Broxtowe Enews 16th February 2014

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. Broxtowe Core Strategy
I’m starting again with a regular theme, the council’s core strategy for development over the next 15 years. There was a further hearing about this on Wednesday when residents and other interested parties from Toton were able to have their say. I was extremely surprised to hear Anna Soubry MP attending to say that she supported development at Toton linked to HS2 and that she agreed that this should include some housing, which is a significant change in her position from previously.

2. Road Works
This is an advance notice of road works being carried out at the railway bridge on Stapleford Road in Trowell from 2200 hours on Wednesday 16th April 2014 until 0600 hours on Saturday 19th April 2014 (2200 hours until 0600 hours each night for 3 nights). The road will be completely closed from 10pm to 6am each day.


3. Council Ward Boundaries
As I have mentioned before the Boundary Commission are currently changing the boundaries of wards in Broxtowe to try and make them fairer. The council have now submitted our suggestions, which were to make few changes to the existing layout. However we are suggesting that Eastwood should be split into three wards rather than the current two, and that a small number of houses that have been in Beeston West should now transfer to Beeston Central. The Boundary Commission will make their final decisions by the summer.

4. Eastwood does buttons
Volunteers with local group ‘Communities Against Poverty’ are currently working on a programme of events for 2014.  Two events for February and March have been arranged at the Library Bar – ‘Eastwood does Buttons’.  There will be buttons suitable for knitters, dressmakers and cardmakers, including Christmas and animal themed buttons.  Visitors will be able to buy buttons in jars or on a ‘pick and mix’, ‘fill a bag’ basis.
As well as buttons visitors will be able to:
• see a display of historical buttons by the local branch of the UK Button Society
• take their own buttons along to the event for more information and a valuation by Jenny Swindells of the UK Button Society for a small donation.  Jenny has been collecting and researching buttons for 40 years and is the Button Consultant for Bonhams Auctioneers and several other auction houses
• join a flower making session using fabric, crochet and/or knitting.  Materials are provided and the flowers produced will go on display in Eastwood during the town’s July Arts Festival.
There is no charge for entry to the events which take place at the Library Bar on Scargill Walk (in the Craft Workshops area) from 11 am to 2 pm on Saturday 22 February and at the same time again on Saturday 29 March 2014.   At the March event the group will be selling leather remnants for crafts people. Contact:  Please email Angela on angela.kinton@talktalk.net

5. Talent Development at Work
Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Chamber of Commerce (DNCC) is working with organisations in both counties to develop their staff through a new Talent Development programme. This fully-funded programme is available to organisations that fall into the eligible sector list in the following areas: customer retention and sales growth, information technology, business administration efficiency, business social media and marketing and leadership and management. There are a range of job-specific courses on offer, from Level 2 to Level 4 and there are no fees to pay. If you are interested contact Trudi Davidson at trudi.davidson@dncc.co.uk for further information.

6. Watnall Bunker
As you may have seen on Channel 4 TV this week 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 Broxtowe Borough Council has now given planning permission for it to be converted. It will be interesting to see how the work develops.

7. Truancy
I reported last week that Eastwood School was in the bottom five schools for attendance in Nottinghamshire. I’m very grateful to the chair of the Governors who informs me that the figures released by the County Council were based on figures a year old and that the school have taken significant steps to address the issue, so that attendance this year is up to 94%, a far better figure.

8. Number 14 bus
Nottingham City Transport have announced that they are withdrawing the number 14 bus which serves Beeston and Chilwell and runs into the city centre. The last service will run at the end of March. The route is being withdrawn because NCT say that it losing a significant amount of money.

9. Bramcote Ridge
The Friends of Bramcote Ridge planted 120 new trees on the ridge last week as part of their efforts to restore the area. The new trees were Hawthornes and have been planted near Sandy Lane. Well done to everyone involved.

10. Cator Lane
The County Council have announced that they are bringing forward plans to resurface Cator Lane in Chilwell a year ahead of schedule to try and take advantage of the fact that the road is currently closed because of tram works. The resurfacing will take place between Bramcote Avenue and Greenwood Court. Whilst it seems sensible to try and tie in with the tram work I’ve already been contacted by residents expressing great concern about these proposals and the practical details about how they will work.

11. Water Bills
Severn Trent have announced that average bills for customers will go up by £3 this year. May I make it clear that this is not simply so that they can pay for the damage they caused to my house when they flooded us last year. It does mean that the average bll for combined water and sewarge treatment will be £333 next year.

12. Railway Station Bike Racks
Planning permission has been given to Network Rail to install more bike lockers in the car park of the station. This will mean that there will be storage space for 44 bikes at the station, but it will mean the loss of 2 parking spaces.

13. Potholes
The County Council has launched an appeal for people to report pot holes to them after revealing that one in six of pot holes that they repaired last year was as a direct result of a report from a member of the public. They have a site on their web site at www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk where people can report pot holes. Last year the county repaired 34,400 pot holed of which about 5,500 were reported online by the public.

14. Paul Smith Photographs
An exhibition of photographs taken by fashion designer Sir Paul Smith are on display at the DH Lawrence Heritage Centre in Eastwood from now until the end of March. Photographs from a number of local photographs are also on display. Sir Paul’s father was a long time member of Beeston Photographic Society. Admission is £2.90 per person.

