Broxtowe Enews 24th February 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.

1. Income Tax Changes
There were some very interesting figures released this week about the impact of the Lib-Dem policy of increasing the tax free allowance before people start paying tax. These show that here in Broxtowe 4,130 people on low pay are no longer paying any income tax at all and a further 51,300 have received a £600 cut income tax. These figures mean that since the Lib-Dems came into Government an extra £30,780,000 of money has been retained in Broxtowe.

2. Child Poverty
Less good news came from a further set of figures published this week, showing levels of child poverty. In Broxtowe 11% of children live below the poverty line, which is a really distressing figure. It is lower than many other authorities nearby (the figure in neighbouring Ashfield was 16%) but 1 child living in poverty is one too many.

3. Broxtowe Budget
The Borough Council’s cabinet looked at the figures for the budget for next year on Tuesday. The highlights are that we are proposing no increase in council tax for the third year running (in company with every Lib-Dem run council in the country), council house rents will go up by 1.5% on average but there will be no increase in garage rents. These proposals now go forward to the full cabinet to be voted on.

4. Beeston fair Trade Fortnight
Beeston’s Fair Trade fortnight starts tomorrow. This year it has an artistic theme and next Saturday, 2nd March, there will be a free family art workshop at The Other place, High Road, Chilwell, from 10am to 3pm. There will also be numerous other events and stalls throughout the fortnight.

5. DH Lawrence Blue Line Trail
The blue line trail in Eastwood linking important locations connected with DH Lawrence is wearing out in a number of places, and the cabinet agreed this week to renew it. We will liaise with the County Council’s highways department first to ensure that they don’t come along and dig up the roads as soon as this has been done, but subject to that the work should be carried out in the next few months.

6. Broxtowe Liberal Democrats
I was at the East Midlands regional conference of the Liberal Democrats yesterday where I was delighted to learn that our membership in the region has grown quite considerably over the past twelve months. Here in Broxtowe we have recently increased the number of areas receiving our Focus leaflets, and these receive a really good reception from most people. We could do more if we could get more deliverers. If you can help deliver leaflets or if you would like to join the party please let me know. (NB You don’t have to be a member to help deliver leaflets.)

7. Eastwood Male Voice Choir
A special concert by the renowned Eastwood Collieries’ Male Voice Choir will take place next month in aid of the Mayor's chosen charities, the Ryan Lee Trust and the Royal British Legion, Nottinghamshire. The choir will perform a host of music ranging from old favourites to music from the shows and more well-known popular pieces on Saturday 9th March at St Mary's Church, Eastwood, starting at 7.30pm.
The Eastwood Collieries' Male Voice Choir was formed in 1920 and is one of only a handful of original colliery male voice choirs surviving in the country. The choir performs numerous concerts throughout the year for many groups, charities, as well as performing regularly at the Royal Concert Hall in Nottingham. Tickets are £5.00 and are available on the door. Please visit http://www.broxtowe.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=11914 for more information. Alternatively, visit the Eastwood Collieries' Male Voice Choir website at www.ecmvc.org or call 01773 780 724 to pre-book tickets.

8. Chilwell Arts Theatre Events
On Thursday 7th March at 7.30pm Village Ventures presents “Oh La La!”, Classic jazz, Parisian folk, “Chansons Realistics” (eg Edith Piaf), French favourites and pop tunes, which the promise will be an evening of superb entertainment! It takes place at Chilwell Arts Theatre, Chilwell School, NG9 5AL, Tickets £8 (£6 conc) from 0115 9252698/ 0777205 3412 or on the door.
On Friday 8th March at 7.30pm  Paradiso Cinema presents “Anna Karenina,” starring Keira Knightley At Chilwell Arts Theatre, Chilwell School, NG9 5AL, Tickets on the door, £5 (£4 conc ). Come at 7pm for refreshments.

9. Out of the Woods
A dualogue-ish performance to mark the launch of the new audio CD of poems by Dave Wood. The performers will be Dave Wood and Gill Bates. Experience them at Beeston’s new, fresh and vibrant community art area, The Other Place, 6 – 8 High Road, on 20th March 2013 at 7.15pm.  Keeping in tune with The Other Place’s open accessibility to the arts, admission is only £1.  Children are welcome. There will be an opportunity to buy Dave’s new CD for £3 and to chat with both performers. For details, phone O77O9977684

10. Free Wi-Fi at Rumbletums
The Rumbletums Café in Kimberley, which offers learning and training opportunities for young people with learning disabilities, has now added free wi-fi to the range of facilities that it offers to customers.

11. University Wind Turbines
As regular readers may recall the borough council last year rejected an application to construct a wind turbine in Beeston Rylands by Nottingham University. At the same time the University also applied to build two further turbines close to it, but on land within the city council area. The city council have now also rejected the application.

12. Potholes
Notts County Council announced this week that they expect to have to deal with more than 32,400 potholes this year, up from 28,921 last year. Local authorities are facing significant squeezes on their budgets at the moment and so meeting this increased demand will be a real challenge for them.

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