Ikea to install 1,000 solar panels on the roof of their store in Giltbrook. This is part of their programme to get their stores entirely dependent on renewable power and I’m delighted to welcome this initiative.

16.   Kimberley War Memorial

A campaign has been launched to raise £20,000 to restore the Grade II listed war memorial in Kimberley. The organisers hope that this can be done before a march next year by the Royal Engineers based at Chetwynd Barracks.

17.   University Numbers

An interesting piece of information released this week was that nearly half of all youngsters in Broxtowe go on to university. 46% of all school leavers in the borough go on to university, compared to 54% from Rushcliffe, 36% from Gedling and 23% from Ashfield.

As ever thank you for your support for this newsletter. Any feedback is gratefully received.

Best wishes

David

www.davidwatts.org.uk

www.broxtoweliberaldemocrats.org.uk

Follow me on Twitter @davidwatts12.

Broxtowe Enews 7th October 2013

Welcome to Broxtowe Enews, brought to you by the Liberal Democrats and edited by David Watts, the leader of the Lib-Dems on Broxtowe Borough Council. May I give a special welcome to the new readers that we have this week.

1.       Moving to the City Survey

Thank you for all the responses to the new survey on our website about whether residents would support the south of Broxtowe moving into an enlarged city council area. We have never had such a large response or such a swift response to any survey that we have run. We had nearly 100 responses in the first 72 hours that it was running. 97% of respondents were opposed to the idea. The survey is still open and so if you haven’t completed it yet then you are still able to do so. It is on our website at www.broxtoweliberaldemocrats.org.uk

2.       Paradiso Cinema

The next film at the Paradiso Cinema, Chilwell School, is Moby Dick. It's on Friday 11th October. This is the classic story by Herman Melville of Captain Ahab's obsession with a huge whale, Moby Dick. It stars Gregory Peck and Orson Wells. Tickets on the door £5 (£4 conc). Film starts at 7.30pm. Refreshments from 7pm.

3.       Rumbletums/WEA adult learning

Rumbletums in Kimberley are working with WEA to explore the possibility of a range of adult learning courses being provided there. I’ve attached a flyer giving more details and if you are interested please contact Jeff Buck at jeff.buck2768@btinternet.com

4.       Kitten found

A kitten has been found in Bramcote at the north end of Coventry Lane. She is about three months old and has no collar or microchip. If you think she might be yours please contact me.

5.       Walter Grauberg

It was with great sadness that I learned this morning that Bramcote resident Walter Grauberg had passed away over the weekend. Walter was a highly respected member of the community here in Bramcote and worked hard for the benefit of everyone, especially via the Bramcote Hills Community Association. Indeed the BHCA’s regard for him was such that a bench was provided in his honour on the Bramcote Ridge. Walter will be missed greatly by all those who knew him.

6.       New Korfball Team

Korfball is a mixed gender ball sport, with similarities to netball and basketball. It is played by two teams of eight players with four females and four males in each team. The objective is to throw a ball through a bottomless basket that is mounted on a 3.5 m (11.5 feet) high pole. Jennifer Price, Marketing Officer for Magic-Korfball Says, “We are a korfball team looking for new recruits in the Beeston/Wollaton area. We train on Mondays, 19:30 at Bilborough College Sports Hall, Nottingham from September until May.  During the summer (June until end of August) we train outdoors, our current park of choice is Dovecote Park, Beeston. See you there from 7:30pm, followed by a pint in The Victoria Hotel. Your first two indoor training sessions are completely free, outdoor training is always free.” For more details please visit the clubs website at http://www.magickorfball.co.uk/.

7.       Half Term Activities

Broxtowe Sport are running holiday activities for children with disabilities and inclusion needs aged 8-19 years old, with siblings and friends also welcome to join. Here are the schedules of activities:   

Wednesday 23^rd October 9am – 2pm   Drop off Bramcote Leisure Centre 9am, pick up Foxwood School 2pm. Please provide children with a packed lunch, swimming kit, water proof coat and wellington boots or outdoor shoes. Cost £10 per child. Activities: Water Games, Attenborough Nature Reserve Walk, Lunch, NHS nutrition team Cook and Eat session

Thursday 24th October 10am – 12pm Chilwell Olympia Sports Centre. Cost £5 per child.  Activities: Badminton, Golf, Table Tennis, Korfball (children can make their own choices on the day)

Thursday 24th October 1pm – 3pm. Kimberley Leisure Centre   Please provide children with their swimming kit. Cost £5 per child. Activities: Youth Gym and Water Games.

If you would like to book your children and their siblings or friends onto any of the activities please get in touch via email, telephone 0115 917 3572 or online booking form at www.broxtowe.gov.uk/inclusion. Bookings must be made and pre-paid by Friday 18thOctober 12pm.

8.       Anna Soubry MP

Broxtowe MP Anna Soubry has been moved in the cabinet reshuffle. She had been a junior health minister but now has been moved to the Ministry of Defence. I’d like to wish her lots of luck n her new role.

9.       Ladies Pamper Evening

A ladies pamper evening is being held in aid of the Mayors charities. Treat yourself to an evening of pampering at the Town Hall on Thursday 7th November with beauty treatments including Boots No7 and retail therapy. I’ve attached a flyer with details for anyone interested.

