Broxtowe Enews 25th February 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. May I give a special welcome to the new readers that we have this week. We now have a record number of readers, having just passed another significant milestone in the volume of subscribers we have.

1. Chilwell and Toton By Election

Thank you to everyone for the reception that you have given Barbara Carr, myself and our team as we have been campaigning for the County and Borough Council by elections on 15^th March. We’re delighted with the reception that we have received. I’m not sure how the Tories are finding things as I see that they have decided to attack me personally in their latest leaflet, questioning my integrity and judgement. What a shame that their campaign has leapt straight into the gutter.

2. Dog Mess

One thing that struck Barbara and I as we’ve been campaigning is the sheer amount of dog mess that we’ve seen on some streets. We therefore raised this with the borough council and I’m delighted that they have agreed to take urgent action. A visual inspection has been carried out to identify the worst streets and new signage has been erected encouraging people to clear up any mess that their dogs make. An intensive clean up of the roads will be carried out in the next few weeks. The worst streets appear to be Inham Road, Valley Road and Wheatgrass Road in Chilwell, and Seaburn Road, Bispham Drive and Whitburn Road in Toton, but please let me know if you think that there are other roads that need adding to that list.

3. Mayors Charity Ball

The Mayors charity ball will take place on 21^st April from 7pm, and Funds raised will go towards the Mayors chosen charities, the Rainbows Hospice and the Link Youth Café. Tickets cost £32 and are available from the Borough Council on 0115 917 3210 or on this link: http://www.broxtowe.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=9892. The Mayor this year is my Lib-Dem colleague Jacky Williams who represents Stapleford South East. Incidentally, I saw an appeal this week from the Link café that they were looking for new volunteers. If you are interested please visit linkyouthcafe@live.co.uk .

4. Beeston Seed Swap

I have been asked to publicise the Beeston Seed Swap, organised by ABC LETS. It takes place on Saturday 3rd March, at Wollaton Rd Methodist Church, Wollaton Road, Beeston, from 9.30-12.30. Entrance is free, with seeds, gardening books and sundries also free. Donations of the same are welcome. The Church coffee shop will be open throughout. For more information contact Mary Venning (0115) 854 2994 or Richard Eddleston: riedd@btopenworld.com or see www.abclets.org.uk.

5. Council Budgets

The County Council set their budget on Thursday last week, following a mammoth 11 hour meeting. They have decided not to raise council tax this year, and a proposal by Labour to increase council tax by 3% was defeated. The budget does include cuts of £37 million to services. This Wednesday the Borough Council will meet to discuss our proposals for next year, and the joint Lib-Dem/Labour administration are proposing no increase in council tax for the second year running. In contrast to the County Council, the Borough Council proposals protect front line services throughout.

6. Toton Housing Proposals

Somewhere between 450 and 600 people attended a display at the Japanese Water Gardens on Tuesday this week when Peverill Securities displayed their proposals for building in Toton. I spoke to one of the PR people there who said that they had received some positive responses, but the overwhelming view of people when I was there was extremely negative. Anna Soubry failed to attend, although she had said that she would be there, but one Tory councillor was there telling people I was personally wholly in favour of the scheme, which is simply not the truth.

7. Beeston Library

Beeston Library has now reopened after a major refit. The children’s library is now downstairs and there is new lighting throughout the building.

8. Basil Russell Park, Nuthall

The Basil Russell Park in Nuthall has reopened after a £60,000 facelift. A significant amount of new play equipment has been installed for children, funded by the county council.

That’s it for this week. It must be the shortest edition of the newsletter for months, but there just doesn’t seem to be much to report this week. As ever thank you for your support for this newsletter, and any feedback is gratefully received. You can send feedback via emails, the web, or Facebook. All the details are below.

Best wishes

David

www.broxtoweliberaldemocrats.org.uk

www.davidwatts.org.uk

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Broxtowe Enews 18th February 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. May I give a special welcome to the new readers that we have this week.

1. Toton and Chilwell By Elections

Nominations are now closed for the by elections in Toton and Chilwell, for the Borough and County Councils. The full list of nominations will be published on Tuesday, but I know that we and the Conservatives are fighting both seats, as are UKIP. I haven’t heard about the Greens yet, but the big news is that the Labour Party have confirmed that they were unable to find a candidate for the County Council seat.

2. Lorry Weight Schemes

Residents in Greasley and Nuthall have joined the Lorry Watch scheme, which sees volunteers reporting any HGVs exceeding weight restrictions. The scheme is run by Nottinghamshire County Council, who say that the scheme had already had a positive impact in several villages. Drivers found to be breaching restrictions could face prosecution. Under the scheme, volunteers feed information to trading standards officers who then investigate the reports with the Vehicle Operating Standards Agency. The volunteers are given basic training by the council on weight restrictions in their area and are taught how to spot lorries which exceed the limit. A 7.5 tonne weight restriction applies to Nuthall, Greasley and Kimberley.

3. Jamaican Challenge

Staff at Marie Curie Cancer Care in Kimberley are calling on people to sign up to this year’s Jamaican Cycle Challenge. Fitness icon Mr Motivator will lead a group of cyclists in September, on the route from east to west along the island’s northern shore, exploring the Caribbean culture. The eight day challenge, which involves five days cycling, will cover a distance of 380km in total. Visit www.mariecurie.org.uk/overseas or call 08700 340 040 for full details.

4. Sports Village Consultation

The owners of the Decathlon store on the Ikea Retail Park are about to apply for planning permission to build a sports village alongside junction 26 of the M1. Before they do they have holding an exhibition at the store to demonstrate their plans. This has now closed and I expect them to submit the plans very shortly. As soon as the plans are submitted I will notify people using the newsletter as it is bound to be a controversial project.

5. Toton Housing Meeting

Peverill Properties, who are wanting to build 800 houses in Toton, will be holding a public exhibition of their plans at the Japanese Water Gardens on Stapleford Lane on Tuesday 21^st February from 2pm to 8pm. Anyone interested is welcome to attend. Peverill have also delivered leaflets around the Toton area advertising their proposals, and they have a website with details at http://www.totonproposals.co.uk/. Incidentally, I read claims by our MP last week that she had sent a copy of a letter from Greg Clark MP, Minister of State, to every councillor. Ten days on I’m still waiting to receive my copy.

6. Prayers at Council Meetings

There has been a lot of discussion in the last few days after the High Court ruled that prayers at council meetings were illegal (not because of any human rights issues, as has been suggested in some quarters, but because of a very literal interpretation of a piece of legislation). Whilst the Government have said that they will bring forward legislation to change the ruling we have in the meantime decided that we will commence council meetings five minutes earlier and hold the prayers then, followed by a formal announcement of the commencement of meetings at 7pm as usual.

