Welcome to Broxtowe Enews, brought to you by the Liberal Democrats and edited by our parliamentary candidate David Watts.
1. Council Tax
Tory run Greasley Parish Council have decided to raise their element of the council tax for this year by £10 per person. Given that parish councils amount for only a small element of the total council tax this represents a pretty big increase. Other town and parish councils will be announcing their council tax rises over the next few weeks, before Broxtowe and the County Council settle on their figures.
Thieves and vandals seem to have targeted St Mary’s Parish Church in Eastwood, smashing stain glass windows and causing several thousand pounds worth of damage. If anyone knows who is responsible for this please pass this on to the police or to Crime Stoppers.
3. Oaks Medical Centre
I was disturbed to read that the Oaks Medical centre in Beeston has thrown 120 of its patients off their register. They say that they need to reduce patient numbers to maintain care, but frankly it seems to me that this is a poor way of going about things, with patients simply being given 28 days to find somewhere else.
Work starts this week on the new Tesco for Beeston. Whether you supported or opposed the store, I’m sure that everyone will welcome the end of having a large patch of derelict land in the middle of Beeston. Removing that is an important part of the redevelopment of Beeston Town centre. However Tesco’s have also applied to build a new store in Sandiacre. Although this is in Erewash it is close to Broxtowe and would impact on business here. Broxtowe have formally objected to this new store being built.
The councils latest consultation on where new development might take place will be launched publicly next week. The council have also arranged for two public meetings where people can have their say and ask any questions that they have. These have been arranged for Roundhill School, Beeston on Thursday March 4th at 7pm and for George Spencer School, Stapleford on Wednesday March 10th , again at 7pm. There will also be a further meeting arranged for Trowell but the date for this hasn’t yet been confirmed.
6. Toton Trees Meeting
May I remind people that a public meeting is being held tomorrow at the Greenwood Community Centre in Toton at 4pm to discuss the chopping down of the trees on Toton Sidings. Anyone interested is welcome to attend. Nick Palmer, Anna Soubry and I will all be attending.
Ashfield MP Geoff Hoon, whose constituency includes Eastwood and Brinsley, has announced that he will not be seeking re-election. Although the press are suggesting that this is because of the internal warfare going on in the Labour Party (and his attempt to force a leadership vote last month didn’t make him popular with many of his own party members) I suspect that the growth of support for the Lib-Dems in Ashfield, which has been very significant over the past few years, also contributed substantially to this. Ashfield is now one of our most significant target seats, and I confidently expect voters there to return a Lib-Dem MP after the next election.
As you may well be aware the Tory County Council have proposed selling off this nursing home to private business (as well as others in the county). I am totally opposed to this. I think that it creates fear and uncertainty for the residents, and demonstrates the uncaring nature of the new administration at County Hall. Tory candidate Anna Soubry also says that she is opposed to this plan, but Anna really can’t have it both ways. She cannot in all honesty stand on a platform saying this shouldn’t happen whilst at the same time urging people to vote for the party who are making it happen.
May I thank all the parents and children who made this event such a great success, and especially those who voted in the family photograph competition. The challenge was to take a picture of the family engaging in a hobby, and I’m delighted to say that the Watts family picture, showing us playing guitars or singing (not me singing as I can’t carry a tune in a bucket) was voted as the overall winner. Although I’m a keen photographer I think this is the first time I’ve ever won a photo competition, so thank you all for your votes. (I hope I’m saying that on May 6th as well.)
David