15. Amnesty International
The Beeston branch of Amnesty International are holding a letter writing session on Monday evening. The idea is to write letters to put pressure on governments to prevent human rights abuses. The session takes place at the Commercial Inn from 7.30pm to 9.00pm.

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 9th February 2014

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. A Greener Broxtowe
The borough council have looked at our progress on creating a greener borough at a meeting this week. The headline figures are that we are we are well on our way to our target of planting 100,000 extra trees in the borough, and this should be achieved by the end of 2016. By that point we also hope to have seen a 50% increase in composting levels and a decrease in residual waste, and most importantly a 25% fall in the council’s carbon footprint. By 2020 we hope to be using far more renewable energy than we are at the current time.

2. Feed In Tariffs
Whilst talking about renewable energy may I mention to anyone thinking of installing solar power that the feed in tariffs go down at the end of March, and so it is worth getting panels installed before then if possible. The cut will make a very small difference in the day to day income but over the lifetime of a set of panels this could run into hundreds of pounds.

3. Lane Closure on A610
Notts County Council have announced at a lane will be shut on the A610 Kimberley and Eastwood by pass from 7am on Monday through to 5pm on Friday. This will allow drains and vegetation to be cleared.

4. HS2 Submissions
The Campaign to Protect Rural England has submitted comments to the consultation on HS2 calling for the route to be changed to protect canals from being affected by it. They are concerned that the look of the canals will be affected by flyovers carrying the trains. Strangely enough I suspect that 300 years ago something similar was said about plans to build the canals.

5. Parents and Carers Support Group
A new parents’ and carers’ support group is being set up at Rumbletums in Kimberley. It will be a fairly informal group, the purpose of which will be to offer mutual support to parents and carers of children and young people with learning disabilities and to share information on services, events and activities. The first meeting of the group will take place at Rumbletums on Wednesday 26th February from 9.45am. The plan at the moment is then to meet once a month but how the group develops and how often and when it meets, will be up to those present to decide. Contact details can be found on their web site at http://rumbletumscafe.tel/.

6. Toton Boy Racers
Just a quick follow up on the story last week that I’d contacted the police over the problem of oy racers on Stapleford Lane. I’m informed by the police that they believe the culprits are congregating in one particular location and so they will be targeting that over coming weeks. Hopefully this will bring some respite to residents.

7. Dinner at Chatsworth House with the Deputy Prime Minister
The East Midlands Liberal Democrats are holding a fund raising dinner at Chatsworth House in the near future. The tickets will include a tour of the North Wing of the House and the guest of honour will be the Deputy Prime Minister. Tickets cost £100 each and if you would like to attend please let me know. I think I can take up to four guests. The date will be confirmed to those hoping to attend.

8. Truancy
It was disappointing to read this week that a local school has, according to official figures, one of the worst problems with truancy in the county. The Eastwood School has a 13% truancy rate, making it the third worst performing school. The average rate across the county is 7.1%, which I think is still worryingly high.

9. M1 Speed Cameras
The Highways Agency will be installing speed cameras on the M1 as it goes through Broxtowe, between junctions 25 and 26. These will be pole mounted at the side of the road and similar to those installed at roadworks on the motorway at the moment. They will be used by the police to catch motorists travelling at more than 70mph.

10. CD’s in Libraries
Nottinghamshire County Council have announced that they are to phase the lending of CD’s out of their libraries and sell off their existing stock. Apparently with the growth in digital downloads the demand for CD’s in the libraries has dropped by 97 per cent since 2003. I confess that I much prefer a physical object to a digital download, and so I may well try and find when they are being sold off to see if I can pick up any bargains.

11. Broxtowe Mayor’s Ball
In 2014 Broxtowe Council will mark its 40th Anniversary To celebrate this important occasion, please join us for the Ruby Themed, Mayor's Charity Ball and Civic Night on Saturday 5th April 2014 at the award winning Nottingham Belfry Hotel from 7.00pm.  Tickets are available until FRIDAY 21ST MARCH, priced at just £32.00.  The Mayor of the Borough of Broxtowe, Councillor Iris White will host the Ball to raise money for Treetops Hospice and The Helpful Bureau, Stapleford. As well as a delicious three course meal and coffee, there will be music from Phil Rostance and the Marshall Band and a charity raffle. For more information and to secure your place, contact Broxtowe Borough Council on 0115 917 3210 or visit the website at www.broxtowe.gov.uk/charityball. Every year the Mayor chooses two charities to support. Next year the Mayor will be my colleague Stan Heptinstall and he has asked the staff at the council to vote for the charities that they would like him to feature as his chosen ones during his year in office. I think that this is an excellent idea.

12. Here Come The Navy
I know that the flooding has reached record levels but I was surprised to read this week that the navy are to establish a new base in Broxtowe! Actually it’s not as dramatic as it sounds but the base for the Royal Navy Reserve, currently at HMS Sherwood, will be moving to the garrison on Swiney Way in Toton. The move should be completed by the end of March.

13. Council Tax Rise
Although Broxtowe Borough Council will be keeping our council tax at the same level as in previous years Labour controlled Notts County Council have confirmed that they will be increasing council tax by 1.99% this year. As the majority of the council tax goes to the County Council this will have a significant impact on the amounts that people will have to pay from April.

14. Fair Trade Fortnight Entertainment
St Michaels Church in Bramcote will be holding an entertainment evening on Friday 28th February to mark Fair Trade Fortnight. The event begins at 7.15pm and details are available from 0115 925 4933.

