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
Follow me on Twitter at @DavidWatts12.
Visit our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Broxtowe-Liberal-Democrats/78471665107
Email me at davidwatts@broxtoweliberaldemocrats.org.uk

Broxtowe Enews 17th 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. Stapleford Library
May I start by correcting an error in last week’s newsletter. I wrote that Stapleford Library would be shut for six weeks. This is an error and I meant to write that it would be shut for six months. Many apologies for this – it was one of those occasions where what was in my head and what my fingers wrote at my keyboard were completely different.

2. Toton
The Borough Council will launch a new consultation tomorrow about whether we need to make any alterations to our proposed Core Strategy (the plan for what development we will permit over the next 20 or so years) in the light of the announcement that the HS2 station is to be built in Derby. I’m pleased to say that, whilst the whole process for where future development will be permitted has been a political hot potato until now, this time we all agreed on the new consultation. As HS2 represents a significant new development it is essential that the council considers whether we need to amend our proposals at all, although this does not for one moment mean that we are intending to go back on decisions that we have previously made. If we didn’t review the position we would be open to challenge in the future by developers arguing that our plan was flawed as a result.
Also on the theme of HS2 I’m delighted to announce that the council will be holding an open meeting for local residents in Toton shortly to give people the opportunity to raise any queries or find out more information. Again I hope that this will have all party support and that many people will attend.

3. Eastwood Comprehensive School
I had a letter from Eastwood Comprehensive School this week informing me that they have decided to seek to become an Academy. In simple terms this means that they opt out of local authority control and are free to control their budgets as they wish.

4. Housing plans
I reported just before Christmas that Rushcliffe Borough Council’s housing plans, which our MP had been telling us locally to follow, were in serious trouble after their planning inspector (who examines the plans on behalf of the Government) described them as being heavily flawed. Rushcliffe have now announced that they are suspending work on the plan and have asked for a meeting with other local authorities, including Broxtowe. I imagine that they will ask if Broxtowe is willing to take any more house building over and above that we have already made plans for, and they will be told a resounding no.

5. School Improvements
Notts County Council have announced this week that they are setting aside £44million to expand and improve school buildings in the County. This would be excellent news apart from the fact that not a single school in Broxtowe appears to be on the list of recipients.

6. Solar panels
A less controversial decision by the County Council is that they are going to invest about £250,000 per year until 2017 fitting solar panels on it’s buildings. This will help to significantly reduce the carbon footprint of the council and also cut energy costs, and was unanimously supported by councillors.

7. Holiday Children’s Club
As it is half term this week the Pearson centre in Beeston is putting on a range of activities for children aged from 6-11. A days session runs from 9am to 4.30pm and costs £15. They are available on a first come first served basis, and the range of activities available includes fitness classes, sports, arts and crafts, and cookery.

8. Oxylane Sports Village
I reported a week or so back that the owners of Decathlon have applied for planning permission to build a sports village in the green belt directly to the East of Junction 26 of the M1. I understand that the County Council will formally object to this as being an inappropriate development in the green belt. This is something that the borough council will take into account when we consider the application. If the borough council wants to grant planning permission we will need to notify the Secretary of State who will have the final say on this.

9. Five a side Football
Bramcote Leisure Centre is launching five a side football sessions for people who work nights. These will start on 6th March and will take place between 1pm and 2pm. Sessions cost £2 each. Details are available from the leisure centre.

10. Wood Recycling
An application has been made to Notts County Council to convert a disused skip hire site in Cossall into a wood recycling centre. The site in Shilo Way closed down two years ago and the new plans would involve three new buildings being erected on the site. As this is a recycling centre the application is dealt with by the County Council rather than the borough council and details are available on their website at www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk. The planning application reference is F/2740.

11. Blue Plaque
A new blue plaque has been unveiled in Station Road in Beeston to commemorate the home of William Wallett, a comedian from Victorian times who performed for the Queen at Windsor Castle and who became known as “the court jester.”

12. Bus Route Diversion
The Yourbus Y36 route between Beeston and Chilwell undergoes a significant diversion from today. When travelling from Beeston to Chilwell the route will now be along Station Road, Wollaton Road, Broughton Street, Park Street and Bramcote Avenue, before returning to its existing route. This will be reversed for journeys from Chilwell to Beeston. This means that it will no longer stop on Middle Street, Chilwell Road or Cator Lane.