10.   Tree Planting Grants

To help schools, community groups and parish councils to plant trees in school grounds or on community green spaces. The Greenwood Community Forest Team is once again offering free advice and funding for tree planting of up to £500. This year, thanks to Nottinghamshire County Council's Local Improvement Scheme, funding is available for planting throughout Nottinghamshire. Projects could include planting to provide areas of shade, creating or enhancing a wildlife area, memorial trees, screening unsightly areas or healthy living projects such as planting apple trees. To be eligible, your scheme must have the permission of the landowner, be located on school grounds or publicly accessible land and involve the school and/or local community. The deadline for applications is 13th December 2013, but funding is limited so parish councils, groups and schools are encouraged to apply early. Guidance notes and an application form are available at www.greenwoodforest.org.uk. For further information or advice on developing your project including the types of trees contact the Greenwood Team on 0115 969 6533 or email greenwood@nottscc.gov.uk.

11.   Greasley CAT Meeting

Local residents in Greasley can find out about more about flooding issues at a special CAT Meeting later this month. Greasley, Giltbrook and Newthorpe Community Action Team will welcome representatives from Nottinghamshire County Council and Severn Trent Water on Thursday 17th October who will be answering questions on surface water flooding following flooding in the area on 23rd July. The meeting will be held at Greasley Parish Hall, Dovecote Road, Newthorpe between 7.45 pm to 9.15 pm

12.   Polling Station Review

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that the council were starting a review into polling stations in the borough. They have now launched an online consultation which can be completed at http://broxtowe.firmstep.com/default.aspx/RenderForm/?F.Name=PW8H9NGsz8G&HideAll.

13.   Strictly 50’s Dance Event

The council is holding a dance event on Sunday 1^st December from 1pm to 4pm at the East Midlands Conference Centre. The event is a fun afternoon for spectators who can watch and be entertained and dancers who want to take part in social dancing and try new types of dance in the dance workshops. Spaces are limited so early booking is essential. You can do this online at www.broxtowe.gov.uk.

14.   Beeston Probus Club

Beeston Probus Club are appealing for new members. The club has dropped to just 18 active members and they would like more. If you are interested in joining then please contact the chairman, Brian Palmer, on 07999 978638.

15.   Recycling Centre Closing Times

The county’s recycling centres, including the one in Beeston, will close at 6pm throughout October. They will then be closing at 4pm from November throughout the winter.

16.   Oxylane Sports Village

As regular readers will know a planning application to build a sports village at Junction 26 of the M1 was withdrawn a few weeks ago. This has now been resubmitted and now includes a new swimming pool and sports centre as well as the facilities that have previously been suggested. This will be decided by the council’s Development Control Committee in due course.

17.   Potholes

It was disappointing to read this week that the County Council have missed their targets for repairing potholes. There are currently more than 60 miles of roads in the County in need of repairs. I know that we will all be able to bring sites to mind and rest assured that as local councillors we are regularly pressing for our streets to be repaired.

As ever thank you for your support for this newsletter. Any feedback is gratefully received.

Best wishes

David

www.davidwatts.org.uk

www.broxtoweliberaldemocrats.org.uk

Follow me on Twitter @davidwatts12.

Broxtowe Enews 30th September 2013

Welcome to Broxtowe Enews, brought to you by the Liberal Democrats and edited by David Watts, the leader of the Lib-Dems on Broxtowe Borough Council. Many apologies that the newsletter is a day late, normal service will hopefully be resumed next week.

1.       Splitting Broxtowe

Nottingham City Council have made it clear in a number of statements recently that they are keen on splitting Broxtowe into two so that the south of the borough (Beeston, Chilwell, Toton, Bramcote and Stapleford)becomes part of an enlarged city council area. My personal view is that this is an appallingly bad idea as I do not believe that the city’s desire is motivated by a desire to look after residents of Broxtowe but instead it is driven by a desire to get their hands on Broxtowe’s spare land. If they succeed we would not be facing the possibility of 6,000 new houses but a much larger number instead. I’ve said what my view is but we as a party would like to know what you think. We have created a very simple one question survey on our website at www.broxtoweliberaldemocrats.org.uk and I’d be grateful if you would take a moment to complete it. We really do want the views of as many residents as possible so please can you mention this to your friends and neighbours as well.

2.       NHS Events

NHS Nottingham West CCG is holding two public events in October and you are warmly invited to attend. Come along to find out more about your local NHS, share your views and help shape priorities for future healthcare. The events are open to all and are being held on Tuesday 15 October, 6-8pm, Highfields Fire Station, Hassocks Lane, Beeston, NG9 2GQ and Thursday 17 October, 1pm-3pm, Durban House, DH Lawrence Centre, Mansfield Road, Eastwood, NG16 3DZ. Dr Guy Mansford, local GP and Chief Officer said: "We know the NHS is facing huge challenges, both locally and nationally. This includes more people living longer with complex conditions, an increased demand on services and greater public expectation. That's why it's important for us to understand the needs of our patient population to ensure high-quality, patient-focused services. These events provide perfect opportunity to participate in our future decision making." Our CCG is led by local GPs and other health professionals who are responsible for the planning and purchasing of almost £100 million worth of health services for patients living in places such as Eastwood, Kimberley, Stapleford, Beeston, Bramcote and Chilwell. Everyone is welcome to attend the events. The organisers would be grateful if you could register your place so that they are aware of numbers. Light refreshments will be available 30 minutes prior to the start time. Please register by emailing nottingham.west@nottinghamwestccg.nhs.uk or telephoning 0115 8835100 (office hours) or online www.nottinghamwestccg.nhs.uk/nhsevent

3.       Polling Stations

The council is currently reviewing the location of polling stations within Broxtowe. If you have any comments on where you go to vote please let me have them and I will pass them on to the team. Any proposed recommendations will be published later on this year.