7. Tory’s Using Lib-Dem Slogans

I was very surprised to read a Conservative leaflet for the by elections that declared they offered “A Record of Action, a Promise of More.” This is a slogan that the Lib-Dems have used for many years, which our local Tories seem to have pinched. May I mention to them though that actually it’s not the words that are important, it’s the actions.

8. New deliverers

Many thanks to those people who have come forward to volunteer to deliver leaflets for us in the forthcoming elections. We’ve had a record number of new deliverers, but are always grateful to receive any other offers. If you would like to help either email me or visit our website at www.broxtoweliberaldemocrats.org.uk.

9. Wilkinsons Petition

A petition calling for action to ensure that Wilkinsons can return to Beeston as soon as possible is to be presented to the next meeting of the full council on 29^th February. I assume that this is the one organised by Matt Goode, who edits the Beestonia Blog. It has collected more than 1,000 signatures and therefore automatically triggers a debate at the council.

10. Courses For Young Swimmers

Youngsters aged between 6 and 15 are invited to participate in a new range of swimming courses at Bramcote Leisure Centre, starting on 20^th February. If they take a friend they will get an 11 week course for the price of a six week one. Details are available on 0115 917 3000.

11. Award For Council Website

Broxtowe Borough Councils website has won a “Plus Accessibility award from the Shaw Trust, the fund which campaigns to ensure that web sites are accessible to people with disabilities. Broxtowe are the first council in the county to gain this accreditation.

12. New Anti-Violence Campaign

The Nottingham Post have launched a new campaign targeting violence against women. They are asking 10,000 men in the county to sign a pledge that they will not commit, condone or remain silent about violence towards women. Broxtowe Borough Council is supporting the scheme and I’ve signed the pledge. If you would like to do so as well then you can visit the website at www.man-enough.org.

13. Kimberley School

Governors at Kimberley School have decided not to apply for academy status for the school. They have been debating whether to do so for some time, but decided last week not to proceed with an application. Academy Schools are self-governing, removed from local authority control and answerable solely to the Government and parents.

14. Budget Shortfall at County Hall

New figures released by the County Council show that they have a shortfall in their budgets of £100 million. This is despite the massive cuts that they have already imposed on services. Worryingly the council may well now impose further cuts rather than finding efficiency savings. In Broxtowe we have also had to cut our budgets, but have done this without cutting services. We’ve got more efficient at what we do. The County Council seems to have struggled to follow this lead.

15. Changed Dates For CAT Meetings

Broxtowe Borough Council have announced that the dates of two CAT meetings have changed. CAT meetings are chances for local residents to raise any issues that they wish, and are chaired by local councillors. The Nuthall West CAT will now take place on 29^th March, 7.30pm at The Spinney, Watnall road, Nuthall, and the Brinsley CAT will be on 23^rd February at 7pm at Brinsley Parish Hall.

16. Garden Waste Collections

Just a quick reminder that the council will resume garden waste collections next month following the winter break. Now that the snow has gone many people are getting back out to tackle their gardens, and the waste collected is all counted in the total amounts that the council recycles.

17. Super fast Broadband

The County Council have now submitted their plans to the Government for a super fast broadband network in Notts. This is clearly a good idea but the scheme has been beset by difficulties with funding so far, after the County asked the district councils to pay a very significant amount of the cost, spending resources that we simply did not have.

As ever thank you for your support for this newsletter, and any feedback is gratefully received.

Best wishes

David

www.broxtoweliberaldemocrats.org.uk

www.davidwatts.org.uk

Follow me on Twitter at @DavidWatts12.

Visit our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Broxtowe-Liberal-Democrats/78471665107

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Broxtowe Enews 11th February 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. It’s been a very eventful week this week, so I’ll try and cover everything briefly. Whilst things have been busy locally I was also delighted to see the Lib-Dems win two seats from the Tories in Towcester and also held a seat in Windermere with 75% of the vote. It’s been a good week for us. May I also take the opportunity to wish my Grandad a happy 91^st birthday today.

1. Borough Council Leader

Milan Radulovic has stepped down as the leader of Broxtowe Borough Council. Milan is currently facing a criminal trial over an allegation of fraud, and has not been in good health recently. As a result he has stepped aside until everything is sorted out. The new leader will be Beeston Central councillor Pat Lally.

2. Beeston Hindu Temple

A public meeting last week where plan were being displayed for opening a new Hindu Temple in Beeson Rylands was disrupted by racists, and since then the Temple has been the subject of a number of vandalism attacks. Matt Goode, who edits the Beestonia Blog, has suggested a really good response to this by sending welcome cards to the temple. The whole story is available on the Beestonia blog at http://beestonia.wordpress.com/2012/02/06/beeston-reichlands-nein-danke/ and I think that this is an excellent idea which I’m delighted to pass on.

3. Toton By Election

I’m delighted to announce that my running mate for the borough council by election in Toton will be Barbara Carr. Barbara was formerly a borough councillor and will be an excellent candidate. We have lots of leaflets to deliver so if you can help please drop me a line. Even an hour donated will make a big difference.

4. Toton Green Belt Development

Although the Borough Council have deleted it as a preferred location for development, the developers wanting to building on the green belt north of Toton are proceeding with their plans. They will be holding an exhibition of their plans on Tuesday 21^st February at the Japanese Water Gardens from 2pm until 8pm. This exhibition is a result of new legislation brought in by the coalition, which requires developers proposing major schemes to consult with the public first. The council cannot stop developers applying for planning permission (anyone can apply for permission to build anything that they want) but this does not mean that permission will be granted. The site is no longer a preferred site for development and as a result I don’t think that they have any chance of getting permission, but they must be planning to appeal after we refuse permission and try and persuade an inspector to grant permission over the head of the local councillors.

5. Solar Power Consultation

The Government, through new Secretary of State for the Environment Ed Davey, has announced a public consultation on feed in tariffs for solar power. A copy of the consultation is available on our website at www.broxtoweliberaldemocrats.org.uk. Please take a minute to read this and submit your views.

6. Enterprise Zone

I’ve been involved in discussions, along with Pat Lally, about plans for the Beeston Enterprise Zone for the past few weeks. These have now been made public, and the exciting thing is that the plans envisage some 4,000 new jobs being created, along with the development of a new college and a centre of excellence for beauty products. Boots, who own the site, are also talking about developing an area for housing which could create several hundred new homes, and would help to take the pressure off other sites.

