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 news readers that we have this week. We had pretty much plateaued in terms of readers for a number of weeks but over the past two weeks we’ve had a big increase in readers.
1. Bramcote Hills Golf Course
Readers in Bramcote may be very familiar with the problems at the golf course. It closed a few years ago and since then the owners have been trying to persuade the council to allow them to build houses on it (which we’ve always opposed). The latest idea that they have been talking about (although there is no application yet) is to apply to build a retirement village there, and make the rest of the site public open space. I have a survey running on my web site asking whether people would support this as an idea or not. As there is no application yet we can’t give any specific details about what the details would be, but what we would like is simply whether people would support this as an idea or not. If you’re a Bramcote resident would you take a minute to visit my website at www.davidwatts.org.uk to express your view.
2. Changes to the NHS
If you are interested in the changes that are happening to the NHS then come along to an event that is taking place at Beeston on Thursday 24 November at Chilwell Road Methodist Church, Chilwell Road, Beeston NG9 1EH from 7-9pm, or at St Mary’s hurch, hurch Street, Eastwood on 1st December. Local GP’S will be responsible for buying health services from April 2013. 12 GP Practices in the Broxtowe area form Nottingham West NHS Clinical Commissioning Group. Representatives will be present for you to ask questions. Please register your place – email: nwc.admin@nottspct.nhs.uk or tel: 0115 883 5224.
3. New County Councillors Newsletter
My colleague Stan Heptinstall, County Councillor for Bramcote and Stapleford, produces a regular monthly newsletter. The November edition is out now and can be accessed from the Broxtowe Lib-Dem website at www.broxtoweliberaldemocrats.org.uk.
4. Beeston Wind Turbine
The County Council have announced that they are opposed to the proposals by Nottingham University to build three large wind turbines along the bank of the River Trent. The County Council say that there may be an ancient stream on the site.
5. HS2
MP’s have suggested to the Government that they should bring forward the date that High Speed rail trains run to the East Midlands. This is potentially very important for us in Broxtowe as Toton has been suggested as the East Midlands station for the new HS2 line. This is, at this stage, simply a report from MP’s and not government policy, but it is encouraging to see how the MP’s are supporting the scheme.
6. Growing Places Fund
The Government have announced that they are making £17.5 million available for schemes in Nottinghamshire to kick start building on infrastructure schemes. This is a very welcome investment but we will need to see what schemes come forward as a result.
7. Events at Rumbletums Café in Kimberley
Friday 18th November (6.00pm – 8.00pm) – Special evening opening for Kimberley Christmas light switch on.
Saturday 19th November (10.30am – 12.30pm) – Table Top Sale offering Christmas gifts, hand-made cards, second-hand goods and jewellery (cafe open as normal).
Saturday 3rd December (7.30pm to 10.30pm) – Open Mic Night for young people with disabilities, their friends and families. Bring your own CD’s, MP3’s and sing, dance, tell jokes or whatever
All the events above take place at Rumbletums Cafe, 2a Victoria Street, Kimberley... and don’t forget, we’re now open on Thursdays from 10.00am to 3.00pm as well as Fridays and Saturdays.
8. Fire Call Outs in Notts
Figures released by the Nottinghamshire Fire Brigade show that the number of call outs each year has dropped from 30,000 in 1995 to 13,000 now. Of those 13,000 call outs, 6,000 were false alarms. I’m not sure if there are any significant reasons for the fall but it is a quite staggering amount.
9. Valuables In Cars
The police have launched a new initiative to encourage people not to leave their valuables on show in parked cars. If the police find a car where valuables are on display then officers will record the number and will then write to the registered owners.
10. Crime Reduction
Congratulations to the staff running the County Council’s crime reduction team, whose targeting youth programme was the runner up in the national Youth Justice Board Innovations Award. This scheme works with a number of schools across the county and seems to have considerable success in reducing offending rates.
11. Kimberley Youth Gym
Kimberley Youth Gym have been awarded nearly £50,000 from the County Council for new equipment specifically for disabled users. This is excellent news and new machinery should start appearing shortly.
12. Children in Need
Three members of staff at the Charlton Arms in Chilwell are fundraising for Children in Need by spending 14 hours sitting in a bath of stout. I can’t begin to imagine how disgusting that this will feel at the end of their session, so hopefully they will raise the £1,500 they are aiming to.
13. Drug Seizures in Notts
The police have published figures showing that the number of drug seizures in Notts has gone up 11% this year, from 2,273 seizures last year to 2,528 this year. The police say that this is the result of better targeting and the better use of intelligence.
14. Eastwood Town
Health and safety officers have reduced the capacity at Eastwood Town’s Coronation park ground by 50%. The capacity is now 400 people, although the club have said that they are intalks with the County Council to address their concerns and to tackle this.
15. County Council Budget Consultation
I reported last week that the County Council were slashing ever more off their budgets. You can now comment on these online at https://secure.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/your--‐
council/consultations/budget--‐conversation/budget--‐proposals/
16. Bramcote Branch Meeting
If you’re a Lib-Dem supporter in Bramcote why not come along to our branch meeting on Tuesday at 7.30pm, at 8 Cranston Road. Everyone is welcome to attend.
As ever thank you for your support for this newsletter. The next edition will be in two weeks time, but any feedback in the meantime is gratefully received.
David