4.       Credit Union in Kimberley

Volunteers  in Kimberley have decided to set up a credit union information point at Rumbletums (probably commencing late October/early November) with a view to this then being developed as a collection point for Nottingham Credit Union. Through the information point, people will be able to get details on the full range of services offered by Nottingham Credit Union and become members. This service will be staffed by local volunteers. There will be another meeting and initial training session for prospective volunteers at Rumbletums Cafe, 2a Victoria Street, Kimberley at 6.30pm on Tuesday 15th October. Anyone with an interest in supporting this new venture would be very welcome.

5.       Crossing The Floor

No, not me. I’m a Liberal to the very core of my soul. However we were recently joined in the party by former Labour activist Sarah Brown, and she has written an excellent piece on her reasons why for the Beestonia Blog. You can read it here: http://beestonia.wordpress.com/2013/09/25/breaking-the-political-taboo-sarah-brown-on-switching-parties/. You can see Sarah speaking at the Lib-Dem conference earlier this month here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KKTUveKX54 and she has written an article for Lib-Dem voice, one of our in house publications, which you can read here: http://www.libdemvoice.org/a-tale-of-two-conferences-36389.html#utm_source=tweet&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=twitter

6.       Britain’s Greenest Borough

At a meeting of the council’s Climate Change Working Group this morning I unveiled a set of suggestions and proposals that I think could help to propel Broxtowe towards being Britain’s most environmentally friendly borough. This is a target that I would like to see us adopt and I’m pleased to say that the proposals were met with a strong level of enthusiasm. Broxtowe got on board with tackling climate change early on in the process but over the past few years we’ve lost our way a bit. I’m hoping that (in my new role as chair of the Climate Change Working Group) we can not only get the council freshly back on track but also to enable us to make it easy for people to adopt a greener approach to their own lifestyles. I’ll provide more information about how the council is getting on over the next few months.

7.       Housing Land Availability

At the council’s cabinet last Tuesday we endorsed a review of housing land available in the borough. The council faces significant pressure to provide new housing and we cannot accommodate everything on brownfield land, but I am pleased to say that the total number of houses that may need to be built on the green belt seems to be falling. We have been able to accommodate more housing on existing sites and we are committed to ensuring that no land will be taken from the green belt unless absolutely necessary. If anyone wants to see the list of sites that we’ve looked at just let me know and I’ll send you a copy. Linked to that we also agreed to carry out an extensive public consultation from now until next year seeking the views of residents about where future development might take place. I thought that everyone would be in favour of asking local residents their views but surprisingly the Conservatives decided to abstain. I am disappointed by that as I think that it is vital that local residents are given every opportunity to share their views.

8.       Oxylane Development

As regular readers may know Oxylane, the company who own the Decathlon Sports Store in Giltbrook, applied to build a sports village on land next to Junction 26 of the M1. This application was withdrawn at the last minute but Oxylane have now approached the council about the possibility of developing a leisure centre on the site as well. The council have agreed to discuss this with them on the explicit understanding that this will not prejudice the independence of the Development Control Committee to determine the planning application in due course. Potentially this could give the borough a state of the art sports centre along with the Oxylane Site, which could also generate hundreds of jobs. However the Conservatives again refused to back this.

9.       999 Calls

New figures published by the police this week made very disappointing reading. In the last twelve months they dealt with move than half a million emergency calls but only 12% of these related to crimes. If you believe that a crime is being committed or someone is in danger then 999 is absolutely the right number to dial, but for routine calls it most certainly is not. Notts Police operate a 101 number for these.

10.   County Councillors Allowances

The Liberal Democrats on Nottinghamshire County Council proposed to reduce councillors allowances as a money saving exercise. The county council needs to save £154 million next year and reducing councillors allowances was seen as a sensible way of helping. Sadly however the Labour councillors voted against this and as a result the proposal was defeated.

11.   Artists Display

Beeston artist Pam Millar will be opening her studio for people to look at her work on 5^th and 6^th October. This will be at Barrydale Avenue in Beeston and will start at 10am each day. She will be on hand to talk about her work and to provide advice to others, and light refreshments will be available.

As ever thank you for your support for this newsletter. Any feedback is gratefully received.

Best wishes

David

www.davidwatts.org.uk

www.broxtoweliberaldemocrats.org.uk

Follow me on Twitter @davidwatts12.

Broxtowe Enews 21st July 2012

Welcome to Broxtowe Enews, brought to you by the Liberal Democrats and edited by David Watts, the leader of the Lib-Dems on Broxtowe Borough Council.

1.       Beeston Town Centre

At the Development Control meeting on Wednesday the borough council gave planning permission for a redevelopment of the Beeston Square.  Many of the members of the committee expressed disappointment that the plans were not as inspired as we would have hoped but the prevailing view was that we had to give permission to get something done. I was in a minority of one who voted against the proposals as I felt that they were just not good enough.

2.       Oxylane Sports Village

Also on Wednesday night the committee looked at the proposals to develop a sports village at land next to the M1 junction 26. The application was for a multi-million pound development creating 250 new jobs, but the big disadvantage was that it was on green belt land. This was a much closer vote and the application was refused by 6 votes to 5.

3.       Nottingham Railway Station

Nottingham Railway Station is now closed for 5 weeks. This is also affecting services through Beeston as well. I’m already regretting agreeing to a meeting in London at 9am tomorrow morning. If travelling by train please ensure that you check the details.