7. Rumbletums Vacancy

Rumbletums café in Kimberley is seeking its first paid manager, to be responsible for the effective management of an established community café which offers work experience opportunities to young people with learning disabilities. The role will entail all aspects of café and kitchen management in order to maintain already established high standards and quality and to further develop the café to realise its full potential. The role will be primarily a management role, but we are seeking someone with experience as a chef/cook and who can be hands-on when appropriate. Please send letter of application and CV to Rumbletums (Kimberley) Ltd, 2a Victoria Street, Kimberley, Nottingham, NG16 1DX, marking the envelope ’Job Application.’ The closing date for applications is Friday 24th February 2012. The café hasn’t been trading long and it is great achievement to have reached this point already.

8. Protecting Hedgehogs

The County Council has launched a new initiative asking people to make their gardens hedgehog friendly. They are asking people to leave a pile of decomposing leaves in one corner of their gardens, as this forms perfect bedding for hedgehogs.

9. School Holiday Consultation

Nottinghamshire County Council is consulting upon proposals to agree the school term dates and holiday pattern for the school year 2012-13 for community and voluntary controlled schools. They are inviting comments on the suggested dates until the close of the consultation period on Friday 15 April 2012. For further details of the consultation and how to respond, please visit the Council's website at http://www3.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/thecouncil/democracy/consultation/current-consultations/school-terms/.

10. County Council Pension Fund

There was an interesting story in the paper this week, especially in light of the frequent and repeatedly false claims from the Tories over the council’s alleged plans to build on the green belt. The pension fund of the Tory run County Council has purchased a large swathe of green belt land in Essex, for several million pounds, causing great fears there that they want to build on the green belt. Essex County Council are apparently up in arms about it.

11. Beeston Soldiers 2012 mile run

A Beeston based soldier, Gavin Brown, is running 2,012 miles this year to raise funds for the British Limbless Ex-Service Men’s Association. If you would like to donate you can ring to pledge support on www.bemycharity.com/gavindbrown2012 or ring on 01923 955467.

12. Money for Good Causes

The Co-Op have announced that they have £55,000 to spend on good causes is Nottinghamshire. If you know a group who may want to apply for a grant please make them aware of this and ask them to contact the Co-Op for further details.

13. Barn Owl Adoption Gift

If you want to buy your loved one a different type of gift for Valentine’s Day who not adopt a barn owl on their behalf. If you sponsor a barn owl through the Wildlife Trust you receive a special gift box, cuddly barn owl toy, special Valentine's card and envelope, Valentine's badge, adoption certificate, fun pop-up figure and more. The cost is £20 and you can purchase them from Attenborough Visitors Centre.

14. DH Lawrence Heritage on Facebook

2012 promised to be a busy and exciting year for D.H. Lawrence Heritage. For the latest information on what's happening be sure to join their Facebook page -http://www.facebook.com/dhlawrenceheritage

Recent updates have included:

· The installation of a unique soil painting of D.H. Lawrence at the D.H. Lawrence Heritage Centre,

· Details of the upcoming episode of BBC's Antiques Road Trip to be screened on the 17th February (5.15pm) filmed at the D.H. Lawrence Birthplace Museum

· Plus details of our extensive 2012 events and exhibition programme with more details to follow soon

15. Margaret Colley Memorial Service

A memorial service for former Bramcote GP Margaret Colley, who died late last year, will be at Bramcote church on Saturday 3rd of March 2012 at 3:30 PM. It will be followed by a Memorial event in the church centre on church Street, Bramcote. The Memorial event will have representation from the various interests in my mother's life. The Bramcote history society will be having an exhibition. There will also be stands from the RNLI, the RNIB ,the Cambrian archaeological Society, the Nottingham Welsh society, the Aberystwyth old students Association and a few others as well. All her old patients and friends are invited to the event.

16. Nuthall Temple Post Office

The Post Office wrote to the council this week to say that they have been unable to find a new post master to take over this post office, which has now been shut for a year. They are continuing to look but I’m afraid that the tone of the letter was fairly pessimistic.

I think that concludes the news for this week. I’m aware that I’m behind with my correspondence and that there are several people who are waiting for replies to messages from last week. Sorry about that and I will try and reply to everyone by the end of this week.

As ever thank you for your support for this newsletter, and any feedback is gratefully received.

Best wishes

David

www.broxtoweliberaldemocrats.org.uk

www.davidwatts.org.uk

Follow me on Twitter at @DavidWatts12.

Visit our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Broxtowe-Liberal-Democrats/78471665107

Email me at davidwatts@broxtoweliberaldemocrats.org.uk

Broxtowe Enews 4th February 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. May I give a special welcome to the new readers that we have this week.

Before moving on to the news may I express my condolences to the family and friends of Nottingham Forest owner Nigel Doughty who died suddenly today.

1. Council Tax

Papers published by the borough council today show that Broxtowe are not proposing to increase council tax for the forthcoming year. This represents a significant victory for the Liberal Democrats who had been pressing for this approach. This will need to be approved by the cabinet on 13^th February and then by the full council on 29^th, but I hope that everyone will support it.

2. By elections

Both the Chilwell and Toton County Council seat and the Toton and Chilwell Meadows borough council seats will be contested on 15^th March. I’m pleased to announce that I will be the Lib-Dem candidate for the County Council seat, and we’ll announce our candidate for the borough council next week. If you live in either of the areas and want a postal vote you need to register by 29^th February. If you need a postal vote let me know with your name and address and I’ll let you have a copy of the application form. To be able to stand I need to be nominated by ten local residents and I thought it would be nice to ask readers from this newsletter if they would do the honours. If you live in Chilwell or Toton and would be happy to nominate me to stand please let me know and I’ll be round with the form. Given that the Lib-Dems won seats from the Tories and Labour this week I’m looking forward to the election.

3. Next Tram Works

The tram will be demolishing properties on Chilwell Road starting on 13th February. Utility works start on Chilwell Road in mid-April. The good news is that it looks like the spaces created will be used as car parks rather than site compounds. Utility works in the Fletcher Road, Humber Road and Lower Road areas also start on 13th February. Utility works on Bramcote Lane start on 20th February.

4. Stapleford Job Club

A new programme of meetings for Stapleford Job Club commences on 15th February. It meets from 1.30pm to 4pm at the Carnegie Centre on Warren Avenue. For details contact Richard Mayer on 0115 9178080 or email richardm1@vcb.org.uk.

