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 all new readers that we have this week. I did mention last week that the amount to report will slow down between now and the election as the council is prohibited from dealing with controversial items during the campaign period. Nevertheless there are still a number of things to report.
1. Election Candidates
The nominations have now closed for the borough council elections on 5th May. The Lib-Dems will be fielding 39 candidates across Broxtowe. Amongst the surprises with the nominations are that eight of the existing councillors are not seeking re-election. Included within this list are the two independent councillors who represent Nuthall East and Strelley, so there are definitely going to be new faces on the council there. The BNP, who fielded a number of candidates (and won a seat which they were subsequently stripped off when their councillor failed to attend for in excess of six months) have totally disappeared and I don’t mourn their passing. The Green Party are fielding about six candidates and there are a couple from UKIP. We also have one ex Lib-Dem councillor standing as an independent. He was deselected by the Lib-Dems and now accuses us of selling our souls (strangely not something he said when apply to stand in the election for us, but there you go). I’ve put a full list of Lib-Dem candidates at the end of this newsletter.
2. Election Hustings
The Evening Post has organised a hustings this coming Thursday at the New Ventures Social Club, Technology Drive, Beeston, starting at 7.30pm. Entry is free and everyone is welcome.
3. Wind Turbine display
Nottingham University have, as many people will know, applied to install three wind turbines in Beeston Rylands. Two are within the boundaries of the city, but the third is in Broxtowe. The University have now announced an exhibition and public meeting about the plans. The exhibition will be at Beeston library between 16th and 21st April, with a public meeting on Thursday 21st April between 11.15 and 12.45 pm.
4. CampaignTables
The Liberal Democrats launched our formal election campaign this week with street tables in Beeston and Stapleford. Thank you to everyone who took the time to come over and to take literature or have a chat. We actually gave out our total stock of balloons for Beeston on the first day, so we’re having to restock on those. One gentleman came over at the end and clearly wanted to have an argument, but other than that there was a pretty good response from people.
5. School Move
St Johns Church of England primary school in Stapleford are looking at the possibility of relocating to a new base. The school is currently at a site on Nottingham Road but the County Council have asked them whether they want to relocate to the site of the former Frederick Harrison school, which closed in 2008. The school are currently consulting parents, which to my mind seems to be the right thing to do, but it has generated strong feelings in some parents.
6. Rail Times
Notts County Council and Nottingham City Council have submitted an application to the Government (on behalf of East Midlands Councils) for funding to speed up rail journey times on the Midland Mainline. Is successful this would result in journeys from Nottingham to London being about 15 minutes quicker than at present.
7. Beeston Hockey Club
Congratulations to Beeston Hockey Club who have won the national championships for the first time in their history. They beat East Grinstead on Sunday to secure their title.
8. “What The Hell Have The Liberal Democrats Done”
I was sent a link to this web site this week. I think it is excellent and is saying the things that the national media seem to be intent on ignoring, and I fully recommend that you visit:
http://whatthehellhavethelibdemsdone.com/
9. Residents Parking Petition in Stapleford
A Stapleford Labour Councillor will present a petition to the County Council tomorrow calling for action on the proposed residents parking scheme for Stapleford. Whilst I welcome the petition I can’t help but be cynical over the timing. I do hope that this is not just an election stunt and that it will in fact achieve something.
10. Chilwell Road Traders
I attended a meeting along with Anna Soubry MP and Richard Jackson, County Councillor Highways Portfolio holder, with the traders from Chilwell Road in Beeston. They were all broadly in favour of the tram coming but did want reassurances about their trade during the construction phase, and I think that they went away quite reassured.
11. MP’s Expenses
Figures published this week show that Anna Soubry MP claimed £3,875 expenses during November and December 2010, whilst during the same period Ashfield MP Gloria De Piero, whose constituency includes Eastwood and Brinsley, claimed £8,615.
12. Stapleford Walk In Centre
The County Council have decided to ask the Secretary of State for Health to look again at plans by the Primary Care Trust to close the walk in centre in Stapleford. This is good news, and Anna Soubry MP and I have already discussed going to see him to make the case for keeping the centre open. We will try and secure a meeting as soon as possible.
13. Victim Support Award
Broxtowe Borough Council have awarded a safe Borough Award to Victim Support for its work with crime victims in the borough. The award was announced this week.
14. Lib-Dem Candidates
The full list of Liberal Democrat candidates standing in the elections are:
Attenborough – Stephen Rule
Beeston Central – Paul Fox, Stella Fox
Beeston North – Steve Carr, Chris Salter
Beeston Rylands – John Patrick, Trish Taylor
Beeston West – Brian Taylor, Graham Hopcroft
Bramcote – Stan Heptinstall, Ian Tyler, David Watts
Brinsley – Martin Shaw
Chilwell East – Amanda Hull, Jane Lachhar
Chilwell West – Barbara Carr, Helen Grindell, Brenda Houldsworth
Cossall and Kimberley – Elaine Cockburn, Goff Walt, Steph Walt
Greasley –Lee-Ann Foreman, Nigel Morgan, Kevin Wilkinson
Eastwood North – Bob Charlesworth, Hazel Charlesworth
Eastwood South – Josie Forrest, David Hallam, Keith Longdon
Stapleford North – Mark Elvin, Brian Wombwell
Stapleford South East – Jacky Williams, David Grindell
Stapleford South west – David Pearson, Kevin Thomas
Toton and Chilwell Meadows – Bob Pembleton, John Rule, Christine Wombwell
Trowell – Ken Rigby
As ever thank you for your support for this newsletter. Word of mouth remains our best form of advertising and I’m grateful for all the positive comments that are made. As ever any feedback on any of the above will be gratefully received.
David