4.       Watnall Bunker

An old World War Two bunker in Watnall is set to be turned into a bed and breakfast. The bunker on land off Main Road - which used to be an RAF plotting station – was bought two years ago and the  Council have now given planning permission for it to be converted.

5.       Grass Cutting

Last week my colleagues Stan Heptinstall and Jacky Williams presented our grass cutting petition to the County Council. There have also been numerous other complaints to the County over the state of verges in Broxtowe and in recent days they look like they have been putting much more effort into doing things correctly. The areas that I have seen in recent days which have had a second cut look far better than they did after the first. At the same time my colleague Ian Tyler has been in contact with the Highways Agency and as a result of this the grass along the A52  was cut on Friday night.

6.       Parks and Open Spaces

Broxtowe residents are being encouraged to go online and have their say on to help inform a new Broxtowe Parks Standard. An online questionnaire is available at http://broxtowe.firmstep.com/default.aspx/RenderForm/?ID=obe5obHE79m&HideAll  on the Broxtowe Borough Council website and is quick and easy to fill in, using a series of drop down boxes and point and click answers. The views of local residents are really important in formulating the standards of facilities and services in local councils and so I’d encourage everyone to spend a few minutes completing it.

7.       Tram Jobs

I was delighted to read this week that the tram is about to create it’s 1,000^th new job. Broxtowe residents, along with those from Nottingham, get priority on these and so many local residents will have benefited from these.  I was asked this week about a rumour that the construction work was 18 months behind schedule. I must say that I have never heard this and would be very surprised if it was true, given the very strong penalty clauses in the contracts.

8.       HS2

This week Derbyshire County Council formally backed plans to develop the East Midlands station for HS2 at Toton, rather than Derby. This means that only Derby City Council are now arguing that Derby should be the location, and makes it even more likely that the development will be at Toton. Derbyshire County Council will be proposing a further extension to the tram network when HS2 is built, extending it from Toton through to Long Eaton.

The public consultation on HS2 has now opened. This will run until the end of the year and will include a public exhibition in October. The details of the consultation are available at www.hs2.org.uk/phase-two/route-consultation.

9.       Stapleford Local History Society

The next meeting of Stapleford Local History Society will take place on 14^th August at the Maycliffe Hall, starting at 7.30pm. The theme will be “Stapleford Past and Present.” Admission for non-members is £3.50.

10.   Crime Levels Down

Crime in Nottinghamshire has fallen by 12% between April last year and March of this year, continuing a trend that has been developing for the past few years. Despite the recession crime is at a lower level now than for many years. Encouragingly, not only are there less crimes but the number of people committing crime has also fallen.

11.   Kate Beckinsale Visit

Hollywood actress Kate Beckinsale visited Chilwell school on Wednesday to unveil a plaque to her late father  Richard Beckinsale, who was a pupil at the school. A number of other well known celebrities, including David Walliams, came for the event as well. Congratulations to everyone at the school who was involved in organising it.

12.   Stapleford Carnival

The organisers of Stapleford Carnival have announced this week that they have had to reluctantly cancel the parade which normally starts the event. This is because the police will not provide policing at the event. However the rest of the carnival will go ahead on 7^th September at the Ilkeston Road Recreation Ground.

13.   Trowell FC Soccer School

Trowell FC have launched a soccer school for children aged between 5 and 7 years old every Saturday morning at William Lilley School in Stapleford. Sessions cost £2 and more details can be obtained by ringing 07747 190341.

14.   Summer Activities

The borough council have published a booklet listing many summer activities for children and young people. You can obtain a copy by ringing the council on 0115 917 7777 and many details will also be on the council’s website.

15.   August Break

Next weeks edition of the newsletter will be the last one until September. As with previous years I will not be publishing newsletters during August so if you have any activities during August that you would like publicising please make sure that I have the details by next weekend.

As ever thank you for your support for this newsletter. Any feedback is gratefully received.

Best wishes

David

www.davidwatts.org.uk

www.broxtoweliberaldemocrats.org.uk

Follow me on Twitter @davidwatts12.

Broxtowe Enews 7th July 2013

Welcome to Broxtowe Enews, brought to you by the Liberal Democrats and edited by David Watts, the leader of the Lib-Dems on Broxtowe Borough Council. May I give a special welcome to the new readers that we have this week.

1.       Grass Cutting Petition

Thank you to everyone who has signed this petition. My colleagues Stan Heptinstall and Jacky Williams will be presenting the petition to the County Council at their meeting on 11^th July 2013. At the Bramcote CAT meeting last week the County Council did attend and accepted that something had gone wrong, but significantly they would not guarantee to employ the same number of people that the borough council did. The borough council employed 8 people to do the job, the County Council were trying to do it with three.

2.       Spending Review

Last week the Government announced that money for local government was to be cut by 10%. Over the years that the Liberal Democrats have been involved in running the council in Broxtowe we have gradually made it more and more efficient (for instance we only employ a little over half the staff that we did ten years ago) but we have always maintained the full range of council services that we provided. It’s fair to say now though that there is little excess left to cut. Accordingly the Liberal Democrats would like your views about where the council’s priorities should be.  We have created a survey on our web site at www.broxtoweliberaldemocrats.org.uk and I’d encourage everyone to take a couple of minutes to complete it. If you do make the time – thank you.