5. Hickings Lane Recreation Park

At the cabinet meeting this week the council approved plans to install a new skateboard park at Hickings Lane rec in Stapleford. This has been designed in conjunction with young users and my congratulations go to everyone involved in this scheme, which was put together by my colleagues Brian Wombwell and David Grindell.

6. Long Stay parking

Also in cabinet on Tuesday night the council agreed to reduce charges for long stay parking in Stapleford, Kimberley and Eastwood. The council is still reviewing what changes they will be making in Beeston.

7. Lets Beat Obesity Campaign

Slimming World in Chilwell will be holding their lets beat obesity together campaign launch party on 16th February, at 7pm at the St Barnabas Church, Barncroft Chilwell, NG9 4HU. There is no obligation for people to join, just merely to come and learn more. For details ring Kerry Hughes on 07870 409422.

8. Telephone Number Correction

A couple of weeks ago I included details of a phone advice line for benefits advice for pensioners, run by Age UK. Unfortunately the phone number was incorrect. Apologies for this, and the correct number should have been 0115 844 0011.

9. Rumbletums Arts Project

Rumbletums is developing its partnership with Space Inclusive and they are currently looking at the feasibility of starting some joint arts-based activities for young people and adults (18+) with a learning disability. These will most probably be delivered at Rumbletums in Kimberley. Because of the need to make such activities commercially viable, they are targeting young people and adults who currently have a personal budget that they may choose to fund their participation in such activities with. In order to assess demand and get an idea of the types of activities people may want to do, Space Inclusive has put together a short questionnaire. They are now distributing this to interested parties and potential participants to get their views. If you would like a copy please contact Jeff at Rumbletums via jeff.buck2768@btinternet.com. Rumbletums have also been awarded £2,000 as a grant from Eon, which will help support their work.

10. Community Theatre Group

A new community theatre group has been set up in Chilwell. Chilwell Community Arts Society is looking for new recruits and meets on a Wednesday night at Chilwell school from 7.30 to 9.30pm. Details are available from www.chilwellcats.co.uk.

11. Severn Trent Water

Severn Trent water will be putting their bills up from 1^st April by 5%. This is actually less than the average rise across the country, but is still disappointing news for customers.

12. Rural Bike Rides

A PROGRAMME of rural bike rides has been launched at Giltbrook Retail Park. Organised by Broxtowe Borough Council, Rural Rides will take place twice a month on Saturdays and Tuesdays and will leave from the retail park’s Pets at Home store. Rural Rides is a programme of guided scenic cycle rides on quiet lanes and off-road routes. There are frequent stops to take in points of interest and admire the views. Each guided cycle ride is free with no need to book, although under 16s must be supervised by an adult. High-visibility comfortable clothing, trainers, a cycling helmet and a drink are recommended. The next bike ride will leave on Tuesday February 14 at 10am. For information on future rides visit www.broxtowe.gov.uk/wow.

13. School Governors

Notts County Council are trying to recruit more governors for local schools. Apparently there are 58 vacancies across Broxtowe at the moment, so there are probably vacancies near you. A governor’s role includes monitoring budgets, appointing senior staff, including head teachers and making decisions on the future of the school. I’m a governor at my local school and find it very rewarding, so this is something I would heartily commend to people. Anybody interested should call 0115 8546054.

14. The Snow

As I’m writing this snow is falling heavily. My kids think that this is great, but despite the fact that everyone had been warned to expect this all buses through Beeston were withdrawn because of the weather at about 8.30pm. Given that the County Council have been telling us for months that they have plenty of salt supplies to keep the roads open through the winter this is a pretty poor start.

15. Emergency Response Times

It was very disappointing to see two separate reports this week showing that both Notts Police and the NHS Ambulance Trust have fallen short of their targets for responding to emergency calls. The police say that they believe the figures are wrong but I’ve not seen any explanation from the ambulance service.

As ever thank you for your support for this newsletter, and any feedback is gratefully received.

Best wishes

David

www.broxtoweliberaldemocrats.org.uk

www.davidwatts.org.uk

Follow me on Twitter at @DavidWatts12.

Visit our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Broxtowe-Liberal-Democrats/78471665107

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Broxtowe Enews 21st January 2011

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.

It’s been a busy week this week. On Wednesday I attended a reception with Norman Baker, the Under-Secretary of State for Transport, to mark the launch of NET Line 2. I had a chat there with the chairman of Tramlink, who are building Line 2, and have invited them to open an office in the Broxtowe Council building in Beeston, so that local residents have a contact poimnt for any concerns. The next day I was in London to meet with the Deputy Prime Minister, discussing a range of issues relevant to local government, and then had a session with Andrew Stunnell, a Minister at the Department of Communities and Local Government. It is this department that produces the planning rules that are causing so much of a problem for Broxtowe, and was there to lobby him for changes. Effectively I was doing what our MP should have been doing, but she has decided that it’s more fun to attack the council instead.

1. Beeston Town Square

There was an interesting interview with Henry Boot plc in the Nottingham Post this week. Henry Boot is the company who own the lease to Beeston Square. They were blaming years of indecision over the tram for the delays in redeveloping the square, but say that they are now committed to pressing forward. I don’t accept this fully as Henry Boot themselves have caused significant delays, but it does show how the delays around the tram have already had a knock on effect.

2. Tram works

Tramlink have now started to take possession of the properties in Beeston which they need to demolish to make way for the tram. Fifteen properties have so far been compulsorily purchased, and more will be needed over the next few weeks. After the years of delay things are now rushing ahead. Trees are also being cleared, and these need to be done now before the bird nesting season starts.

3. East Midlands Trains

East Midlands trains, who run through Beeston station, have a 92.5% punctuality rate, according to Network Rail. This is above the national average which is 91.6%. Well done to them but I hope that they will continue to press to achieve closer to 100%.

4. Broxtowe Youth Mayor

There is a really interesting piece in yesterday’s Nottingham Post by Tilly Stone, the Broxtowe Youth Mayor, about her work. This can be accessed here:

http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/Today-s-teenagers-doing-bit-society-s-future/story-14984604-detail/story.html

5. Notts County Council

The County Council have decided to scrap their cabinet, and return to a system where decisions are made by a number of different committees. This was the way that councils used to work but the Labour Government of Tony Blair insisted that this system was scrapped. The coalition Government have relaxed this ban and said that councils can choose the method of operation which is best for them, and the County Council are one of the first in the country to change back. In Broxtowe the current system seems to work relatively well and we have no current plans to change.

