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. Firstly may I apologise that there was no newsletter last
week, unfortunately I was swamped with stuff for my paid employment last
weekend and then whisked all over the country at the start of this week so it
just wasn’t possible to get one produced.
1.
Summer Fairs
The Early Years playgroup in Stapleford are staging a summer
fair at the Old Lace Mill in Frederick Road on Saturday 28th June. It will feature a barbeque, tombola and other
stalls. Full details can be obtained by ringing 07939 852907. Also on the same
day Queenswood Methodist Home for the Aged will be hosting a fair from 2pm to
4pm to raise money for residents funds. It will feature a tombola, book stall
and a host of games and activities.
2.
Unemployment in Nottinghamshire
Unemployment in Notts is continuing to fall. In total there were
11,685 people claiming jobseekers allowance in the county in May, down from
12,382 in April. This represents 2.3% of working age people.
3.
Flooding
I was deeply distressed to read of families in Kimberley who
had their houses flooded for the second time in a year last week. We have just
been able to return to our house after six months away and the builders
actually finished the final job on Friday. For people to have to face this
twice in a year is heartbreaking. I know that money was pumped into Somerset to
provide support for residents affected by flooding there, and I have written to
Anna Soubry to ask her to call in parliament for financial support for
Kimberley residents as well.
4.
Stag Play Area
Better news for Kimberley residents is that the Stag
Recreation Ground has a new children’s play area, which has been jointly funded
by the Borough Council and the Town Council. The refurbished play area took nearly
2 years to build and cost nearly £180,000 but it provides some of the highest
quality play equipment that can be used anywhere.
5.
Colliers Wood
As part of Eastwood Arts Festival next month Robert Louis
Stephenson’s novel Treasure Island will be performed at Colliers Wood. The show
will take place on Thursday 17th July starting at 7.30pm and tickets
cost £12 (£9 for concessions).
6.
Mayor on Facebook
As part of the extended digital service that the borough
council offers videos of visits by the Mayor, councillor Stan Heptinstall, will
be available on YouTube. These can be
seen at youtube.com/broxtowebc. The council have also redesigned their website
which can be seen at www.broxtowe.gov.uk
and I would be very interested in any feedback from users as to how well the
site now works.
7.
Potholes
David Cameron visited Kimberley this week and announced that
the Government is providing an extra £2.7 million to the County Council to help
repair the 52,000 potholes in the county.
8.
Building in Stapleford
I hope I can correct a story that was reported in the media
this week. Despite claims to the contrary the council is not considering
building on sports pitches at Hickings Lane Rec in Stapleford. These rumours
flared up some months ago and I reported the correct situation then, but the
rumours seem to have circulated again this week. What the council is
considering is building some flats close to the sports itches. This is quite
deliberate. At the moment Hickings Lane Rec is targeted with depressing
regularity by vandals who have torn up trees and damaged the pavilion. Building
homes near the park so that it will be overlooked may well help to prevent this
happening. I’m disappointed that some people seem to be ignoring that and
spreading rumours that just are not true.
9.
Yes Tree Community Café
A new community café has opened at Yew Tree Court running
from now until 30th July. The café will be open every Wednesday from
10am and noon, offering a range of refreshments. It is run by residents of Yew
Tree Court, a retirement complex run by the borough council. As it is not a
commercial venture residents are being invited to pay according to how
satisfied they are.
10.
Business In The Community
The charity Business in the Community, which aims to support
local communities, has announced that Beeston will be receiving significant support.
The charity aims to increase the number of shoppers, reduce the number of empty
shops and create 3,000 new jobs over the next three years. Beeston is actually still
attracting a significant number of shoppers, despite all the tram and building
work going on, with a record 105,000 people visiting in one week last month.
However the scale of work does present considerable challenges and this extra support
is very welcome.
11.
Great Beeston Bake Off
The Great Beeston Bake Off will take place at Round Hill
School on Saturday 28th June. The competition is free to enter but
contestants can make a donation to Oxfam. The deadline for entries is 8pm on
Friday 27th June. Further information can be obtained by ringing 07711
615096.
12.
Mayors Garden Party
The Mayor will host a Garden Party on Saturday 19th July
from 4.00pm until 9.00pm at his home in Bramcote in aid of the Mayors charities.
13.
Archaeological Dig in Toton
There is an archaeological investigation beginning next
Monday. It will be in Manor Park Recreation Ground Toton. It follows
geophysical and topographical surveys of the area. In the excavation and Test
pits the archaeologists and volunteers will be looking for dating material and
wall lines of the old Manor House/s and farm buildings. Phase 2 will last
for 3 weeks. This will be followed by Phase 3 which is an excavation in search
of dating evidence and lines from the watermill which once stood in Manor Park
before being demolished at the beginning of the 20th century, no specific date
for this has been discovered yet. There were 2 mills recorded in the Domesday
Book and there are short references to a watermill up to 1901.
14.
Residents Parking Schemes
Residents Parking Scheme are being introduced by the County
Council on Devonshire Avenue, Glebe Street, Cromwell Road, Elm Avenue, Bramcote
Road and Ireton Street in Beeston. New parking bays, yellow lines and signs
being installed. The works started this week and are intended to be
finished early next week and the new schemes will come into force shortly
afterwards.
15.
Queens Honours
Two Broxtowe residents were honoured by the Queen this week.
Congratulations to Professor David
Greenaway, Vice Chancellor of Nottingham University who was given a knighthood
in the Queen's Birthday Honours and Marion Wallwork of the Beeston and Civic
Society who received the British Empire Medal for her services to Heritage.
16.
Watnall Post Office
Watnall Post Office will be closed for refurbishment from 23rd
July at 5pm until 3rd August at 1pm. The new look post office is one
of a series within the borough that the post office are modernising and they
will then be able to provide a wider range of services than they can currently
do.
As ever thank you for your support for this newsletter. Any
feedback is gratefully received.
Best wishes
David
Follow me on Twitter @davidwatts12.