15. Council Ward Boundaries
On Tuesday evening the council will be meeting to discuss changes to the ward boundaries for the borough. Although a huge number of different sets of proposals have been circulated my personal preference is that we should seek the minimum level of alteration from the current arrangements whilst ensuring that every community has a real say in electing their representatives. I will report back next week on what we voted for, although the final decision will be made by the Boundary Commission after they have considered our recommendations.
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 26th January 2014

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 start this week by apologising to anyone who is waiting for an email or letter from me. I have been engaged in a project at work which has taken up all my time, so that most nights I have been finishing until about midnight. As a result I have over 100 emails awaiting a response. I will start doing them this evening and hopefully catch up over the next couple of days.

1.       Unemployment Figures

the latest unemployment figures for Nottinghamshire show that the number of people claiming jobseeker’s allowance is now at its lowest since April 2001, and by December 2013 was 22% lower than it was in December 2012. In December 2013 there were 12,439 people in Nottinghamshire claiming jobseekers allowance.

2.       Eastwood Town Football Club

Unfortunately Eastwood Town Football Club have run up very significant debts over the last few years. Amongst these is a debt of approximately £50,000 that they owe to the council for rental on their ground. This is not been paid for several years, and all attempts to reach an agreement with the football club have failed. The council have bent over backwards to assist them but the club have just not come up with the money. Eventually this week our patience was exhausted and the ground has been repossessed by the council. We are now working with the FA to help create a successor club on a more stable financial basis. My heart goes out to the fans of Eastwood Town, and I hope the new club will be up and running as soon as possible.

3.       Conversion of Eastwood Infant and Junior school

The Borough Council this week gave planning permission for the conversion of the former Eastwood Infant and Junior school into 20 residential apartments specifically for those aged 55 or above. This brings a disused building back into use, provides new accommodation and respects the conservation area that the school is within. I hope the development will begin as soon as possible.

4.       New Electricity Substation

Also this week the council gave planning permission for a new electricity sub station to be built in Watnall. This will provide a far better service to residents in the Kimberley and Awsworth area especially, who have suffered from power cuts in the past. However this was a controversial scheme because the development is within the green belt. I voted against it, not because I don’t believe a substation is necessary but rather because there were alternatives that did not involve building in the green belt, but enough Conservative members supported the Labour Party in respect of this matter to enable it to be passed.

5.       New Stapleford Flats

The third matter where planning permission was granted this week by the council was for the development of new flats in Stapleford on Midland Avenue. This is one of a number of schemes being built by the council, in conjunction with housing associations, to increase the amount of affordable housing within the borough. The flats consistently have been built on the sites of garages, and all of this again helps to take pressure off the need to develop on the green belt.

6.       Stapleford Library

Stapleford library will be staging an event to celebrate the work of children’s author Roald Dahl on Saturday, 8 February between 10 AM and noon. It is aimed at children between the age of four and 11 and is free to attend. No booking is required.

7.       Beeston Trade

The Beeston Business Improvement District this week released figures showing that in the week beginning 15 December more than 110,000 people shopped in Beeston. This is the highest number of shoppers in one week since the council began taking records in 2008. The Business Improvement District was set up a couple of years ago to help develop business in the town and is paid for by all the local businesses. They have clearly been very successful and announced this week that they will be taking on a new member of staff to expand the work that they do.

8.       Bramcote Hills Nursing Home

Local residents in Bramcote will be disappointed to learn that the appeal by the new owners of the nursing home to extend their premises over the two neighbouring houses has been allowed. The council opposed this, and had refused permission originally because of the impact that this would have on the street scene and on the amenity of those who live close by. Unfortunately the inspector who dealt with the matter disagreed and granted planning permission.

9.       Queens Road/University Boulevard

I reported in the newsletter a couple of weeks ago that a new T-junction was being installed at the Queens Road and University Boulevard junction in Beeston, in place of the roundabout there. To say that the first few days of this have been an unmitigated disaster would not be an overstatement. The traffic congestion that this caused, especially on day one when the lights didn’t seem to be properly working, has been massive. I have written to NET and said that this cannot be tolerated and that residents deserve a better service from them, and I’m sure that I’m by no means the only person to have done this. I do think that the tram will be a very useful asset when it is built, but I despair of the way that the construction process seems to be doing its absolute best to inconvenience people and stir up ill feelings towards the system.

10.   Wilkinson’s Store

One of the major impacts that NET had in 2012 in Beeston was in compulsory purchasing the Wilkinson’s store. Unfortunately once they closed it down they then allowed the building to stand empty for a year before doing anything with it. I know that this annoyed a lot of people who would have far rather have the store therefore longer. Wilkinson’s have now lost a compensation claim with the city council over the loss of the store, and the Nottingham Post report that this is for a figure in the region of £6 million.

11.   Chilwell Road

Unfortunately NET have also been given more bad news to traders on Chilwell Road in Beeston. The works there, which were due to finish shortly, are overrunning because of difficulties installing new utilities. As a result Chilwell Road is now likely to be closed until the end of April or May. This will cause disruption not only for businesses, who can claim compensation from the city council, but also to local residents, who cannot. It does seem extremely unfair to local residents that this is the case.