6. Pensioners Electricity Bills

Age UK Nottingham and Notts have launched a new partnership with Eon to help pensioners claim fuel rebates that they are entitled to. Pensioners can often claim a £120 rebate on their fuel bills, and the new partnership is aimed to help them do this. Anyone who may benefit from this is invited to ring 0115 993 9982 for more details.

7. Road gritting

The County Council have issued a statement this week confirming that they are ready for any drop in temperatures, and the situation that was faced last year where they ran out of salt is unlikely to be repeated. So far this winter gritters have been out 31 times, compared with 72 times by this point last year.

8. Armed Forces Community Covenant

Broxtowe Borough Council has signed a community covenant with the armed forces, creating closer links between the borough and the military. I was present at the signing ceremony, which was presided over by our mayor, Lib-Dem councillor Jacky Williams. Part of this commitment will be making sure that proper provision is made for ex-service personnel within the borough. This is a very important step for the borough and it was very disappointing that not a single Conservative Councillor attended the ceremony.

9. Barncroft Day Services Centre

Work has started to refurbish the Barncroft Day Services Centre in Chillwell. This project, which is being carried out by the County Council, is costing approximately £800,000 and work will be finished by the summer. The centre is used each week by about 180 local residents, and this will increase after the work has finished.

10. Early Blooming Flowers

The County Council are asking for copies of photos flowers appearing in parks across the County because of the recent mild weather. Pictures should be submitted via the council’s Facebook site at facebook.com/Nottinghamshire.

11. Free swimming

The borough council have now confirmed that they will be offering free swimming again next summer to children aged under 16, throughout the summer holidays.

12. A453 Roadworks

The A453 will be closed overnight from tomorrow for four weeks. As a result traffic is likely to divert along the A52 instead, so drivers need to be ready for a significantly larger amount of night time traffic.

13. Eastwood Youth Centre

The new youth centre in Eastwood, which opened in September, is being credited with helping to reduce crime in the town. Crime in Eastwood has dropped by 20% overall, and the £2million spent on the youth centre will be seen as a very good investment if this continues.

14. Beeston Library

Beeston library has closed for four weeks for refurbishment. It is expected to reopen on 13^th February. The County Council says that a number of essential repairs are needed, and they are taking the opportunity to make some improvements as well.

As ever thank you for your support for this newsletter. Any feedback will be very gratefully received.

Best wishes

David

Broxtowe Enews 7th January 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. A special welcome to the new readers who signed up over the holiday and may I wish all our readers a very happy new year and I hope everyone had the opportunity of a good break over Christmas. Sadly I received yet more proof that I’m getting old, as the optician has dictated that I start wearing reading glasses! Apparently my argument that my arms just needed stretching a bit wasn’t persuasive!

1. Cllr Tom Pettengell

One piece of very sad news from over the Christmas holidays was that Cllr Tom Pettengell, who represented Toton on the County Council and who was for many years the borough councillor for Attenborough, passed away over the Christmas holidays. Tom was someone who had friends across the political spectrum and he will be sadly missed.

2. Field Farm Meeting

STRAG, the Stapleford and Trowell Residents Action Group, have organised a meeting next week for local residents to discuss the planning application for Field Farm. It will take place at The Jaguar Pub, Hickings Lane, Stapleford on Saturday 14th January from 2pm to 4pm. Everyone is welcome to attend. On the topic generally of further housing developments in the borough I met this week, in my capacity as portfolio holder for Planning on the borough council, with representatives from SABRHE, the residents group from Brinsley, to express their concerns and I’ve met with representatives from Toton for a similar reason. STRAG did invite me to the meeting next Saturday but I’m unable to attend and so I’ve offered to meet them on an alternative date.

3. Mayors Musical Supper

The Mayor of the Borough of Broxtowe, Lib-Dem Councillor Jacky Williams is hosting a Musical Supper with the Beeston Musical Theatre Group at The Memorial Hall in Church Street, Bramcote on 28^th February at 7.30pm. The evening will feature Songs from the Shows sung by the fantastic Beeston Musical Theatre Groups 12 piece ensemble, as well as mouth-watering fish and chips provided by Andy's Fish Bar, Stapleford. Proceeds will go to the Mayor’s Charities.

4. Policing in Bramcote

Residents in Bramcote wishing to meet the police are invited to do so on Monday evening. Officers will be on Ranmore Close in Bramcote between 7pm and 8pm to answer any questions that residents have.

5. Fire Service on Twitter

Notts Fire Service now has its own Twitter feed. They are at @nottsfire and Twitter users are invited to follow them.

6. Advice event for business women

The next meeting to the Broxtowe Businesswoman’s Network will be on January 18^th from 5.30pm to 8.30pm at the Belfrey Hotel on Nottingham Business Park. It will be focusing on understanding their employees strengths and limitations, and costs £10 to attend. As I’m not a businesswoman I’ve never been, but these meetings receive rave reviews.

7. Greasley Beauvale School

The former Greasley Beauvale School, which was attended by DH Lawrence, and which closed last year, is to be auctioned by Notts County Council on January 26^th. It is likely that an application will be submitted to convert it to a residential use in due course.

8. Special Constables

Notts Police are holding an information session for any one interested in becoming a special constable next month. It will take place at Beeston Town Hall on Saturday 11^th February froom 10am, and anyone interested is invited to attend.

9. Beeston Barn Dance

The Stonebridge City Farm are holding a barn dance at Chilwell Road Methodist Church in Beeston on Saturday 21^st January at 7.30pm. Tickets cost £7 and are available from the church office on 0115 943 1164.

10. Car Park Charges

The borough council are currently considering changes to car park charges. The proposal is that some car parks should be designated as long stay, with a considerably cheaper all day tariff. A report has been submitted to the cabinet which will be debated and voted on next month. I was surprised to read that a Conservative Councillor had been criticising this report before it was even published. I’d much rather that comment was based on the actual evidence rather than simply on dogma.

11. Wilkinsons petition

As I’ve mentioned here before the plans for the construction of the tram mean that the Wilkinsons store in Beeston is likely to close at the end of March. This will hopefully be only a short break in service, and is something that I had been trying to avoid. However the campaign to ensure that Wilkinsons does return has gone from strength to strength and Matt Goode, who writes the Beestionia Blog, has organised a petition in support of the store which collected in excess of 1,000 signatures when launched. If anyone wants to add their name to this you can contact Matt via Beestonia.wordpress.com.

12. Free Swimming for the Olympics?

The borough council is discussing a proposal to provide free swimming during the Olympics at the borough’s leisure centres. A decision will be taken on this next month.

