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
1.
Broxtowe Core Strategy
The six week consultation period for people to comment on
Broxtowe’s draft core strategy closes on Monday at 5pm. If you haven’t
commented yet then please take the opportunity to do so this weekend. Comments
received after the deadline will still be put before the independent inspector
who will assess the strategy, but he is not obliged to take them into account.
I attended a meeting on Tuesday this week at Kimberley to look at the proposals
there, and it’s clear that there is still a lot of confusion about what the
core strategy is about. In a very brief nutshell the general position in this
country is that people can build new developments unless there is a rule
stopping them, and the local plan based on the core strategy imposes that sort
of limitation. It sets a maximum for the total number of houses that can be
built in the borough over the next 15 years, and aims to meet the housing need
that we will have over that time. It also covers employment, infrastructure and
other issues to provide a comprehensive plan for the future of the borough.
2.
Kimberley Brewery
Also in Kimberley comes news that the new owners of the
brewery and their partners are mounting an exhibition on 7th August
from 1pm to 8pm at Kimberley Parish Hall setting out some very broad ideas that
they have for how the site may be developed. I was given a sneak preview of
them this week and they look quite exciting. The owners want to stress that
this is still a very embryonic idea and they want to listen to what people think
about them before finalising any planning application. They have been in
regular contact with the Kimberley Save Our Brewery Site group (SOBS) and have
said to me that they feel it is vital to have plans which local residents
support. Please take the opportunity to call in on 7th August if you
are interested.
3.
Broxtowe Cycling Festival
The Broxtowe Cycling festival will be held at the Giltbrook
Retail Park on 27th July starting at 6.30pm. The festival is a
fantastic opportunity for cyclists of all ages and abilities to get involved.
Whether you are looking to try out cycling for the first time, get back into
cycling or looking for some family fun, there will be a range of opportunities
for you. The festival will offer a range of trick bikes
to try, cycling tips and advice and the opportunity to watch
some amazing demonstrations! Whether you are competing in a challenge or just
attending the event for the atmosphere, there will be lots of things to
see and do! It is completely free so just turn up and join in the fun.
4.
Holiday Playdays
There are a number of holiday clubs taking place over the
summer holidays (my older daughter celebrated the start of these by completely
flooding our bathroom which caused a significant amount of damage). The council
is running sessions in Eastwood, Kimberley, Beeston and Stapleford, and details
are on the council’s website at www.broxtowe.gov.uk.
A series of holiday clubs are also being held at Attenborough Nature Reserve
and details of these are on their website at http://www.attenboroughnaturecentre.co.uk/news-events/.
5.
Kimberley Pram Race
The annual Kimberley Pram race will take place tomorrow
starting at 12.30pm. It kicks off from the Parish Hall and Trophy categories
include: "Best Pram", "Best Fancy Dress", "Fastest
Pram", "Best Overall" and "Best Mother & Baby.”
There will be a variety of items of information taking place throughout the
afternoon.
6.
Stapleford Carnival
This is an advance notice but this year’s Stapleford
Carnival will take place on Saturday 1st September at the Ilkeston
Road Recreation Park starting at 12.30. This is always an excellent event and
so I hope many people will turn out.
7.
Olympic Proms
An “Olympic Proms” will be held at Dovecote Lane Recreation
Ground in Beeston on 18th August 2012 featuring two live bands and a
firework display to close. The event is totally free and many people bring a
picnic along to help celebrate the evening.
8.
Midland Mainline Electrification
As I predicted last week the coalition Government on Monday
announced a major investment in rail infrastructure which included the
electrification of the Midland Mainline route to London. This should mean that
we benefit from faster and greener trains, and the scheme should create
thousands of jobs. Also on the trains, Network Rail will be relaying 6 miles of
track into Nottingham Station next year, and so between 20th July and
23rd August next year there will be no direct services from
Nottingham to London. The general view is that the disruption this will cause
will be a small price to pay for the benefits that it will bring. I believe
that, whilst commuters will be bussed from Nottingham to East Midlands Parkway,
some service may continue running to Beeston during that period.
9.
Ambulance Changes
The East Midlands Ambulance Service has announced plans to
close 12 of the 13 ambulance stations in Notts, including all those in
Broxtowe. Instead ambulances will be based at Nottingham and Mansfield, and ambulances
will deploy from there out to 22 separate stand by locations.
10.
Green Flag Parks
I’m delighted to announce that two parks in the borough,
Bramcote Hills Park and Colliers Wood, have retained their green flag status,
the national award for a quality park. Both are extremely popular attractions
and we are always looking for further ways to improve them whilst maintaining
their natural beauty and charm.
11.
Crime Figures
The latest crime figures released this week show that
recorded crime in Nottinghamshire fell by 8% last year and is now at it’s
lowest since 1977. This is extremely good news and whilst there is always a
difference between recorded crime and actual crime levels it is clear that the
trend in both is continuing downwards.
12.
School Meals
The school meals team at Notts County Council last week won
the top prize at the Catering Business of the Year awards. My children both
have school meals and they are a far cry from the spam and lumpy custard that
we had when I was at school. (We didn’t actually have the lumpy custard with
the spam but they are the two things that stuck in my mind.)
13.
Nuthall Vandals
I mentioned recently that basil Russell Park in Nuthall was
benefitting from £60,000 of improvements. Sadly now though vandals have
attacked the toilet block causing significant amounts of damage, so that these
have had to be shut whilst repairs are carried out. This is extremely
disappointing news and if anyone knows who is involved will they please pass
that information on to the police.
14.
Radio Appearance
I will be on Radio Five Live tomorrow (Sunday) morning at
10am in a discussion show about the Olympics. I have tickets for some of the
athletics with my family and will be speaking tomorrow on behalf of the excited
spectators who are looking forward to the event (and hopefully countering some
of the negativity that the BBC seem to have delighted in broadcasting about the
event).
As ever thank you for your support for this newsletter, and any
feedback is gratefully received. Next Saturday will be the last newsletter until
1st September and so if you have any events that need to be
publicised during August please let me know by then.
Best wishes
David
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