12.   Charity Grants

The charity Sport Relief, together with the Nottingham Post, have £50,000 worth of funds available for community groups in Nottinghamshire. They are making grants of between £501,000 available, and anything from parent and toddler groups to local festivals can apply. Details of the application process are on the Sport Relief website at www.sportrelief.com.

13.   Parking in Beeston

A neighbourhood survey carried out by Nottinghamshire police in Beeston has identified that bad parking, especially where residents drives are being blocked, is one of the major concerns of local residents. The police have therefore agreed to target this over the next few months.

14.   The Bean, Beeston

One of Beeston’s most popular copy shops, The Bean on Stoney Street, has closed for refurbishment. It will reopen on 31 January. In the meantime there will be a Coffey cart outside the store between 8 AM and 4 PM each day.

15.   Beeston Square Clock

My colleague Steve Carr, who represents Beeston North, is handed a petition containing nearly 300 signatures into Notts County Council calling for the replacement of the clock in Beeston square. Shoppers in Beeston will know that the clock hasn’t worked for some time and both hands now appear to have fallen off it. I totally agree with Steve and his residents that a replacement or repaired clock is essential.

16.   Council Ward Boundaries

At the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday the council will be considering our submission to the Boundary Commission about changes to Ward boundaries within Broxtowe. The Boundary Commission have already agreed that the current 44 councillors is the right number, but are looking at what alterations need to be made to ensure that each councillor represents roughly the same number of people. I’m pleased that some of the fairly horrific suggestions that were circulated as part of the discussion process early on, including splitting my own Bramcote ward into two and completely redrawing the electoral maps in Beeston, Stapleford and Eastwood, seem to have been abandoned. It seems to me that the basic approach should be to make the minimum level of alterations necessary to get approximate equality between the councillors. Once the Cabinet have come up with a decision the whole matter will then be looked at by the full council.

17.   A52 Landscaping

The Highways Agency, who are responsible for the A52, have decided that motorists within South Broxtowe aren’t having enough disruption at the moment and so they decided that they will be carrying out landscaping work on the Bramcote Island starting on Tuesday, 4 February. This will be carried out both daytime and night time until the work is finished.

18.   Stapleford By Election

Congratulations to Richard Macrae and John Longdon who won the two vacant seats on Stapleford Town Council in the by-election on Thursday. This means that the Stapleford North Ward on the Town Council is now represented by the Liberal Democrats, Labour, the Conservatives and an independent. I don’t think it’s possible to get a far more balanced ward than that. Thank you also to the 800 or so people who made the effort to vote in some fairly atrocious weather.

19.   Toton Post Office

The owner of the Post Office on Stapleford Lane in Toton has applied for planning permission to extend the shop, and also to put an additional first-floor flat above it. A decision on this will be made by the borough council in due course.

20.   HS2 Support

Derbyshire County Council have now officially given their support to having the East Midlands station for the HS2 railway in Toton. This is in sharp contrast to Derby City Council who want the station built there.

21.   Beeston Civic Society

Beeston Civic Society will be holding a public meeting at John Clifford School in Beeston on Friday, 14 February at 7:30 PM to discuss the future of the town. The guest speaker will be BBC political correspondent John Hess. All are welcome to attend.

22.   Charity Auction

The Treetops Hospice furniture store in Derby Road, Stapleford, will be holding a charity auction on Saturday, 1 February starting at midday. There are more than 100 items in the auction and all are 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 5th January 2014

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 and wish everyone a very happy new year.

1.       Lydia Ball

May I start this weeks newsletter by congratulating Awsworth Councillor Lydia Ball on being awarded the British Empire Medal in the New Years Honours list. Lydia has represented Awsworth for many years and this award is richly deserved.

2.       Housing Debate

As regular readers will know there has been a significant amount of discussion about housing numbers in Broxtowe over the next 15 years. The council has to develop a plan for the area and has been doing so for the past couple of years. Matters went to a public enquiry in November and the inspector has asked for further details from the council. This will be debated at a special meeting on 13^th January at the Town Hall is Beeston and everyone is welcome to attend and watch. I have written an open letter to all our councillors which you can read on my web site at www.davidwatts.org.uk

3.       Stapleford By Election

There will be a double by election for Stapleford Town Council on 23^rd January for Stapleford North Ward. A Liberal Democrat (Christine Wombwell) and a Labour councillor have stood down, both for family reasons. There are five candidates standing, two Liberal Democrats – Matt Holden and Goff Walt, two Conservatives and one independent candidate. Surprisingly Labour have not fielded a candidate even though they held one of the seats. Locally Labour have been saying that they couldn’t find any candidates hence their absence from the list. The council would have had the option of co-opting members if no-one had called an election and this could have happened here, but the so called independent group went through the process of calling both elections. It was therefore very surprising that they only put up one candidate.

4.       Open Cast Mining

I reported just before Christmas that Notts County Council had given the go ahead for open cast mining at Shortwood Farm between Trowell and Cossall, despite the very strong objection of local residents. Now Eric Pickles, the Secretary of State, has announced that he is considering “calling in” the application. This would mean that he would personally take the decision about whether the scheme could be allowed or not. The media did report a few days ago that he had already decided to do this but these reports were unfortunately premature.

5.       Eastwood police station

Nottinghamshire police have announced that Eastwood police station front counter will be closed until at least April, in an attempt to save money. This will be very disappointing news for local people, although the police will still be operating out of the station and they can be contacted by ringing 101 or 999 in an emergency.

