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 has been a really busy week so may I apologise if you’re
waiting for a reply from me, they will be coming shortly.
1.
Open Cast Mining
It’s a shame that we’re having to start this week with two
items of very bad news for the borough. The first is that the County Council
have voted to allow UK Coal to carry out five years of open cast mining at Shortwood
Farm between Trowell and Cossall. This is despite the very strong opposition
locally from all three political parties. I’m told that the Labour members on
the committee all voted in favour of the scheme as did one of the Conservative
members, and as a result the proposal was carried.
2.
Oxylane Sports Village
The second piece of bad news is that the borough council’s Development
Control Committee voted against allowing the development of a sports village
next to junction 26 of the M1. This was a £30 million development which would
have included facilities for a whole range of different sports which residents
would have been able to try out for free, together with a new leisure centre
for the Borough Council and would have involved improvements to the Nuthall
Island and to the roundabout at the motorway junction. The village would have
been the first of its kind in the UK and was supported by a whole range of
national sports bodies. It would have generated a significant number of new
jobs and the sort of facilities that the council could never afford to
create. Unfortunately the Conservatives
voted as a block against it and two Labour councillors voted with them. All the
Liberal Democrats on the committee were in favour of the scheme. Sadly it looks
like the opportunity has now been lost for ever. To say that I am disappointed
with both of these stories would be a considerable understatement.
3.
Button Sale
Voluntary group ‘Communities Against Poverty’ will be doing
a special sale of buttons on Saturday 25 January 2014 from 10 am to 2 pm at The
Wood Gallery, 37 Scargill Walk, Craft Workshops, Eastwood, Nottingham NG16
3AY. Profits will go towards funding
Brinsley Headstocks Festival which takes place on Sunday 7 September 2014. Group
members are collecting small glass jars (for example the type used to contain
individual jam portions) for the buttons and would be grateful if people could
save their unwanted small jars between now and the New Year. A volunteer can collect jars from you –
please contact Angela Smith on 01773 712637.
4.
HS2 Meeting
Strelley Parish Group have decided to have another public
meeting about HS2 to try and encourage people to fill in the response forms
which were in leaflets available at the HS2 meeting at Bilborough College on
November 30th , or they can be downloaded from the internet. The meeting will
be open to anyone and will be in the Panelled Room in Strelley Hall on January
11th. 2014 at 2.00p.m.
5.
Borough Council Ward Boundaries
The Boundary Commission recently confirmed that they feel
that Broxtowe has the right number of borough councillors at 44. They have
however now launched the next stage of their review, which is to determine the
size and make up or wards. At the moment we have a mixture of different size
wards with either 1, 2 or 3 councillors. The aim when the current size of the
council was established about 10 years ago was to ensure that each councillor
represented about 2,000 people. The
Commission say that they want to ensure that councillors represent roughly the
same number of people, that communities are properly reflected and that
boundaries are easily identifiable. The consultation runs until April and if
you would like to submit a comment please send them to alison.evison@lgbce.org.uk.
6.
Archaeological Research at Manor Farm recreation
Ground, Toton
The Friends of Toton Fields, with the support of Beeston and
District Local Historical Society and the Borough Council are submitting an
application to the Heritage Lottery Fund to finance some archaeological pits at
the site that the old manor house and watermill stood. If the dig is successful and any
interpretation boards are to be displayed then these will be funded by the
Borough Council. I hope that this bid is successful and I look forward to
seeing the work progress.
7.
Car Par Charges
I’m writing this newsletter two days before the next cabinet
meeting of the Borough Council but when that takes place we will be debating a
proposal from the Lib-Dem and Labour group to reduce the long stay parking
charges at a number of car parks in Eastwood and Beeston. I expect that these
proposals will be passed and lower charges will come into effect in the new
year.
8.
Kingsbridge Way Short Break Service
I reported on proposals from the County Council to close
this vital respite service last week and gave an email address for my colleague
Steve Carr, who is co-ordinating the Lib-Dem opposition to the closure. A
number of people have contacted me this week to say that the email address didn’t
work. Many apologies for this and if you try stevejcarr@hotmail.com it should work.
9.
Beeston Wildlife Group
Beeston Wildlife Group are holding a talk on the 50th
Anniversary of Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust by Norman Lewis (MBE) and Tim
Sexton tomorrow, 16th December 2013, from 7.30pm - 9.30pm at the Trent Vale
Infants School, Trent Road, Beeston Rylands, Nottingham, NG9 1LP. The admission
cost is £2 on the door, including light refreshments.
10.
Stapleford New Homes Consultation
Lib-Dem run Stapleford Town Council have organised a public
consultation on the borough councils issues and options documents for new
housing sites in the borough. This will take place on Friday 20th
December from 6pm to 7pm at the Carnegie Centre, Warren Avenue, Stapleford. All
Stapleford residents are welcome to attend and you can register your interest
by sending an email to stapleford@yahoo.co.uk.
11.
Train Speeds
Track improvements along the Midland Mainline has meant that
trains from Nottingham and Beeston can now get to London faster than ever
before. Up to 8 minutes have been shaved off journey times along the route,
which is good news. Electrification of the line over the next few years will
make the service even faster.
12.
Low Cost Homes
Work has now started on building 26 low cost homes in Beeston
and Eastwood on the site of former garages owned by the council. This is the
first stage of a £2.5million development to build 100 new homes across the
borough, which the council are providing in conjunction with Nottingham
Community Housing.
13.
Wedding Make Up Artist
Congratulations to Watnall resident Jennie Hughes who was
this week voted Best Wedding Make Up Artist in the East Midlands. She now goes
through to the national finals and we wish her every success.
14.
School Numbers
Research published this week suggests that Notts County
Council may need to find an extra 2,500 primary school places in the next three
years due to rising population figures. As well as an increased birth rate
there is greater immigration from outside of the region. We all know that this
is a great place to live and it looks like many other people are thinking
exactly the same thing.
15.
Shop Graphics
Visitors to Beeston and Stapleford Town Centres may notice
some new graphics that we have installed on empty shops. These give a
visualisation of how the shops could look if they were in use. This serves two
purposes, first it gives potential tenants an idea of how the premises would
appear f let, and secondly it helps prevent the town centres looking run down.
The council have tried this approach before very successfully, and so we have
gone bigger this time to have even more of an impact.
As ever thank you for your support for this newsletter. Any
feedback is gratefully received. May I conclude by wishing everyone a very
happy Christmas and a very pleasant new year. The next newsletter will be
published on 5th January 2014.
Best wishes
David
Follow me on Twitter @davidwatts12.