13. Kimberley School

Often have published their latest report on Kimberley School, which they have ranked as good with outstanding features. This is not far from the top ranking that could be achieved and everyone at the school should be very proud of what they have achieved.

14. Crime Figures

The latest crime figures published by the police show that, after a steady decline for a number of months, burglaries went up during October. At the same time sexual offences have dropped and clear ups of these have increased. These figures are for the whole of Nottinghamshire and I will get the figures for Broxtowe in due course.

15. Coal Board Entry and Inspection Programme

The Coal Authority, which is responsible for discussed mines and mine workings, is currently carrying out a major programme of inspections for these. They are writing to every effected property in the borough, so if your property is on disused mine workings they may be getting in touch with you. I have some material which I can pass on top anyone affected by these, if you let me know.

16. Poetry Performance

On 30th January 2012, there will be a free performance of the poems and other creative pieces which came out of Dave Wood’s historic Perambulation around the old Sherwood Forest Boundary, a walk previously completed in 1662. The first part of the celebratory afternoon will include British Sign Language Interpretation. The afternoon will conclude with a piece of Instant Theatre.

The performance takes place at the Carnegie Centre in Stapleford, starting at 2pm. The audience are asked to be in place by 1.45pm.

17. Boots Carbon Reduction

Congratulations to Boots for winning the excellence in carbon reduction (large Company) award at the Energy Awards 2011, just before Christmas. This was for reducing the emissions at the Beeston site by more than one third. Well done to everyone concerned with that.

As ever may I thank you for your support for this newsletter, and any feedback is gratefully received.

Best wishes

David

Broxtowe Enews 17th December 2011

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.

Happy Christmas to all our readers. This will be the last edition until the new year and so I hope that the festive period is everything that you hope it will be.

1. The Tram

The big news this week is undoubtedly that the tram has got the final go ahead from the Government. The contracts are now all signed and work will begin next month. In the first few months the programme is primarily one of site clearances and moving of utilities. Once this is done the track will be laid and there will then be an extensive period of testing before passenger services begin to run. The first commercial trams should be running in about three years time.

In Beeston 16 properties on Chilwell Road are to be demolished, and this should happen towards the end of January. In February three properties on Gwenbrook Avenue are due to be demolished. Also in January the park and ride site will be cleared and this will become the storage depot during the work programme, and a new children’s play area will be created in Chilwell to replace one that will later be removed.

Although the work is being done by NET the borough council will be heavily involved in making sure that things go as smoothly as possible. Pages have been created on the council’s web site giving details of what is going on, which can be accessed at http://www.broxtowe.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=9764. It is clear that there will be disruption for a significant period of time but we will try and minimise it as much as possible.

One piece of very bad news is that the Wilkinsons store in Beeston will close. The council have been demanding from the landlords (Henry Boot) that they ensure that Wilkinsons have a new property to move into so that there was no break in service, and they have promised us that this would happen. Sadly they have completely let us down.

Finally on the tram you may have seen an email from Anna Soubry this week saying what a great idea the tram is. This is a very different stance to the one that she took in the general election, and that the local Conservative Party still take, where even on Thursday we were sent an email from one of their councillors saying that no-one wants the tram.

2. Stapleford Residents Parking

The County Council will be publishing proposals next week for new residents parking in Stapleford. The first phase consists of changes to Cyril Avenue area (removal of Fredereick Avenue), Bailey Street area (shortening of Wellington Street) and Eatons Road areas. All areas will change to Monday – Saturday 9am – 5pm and all bays and yellow lines will be removed except at junctions to enable parking anywhere within the area by permit holders (as long as they don't cause obstruction). They will also be adding new schemes on Horace Avenue, West End Street and William Road (Mon-Sat 9am – 5pm), Albert Street (Mon-Sat 9am-5pm + one way and other parking restrictions) and St James Terrace (24 hour scheme). Residents will then have one month to submit any comments before the County confirms whether or not it will go ahead. There may also be a second phase covering other areas of the town at a later date.

3. Super Fast Broadband

I mentioned a week or so back that the Borough Council had declined a request from the County Council that we donate £80,000 towards the cost of installing super fast broadband in Broxtowe. Whilst the idea is a good one we simply couldn’t afford the money. The County Council have now come back and asked if we would pay £33,000 instead. This will be discussed by the cabinet at Broxtowe next week.

4. Open Mike Night

I’ve been asked to promote this event in January:

Scion Presents...

January 11th 2012 at 7.30pm. Two main performers: storyteller, Richard Young and poet, Dave Wood plus open slots of approx 5 mins each (but do bring some time fillers too). Free entry. all performances in the round..venue-the old cross, church street, stapleford. 7.30pm. also beer raffle for the rainbows hospice and you may fancy donating to them too. relaxed way try out your writing. email davewrite2002 @ yahoo. com or O77O 9977684. come to read or provide an audience. there will be a beer raffle for rainbow's hospice and any donations accepted to the hospice will be appreciated. no microphones - bring voice and writing only

5. New Chief Constable

Nottinghamshire Police will have a new Chief Constable in September. He will be Chris Eyre, the current Deputy Chief Constable, and he takes over from Julia Hodgson who is retiring.

6. Libraries Over The Holidays

The County Council have announced that their libraries will all close for Christmas on 23^rd December and will reopen on 3^rd January. The County Council offices themselves will be open from 28^th to 30^th December.

7. New Nottingham TV Station

The Government have announced that Nottingham is to get a new TV station. The city is to be a pioneer for a series of new local TV channels. Interested parties will be able to bid for the licence to run it next year, with a view to broadcasting beginning in 2013.

8. Food Voucher Scheme

A new food voucher scheme has been launched in Beeston. The Beeston and NG9 food bank is run by Hope Nottingham, and vouchers to obtain supplies can be handed out by doctors surgeries and the Citizens Advice Bureaux to needy residents. These can then be exchanged for food at venues in Beeston, Chilwell and Stapleford.

9. Field Farm, Stapleford

The planning application for Field Farm in Stapleford has now been received but is missing some documents and so has not yet been registered by the council. Once the missing documents have been received the council will place it on its web site and invite comments. I was surprised to read an email from the Conservatives this week talking about planning which said: “We are still waiting for Broxtowe Borough Council's report following the so called ‘public consultation’; it was due to be published weeks ago.” This claim is simply untrue. Nothing was supposed to have been published before now and the papers actually go to the cabinet at Broxtowe next week to decide how to go further.