6.       Nottinghamshire search and rescue team

A new volunteer search and rescue team is being launched to cover Nottingham and Nottinghamshire. The aim of the group will be to assist the police in finding missing people. The group has been set up by a retained firefighter from Stapleford, Dunk McCondach, and it is being officially launched in January. The volunteers have been undergoing training in first aid, life-support and navigation, and I’d like to wish them every success in their new venture.

7.       Beeston Square

Work to renovate Beeston Square, a project which is long overdue, will start later this month. Everyone will be delighted that it is happening, but I am personally disappointed at the lack of ambition in the plans put forward by the developers, Henry Boot. I did vote against them when it came to the planning committee, not because I don’t want the square to be developed but because I thought they could do something better than they have put forward.

8.       Car Park Charges

There was a lot of publicity in the media over Christmas about council’s apparently making huge amounts of money out of car parking charges. Here in Broxtowe that isn’t the case. Car Parks cost us about £300,000 each year and we get in about £200,000 from tickets. This means that we still pay about £100,000 towards the costs from general council tax. We have just entered into a new agreement with Gedling and Rushcliffe council’s to share some of the work in administering these and this should lead to more savings.

9.       Garden Bin Charges

The Borough Council’s cabinet on Tuesday will consider whether we need to introduce an annual charge for collecting garden waste. This is a hugely difficult decision as we need to try and find ways of raising extra money, but equally we need to encourage people to recycle and I would rather we did not penalise people for doing that. The matter will be debated on Tuesday evening and I will report the result next week.

10.   School Places

The Government have announced that they will be providing an extra £50 million of funding to Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Council’s to provide extra school places. We have a growing population and this means that we need more school places, so the extra money will be very welcome.

11.   Beeston Railway Station

Network Rail is applying for permission to carry out a significant improvement to Beeston Railway Station.  They want to install better display screens, an improved public address system and wi-fi for commuters. As a regular commuter from the station I welcome all of this.

12.   European elections

later this year we will have the elections for the European Parliament. Most of the polls suggest that new kit will win the majority of seats, but their policies would be a complete disaster for this country. Siemens UK, who have a long history with Broxtowe, are the latest in a number of major firms to suggest that they would pull out of the UK if we were no longer in the European union. I am unashamedly pro-European and will be campaigning hard this year for the Lib Dems. We will be going into this election as the only major party to support the European union. (This doesn’t mean that we don’t think it can be improved, but that doesn’t stop is being supportive of it. I also think that the British Parliament could be improved, but that doesn’t stop me supporting that either.)

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 15th December 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. This week has been a really busy week so may I apologise if you’re waiting for a reply from me, they will be coming shortly.

1.       Open Cast Mining

It’s a shame that we’re having to start this week with two items of very bad news for the borough. The first is that the County Council have voted to allow UK Coal to carry out five years of open cast mining at Shortwood Farm between Trowell and Cossall. This is despite the very strong opposition locally from all three political parties. I’m told that the Labour members on the committee all voted in favour of the scheme as did one of the Conservative members, and as a result the proposal was carried.

2.       Oxylane Sports Village

The second piece of bad news is that the borough council’s Development Control Committee voted against allowing the development of a sports village next to junction 26 of the M1. This was a £30 million development which would have included facilities for a whole range of different sports which residents would have been able to try out for free, together with a new leisure centre for the Borough Council and would have involved improvements to the Nuthall Island and to the roundabout at the motorway junction. The village would have been the first of its kind in the UK and was supported by a whole range of national sports bodies. It would have generated a significant number of new jobs and the sort of facilities that the council could never afford to create.  Unfortunately the Conservatives voted as a block against it and two Labour councillors voted with them. All the Liberal Democrats on the committee were in favour of the scheme. Sadly it looks like the opportunity has now been lost for ever. To say that I am disappointed with both of these stories would be a considerable understatement.

3.       Button Sale

Voluntary group ‘Communities Against Poverty’ will be doing a special sale of buttons on Saturday 25 January 2014 from 10 am to 2 pm at The Wood Gallery, 37 Scargill Walk, Craft Workshops, Eastwood, Nottingham NG16 3AY.  Profits will go towards funding Brinsley Headstocks Festival which takes place on Sunday 7 September 2014. Group members are collecting small glass jars (for example the type used to contain individual jam portions) for the buttons and would be grateful if people could save their unwanted small jars between now and the New Year.    A volunteer can collect jars from you – please contact Angela Smith on 01773 712637.

4.       HS2 Meeting

Strelley Parish Group have decided to have another public meeting about HS2 to try and encourage people to fill in the response forms which were in leaflets available at the HS2 meeting at Bilborough College on November 30th , or they can be downloaded from the internet. The meeting will be open to anyone and will be in the Panelled Room in Strelley Hall on January 11th. 2014 at 2.00p.m.

5.       Borough Council Ward Boundaries

The Boundary Commission recently confirmed that they feel that Broxtowe has the right number of borough councillors at 44. They have however now launched the next stage of their review, which is to determine the size and make up or wards. At the moment we have a mixture of different size wards with either 1, 2 or 3 councillors. The aim when the current size of the council was established about 10 years ago was to ensure that each councillor represented about 2,000 people.  The Commission say that they want to ensure that councillors represent roughly the same number of people, that communities are properly reflected and that boundaries are easily identifiable. The consultation runs until April and if you would like to submit a comment please send them to alison.evison@lgbce.org.uk.

