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. May I start with a quick apology to people still waiting to
receive replies to correspondence over the past week or so. I’ve been snowed
under at work but I will get back to you next week.
1.
New Mayor
At the council meeting on Wednesday evening councillor
Margaret Handley from Greasley was elected as the new mayor of Broxtowe. The
new deputy mayor is Stapleford councillor Iris White, so congratulations to
them both. It was my privilege at the meeting to propose the vote of thanks for
the outgoing mayor Cllr Jacky Williams, who has been absolutely excellent in
the role.
2.
Possible new Leader
Cllr Milan Radulovic, the leader of Broxtowe Borough
Council, was present at the meeting on Wednesday. Due to poor health and
personal issues Cllr Radulovic has been off work since the turn of the year. It
was good to see him on Wednesday but, with a voice heavy with emotion, he did
say that if his health did not improve considerably in the near future it would
be time to find a new leader of the council.
3.
Hickings Lane Rec
A number of poplar trees have been removed from Hickings
Lane recreation ground, Stapleford, in the last few days. This is because the
condition of the trees had deteriorated and they had become a safety hazard.
Replacement trees will be planted in the autumn.
4.
Beeston Enterprise Zone
The creation of a new enterprise zone at the Boots site in
Beeston is a step closer this week after the Notts and Derbyshire Local
Enterprise Partnership announced that they would use a significant part of a
£26million grant from the government to fund infrastructure development on the
site. This is extremely good news and hopefully the enterprise zone will be up
and running in the next few months.
5.
Field Farm Submissions
Some readers will have seen an email from Anna Soubry asking
for people to send objections to the council’s core strategy, in particularly
the likelihood of Field Farm being removed from the green belt and allocated
for housing, as soon as possible. Please do not follow this advice. The council
are currently considering a planning application for Field Farm as well as the
site being included within the Core Strategy, soon to be subject to
consultation. An objection (or support) for the Field Farm planning application
cannot be used as a representation to the Core Strategy process as Anna
suggested.
The Core Strategy has reached a formal stage and it is
important that the correct procedures are followed to make representations to
that. There will be specific forms that need to be completed as this
includes references to the "soundness" of the Core Strategy that any
inspector will need to consider. The timescale for the consultation period will
be from June 11th - 5.00pm 23rd July 2012. Representations outside that period
are unlikely to be valid. Forms for representation will be available on the
council’s website from that date with paper copies available at Council offices
at Beeston & Eastwood and in local libraries in the Borough. I have also
just approved the design of a leaflet to be sent out to every house in the
Borough to advise people of the details and invite comments.
6.
School Meals Survey
A survey published this week by Notts County Council shows
that 80% of parents whose kids have school meals rate them as good or very
good. ‘d concur with that, my children have school meals and they have a varied
and healthy menu.
7.
South Nottingham College
South Notts College have announced a number of changes to
sites for the next few years. The Arthur Mee Site in Stapleford is probably
going to close, which is extremely bad news for the town, and the Beeston
campus is likely to receive a significant makeover. They also plan to change
the name to Central College. The college have not finalised these plans yet but
they are in an options document that the college have just released. I am sure
that all the Stapleford Councillors will try and persuade the college not to go
down this route as it is a very important element of life in the town.
8.
1st Nuthall Scouts
The first Nuthall Scouts have received a grant of £500 from
the County Council towards refurbishing their headquarters a facelift as a way
of marking the Queens diamond jubilee.
9.
Greasley Multi-Use Games Area
This facility continues to cause problems unfortunately. It
is owned by the parish council but used by a wide range of groups, and sadly
sometimes the noise levels generated became a real problem for near neighbours.
When I was the leader of the borough council we felt that we had no option but
to take the matter to court and the magistrates issued a noise abatement order.
Unfortunately the borough council have now had to take the parish council to
court again for breach of that order. The case will resume on 30th
May.
10.
Bus Service Changes
Premier Buses have made alterations to their number 17
service from Beeston to Stapleford, so that the morning service now runs five
minutes earlier and the early evening service has a new timetable. These
changes start tomorrow. Whilst on the subject of buses may I mention that the
borough council’s cabinet will be looking at the next meeting about steps that
we can take to improve bus services in Broxtowe. This is a direct result of
responses from readers of this newsletter. You may recall I asked for views
last year because the council still have a significant amount of money to spend
on public transport, and improving bus services was the most common response
that I received. We’ve been exploring all the options over the past few months
and are now ready for the council to make some decisions.
11.
Mobility Aids
Notts County Council’s Trading Standards Department are
researching the sale of mobility scooters. If you have purchased any mobility
aids, either for yourself or a relative, they are hoping that you will take a
few minutes to fill in a questionnaire. You can access this at www.surveymonkey.com/s/ncc-mobility.
Apparently this can be done anonymously.
12.
New School Buildings
As you may have heard on the national news the Government
have announced a £17 billion nationwide investment in new school buildings.
Amongst the successful applicants is Lynncroft Primary School in Eastwood. In
addition to this the County Council is putting in £100 million investment into
schools across the county.
13.
High Visibility Back Packs
The police station in Beeston has a number of high
visibility back packs to give away free to local cyclists. If you want one just
pop into the police station on Chilwell Road and ask. I’m mentioning this
because a cyclist was killed on the road close to my house on Wednesday morning
and so I hope that all cyclists will consider their safety anew. If they run
out of supplies there will be a further promotion in September.
14.
Report from Bill Newton Dunn MEP
The latest news report from Bill Newton-Dunn MEP is
available to read at our website – www.broxtoweliberaldemocrats.org.uk
15.
Funding Available For Health Projects in
Broxtowe
Groups and organisations in Broxtowe are being encouraged by
NHS Nottinghamshire County and the Broxtowe Borough Partnership to apply for up
to £2,500 of funding to help tackle health inequalities in the area. ‘Choosing
Health’ funding will support healthy initiatives run by voluntary, community
and partnership groups in the Borough of Broxtowe. Successful projects will be fresh, creative and
help to make a difference to the health of local people. This is a great way for local residents to be
involved in improving the health and wellbeing of their local community. For
more information and an application form, please contact Jill Burn on 0115
8835544 or email jill.burn@nottspct.nhs.uk.
The deadline for applications will be 29 June 2012 for projects running from
July 2012 to July 2013.
16.
Beeston and Chilwell Garden Trail
The annual Beeston and Chilwell Garden Trail is taking
place on Saturday 9th June and Sunday 10th June. There are 14 gardens open this
year, including some new ones to the trail. Further details can be found at www.beestonandchilwellgardentrail.org.uk
17.
Sharnford Way Estate
Can I end with a message solely for those who live, as I do,
on the Sharnford Way estate in Bramcote. Does anyone know who owns the big
black male cat without a collar that wanders round the estate. I’m getting fed
up chasing him out of my kitchen and I was seriously unimpressed when he was
sat outside my bedroom door at 4am this morning caterwauling for my cat, who
was asleep on the bed. He’s also broken my cat flap five times now! I’d like to
know where to frogmarch him back to when I eventually catch him.
As ever thank you for your support for this newsletter, and any
feedback is gratefully received.
Best wishes
David
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