13. Crushing Works
I’ve had a letter this week from the Environment Agency saying that they have received an application to set up a waste steel crushing facility at the Old Stanton Site, Lows Lane, Ilkeston. This will involve crushing waste metal by dropping a 4 tonne weight on them from a height of 25 feet. They have launched a public consultation on this which runs until 21st March 2013. If you wish to comment you can write to the EA at Permit Support Centre, Quadrant 2, 99 Parkway Avenue, Sheffield, S9 4WF quoting reference EA/EPR/LB3833RX/A001. You can also comment by email to psc@environment-agency.gov.uk. The plans don’t seem to be available online but can be seen at the EA offices in Ilkeston or West Bridgford.

14. Emails and Web Site
Many apologies that my web site at www.davidwatts.org,uk has not been updated since Christmas. There is a problem with it and the hosting organisation haven’t yet got to the bottom of it. Apologies also if you have emailed me this week and not had a reply. I’m afraid that I have been totally stretched with work and there is a significant backlog of people I need to reply to. I will get round to these as quickly as possible. (I was tempted to celebrate on Thursday when I managed to get to bed shortly before midnight for the first time in days.)

15. National news
I normally resist the urge to comment on national news in this newsletter but I hope you will permit me four short mentions. First I’m delighted that the Government are ending the scandal of old people having to see their homes to pay for care. I would like them to have gone further but I realise the books have to balance and what is being introduced is far, far better than we have at the moment. Second I hear from colleagues in Eastleigh that a story being put about their by Tory campaigners is that the Lib-Dems are proposing to send inspectors to peoples homes to value their jewellery for tax purposes. May I assure everyone that this is wholly untrue. Third, of all the things that struck me about the horse meat scandal the one that has left the deepest impression is probably the sheer distances that meat has travelled. Shopping locally has never seemed so attractive. Finally I saw an email from a Union leader this week urging support for Labour and blaming the coalition for the scandal at West Staffordshire Hospital Trust.  I think that there are a number of valid criticisms that could be targeted at the coalition but blaming us for something that happened two years before the coalition started, when Labour were in Government, seems to be taking the biscuit somewhat.

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
Follow me on Twitter at @DavidWatts12.
Visit our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Broxtowe-Liberal-Democrats/78471665107
Email me at davidwatts@broxtoweliberaldemocrats.org.uk

Broxtowe Enews 10th 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. May I give a special welcome to the new readers that we have this week.

1. By election result
May I start by congratulating the Lib-Dem team in Eastwood on a fantastic by election victory for the Town Council, winning a seat from Labour.  The result was Lib Dem David Hallam 831, Lab 227, Ind 221. The turnout was 18.4% (dreadful but better than for the police commissioner) and Labour held onto 2nd by 6! The majority was 604 and David Hallam polled 65% of the vote.

2. Employment News
Also very encouraging this week were the latest employment figures for Broxtowe. Employment is up and unemployment and benefit claimants down. 2,162 people claimed Job seekers Allowance in December 2012, down from 2,443 a year previously. At the same time 532 people signed off benefits compared to 389 in December 2011. It is far too early to claim that the economy is functioning properly yet but employment nationally is at record high and things are certainly going the right way.

3. Rough Sleepers in Broxtowe
A survey was carried out by the council and the housing charity Framework at the start of this month about the number of people in Broxtowe sleeping rough. I’m delighted to say that this fairly extensive survey found no-one sleeping rough anywhere in the borough. The survey  will be repeated late this month and I’ll publish the results as soon as I have them.

4. Oxylane Application
Oxylane, the company who own the Decathlon Sports Chain, have now submitted an application to build a new store and sports village just to the west of junction 26. This is a green belt location which is a big  argument against it, but it will bring new jobs and new facilities, and the applicants are offering to do significant work on the Nuthall Island to improve traffic flows, which are three reasons that the applicants say make it a special circumstance. In due course this application will be considered by the Development Control Committee, but in the meantime you can see the plans and make any comments at:
http://planning.broxtowe.gov.uk/(S(1vn02j2f3lc30tei2abun055))/ApplicationHistorySummary.aspx?RefVal=12/00644
At the moment this is an outline application, meaning that a lot of the detail is not yet included. The applicants at this point are trying to establish the principle of use of the land and will then need to submit a further application with the details later.

5. Temple Park
 I had a meeting this week with the developers who want to build a housing estate directly to the East of the M1 at junction 26, directly opposite the development referred to above. It’s fair to say that they were a little put out with the proposals for HS2 as these go straight through the middle o their site. Nevertheless they still intend to put in a planning application which they  expect will be submitted next month.

6. Stanton Ironworrks
The third big planning application affecting the borough this week was for 2,000 houses to be built at Stanton Ironworks. Although this is in Erewash much of the traffic would be bound to come though Broxtowe. I’ve not had chance to look at the plans yet but they have now come online and are available at http://www.erewash.gov.uk/planning-building-control/stanton-planning-application/what-is-proposed.html.