6.       Archaeological Research at Manor Farm recreation Ground, Toton

The Friends of Toton Fields, with the support of Beeston and District Local Historical Society and the Borough Council are submitting an application to the Heritage Lottery Fund to finance some archaeological pits at the site that the old manor house and watermill stood.  If the dig is successful and any interpretation boards are to be displayed then these will be funded by the Borough Council. I hope that this bid is successful and I look forward to seeing the work progress.

7.       Car Par Charges

I’m writing this newsletter two days before the next cabinet meeting of the Borough Council but when that takes place we will be debating a proposal from the Lib-Dem and Labour group to reduce the long stay parking charges at a number of car parks in Eastwood and Beeston. I expect that these proposals will be passed and lower charges will come into effect in the new year.

8.       Kingsbridge Way Short Break Service

I reported on proposals from the County Council to close this vital respite service last week and gave an email address for my colleague Steve Carr, who is co-ordinating the Lib-Dem opposition to the closure. A number of people have contacted me this week to say that the email address didn’t work. Many apologies for this and if you try stevejcarr@hotmail.com it should work.

9.       Beeston Wildlife Group

Beeston Wildlife Group are holding a talk on the 50th Anniversary of Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust by Norman Lewis (MBE) and Tim Sexton tomorrow, 16th December 2013, from 7.30pm - 9.30pm at the Trent Vale Infants School, Trent Road, Beeston Rylands, Nottingham, NG9 1LP. The admission cost is £2 on the door, including light refreshments.

10.   Stapleford New Homes Consultation

Lib-Dem run Stapleford Town Council have organised a public consultation on the borough councils issues and options documents for new housing sites in the borough. This will take place on Friday 20^th December from 6pm to 7pm at the Carnegie Centre, Warren Avenue, Stapleford. All Stapleford residents are welcome to attend and you can register your interest by sending an email to stapleford@yahoo.co.uk.

11.   Train Speeds

Track improvements along the Midland Mainline has meant that trains from Nottingham and Beeston can now get to London faster than ever before. Up to 8 minutes have been shaved off journey times along the route, which is good news. Electrification of the line over the next few years will make the service even faster.

12.   Low Cost Homes

Work has now started on building 26 low cost homes in Beeston and Eastwood on the site of former garages owned by the council. This is the first stage of a £2.5million development to build 100 new homes across the borough, which the council are providing in conjunction with Nottingham Community Housing.

13.   Wedding Make Up Artist

Congratulations to Watnall resident Jennie Hughes who was this week voted Best Wedding Make Up Artist in the East Midlands. She now goes through to the national finals and we wish her every success.

14.   School Numbers

Research published this week suggests that Notts County Council may need to find an extra 2,500 primary school places in the next three years due to rising population figures. As well as an increased birth rate there is greater immigration from outside of the region. We all know that this is a great place to live and it looks like many other people are thinking exactly the same thing.

15.   Shop Graphics

Visitors to Beeston and Stapleford Town Centres may notice some new graphics that we have installed on empty shops. These give a visualisation of how the shops could look if they were in use. This serves two purposes, first it gives potential tenants an idea of how the premises would appear f let, and secondly it helps prevent the town centres looking run down. The council have tried this approach before very successfully, and so we have gone bigger this time to have even more of an impact.

As ever thank you for your support for this newsletter. Any feedback is gratefully received. May I conclude by wishing everyone a very happy Christmas and a very pleasant new year. The next newsletter will be published on 5^th January 2014.

Best wishes

David

www.davidwatts.org.uk

www.broxtoweliberaldemocrats.org.uk

Follow me on Twitter @davidwatts12.

Broxtowe Enews 8th December 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. I hope that everyone survived the winds on Thursday. We lost the fence at the house that we moved into last week!  (Given the disasters that are following me around at the moment may I inform my new neighbours that for a sizeable donation to party funds I will consider moving somewhere else.)

1.       Car Parking

First may I correct a typo in last weeks newsletter and apologise for any problems that this has caused. When I reported that free car parking would be available in the borough’s car parks this December I missed out two important words: “on Saturdays.” I’m really sorry about that, which was simply a case of my fingers not keeping up with my thoughts. The free parking is, as in previous years, on Saturdays only.

2.       Open Cast Mining

The County Council will debate the application by UK Coal to permit open cast mining between Trowell and Cossall next Tuesday. Extremely sadly the County officers have recommended that permission be given, despite the strong opposition of local residents and the borough council. The decision will rest with the councillors and I hope that common sense will prevail with them.

3.       Kimberley War Memorial

A planning application has been submitted to the borough council to renovate Kimberley War Memorial in Main Street. The work includes removing the copper dome and replacing it with a stone dome. When it was built the memorial had a stone dome. A campaign was launched in October by the Town Council in Kimberley to raise the £20,000 needed to do the work. The application can be viewed on the borough councils website at www.broxtowe.gov.uk

4.       Oxylane Sports Village

The application to build a sports village adjacent to junction 26 of the M1, by Oxylane, the owners of the Decathlon Store, will be discussed by the council’s Development Control Committee on Wednesday. I sit on that committee so can’t comment on the scheme in advance of the meeting, but I will provide a full report afterwards.

