Broxtowe Enews 24th March 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. May I give a special welcome to the new readers that we have this week. This week we’ve hit a new record for the number of readers that we have so thank you all for that.

1. Broxtowe Spring Clean
The borough council’s Technical and Works department, under the political leadership of my colleague Stan Heptinstall, had arranged to begin a massive litter pick and tidy up of the borough on Saturday. Unfortunately it was snowing so hard that it was impossible to see the litter but hopefully things can get underway during the week. We want the borough to be as spotless as possible. If there are particular problem areas please let me know and we’ll try and target them.

2. HS2 Meeting
Thank you to everyone who attended the HS2 meeting in Beeston last Tuesday. We had just under 100 people there and it was great to see so many people taking an interest. There were a number of very interesting and valid points raised by people and we will raise these with HS2 when councillors meet them (hopefully next month). I have set up a separate email list for people who are interested in HS2 so if you want to be added to that please let me know.
Also on the subject of HS2 Strelley residents have formed an action group to campaign against the proposed route. They did invite me to attend their meeting last Thursday but I was already committed to another meeting that night. The concern in Strelley is primarily that the route goes under the village in a very shallow tunnel before re-emerging and going through some of the outbuildings in Strelley Hall.

3. County Council manifesto
The Liberal Democrats have now published our manifesto for the County Council elections this year. This is available on the Broxtowe web site at www.broxtoweliberaldemocrats.org.uk. Here in Broxtowe the Lib-Dems hold exactly half the county council seats, with the Conservative Party holding the other half. Labour don’t currently hold any seats.

4. Chilwell Road
Just a quick reminder to residents that Chilwell Road in Beeston will be closed to through traffic from tomorrow for the next year. However all the shops will remain open and during this time especially they need your patronage as much as possible. Bus routes have been changed as well and, as I mentioned last week, details of the revised routes are on the Broxtowe Lib-Dem web site. Also on there are details of the NET plans for the next six weeks, which I try and update each week.

5. Eastwood Skate Park
When I was the leader of the council back in 2010 two teenagers from Eastwood came to see me along with their County Councillor Keith Longdon. They were appealing on behalf of teenagers in Eastwood for improvements to their skate park, and were supported by Keith and also by their headmaster at Eastwood Comprehensive. I was happy to pledge the support of the borough council as well. The two young ladies who came to see me, Beth Lee and Rhianne Lounds, have now seen that dream become a reality after they raised £165,000 to pay for a new skate park. This is a fantastic achievement and as a result work will commence next month on installing new skateboarding facilities for them. They are a real credit to their town and their school.

6. Middle Street Resource Centre, Beeston
A couple of years ago the County Council was looking at ways to cut costs and one project they considered scrapping was the Middle Street Resource Centre in Beeston. This particularly helps adults who have had mental health problems and I’m pleased to say that, after a campaign by service users, the decision was taken not to close the centre. Instead they have refurbished the building, at a cost of £500,000, and this refurbishment is now complete. The new centre was opened this week by the Chair of the County Council, Cllr Carol Pepper.

7. Mansfield Road Park, Eastwood
A refurbishment of Mansfield Road Park in Eastwood, costing £30,000, has now been completed and the new look park was opened on Wednesday of last week by the mayor of Broxtowe. Although the media sometimes suggest that there is no money available for local councils here in Broxtowe we have managed to invest heavily in our parks and open spaces this year and many of them across the borough are looking much better as a result.

8. Fairfield Primary School
Fairfield Primary School in Stapleford has applied to become an Academy. This means that they will no longer be subject to local authority control and will be funded directly from central government, with all key decisions being taken by the governors and head master.

9. George Spencer School
Congratulations to George Spencer School in Stapleford whose students have won a national advertising competition organised by Eon. The competition was for students to design a competition encouraging people to save energy, and the students “Spin ‘till it hertz” campaign won for its originality and creativity.

10. Sandringham Drive Nursing Home
The owners of Sandringham Drive Nursing home in Bramcote have applied to extend the facility by concerting two neighbouring properties. This is something that is causing some concern and I will be reporting more fully on it in due course.

11. The Budget
Just a quick comment if I may on Wednesday’s budget. As a Liberal Democrat I was delighted with several aspects of the budget, both regarding what was in it and also what was not. The increase in tax free allowance to £10,000 was a key Lib-Dem commitment prior to the last general election and was on the front page of our manifesto. Equally the increase in child care support and the cut in beer duty were both Lib-Dem campaigns, and the lack of any further cuts in welfare provision were very much as a result of us being in the Government.

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