7. Phone mast Upgrades
I’ve been notified this week that O2 and Vodaphone are proposing to upgrade a number of phone masts that they jointly operate in the borough. These are at Shortwood Farm in Trowell. The electricity substation on Toton Lane in Toton, Hilltop Farm in Stapleford, Derby Street in Beeston, the electricity substation on Queens Road in Attenborough and on Woodhouse Way in Nuthall. A plan showing these can be seen at http://batchgeo.com/map/7ca6841edf587770dec42c0dce6e0e69.

8. Bramcote Hills Tree Planting
The latest addition to the growing arboretum, a European Nettle Tree, will be planted at Bramcote Hill Park Arboretum on Tuesday at 10am. The tree is a very large specimen and will be lowered into the planting pit using a mechanical digger. The Mayor of Broxtowe, Councillor Margaret Handley  will be there to help backfill the hole and all attendees will be most welcome to join in.
The planting will be witnessed by children from several local schools who are taking part in a bigger project to restock the woodland with native trees and wildflowers. The children will also be planting flower bulbs around the trunk of a very large Beech tree which collapsed last year and helping to think of ideas for a chainsaw sculptor to interpret and carve into the trunk.  The sculptor will then be coming to the park in a few weeks to begin carving and the children will visit again to see their ideas brought to life and listen to a storyteller who will have conjured up tales about the tree, park and woodlands to entertain them.
The project is a joint venture between Broxtowe Borough Council and Greenwood, with help from The Trust for Conservation Volunteers and financial assistance from local Lib-Dem County Councillor Stan Heptinstall.

9. John Bell
I heard this week that former Labour councillor John Bell, the man I defeated when I first won my seat on the borough council, has passed away. John represented Stapleford for many years.

10. Stapleford Library
Stapleford Library is due to close for refurbishment at the end of March for about six weeks. Arrangements have now been made that during the renovations the library will be housed in the Carnegie Centre of Warren Avenue.

11. Severn Trent Water
Figures from the Government released this week suggest that average water bills in the Severn Trent area will rise by £7 next year. However the good news is that they will still be the lowest in the country.

12. A52 Bus Lane
Earlier this week the police carried out an enforcement exercise against carts driving on the bus lane on the A52. In just over 2 hours during the morning rush hour they stopped 15 motorists using the lane, each of whom received a £30 fine. I saw three cars being stopped as I queued to get onto the Priory Island. The police say that they will repeat the exercise later this month.

13. Cat
I put an appeal out last week for people who live near me to assist in the return of my cat. I don’t know if it was coincidence or not but she came back at 7.00am the next morning. Thank you if you encouraged her back.

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
Follow me on Twitter at @DavidWatts12.
Visit our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Broxtowe-Liberal-Democrats/78471665107
Email me at davidwatts@broxtoweliberaldemocrats.org.uk

Broxtowe Enews 3rd 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. HS2
The official announcement from the Government that Toton was to be the site of the East Midlands station on the HS2 rail line was made on Monday and generated a significant amount of media coverage. I’ve discussed this during the week on the radio and on the BBC news website and have had several discussions with the Transport Minister as well. I think that this is a very good news story but there are a huge number of issues that will need to be resolved. A key one is how vehicles are going to get onto the site. The plans show a new junction on the A52 which I think is needed, but it seems to me that building a new junction 25A with access to the site and also to Stanton Ironworks would be a big advantage as well. The city council is also talking about trams, trains and other ways of getting from the city centre to the station and we need to be fully involved in these discussions. The potential is huge but so are the challenges and the council needs to rise to these.

2. Beeston Town Centre
Henry Boot have now submitted their plans for redeveloping Beeson town centre. Thhese are available to see on the Broxtowe Council web site at http://planning.broxtowe.gov.uk/(S(wa1hw3nvhjybkinchjefhg45))/applicationdetail.aspx?refval=13/00042/FUL. This will be considered by the council’s development control committee in due course.

3. Bikes at Beeston Station
Continuing the travel theme for a moment the Government have provided more than £1 million to improve cycling provision in Nottingham, and as part of this a bike hub will be created at Beeston Station, where people can rent a bike for the day. The scheme already exists in Nottingham and this will be an extension of it.

4. Nursing homes
There has been quite a lot of media coverage this week about the decision of Broxtowe Borough Council to close two old people’s homes. These are Wyndham Court in Chilwell and Peatfield Court in Stapleford. Unfortunately both of these buildings are not up to modern standards and are virtually impossible to properly modernise. Therefore demolition is the only real option. I fully understand that residents will be upset by this but the council will do all they can to support them and their families. However waiting was really not an option as we were in a situation where the money is available this year to demolish and build new social housing but it may not be available in future years.