3.       Tennis Courts

Following the news last week about the refurbished tennis courts at Queen Elizabeth II Park in Stapleford local residents have contacted me to see if anything can be done about the courts on Beeston Fields Park. I’ve spoken to local councillor Steve Carr about this and we will be looking to see if we can put funding together  to do this. I’ve also suggested to the council that to mark Andy Murray’s wonderful victory today (I’m a bit hoarse from shouting at the telly) that we should provide free or reduce rate sessions for local children. I don’t know if this will be possible but it’s worth exploring.

4.       Beeston Maltings

Despite efforts to save it Beeston Maltings was demolished (for the most part) last year. Now a display of images of the building, put together by the Beeston Civic Society, is on at the library on Foster Avenue. The exhibition runs through the summer, although I confess that I don’t have the exact dates.

5.       Bramcote Lib-Dems Garden Party

Bramcote Liberal Democrats are holding a garden party at 8 Cranston Road, Bramcote, on Friday 19^th July from 7.30pm. All friends and supporters of the Liberal Democrats are welcome to attend. The event is free but there will be a plate for donations.

6.       Anna Soubry

Despite regular rumours over the last three years that she was going to decamp to Rushcliffe Broxtowe Conservatives have confirmed that Anna Soubry MP will be their candidate at the next general election. The Labour Party are currently selecting their candidate at the Liberal Democrats will do so early next year. I have already told the party, and repeated publicly, that having stood at the last three elections, which has been a real privilege for me, I do not intend to stand next time and so we will have a new candidate for 2015.

7.       Toton Lane Closure

Toton Lane in Stapleford is to be closed for resurfacing work between Eatons Road and Brookhill Street (i.e. from the middle of Stapleford to the top of the hill) between 12^th and 25^th August this year. That coincides with when Nottingham Railway Station is closed and with the tram work as well this may cause some difficulties. I suspect a significant amount of work was deliberately targeted for the summer holidays when there is less traffic on the roads but south Broxtowe seems to be getting a lot of challenges this year.

8.       Stapleford Local History Society

The next meeting of Stapleford Local History Society will take place on Wednesday 10^th July. The theme is “Feeding the English Country House” and the meeting, at the Maycliffe Hall in Stapleford, will start at 7.30pm.

9.       Nuthall Graveyard

Nuthall Parish Council this week laid flat about 50 headstones in the graveyard there. The council explained that this was for health and safety reasons, although it has clearly caused distress to many local residents. The leader of the parish council apparently authorised the work as they viewed the work as being urgent. I’m sure that more information about this will become available in due course and I will report it when I have it.

10.   A52 Bus Lane

I read this week that Nottingham City have now collected more than £1 million in fines from people driving in the bus lanes. By contrast there was a very interesting report this week from the police about their operations against people driving on the bus lane along the A52 from the Sherwin Arms to Priory Island. Whereas the early operations were catching about 20 drivers a time they last two operations have stopped 7 and then 3 drivers respectively. It seems that people are learning that driving in the bus lanes is not allowed.

11.   Kimberley Town Council Fun Weekend

Kimberley Town Council have organised a fun weekend July 13/14th? It has a seaside theme with lots of attractions.   Kimberley Town Council are also in the process of producing a quarterly newsletter, its aim being to inform residents of future events and projects being undertaken by the Council. 

12.   Free Trees

The Woodland Trust are offering free trees to not for profit community groups. Broxtowe Borough Council have for a number of years worked to increase the number of trees in the borough and so I’m very happy to support this initiative. Applicants must have space to plant the trees and people to plant them. Applicants must be submitted by 13^th September and more details are available by ringing 01476 581135.

13.   Survey on Children With Special Needs

Notts County Council is running a survey amongst parents of children with special needs or with disabilities to identify the services that they need and how they can access support. If this includes you please give five minutes to complete the survey at www.surveymonkey.com/s/98ZPFKN

14.   Totally Local

Efforts are being made in Eastwood to launch a Totally Local campaign. The aim of the campaign is to promote local businesses and it is being organised by Elaine Harrison from the Eats and Treats Café.  More details are available by ringing 07877 263370.

15.   Quiz The Police

Notts Police will be holding a an open meeting for the public to quiz them about policing in Beeston. This will take place at the Town Hall, Foster Avenue on Tuesday July 23^rd at 7pm. Everyone is welcome to attend.

As ever thank you for your support for this newsletter. Any feedback is gratefully received.

Best wishes

David

www.davidwatts.org.uk

www.broxtoweliberaldemocrats.org.uk

Follow me on Twitter @davidwatts12.

Broxtowe Enews 30th June 2013

Welcome to Broxtowe Enews, brought to you by the Liberal Democrats and edited by David Watts, the leader of the Lib-Dems on Broxtowe Borough Council. May I give a special welcome to the new readers that we have this week.

1. Motorway Improvements
Strictly speaking this is just outside of Broxtowe but is very relevant to many people who live here. Amongst the new infrastructure announcements by the Government on Thursday was he very welcome news that improvements will be made to junction 25 of the M1. As anyone who has had the delights of queuing on the A52 to try and get on to the motorway knows this is a junction that does require work doing on it. I don’t have the full details yet but will publicise them when I have them.

2. HS2
Also announced on Thursday was the confirmation that the Government is to fund phase 2 of HS2, including the station at Toton. I do welcome this and I think that HS2 will be a huge benefit to the area, but we have got to make sure that the design is right. I do need to apologise to Stapleford residents for missing them off the list of areas that we discussed with the HS2 management last week. They were talked about, it was simply a typo on my part that they weren’t on the list.

3. Outdoor Table Tennis
The council has secured funding to install outdoor table tennis tables at Broadgate Park in Beeston. These will be installed shortly and will be available for everyone to use (not just students as was reported in a local paper this week).

