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 91st 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 21st 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
Follow me on Twitter at @DavidWatts12.
Visit our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Broxtowe-Liberal-Democrats/78471665107
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