5.       DVLA

The DVLA office actually lies just into Nottingham, on the business park off Woodhouse Way, which is the A6002 running from Nuthall Island to Stapleford, but it is so close that I thought it was worth including this. The DVLA office will close on 13^th December for the final time, as part of a restructuring of the service.

6.       Bogus Charity Collectors

Once again leaflets have been delivered in the area asking for clothing donations for the air ambulance charity. The Air Ambulance Service has issued a statement to confirm that these are bogus. The leaflets apparently contain a telephone number which is no longer in use and they do not include a charity number. Please do not donate to this collection.

7.       Early Years Education

One of the big wins for the Liberal Democrats in Government is the provision of free early years education for all two year olds. Notts County Council have this week announced they will be in position to deliver this from September 2014 for all 2 year olds in the County.

8.       Foster Carers

Notts County Council have announced that they are seeking to recruit more foster carers, as a way of saving money. The council has a staggering 892 children in care and by recruiting an extra 100 foster carers they can reduce the reliance that hey currently have to place on external fostering agencies. Interest in fostering is increasing and anyone who goes in for it will find it extremely rewarding. The council currently have 290 foster families across the county, plus a further 45 who specialise in fostering disabled children, so to try and recruit a further 100 over the next four years is a big challenge. Fostering can take all sorts of different shapes, from emergency two or three night stays through respite care for struggling families through to long term placements. This is a topic very close to my heart and I would encourage anyone who has a spare room to consider whether they could foster. Details can be found from the County Council web site on www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk

9.       Field Farm/Toton

Readers of the newsletter issued by our MP this week will have read that Broxtowe Borough Council and Nottinghamshire County Council have been involved in “secret” negotiations with Westermans Developers, who want to build at Field Farm in Stapleford. Nothing could be further from the truth. The process of agreeing what resources the developers will be expected to provide for the local area is commonplace for developments, it was fully explained in the report to the Development Control Committee when the planning application was debated and it is actually published on the website. Hardly secret at all. I full accept that the issue of building generates strong emotions but I really wish that politicians would actually provide the facts and not fantasy. I hear that a meeting in Toton yesterday was told that the council wanted to build from Toton right up to Junction 26. Again this is completely untrue.  

One of the regular items of feedback I receive from the newsletter is that people prefer it when we don’t criticise other politicians, and I do take that on board. However when the public are being misled so badly it is important that errors are highlighted.

10.   Kingsbridge Way Short Break Service

The Kingsbridge Way Short Break Service on the border of Bramcote and Chilwell provides respite care for carers of disabled adults. It is a vital service for many people and yet sadly the County Council are proposing to close it to save £500,000. I fully appreciate that the council needs to save money but this is an absolutely vital service for carers and to cut it would be totally the wrong decision. It could also backfire in terms of costs because if carers are not able to get respite then they may feel that they can no longer cope with providing care, leading to greater demand for residential places which are far more expensive. The Lib-Dems were out collecting signatures for a petition against this closure on Saturday and thank you to everyone who signed the petition. If you would like to add your name to it, or even better if you would like to collect some extra signatures, please contact my colleague Steve Carr on steve.carr@broxtoweliberaldemocrats.org.uk

11.   Manor Farm Recreation Ground

Yesterday a new children’s play area costing £100,000 was unveiled at Manor Farm Recreation Ground in Toton. The old area had become dated and I’m delighted that the council were able to obtain funds to replace it. The park is available for anyone to use and I’ll make sure to take the Watts children to test drive it sometime soon.

12.   Christmas Tree Recycling

Christmas isn’t even hear yet but if you’re having a proper tree please spend a moment thinking about how you will dispose of it afterwards. If you take your tree to the waste recycling centre in Beeston, or any of the other sites operated by Veolia on behalf of the County Council, during January, they will make a donation to the Rainbows Children’s Hospice (£100 for every 50 tonnes received).

13.   Chamber of Commerce

The Notts and Derbyshire Chamber of Commerce, which represents businesses across the two countries, is to merge with its equivalent service in Leicestershire to try and ensure that the region has a bigger voice. The Chamber of Commerce does play a very important role supporting businesses of all sizes and I wish them success with this venture.

14.   HS2 Opposition

Rushcliffe Borough Council, whilst backing the HS2 scheme, has come out against Toton as the site for development and has called for the station to be at East Midlands Parkway instead. It’s probably no surprise that Rushcliffe is promoting a station within its own boundaries, but the exhibition by HS2 recently seemed to make it clear that East Midlands Parkway was a non-starter.

15.   Recycling Promotion

The Borough Council’s recycling team have just started a series of promotional events to increase people’s awareness of what they can recycle. The first was in Stapleford last week, and there will be further events at Sainsbury’s in Kimberley and in Eastwood Library, both on Tuesday between 10am and 2pm. Everyone is welcome to attend.

16.   Newmanleys Road, Eastwood

The Beamlight Automotive Seating factory on Newmanleys Road in Eastwood, which closed in 2012, has been purchased by a redevelopment company who are likely to apply for planning permission to convert the site into a new housing estate. I haven’t seen the details of the scheme yet but in general I welcome schemes like this as every house built n a brownfield site is one less that needs to be built on the green belt.

17.   Kimberley Methodist Chapel

A planning application has been submitted to the borough council to convert the disused Methodist Chapel in Kimberley into a funeral parlour. Two floors of the building are currently empty with one floor used for residential accommodation.

