Welcome to Broxtowe Enews, brought to you by the Liberal Democrats and edited by David Watts, the leader of Broxtowe Borough Council. A special welcome to the new readers that we have this week.
After last weeks mammoth edition things seem to have been a lot quieter this week, but we still have a few things to mention.
1. Japan Appeal
I sit on the Board of Trustees for Voluntary Action Broxtowe, and one of the other trustees is Kiyoko Naish, a Japanese resident of Wollaton. She is organising a fund-raising charity for those affected by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. I’m reprinting her message below
“The devastation is utterly incredible. I am still in shock to see what has happened and is still happening in the Sanriku coast, Japan. Japan is facing now a nuclear power plant crisis. The death toll in Miyagi prefecture may reach 10,000. The Prime Minister, Naoto Kan, said that the earthquake, tsunami and the nuclear incident is the biggest crisis Japan has encountered in the 65 years since the end of World War II. The rescue teams are coming from the all over the world to help. The number of the people in the rescue operations including the troops, police forces and the overseas teams are reaching 350,000. One of my friends in Japan said that hearing the news about how many people are coming from all over the word to help Japan is very encouraging and inspiring.
I have set up a charity account for people to donate money. I am planning to visit local schools to talk about the earthquake and the effect of the disaster to raise school education fund especially for the children in the most affected area, Miyagi prefecture.
Kiyoko Naish”
Kiyoko has organised a fundraising day on Saturday 9th April at Oban House, Chilwell Road in Beeston between 10am and 3pm and I hope many people will attend. Oban House is the headquarters of Voluntary Action Broxtowe and is about three doors down from the main post office, so it’s very easy to get to.
2. Stapleford Walk In Centre
The Primary care Trust (a branch of the NHS) have published their recommendations over the Walk In Centre in Stapleford. Despite huge public opposition locally they are recommending that the centre should close. The decision will be taken by the PCT’s Board next Wednesday. I met with the PCT on Tuesday and told them how unhappy I was about this, and the Liberal Democrats will continue to campaign against this. I hope that common sense will be displayed at the board meeting, and the recommendation will be rejected.
3. Potholes
Thank you to everyone who has responded to my request for details of pot hole problems. I was about to send the whole list to the County Council but Anna Soubry has repeated my request on her newsletter tonight so I’ll wait for a few days to see if that brings in extra suggestions, which I can then include.
4. Bramcote Leisure Centre
The new changing rooms at Bramcote Leisure Centre were officially opened yesterday by the mayor of Broxtowe and Anna Soubry MP. We then took the opportunity to give Anna a tour of the building. It’s really encouraging to see how well the facilities are being used, and we really do provide a service to rival commercial leisure centres.
5. New Council Homes
After visiting the leisure centre the same people then visited a new development of council homes at Sunnyside in Chilwell, so that Anna and the mayor could open these. The new homes are built to a very high standard and they have ground pump heating installed, drawing heat from 30 metres below ground, which should provide very low bills for the tenants and which helps to reduce global warming. These are the first of about 20 new homes coming on stream over the next few months, and it’s really exciting to be able to add to our stock of council houses. (We currently have about 4,500 council houses and nearly 4,000 people on the waiting list for one!)
6. Local Elections
Nominations open this week for the local elections, which will take place on 5th May. The Lib-Dems currently lead the council on Broxtowe, and I hope that most people think that we have done a good job and will re-elect us. As part of the nomination process each candidate, from each party, needs to have ten local residents to nominate them as a candidate. If you would be willing to nominate the Lib-Dem candidates for where you live please email me at d.k.watts@ntlworld.com. If people volunteer to do this it saves us a significant amount of time having to organise this.
I’m afraid that, despite my oft repeated plea otherwise, this looks like being a very dirty campaign. One of our councillors, Barbara Carr, has chosen not to stand again, partly because of how the Labour Party in Beeston have behaved which she has found most unpleasant. To hear a Labour activist then boasting that they had “got rid of her” was well below the belt. I’m afraid that the days when the Labour Party locally even pretended to practice positive politics are well and truly gone.
