Broxtowe Enews 6th January 2013

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. I hope everyone had a great Christmas and new year. We had a wonderful trip to Lapland for my girls to meet the real Santa and then had Christmas lunch at my sister’s farmhouse in North Yorkshire, all of which was totally magical.

1. High Speed 2
The Government is due to announce this week where the route of the High Speed 2 rail line will run. The announcement may well come tomorrow, and the Sunday Times has reported today that it will include a new East Midlands station at Toton. If confirmed this will be an extremely significant piece of news as there will only be one station anywhere in the East Midlands. All parties on the borough council have previously expressed unanimous support for a station in Toton, but we will need to see whether that holds in the future. There are huge implications if the station does come to Toton regarding access to the site and whether a new junction will be built off the A52, whether London trains will still stop at Beeston etc, and all of these questions will need to be addressed over the next few months. It is vitally important that we don’t jump into any knee-jerk reactions but consider matters carefully and sensibly.

2. Beeston Town Centre
Henry Boot, the leaseholders who run Beeston Sqaure, have at long last unveiled their proposals for redeveloping the Square and held a public exhibition of these on Friday. Unfortunately the publicity was very poorly organised (they emailed me last thing on Thursday to tell me), the exhibition was only on whilst most people were at work, and the plans seemed to be lacking in vision and imagination. The Nottingham Post report can be seen here which seems to sum up local reaction quite well:
http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/glimpse-new-look-Beeston-Square/story-17768043-detail/story.html


3. Queens Road/station Road roadworks
NET have announced that they are about to begin the process of widening the junction between Queens Road and Station Road in Beeston. Works to move communication utility services at the junction, so that it can be widened, are due to begin on Monday 7th January. The works will take place between9.30am to 3.30pm, Monday to Friday each week. To be able to carry out the works safely, one westbound lane of Queens Road, towards Chilwell, will be closed during the above days / times only.

4. M1 Works
The Highways Agency have announced that they will be carrying out maintenance works on the M1 between junctions 24 and 25 between 14th and 26th January. The works will be carried out during the night but will include the closure of the on and off slip lanes at junction 25 and at times the full closure of the motorway.


5. Mobile Phone Masks
I have received a letter this week from Vodaphone and Telefonica UK informing councillors that they are seeking to upgrade their mobile phone masts and that six in the borough – Hickings Lane and Palmer Drive Stapleford, Acacia Walk Beeston, Coventry Lane Bramcote, Hallams Lane and the Sewage Works in Toton. These sites are shown on their web site here:
https://secure.broxtowe.gov.uk/map/,DanaInfo=.abbvfllkvHlyx+48895e22d46c01f49d373447b954f6e6#

6. University Wind Turbine
As regular readers may recall the borough council refused planning permission in November for the erection of a large wind turbine by Nottingham University in Beeston Rylands. Whilst members of the Development Control Committee were generally in favour of wind turbines (and I‘m a firm believer in them as part of a green energy strategy) the committee felt that the  impact on the enterprise Zone at the Boots site and especially the proposals to build some 500 houses there was too great. The University has now appealed against this decision and so ultimately the decision will now be made by Eric Pickles, the Secretary of State.

7. Fear of Crime
An annual survey by Notts County Council has shown that the fear of crime is reducing amongst Notts residents. 75% of people now said that they felt safe to go out after dark in their local area, up 8% on 2011. This is very good news. Crime has been falling for a number of years but the fear of crime has remained stubbornly high, and so movement here really is to be welcomed.

8. Indoor Cricket Coaching
Kimberley Cricket Club has organised cricket coaching for junior school children at Kimberley Sports Centre. There will be a six week course for beginners and improvers starting on Saturday 12th January from 6pm to 7pm. The course costs £18, and can be booked on 0115 938 2446.

9. Holocaust Memorial Day
To mark the 13th annual Holocaust Memorial Day a short ceremony will take place at the Holocaust Memorial within the Walled Garden at Bramcote Hills Park, Ilkeston Road, Bramcote, Nottingham, NG9 3JT on Monday 28th January 2013 at 10.50am for 11.00am. This year the theme  is ‘Communities Together: Build a Bridge’. Following the ceremony, tea and coffee will be served in the Walled Garden along with a special Friendship Cake to reflect this year’s theme.

10. Caroline Radford
Congratulations to Giltbrook mum Caroline Radford who has completed the challenge of running 2,012 km during 2012 to raise money for cancer research. It seems like a wonderful challenge and she should be very proud.

11. Harris Road Street Lighting
Notts County Council have announced that they will be trialling lower cost LED street lights in four locations which should be more energy efficient and cheaper. One of the trial areas is Harris Road in Chilwell. The switch over will take place over the next month and local residents will be surveyed about how they find the change. If the trial is successful then these lights will be rolled out across the county.

12. Broxtowe Council’s parks and Open Spaces Team
Congratulations to everyone in the Parks and open spaces team at Broxtowe Borough Council, and to my colleague Stan Heptinstall, the portfolio holder for the team. The team won the national award for the most improved parks at the Association of Public Centre Excellence awards in December.

13. County Council Mortgage assistance Scheme
 Few months ago the borough council decided, along with a number of other district councils in the area, to explore setting up a scheme to provide mortgage support for first time buyers. Plans have now changed as the County Council has decided to offer this service instead, and so the borough council will no longer be taking this further. (The rules on these schemes only permit one authority to run the scheme in an area.)

14. Children’s Names
There was an interesting report released over Christmas about the most common names now being given to babies in Nottinghamshire. For boys the top name is Oliver (or Ollie) and for girls it is Mia. David always used to be one of the top four or five names but it’s not on the top ten list anymore!

15. Electric Blanket Exchange
Notts County Council’s trading standards team have launched a scheme for those aged 55 or over or who have a disability to exchange old electric blankets for new ones. This greatly reduces the risk of fires or electrocutions. Since April 2009 there have been nine house fires in Notts directly linked to electric blankets. To take part in the exchange ring 01623 452005.

16. Paradiso Cinema

On Friday 11th January at 7.30pm Paradiso Cinema is presenting The Imposter (2012). This is a British documentary film about the 1997 case of the French confidence trickster, Frédéric Bourdin, who impersonated Nicholas Barclay, a Texas boy who had disappeared in 1994 at the age of 13. It takes place at Chilwell Arts Theatre, Chilwell School, NG9 5AL. Tickets on the door cost £5 (£4 conc). Come at 7pm for refreshments.

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