In concluding this week’s newsletter may I add my own personal tribute to Nelson Mandela. As a child growing up in Africa in the 1970’s we were aware that there was something very wrong to the south of us, and as I got older I became more and more aware of the evil that was apartheid. I suspect that it was the sheer unfairness of this system rather than anything else that got me interested in politics. I have always been driven by a passionate belief in fairness and justice and South Africa epitomised everything that I was against. I campaigned for the freedom of Mandela in the 1980’s and 1990’s after I’d returned to live in the UK, but I never believed for one moment that South Africa could transform to a black-run country without a violent civil war. That this was avoided is entirely down to Mr Mandela and the message of forgiveness that he brought out of prison with him. I doubt that during my lifetime there will be anyone else who leaves such a profoundly good mark on the world.

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 1st December 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. First may I thank everyone for your messages of support and offers of help after our house flooded a few days ago. I have been deeply moved by the kindness and generosity of people. We have had to move out of our house for the next few months whilst drying out and building work takes place, and so we have moved to a property on Seven Oaks Crescent in Bramcote. Second may I apologise that there was no newsletter last week. With everything that was going on we decided to have a few days away last weekend.

1.       Free Car Parking

From now until Christmas the borough council car parks will be available free of charge. Every year since car park charges were introduced we have provided free parking in December and I am delighted that we have been able to do this again this year.

2.       Travelright

TravelRight is a new sustainable travel programme funded by the Borough and County Councils (amongst others) and run by the charity Ridewise. It aims to provide information to people throughout the borough in making active travel choices, including walking, cycling, public transport and car share options, all to make peoples journeys quicker, cheaper and easier. When I took over chairing the council’s Climate Change Working Group this was one of a number of initiatives I asked us to look into and I’m delighted that it is now happening. You can access information about this on their website at www.travelright.org.uk. They also have a prize survey on their about travel patterns in Broxtowe.

3.       Framework

It was very disappointing to hear this week that Framework, the Nottinghamshire Homeless Charity, are contemplating closing all of their hostels due to the cuts imposed on them by the County Council. This is extremely worrying and we are actively exploring how we can take steps to help them and to put pressure on the County Council to reverse this decision.

4.       Waste Collections Calendars

When the waste collection calendars were delivered this year they included a letter to say that this would be the last year that they were delivered. This was not what was agreed by the Liberal Democrats on the council and we are not willing to accept it. Until the whole council decides otherwise then we will ensure that calendars continue to be distributed to all houses.

5.       Parking Outside Kimberley School

Many apologies that there was a typo in the email address for comments on the parking proposals for Kimberley School in the last newsletter. The correct address is TMconsultation@nottscc.gov.uk. Many thanks to a sharp eyed reader for spotting this.

6.       Emergency Gas Repairs

Emergency gas repairs are currently being carried out on Main Street in Newthorpe. As a result the road will be closed until Wednesday at least.

7.       Ambulance Response Times

It was disappointing to read again this week that East Midlands Ambulance Service have missed their targets for responding to emergencies. This is the fourth month in a row that they have failed to hit their targets. There is a new senior management team in place at the ambulance service so I hope that they can get to grips with the problems soon. They have this week produced an action plan os steps that they are proposing to take so I wish them success in this.

8.       Improvements to Sports Centre

The council have been able to finance improvements at Bramcote, Chilwell and Kimberley Sports Centres. In Bramcote and Kimberley new fitness equipment is being provided at a cost of £230,000, whilst at Chilwell a further five a side pitch is being developed at a cost of £91,000. The current pitches are well used and have a waiting list so an extra pitch will be very welcome.

9.       Review of Polling Places

The council have recently been reviewing polling station locations for the borough. On the whole the view is that polling stations are in the best locations, but a few are proposed. I am unhappy about a couple of these and these have been sent back to be further considered.  The major change agreed is that the polling station in Chilwell which has been in Wyndham Court, which is no longer available, will move instead to Alderman Pounder School. In general we would prefer not to have polling stations in schools but there are no other suitable buildings that we have been able to identify in the vicinity. Another change in Chilwell is that the polling station at Greenwood Court is affected by the tram works. The working group looking at this had suggested that this should move to the Masonic Lodge, but I have asked for this to be considered further.

10.   Chilwell Road Exceptional Hardship Fund

The Borough Council has agreed to administer a fund to provide support for traders on Chilwell Road who are affected by the ongoing tram works. The closure of Chilwell Road to traffic is now expected to carry on until April next year and so a hardship fund is being provided, funded jointly by the City and County Councils. However I am delighted that the borough council are administering the scheme so that it can be dealt with close to the area.

11.   Recycling Centre Hours

The recycling centre in Beeston will be operating on shorter hours over the winter period. It will now be open between 8am and 4pm.

12.   Tree Planting in Bramcote Park

Children from Bramcote Hills Primary School (including my daughter) this week planted 15 new trees in Bramcote Park as part of National Tree Week. The £30,000 cost of this and other improvements to the park were funded by the County Council and the Borough Council.

13.   Flower Arranging

A demonstration of Christmas Flower Arranging will take place at Trowell Parish Hall on Friday 6^th December in aid of Treetops Hospice and The Helpful Bureau in Stapleford. There will be mulled wine and mince pies at 2pm and the demonstration starts at 2.15pm. Tickets cost £7.50 and are obtainable on 0115 917 3210.

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.