10. Broxtowe Youth Council

At the council meeting on Wednesday Broxtowe’s youth mayor, Tilly Stone, reported that the County Council have decided to close down the youth council as a spending cut. This is extremely short sighted as the youth council, which has representatives from every secondary school in the borough on it, is a very successful and useful mouthpiece for young people in the area. Only last week Tilly was in Poland speaking to political leaders in Myszków, our friendship town there, about the youth council as they are interested in copying our model. However I’m glad to report that we hope that the borough council will be able to make good the funding shortfall so that the council can continue.

11. Complaints about the police

An interesting statistic that I saw this week was that the number of complaints against Notts Police has dropped in the last year by 29%. I hope that this means that the police are getting better at doing their job, and is a much bigger fall than the national picture, which shows a 4% drop in complaints.

12. Carol Services

A number of carol services are being held tomorrow and Monday. Tomorrow St Michael's Bramcote hold two services, the first at 5.30pm and the second at 7.30pm. Please contact 0115 943 0137 for more details. Also tomorrow the Salvation Army hold their Carol Concert at Albert Avenue in Stapleford, starting at 6pm. Please call 0115 949 7059 for more information. On Monday 19th December the Peace Light Carol Service takes place in Beeston, starting at 7.00pm at the 6th Beeston Scout HQ on Middle Street.

As ever thank you for your support for this newsletter. Any feedback is gratefully received. That can be sent by email, or by using the forms on the Broxtowe Lib-Dem website at www.broxtoweliberaldemocrats.org.uk , or my personal website at www.davidwatts.org.uk.

David

Broxtowe Enews 11th December 2011

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. A special welcome to the new readers that we have this week.

As we get towards Christmas many services and events run down for the holiday, and as a result there is less news to report than usual, but there are still a number of things going on. Can I apologise for the typo in last week’s news about Chilwell Conservation Area. I of course meant to refer to options if you had missed the meeting, not if you had kissed it. Whoops.

1. Sale Of Care Homes

Sadly the District Auditor has decided that he will not intervene in the decision of the County Council to sell six care homes, including Bramwell in Bramcote, to a private company at a significant under valuation. My colleague Stan Heptinstall had asked the auditor to look into this sale as it seems to us that this sale does not represent anything like good value for local residents, even leaving aside the question about whether the sale was right in principle or not. You can see the letter from the District Auditor on our web site at www.broxtoweliberaldemocrats.org.uk.

2. Christmas Concert

There will be a Christmas Carol Concert at Chilwell Road Methodist Church in Beeston on 17^th December. As well as soloists the Eastwood Male Voice Choir will be performing. Tickets cost £6 each and are available from 0115 919 6659.

3. Car Parking at Bramcote Hills Park

As people may have noticed the car park at Bramcote Hills Park is currently being upgraded. The council had been looking at whether or not they should introduce charging for this car park, but when the matter was discussed by the council’s cabinet they agreed with the arguments put forward by the Lib-Dems that this car park should remain free of charge.

4. Snow

The County Council have issued a statement this week to reassure motorists that they are ready to cope with any snowfall this year. You may recall that last year they ran out of grit in the really harsh winter that we have, but they have been at pains this week to stress that they are well stocked with grit and salt for this year. They have however told district councils that there is no budget to install any further grit bins this year.

5. New Tree In Bramcote Park

Bramcote History Group have donated a new tree, a Juglan Nigra, to Bramcote Park. It was planted this week by the group along with Broxtowe’s Mayor, Cllr Jacky Williams, as part of National Tree Week.

6. Domestic Violence Victims

The Borough Council have launched a new campaign to provide help and support to victims of domestic violence locally. New posters will appear in libraries, Sure Start centres and doctors surgeries as well as others to raise awareness of the issue. Further information and help area available from 0115 917 3028, or from hlc@broxtowe.gov.uk.

7. Broxtowe Sports Awards

Congratulations to the young sports people honoured at the Broxtowe Sports Awards this week. Amongst the winners were 15 year old Lauren Gill, a swimmer from Kimberley, and 23 year old gymnast Sam Hunter of Chilwell.

8. Solar panels for the County Council

The County Council has agreed to install solar panels on eight of its buildings to help generate electricity. These will cost £800,000 but should pay that back many times over during their lifetimes. They will cut costs and also enable the County Council ton get income from the Governments feed in tariffs scheme. Sadly none of the buildings is in Broxtowe, but we should all benefit from the move.

9. Health Walk at the Nature Reserve

Local residents are invited to take part in a health walk at Attenborough Nature Reserve on Monday 19^th December. The walk starts at 10am from the visitor centre, is free to attend and will last for about an hour. Details are available from the visitor centre on 0115 972 1777.

10. Kimberley School

The Governors at Kimberley school are currently looking at whether to convert to an academy. However the National Union of Teachers have indicated that they will ballot their members over strike action if the move goes ahead.

11. High Speed Broadband.

The County Council have approached Broxtowe Borough Council about contributing to the cost of installing high speed broadband cables across the borough. Unfortunately, whilst the borough council are supportive of the scheme, the County requested far too much money from the borough. With resources being as tight as they are the borough council simply cannot find almost £100,000 at the drop of a hat. The County Council have suggested to the boroughs that they should contribute on a 50/50 basis with the County, despite the fact that the County get 90% of the council tax money.

12. Council Tax Survey

At the moment councils collect council tax over 10 months, which means that for the last two months of the year we don’t pay anything. The Government is currently consulting about whether this should change to collecting over 12 months. This would mean that people paid less each month but there would no longer be the payment holiday at the end of each financial year. To help me respond to this and accurately reflect people’s views I’ve set up an opinion poll on my website and I’d be grateful if you could take a minute to express your views. My website is at www.davidwatts.org.uk

13. Bramcote Hills Golf Course

Thank you to everyone who responded to the survey that I and my colleagues have been running about a suggestion that land at the closed golf course in Bramcote Hills should be used to build a retirement village. At the moment there is no formal proposal but we wanted to know the views of residents about this scheme, and overall we got just over 170 responses, with just over 100 people opposed to the idea.

14. Major Oak Sapling planting

I’ve reported here before about Stapleford Poet Dave Woods “Creative Perambulations Around Sherwood Forest,” walking the historic boundary of the forest (the first person to do so in about 300 years). To mark the end of the project Dave will be planting a sapling from the Great Oak on Ilkeston Road Recreation Ground, Stapleford. If you’d like to come along to this historic tree planting in Stapleford on 22nd December at 2pm, please let Dave know on O77 O99 77684 or email davewrite2002 @ yahoo.com.