4. Nottingham Canal Improvements
The Borough Council has agreed to spend £125,000 improving the towpath on the Nottingham Canal. Most of this money had previously been earmarked but more work was identified that needed to be done on the disused stretch from Latimer Drive to Trowell Garden Centre. This is now a popular local nature reserve and the paths here get very churned up in winter so I’m delighted that this additional work (costing £15,000) is being done. Work will be done in stages starting from 15th July.

5. Other Public Transport Improvements
The council has a significant programme of public transport improvements that we’ve been putting into effect over the past couple of years. As regular readers will know I’ve been pushing for improved bus services although the previous administration at the County Council were unwilling to take this forward. We’ll try again now that there is a Labour council running things there. Other improvements that will happen over the next few months include alterations to traffic lights in Beeston to create bus priority routes, new shelters at the coach pick-up point on Lace Road in Beeston, more pedestrian signage in Beeston and Stapleford (to be installed next year)and improved cycling infrastructure in a number of places in the borough.

6. Local Nature Reserves
Work is to be carried out shortly at three of the local nature reserves in the borough. Pond restoration and woodland management will take place at the Spinney Woodland in Watnall (with funding for this raised by local residents), preservation work will be carried out on the timbers at Brinsley Headstock and hedgerow restoration will take place at the Alexander Plantation in Bramcote (helped by the Friends of Bramcote Ridge).

7. Cemetery Fees
Not the nicest of topics but an important one. The borough council have agreed a range of revisions to the charges for burials and cremations in Broxtowe, the most important being that there will now be no fee for either service for children under 12 and lower fees for those up to 16. Losing a child must be the worst experience in the world and this is one practical step that the council can take to not make matters any worse. We have also agreed that there will be lower fees for residents of Broxtowe than for non-residents.

8. Swimming Teacher Apprenticeships
One of the key campaigns that the Lib-Dems have fought nationally over recent years has been to ensure that there has been a significant growth in apprenticeships, ensuring that they teach proper careers and are not simply a source of cheap labour for employers. Since we joined the coalition there have been 1 million extra apprenticeships created (along with 1.3 million extra private sector jobs) and the borough council have employed a number of apprentices in that period. We have now agreed to take on two extra as apprentice swimming teachers, one for Kimberley Leisure Centre and one for Bramcote. The Lib-Dems are just launching nationally our million jobs campaign aiming to ensure that we create a further 1 million jobs (at least) between now and the general election in two years time.

9. Council Size
The Boundary Commission is currently considering the arrangements for councillors in Broxtowe. The first question they have asked the council is whether we feel that the current number of councillors (44) is correct. Councillors set up a working party to look at this and produced a report saying that we believe that the numbers are right, and went into detail as to why that was. On Wednesday night the council was asked to endorse this but amazingly most of the Conservatives, despite the fact that their representatives had been part of the working group that produced the report, suddenly decided that they were opposed to the recommendation and wanted a lower number. (They said that they would tell us how many “at the appropriate time” but given that Wednesday night was when the matter was debated it’s hard to think of a more appropriate time than that.) The report was still approved but it is highly disappointing that it no longer had unanimous support, and I think the rest of us were mystified about why they suddenly changed their minds (and well done to the two Tory councillors who refused to toe the party line).

10. Community Celebration
I’ve mentioned this before but it is worth reminding people that the Broxtowe Community Celebration takes place at Round Hill School, Foster Avenue, Beeston on Saturday 6th July from 11am to 4pm. The Community Celebration is A world of music, dance, sport competitions, arts, and food organised by the Broxtowe Community Celebration Group. Everyone is welcome and further details can be obtained from Andrea on 07952 701 399.

11. Coronation Park Family Fun Day
There will be a Family Fun Day at Coronation Park in Eastwood on Saturday 13th July. This will be a great afternoon out for all the family with lots of free activities including make and take art stalls, dance tent and stage acts. The fun day will run between 12:00 and 4:00pm.

12. The Vibe
Also in Eastwood that day, starting at 6pm for three hours, is The Vibe. This is aimed at young people between the ages of 13 and 19 and is a great free evening of live music, creative dance performances/workshops, sports and arts activities and KMX sessions. (I’d never heard of KMX so I Googled it and it looks like it is BMX on Trikes. Oh to be 19 again!)

13. Beeston Carnival
Still on 13th July we have Beeston Carnival. There will be entertainment in the Square from 10am  and the parade starts in Foster Avenue at 1pm, moving to Broadgate Park. The fete in the park opens at 12.00. The event is organised by Pat and Linda Lally who do an excellent job with it.

14. Summer Concert
Beeston Parish Church are having a Summer Concert with Bestwood Male Voice Choir on Saturday 13 July at 7.30 pm in church (the one behind Wilko's near Beeston Square).  Tickets are £6 and can be obtained by phoning the church office 07709 756949 or Barbara Selwood 0115 917 8488. The event is in aid of Church Funds (to help with the outside restoration work).  Refreshments will be available. The concert is sponsored by Crossplay Music, 128-130 Chilwell Road, Beeston.

15. Espresso Coffee Bar, Chilwell
Congratulations to Espresso Coffee bar in Chilwell and owner Natalie Eastwood for winning the Best Independent Café in the UK award at the Café Society awards in London last week. I’ve never been there yet but will make a point of doing so now.

