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.
Beeston Town Centre
At the Development Control meeting on Wednesday the borough
council gave planning permission for a redevelopment of the Beeston Square. Many of the members of the committee
expressed disappointment that the plans were not as inspired as we would have
hoped but the prevailing view was that we had to give permission to get
something done. I was in a minority of one who voted against the proposals as I
felt that they were just not good enough.
2.
Oxylane Sports Village
Also on Wednesday night the committee looked at the
proposals to develop a sports village at land next to the M1 junction 26. The
application was for a multi-million pound development creating 250 new jobs,
but the big disadvantage was that it was on green belt land. This was a much
closer vote and the application was refused by 6 votes to 5.
3.
Nottingham Railway Station
Nottingham Railway Station is now closed for 5 weeks. This
is also affecting services through Beeston as well. I’m already regretting
agreeing to a meeting in London at 9am tomorrow morning. If travelling by train
please ensure that you check the details.
4.
Watnall Bunker
An old World War Two bunker in Watnall is set to be turned
into a bed and breakfast. The bunker on land off Main Road - which used to be
an RAF plotting station – was bought two years ago and the Council have now given planning permission
for it to be converted.
5.
Grass Cutting
Last week my colleagues Stan Heptinstall and Jacky Williams
presented our grass cutting petition to the County Council. There have also
been numerous other complaints to the County over the state of verges in Broxtowe
and in recent days they look like they have been putting much more effort into
doing things correctly. The areas that I have seen in recent days which have
had a second cut look far better than they did after the first. At the same
time my colleague Ian Tyler has been in contact with the Highways Agency and as
a result of this the grass along the A52
was cut on Friday night.
6.
Parks and Open Spaces
Broxtowe residents are being encouraged to go online and
have their say on to help inform a new Broxtowe Parks Standard. An online questionnaire is available at http://broxtowe.firmstep.com/default.aspx/RenderForm/?ID=obe5obHE79m&HideAll
on the Broxtowe Borough Council website and is quick and easy to fill in,
using a series of drop down boxes and point and click answers. The views of
local residents are really important in formulating the standards of facilities
and services in local councils and so I’d encourage everyone to spend a few
minutes completing it.
7.
Tram Jobs
I was delighted to read this week that the tram is about to
create it’s 1,000th new job. Broxtowe residents, along with those
from Nottingham, get priority on these and so many local residents will have
benefited from these. I was asked this week
about a rumour that the construction work was 18 months behind schedule. I must
say that I have never heard this and would be very surprised if it was true,
given the very strong penalty clauses in the contracts.
8.
HS2
This week Derbyshire County Council formally backed plans to
develop the East Midlands station for HS2 at Toton, rather than Derby. This
means that only Derby City Council are now arguing that Derby should be the
location, and makes it even more likely that the development will be at Toton.
Derbyshire County Council will be proposing a further extension to the tram
network when HS2 is built, extending it from Toton through to Long Eaton.
The public consultation on HS2 has now opened. This will run
until the end of the year and will include a public exhibition in October. The
details of the consultation are available at www.hs2.org.uk/phase-two/route-consultation.
9.
Stapleford Local History Society
The next meeting of Stapleford Local History Society will
take place on 14th August at the Maycliffe Hall, starting at 7.30pm.
The theme will be “Stapleford Past and Present.” Admission for non-members is
£3.50.
10.
Crime Levels Down
Crime in Nottinghamshire has fallen by 12% between April
last year and March of this year, continuing a trend that has been developing
for the past few years. Despite the recession crime is at a lower level now
than for many years. Encouragingly, not only are there less crimes but the
number of people committing crime has also fallen.
11.
Kate Beckinsale Visit
Hollywood actress Kate Beckinsale visited Chilwell school on
Wednesday to unveil a plaque to her late father
Richard Beckinsale, who was a pupil at the school. A number of other
well known celebrities, including David Walliams, came for the event as well.
Congratulations to everyone at the school who was involved in organising it.
12.
Stapleford Carnival
The organisers of Stapleford Carnival have announced this
week that they have had to reluctantly cancel the parade which normally starts
the event. This is because the police will not provide policing at the event.
However the rest of the carnival will go ahead on 7th September at
the Ilkeston Road Recreation Ground.
13.
Trowell FC Soccer School
Trowell FC have launched a soccer school for children aged
between 5 and 7 years old every Saturday morning at William Lilley School in
Stapleford. Sessions cost £2 and more details can be obtained by ringing 07747
190341.
14.
Summer Activities
The borough council have published a booklet listing many
summer activities for children and young people. You can obtain a copy by ringing
the council on 0115 917 7777 and many details will also be on the council’s
website.
15.
August Break
Next weeks edition of the newsletter will be the last one
until September. As with previous years I will not be publishing newsletters
during August so if you have any activities during August that you would like
publicising please make sure that I have the details by next weekend.
As ever thank you for your support for this newsletter. Any
feedback is gratefully received.
Best wishes
David
Follow me on Twitter @davidwatts12.