15. New Church web Site

St Michaels Church in Bramcote has a new website. You can view this at http://www.bramcotechurch.org/. I’ve had a quick look round and it seems quite good.

As ever thank you for your support for this newsletter. Any feedback is gratefully received. That can be sent by email, or by using the forms on the Broxtowe Lib-Dem website, or my personal website, the addresses of which are above.

David

Broxtowe Enews 26th November 2011

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. A special welcome to the new readers that we have this week.

Sorry that there was no enews last week but I was away for the weekend and didn’t want to publicise the fact, especially after we had been the victims of crime so recently in any event.

1. Constituency Boundary Review

The public consultation on new electoral boundaries closes on 5^th December. In Broxtowe the proposal is that we keep the existing boundaries but with the addition of some villages from south of the river, current part of the Rushcliffe constituency. You can make your comments on the Boundary Commission website at http://consultation.boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk/.

2. Service of Remembrance at Bramcote Crematorium

Bramcote Crematorium will be holding a service of remembrance for friends and relatives to remember loved ones who moved away. They’ve done this for the last few years and this year it will take place on Sunday 11^th December at 2pm. Everyone is welcome to attend. For more information, please contact Bramcote Crematorium on 0115 917 3849, email bramcotecrem@btconnect.com or visit www.bramcotecrematorium.org.uk

3. Council Tax Rises

The County Council have announced that they will be accepting an offer from the government to keep council tax at last years levels. As the substantial majority of council tax collected goes to the county council this will have a significant impact on people. However the position is not as clear for councils as it was last year. The government last year committed to provide funds to the councils to keep council tax down, and that they would commit these funds on an ongoing level. However they haven’t made that offer this year so if council tax stays where it is then next year councils face either a loss of income or a substantial council tax rise.

4. Dr Margaret Colley

Bramcote residents may remember Dr Margaret Colley who was the village GP for 35 years. I’ve had a phone call from her son this week to inform me that she sadly lost her battle against cancer. There will be a private funeral in Suffolk, where she had been living, but a memorial event will be organised early next year in Bramcote which everyone will be welcome to attend. Dr Colley established a web site in her later years to reflect back on her life, and this is available at www.margaretcolley.co.uk

5. Christmas Choir Event

Carlton Male Voice Choir will be performing a concert at Chilwell Road Methodist Church in Beeston on3rd December 2011, starting at 7.30pm. Tickets cost £6 (£5 in advance) and are available on 0115 943 1164.

6. Awsworth Buses

Residents in Awsworth are campaigning to have an improved bus service to the village. Following the withdrawal of the Phoenix Flyer there are now few buses running to the village, leaving many people feeling virtually cut off. Readers may recall that a couple of months ago I asked for suggestions for where the council might spend £500,000 of money we had available to use on public transport schemes. The most common suggestion was to use it to improve bus services, although legally this is the most difficult. The officers at the council are currently exploring whether we can overcome the many hurdles that there are, and if so services to Awsworth are on the list to address.

7. The Big Tree Plant

Beeston & District Civic Society, together with Broxtowe Borough Council, are launching a project to replace as many as possible of the large trees along roads that are missing. They plan to locate areas in streets and on small grassy patches in Beeston and district where extra trees will improve the appearance of the street ~ and they need your help to do this. When the sites have been chosen, the council will check suitability with regard to services below the pavement and liaise with Nottinghamshire County Council who have ultimate responsibility for the roads and footpaths. The council will apply for funding from The Big Tree Plant funding scheme. The Civic Society, with your help, anticipate planting the trees, which will be 8 – 12’ or so high (at planting), in Autumn 2012. At that point they will need TREE GUARDIANS - ideally the householder nearest the tree - to water and generally keep their eye on that tree for 2 to 3 years until it has matured sufficiently to be included in the council tree maintenance programme. If you would like to take part or want more details please email: babsel@ntlworld.com

8. Erewash Valley Landowners and Managers Event

If you own or manage land in the Erewash Valley then there is an event for you on Monday, from 6pm to 8.30pm, at the Town Hall in Beeston. There will be informal presentations on the Erewash Valley and the partnership developing the landscape for people and wildlife; Stewardship and funding opportunities; Business opportunities for landowners to buy into renewable technology concentrating on solar and wind, saving costs and an opportunity to see various displays. In addition free trees will be given out to all attendees.

9. Heat recycling at Bramcote Crematorium

Bramcote Crematorium is seeking the views of the public, Council employees and wider stakeholders on whether it would be appropriate to reuse the waste heat from its processes to heat its building. At present, all the waste heat is simply vented into the atmosphere, increasing global warming and costs. The Crematorium is considering installing a heat exchanger which would harness the surplus heat from its mercury abatement plant and turn it into usable energy for the rest of the Crematorium. This is a practice already used in a number of crematoria across the country. Views can be submitted on the councils website at http://www.broxtowe.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=9876.

10. Beware of Bogus Charity Collectors

A bogus team of charity collectors have been doing the rounds in Bramcote again this week, claiming to collect for the Notts Air Ambulance. They have nothing to do with the air ambulance and so please do not give them anything.

11. Field Farm Stapleford

Westermans Builders have published information about their proposals to build a new estate on Field Farm in Stapleford. These are available at www.fieldfarm.info. They have not yet submitted an application but will probably do so shortly. The information that they are currently putting out is something that the coalition are requiring developers to do in the future, so that local people can be kept fully informed about what is being proposed. Once again I’ve seen an email from the Tory’s accusing the council of treating this as a done deal, exactly the same thing that they were saying about proposals to build in Toton even on the day that we dropped them.

12. Bramcote Hills Golf Course

Thank you to everyone who has so far submitted their views about the idea to allow building on the site of Bramcote Hills golf course. We have had over 130 responses so far, and I’ll publish the full results in a couple of weeks.

13. Paradiso Cinema

The film at the Paradiso Cinema, Chilwell School, Queens Road West, Friday 9th December will be “ The Bishop’s Wife” (1947). This is a change to the original advertisement as they were unfortunately unable to get a licence to show, "It’s a Wonderful Life". Instead they are showing this film, starring Cary Grant, Lorretta Young and David Niven. Tickets on the door £5 (£4 conc). Films start at 7.30pm. Come at 7pm for refreshments.

14. Milan Radulovic

The current leader of the borough council, Milan Radulovic, is unwell at the moment so may I take this opportunity to wish him a full and speedy recovery.

As ever thank you for your support for this newsletter, and any feedback will be very gratefully received.

David