16. Revamped Tennis Courts
My colleague Stan Heptinstall, the deputy mayor of Broxtowe, was able this week to open four refurbished tennis courts at Queen Elizabeth II Park on Toton Lane in Stapleford. These are a significant improvement on what was there before and hopefully we might find the next Andy Murray or Laura Robson on them.

17. Tram Extensions
The new portfolio holder for jobs and growth at the City Council, Nick McDonald, has called for the tram line to Phoenix Park to be extended to serve Kimberley and Eastwood as well. There is already a group in Kimberley campaigning for such an extension and I’m sure they welcome his input. I would fully support this as a scheme provided that a satisfactory route can be identified.

18. Bramcote CAT
The Bramcote Community Action Team meeting takes place tomorrow, 1st July, starting at 7pm (not 7.30 as stated in our recent Focus leaflet). It takes place at the Memorial Hall on Church Street and all Bramcote residents are welcome to attend.

19. Grass Cutting
Thank you to everyone who has signed our petition about the state of the grass verges in Broxtowe. We have already gathered well over 100 signatures with more still coming in. There’s still time to sign if you want to. The petition is at www.broxtoweliberaldemocrats.org.uk – just look for the “Petition” tab at the top and it will take you straight to it. We discovered recently that whilst the borough council used to employ a team of 8 people to cut the grass across the verges the County Council, who have taken over responsibility for this, were trying to do it with a team of three! They are now having to bring in extra staff to try and get things put right.

20. Free Childcare Places
Parents of young children are being asked to contact Nottinghamshire County Council to see if they qualify for free childcare starting in the autumn term. Eligible children will be able to take up their free places at the start of the term following their second birthday. There will be another round of applications for children who are two during the autumn term, with their places starting after Christmas, and a further round during the spring for children to start in the summer term. Places are available for 15 hours per week (term time only). Applications must be submitted by 12th July and can be done on-line at www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/childcare or by telephoning 0300 500 8080.

21. Corrections
When I reported about the Farmers Market in Kimberley last week I said that the new market at the Giltbrook Retail Park was being organised by the Town Council. Unfortunately my information on that was incorrect and I apologise to those concerned. I also hope that everyone spotted the typo relating to Friday’s Armed Forces coffee morning in Stapleford which began at 10.00am and not at 01.00am!

As ever thank you for your support for this newsletter. Any feedback is gratefully received.

Best wishes

David
www.davidwatts.org.uk
www.broxtoweliberaldemocrats.org.uk
Follow me on Twitter @davidwatts12.

Broxtowe Enews 16th June 2013

Welcome to Broxtowe Enews, brought to you by the Liberal Democrats and edited by David Watts, the leader of the Lib-Dems on Broxtowe Borough Council. May I give a special welcome to the new readers that we have this week. We have a record number of readers now and the feedback that I’ve been receiving recently suggests that people are finding it very useful as a service.
I’m going to start this week with a couple of items that should have been in last week’s newsletter but were omitted by mistake.

1. Beeston Police Station
Beeston police station has now closed and the police are now based on the ground floor of the civic centre, alongside the Citizens Advice Bureaux. This will save the taxpayer a significant amount of money as we had spare space in the civic centre and the police station was old and costing a fortune to run.

2. Beeston Brigade’s Marching Band
Congratulations to the boys and girls of the Beeston Girls and Boys Brigade Marching band who last week won the national Brigade’s Marching Bands Championship at the first attempt, beating Hull and West Bromwich into second and third places. This is a fantastic performance and I really should have mentioned it last week as my daughter is part of the band.

3. Grass Verges
It is no exaggeration to say that the state of the grass verges in Broxtowe is an absolute disgrace. Many of them have not been cut all year and where they have been cut the work has been extremely shoddy. Until last year verge cutting was done by the borough council but last year the County Council announced that they would be taking over the work. This is the result. I don’t know if this is the fault of the previous Tory administration or the new Labour one but something has gone badly wrong. We have organised a petition to call for the Council to take urgent action to put things right, and I hope that we will get a huge number of signatures on it. You can sign the petition on our website at www.broxtoweliberaldemocrats.org.uk, and it’s also possible to download hard copies of the petition there to get signatures from your neighbours as well. If you could sign it and ask the rest of your street to do so as well then we will soon have enough signatures to force the County to act.

4. Beeston Carnival
The programme for Beeston Carnival has been announced. The carnival takes place on Saturday 13th July and will begin at 10am in the town square. There will be attractions in Broadgate Park from 12.00 and the parade will start at 1pm. The parade starts at Foster Avenue, goes through the Square and across Station Road and then along the High Road and into Broadgate Park. The carnival has been a huge success over the past few years and I’m sure that this years will be equally as good.

5. Legal Aid Reform
I wrote an article for the Beestonia Blog this week about the Governments proposed reforms of legal aid and criminal justice. I’ve also posted that article on my web site at www.davidwatts.org.uk and I’d urge as many people as possible to read it. There is a petition to oppose the proposed changes and the link for that is http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/48628.

6. Paradiso Cinema
On Friday June 28th at 7.30pm Paradiso Cinema presents “Lincoln,” starring Daniel Day-Lewis. As the American Civil War continues to rage, President Lincoln struggles with continuing carnage on the battlefield as he fights with many inside his own cabinet on the decision to free the slaves.  This is at  Chilwell Arts Theatre, Chilwell School, NG9 5AL. Tickets on the door are£5, (£4 conc). Come at 7pm for refreshments.

7. Free Desks for Organisations
Beeston Citizens Advice Bureaux have 6 office desks to give away due to an office refurbishment.  The desks measure 1200 x 800 and are all in good condition.  They are a light oak colour with grey legs. Any organisation wanting them will need to arrange collection. Enquiries can be made to Sally Bestwick direct.  Her email is manager@beeston.cabnet.org.uk.