7. Police Consultation
The police in Eastwood are holding a public meeting this week in Eastwood about how they propose to carry out policing in the town from now on. Embarrassingly I’ve left the details in my office and I can’t find them on the police web site, so if you want more details please email me on david.watts@broxtowe.gov.uk and I’ll send them through. I was pleased to see that none of the police stations planned to close were in Broxtowe.
8. Man in Space pub, Eastwood
This pub has been empty for some time, and it has now been bought by Sainsbury’s, who plan to turn it into a supermarket. I was staggered to find that they do not need planning permission to do this (although one wing is planned to be a vets, and this does need planning permission)!
9. Bramcote History Group
Bramcote History Group will be having a talk on the history of Notts County FC at St Michaels Church in Bramcote on Monday. The speaker is Colin Slater, well known as a match commentator for County and a freeman of the borough of Broxtowe. It costs £2 for non-members and starts at 8pm.
10. Eastwood Shop Fronts
Five stores in Eastwood have been awarded a grant of £12,000 between them to improve the appearance of the shops. All five are in Nottingham Road and they have received the money from the council’s Keeping Up Appearances grant.
11. Pregnancy and Baby Show
A pregnancy and baby show will be held on 2nd April in Beeston. It is aimed at Mum’s to be and will be held at the Pearson Centre on Nuart Road. Tickets are available by ringing 07809 419175.
12. Police Federation Concerns
The Police Federation, which represents rank and file officers, has expressed its concern about plans to force all officers in Nottinghamshire who have more than 30 years experience to retire. This will leave the force short of experienced officers, and does not seem a sensible idea to me.
13. Attenborough Flood Defences
The Environment Agency held a public meeting in Attenborough last Monday to display their latest proposals for the flood defences in Attenborough. These seem to have met with fairly positive comments from local people. I hope that the defences can now be finished as soon as possible.
14. New book on Brinsley
A new book about life in Brinsley, from local writer Ztan Zmith, will be launched at the Brinsley Church faire on 2nd April. It will also be available from Brinsley Post Office and costs £1.99 and has been published as a fund-raiser for the church.
15. Royal Wedding Celebration
Also in Brinsley local resident Janet Enever has organised a street party to celebrate the royal wedding on 29th April. This will include a mock wedding, staged by local children, and takes place at the White Lion pub at 1pm, followed by the party in Church Walk. Both events are free of charge for local residents.
16. Anna Soubry Surgery
Like all MP’s Anna Soubry holds regular surgeries. These are fairly non-political and for people to come and see their MP with problems that they may have. Having an MP take up your case really can help open doors. Often the people who use this service are vulnerable and in real need of help, and that was exactly the same when Nick Palmer was MP. I was therefore really disappointed to read this week that the Labour Party had chosen to picket Anna’s surgery. This was wholly inappropriate behaviour.
17. Web Sites
This newsletter is now carried on five web sites that I know of. If you are reading it on a website and would like to receive it directly to your inbox please email me on d.k.watts@ntlworld.com.
18. The Situation In Libya
Although this isn’t local news I know that many people will be concerned about the deteriorating situation in Libya. I’ve set out below the statement from the Deputy Prime Minister which was issued today:
“As you will have seen in the news our coalition government has successfully led efforts in the UN Security Council to agree a ‘no-fly zone’ across Libya.
Colonel Gaddafi’s treatment of his own people has been brutal, savage and wholly unacceptable. We have worked with Libya’s regional neighbours, especially the Arab League, and countries across the globe, to secure a resolution in UN Security Council. This resolution will allow us to act lawfully in deploying our forces to up-hold a ‘no-fly zone’ in Libya.
The Prime Minister gave a statement yesterday, which you can read here. And on Monday we will have a full debate in the House of Commons, followed by a vote. In addition we will be publishing a summary of the legal advice of the Attorney-General.
That is the right approach. This is a coalition government that will act decisively to protect innocent lives and uphold universal human rights. But one which will do so working with, not against, international law and the international community.
Best wishes,
Nick Clegg MP”
As ever thank you for your support for this newsletter, which now has more subscribers than ever before. As ever any feedback is gratefully received.
David
