Broxtowe Enews 16th September 2012

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. Nick Clegg visit
Lib-Dem leader and deputy prime minister Nick Clegg had a very successful  visit to Nottingham on Thursday, taking part in a public question and answer session before meeting party members and then having a meal with some of us at Trent Bridge. It was good to see a large number of people from Broxtowe attending, and I’m sorry that more of you couldn’t get tickets for the public event. The next leading Lib-Dem to visit is likely to be our party chair Tim Farron.

2. Communities Against Poverty Fund Raising
Saturday shopping in Eastwood in the run up to Christmas is going to be even better this year. From 9 am to 1 pm every Saturday from 3 November to 15 December there’ll be a book sale in the foyer of Eastwood Post Office.  All books will be 25p each.   From 10 am to 1 pm every Saturday from 3 November to 15 December there’ll be a gift shop at The SAFE shop on Nottingham Road (near Salingers opticians).  As well as commercially produced gifts there will also be hand made items.  Crafters and artists can sell through the gift shop and organisers will charge just 10% commission to cover their advertising costs. These events have been organised by Communities Against Poverty to raise funds for their events. For more details please email Angela on angela.kinton@talktalk.net.

3. Advance Notice – Eastwood Volunteer Bureaux Christmas Fair
Saturday 24 November 2012 Eastwood Volunteer Bureau will be having its annual Christmas fair.  More details from the Bureau, email manager@evbvols.org.uk.

4. Consultation on Bus Subsidies
The Government is currently consulting on proposals to change the way that they subsidise bus services. This could potentially mean that some bus routes could be significantly affected. I have put a copy of the consultation paper on the Broxtowe Lib-Dems website at www.broxtoweliberaldemocrats.org.uk and would invite people to have a read of this and make their comments.
 

5. Consultation on Ambulance Services
I mentioned a few weeks ago that the East Midlands Ambulance Service were proposing changes to the way that they station their ambulances in an effort to improve response times. They have now launched a public consultation about these proposals, and again I have put the consultation paper on our web site.

6. Beeston Wildlife Group
The Beeston Wildlife Group Autumn talks programme begins on Monday 17th September, 7.30 pm at Trent Vale Infants School. A charge of £2.00 per person (under 16’s free) includes refreshments. The opening speaker is Nigel Slater, whose talk is entitled “Extinction – But Not As We Know It!”

7. Council House Waiting Lists
New figures released by the borough council this week show that there are currently 2,085 people on the waiting list for council houses in Broxtowe. The council only has 4,500 houses, and so it’s not far short of 50% of the current housing stock. Currently the council has 37 empty properties but many of these are being kept empty pending a redevelopment. These figures demonstrate the challenge that the council have in housing the residents of the borough.

8. A Healthier Broxtowe
The Nottingham West clinical commissioning group (the body which is taking over running NHS services locally) is hosting two public meetings to seek people’s views on health services locally. These will take place on 2nd October from 5.30-8.00pm at Plumtree Hall, Church Street, Eastwood, NG16 3BP, and on 4th October from 12.30-3pm at the Pearson Centre, 2 Nuart Road, Beeston, NG9 2NH. The meetings will be chaired by Dr Guy Mansford, who is the lead doctor for the group, and everyone is welcome to attend.

9. Constituency Boundaries
The Boundary Commission will be publishing their new proposals for constituency boundaries on Tuesday 16th October 2012 which will be followed by an 8 week consultation period. I’ll put more details here when I have them.

10. NET Work Schedule
NET have now published their work programme for the next six weeks and this can be found on our web site at www.broxtoweliberaldemocrats.org.uk.

11. Disabled Access To Beeston Station
Work has now started in creating a proper disabled access for the London bound platform at Beeston Railway Station. This was something that we as a council had hoped would be done some time ago, and my colleague Stan Heptinstall has worked very hard to make it happen. When this is done it will make travelling much more convenient for passengers with disabilities.

12. Flood Defences
The flood defence scheme for the west bank of the Trent was officially opened by Nick Clegg when he visited Nottingham this week. This scheme has come in ahead of schedule and under budget, and protects 16,000 homes in the area, many of them in Broxtowe, from flooding. Part of the scheme through Attenborough was highly controversial and I chaired the planning meeting where it was given permission. However at that meeting I urged the various parties to keep talking to each other and try and find a route which was suitable to everyone, and this was exactly what happened.

13. Girls Football
Girls aged between 6 and 8 are invited to take part in football training each week at Eastwood Community Sports Centre, starting on Tuesday at 5pm. This is being run by the council, who also run a similar scheme at Toton on a Thursday. Sessions cost £2 and can be booked on 0115 917 3573.

14. Badminton sessions
Also at Eastwood Community Sports Centre are new Badminton sessions each Thursday from 6 to 7pm, which cost £1 and are aimed at those aged 15 or above. Family sessions will also be available at weekends. Details are available on 0115 917 3573.

As ever thank you for your support for this newsletter, and any feedback is gratefully received.
Best wishes
David
www.broxtoweliberaldemocrats.org.uk
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