8. Million Jobs Campaign
The Liberal Democrats are this weekend launching our Million Jobs Campaign. Since the coalition came into existence we have created a million new jobs but now the Liberal Democrats are targeting creating a million more. Over the next few weeks we will be having a number of events and activities to promote this campaign, and in particular to encourage local firms to create new apprenticeships. Over the past three years we’ve had a huge number of apprenticeships created where young people can learn proper skills, and the borough council have been at the forefront of creating these.

9. Beeston Weir Cottages
This week the council’s Development Control Committee granted planning permission for a new heritage centre at the Beeston weir Cottages. This will lead to the cottages being restored. These 18th century cottages are currently derelict. I’ve looked at the plans and they seem a really exciting scheme. I wish it every success.

10. Litter Pick
Congratulations to the 2nd Toton Beaver Scout group who teamed up with the borough council this week to carry out a litter pick behind the Greenwood Community Centre. They will earn their Beaver Scout Global Challenge badge for this.

11. Plans for Stapleford
Nottingham Building Society have submitted a planning application to the borough council to demolish their offices at the Roach in Stapleford and rebuild it as a flagship office with affordable flats above it. This looks like a very exciting scheme but there will be significant public consultation before a decision is taken. I’ll post a link to the plans next week when they are on the borough web site.

12. Dual Bins
The council are installing dual bins on streets across the borough to make it easier for people to recycle. The new bins have both a general waste area and a recyclable area, so when people are placing rubbish in them recyclable material can be separated. This is part of our commitment to recycle as much material as possible.

13. Garden Parties
Bramcote Liberal Democrats are holding a Friends and Supporters Garden Party on Friday 19th July at 8 Cranston Road, Bramcote, starting at 7.00pm. If you view yourself as being generally a Lib-Dem supporter then you are warmly invited to attend. There is no charge but there will be a plate for donations. The Liberal Democrats are the only party whose funding comes purely from its members. We don’t receive any money from unions or big business, and so the money for our work in Bramcote has to be raised locally. Events such as the garden party are a key way of doing this. They are also a great time for us to discuss local issues with our supporters and to find out what people think.
Stapleford Liberal Democrats are holding their annual strawberry cream tea at 39 Toton lane Stapleford on Saturday 29th June 2013, starting at 2.15pm. Tickets cost £5 each. All are welcome including friends and guests. Tickets can be obtained from godfrey.walt@ntlworld.com or by ringing  01159398993

14. Photographic Exhibition
A photographic exhibition by local photographic group The Print Project will be on show at Eastwood’s DH Lawrence Heritage Centre next month. The group of independent photographers, dedicated to the monochrome image, will be exhibiting their latest work in the Rainbow Gallery at the Heritage Centre, on Mansfield Road, during July and August. The exhibition will open from 10am until 5pm, Tuesday to Sunday. It will cost £5 to get in, which will include a tour of the site.

15. New Pub For Eastwood
A £1million JD Wetherspoon pub has been given the go-ahead in Eastwood and will provide 40 jobs for local people. The chain will convert a former car dealership on Nottingham Road into a family-friendly pub and restaurant. With many pubs shutting down it’s nice to see a new one opening.

16. Speedwatch in Brinsley
Police want to start a community speedwatch scheme in Brinsley to cut down on the number of drivers speeding through the village. Officers are looking for a minimum of six volunteers, willing to clock drivers with speed guns along Mansfield Road, Church Lane and Cordy Lane. The police say speeding has been an ‘on-going problem’ in the village. Volunteers will need to be over 18 and willing to put in one hour per week. They will be fully trained by the police. If you are interested in being a volunteer call Pc Richard Reynolds on 07525 989426.

17. Community Celebration
A community celebration will take place at Round Hill school in Beeston on Saturday 6th July 2013 from 11am to 4pm. The celebration offers a world of music, dance, sport competitions, arts, and food organised by the Broxtowe Community Celebration Group. Everyone is welcome and admission is free. Details are available from Andrea on 07952 701 399.

18. Free Paint
Free paint can be obtained at Beeston Household Waste Recycling site this Wednesday from 5.00 – 7.30pm. This is organised by the County Council who say:
“Free reusable paint is on offer at special monthly open evenings at Beeston, Calverton, Newark and Warsop Household Waste Recycling Centres (rubbish tips). To take advantage of this offer, please call the Customer Service Centre on tel: 0300 500 8080 to reserve a time slot. Booking is essential.
This offer is available to Nottinghamshire residents only and normal permitting requirements still apply if you use a van, pick-up or car-towed trailer to visit the Household Waste Recycling Centres. The paint has been donated to the Community RePaint Nottinghamshire Scheme and has all been checked by the site staff. Paint tins offered at these events are at least half full of good reusable paint and whilst we might not be able to guarantee the colours and types available, there is usually plenty of choice and it's all free of charge. There isn't a specific limit to the number of tins that you can take away but we may need to use a fair share policy when events are fully booked.”


I hope that all the Fathers in the readership have had a good Fathers Day. My children treated me to breakfast in bed but when I tried to have a nap this afternoon they decided that I ought to take them to the park instead!

As ever thank you for your support for this newsletter. Any feedback is gratefully received.

Best wishes

David
www.davidwatts.org.uk
www.broxtoweliberaldemocrats.org.uk
Follow me on Twitter @davidwatts12.