5. New Military Support Centre
 A new one stop shop for soldiers and their families has opened in Beeston. The Forces kin the Community centre in Cross Street will provide employment, health and training advice to members of the forces, and it is being run by the Support Our Forces charity.

6. Myfords
An application to develop new housing at the Myfords site on Wilmot Lane in Beeston has also been received by the council this week. This can be viewed at http://planning.broxtowe.gov.uk/(S(q5ujws45tjosor45ykff0z3d))/ApplicationDetail.aspx?RefVal=13/00003/OUT. At the moment this is just an outline application and so does not have all the detail that will need to be supplied later. This is a huge sit but I can’t see from my quick scan of the information how many houses are proposed.

7. Bunk Beds needed
I have received an appeal from Stapleford’s resident poet dave Wood which I’m happy to pass on. Some close friends of his (in Stapleford) urgently need cabin/bunk beds for children. If you can help, please phone 07784779038 and speak to Sharon.

8. Paradiso Cinema
On Friday 8th February at 7.30pm Paradiso Cinema presents "Some Like it Hot" starring Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon, at Chilwell Arts Centre, Chilwell School. Tickets on the door cost £5 (£4 conc). Come at 7pm for refreshments. Also on Friday 15th February at 7.30pm Chilwell Arts Theatre presents Shirebrook Miners Welfare Unison Band. Tickets cost £8 (£6 conc) either on the door or ring 0115 9252698 or 0777205 3412.

9. Stapleford Community Website
Stapleford resident Richard Macrae has set up a community website for the town. This can be viewed and accessed at www.staplefordcommunitygroup.org.uk.

10. Manor Farm Recreation Ground

Young people are being encouraged to have their say on how £104,500 funding should be spent to refurbish the children's play area at a Manor Farm Recreation Ground, as part of an online consultation launched this week by Broxtowe Borough Council. Youngsters are being asked to let them know what kind of equipment they'd like to see introduced as part of a major refurbishment of the children's play area. The consultation will ask young people to choose their favourite from 16 different types of equipment, which include a range of equipment for toddlers, younger children and more adventurous items for teenagers. This process is being supervised by my colleague tan Heptinstall, who said "Broxtowe Borough Council is rightly proud of its local parks and open spaces and this funding creates a fantastic opportunity to make further improvements which will benefit local families for years to come.  The Council has been working alongside the Armed Forces community at the nearby Chetwynd Barracks and this online consultation will look to build on that to create a children's play area that the entire local community can enjoy."

11. Basil Russell Park
Following on from the above new fitness equipment for adults and older children has been installed at the Basil Russell Playing field in Nuthall. Locals can get fit for free with six pieces of equipment including a cross trainer and mini treadmill. The £19,500 equipment was funded by Nottinghamshire County Council.

12. Rumbletums Fundraising
Rumbletums Cafe in Kimberley is holding two fundraising events over the next couple of weeks. On Saturday February 9 staff will be packing customers’ bags at Sainsburys, and on Thursday February 14 they will be gift wrapping Valentines flowers. Staff at the cafe will be doing a second bag pack at Sainsburys in March, and mid-month they will be doing something for Comic Relief, although staff are not sure what at this stage. Rumbletums Cafe in Newdigate Street offers training and employment opportunities to people with learning disabilities. Sainsburys in Kimberley chose the cafe as its charity of the year. Visit www.rumbletums.org.uk  for more information.

13. Community Centres
News has reached me this week of the opening of two new community centres, both run by volunteers. The Meeting Place in Stapleford opened last Friday on Nottingham Road includes a café and a space for education groups and children’s groups. The Other Space on Chilwell High Road will be running courses on arts and crafts and also provide support for jobseekers.

14. Council Tax Increase
Nottinghamshire’s Labour Police and Crime Commissioner has announced that he plans to increase council tax by 1.95% this year. This is despite the fact that the Government is offering grants to fund increases in expenditure. At the borough council the Lib-Dems have been insisting that we maintain council tax at current levels with no increase, and I believe that the same is happening at the county council. It is highly disappointing that the first significant act of the new commissioner will be to impose a wholly unnecessary council tax rise. Significantly it is just below the level at which he would need to hold a referendum to gain support for his plans.

15. Cat
This final item is for residents on the Oaklands estate where I live. I know that our cat, Lilly, is around as we’ve seen her but she hasn’t been home for three days so I suspect she is seeking food elsewhere. If she’s currently  bunking up with anyone would these please send her home.

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
Follow me on Twitter at @DavidWatts12.
Visit our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Broxtowe-Liberal-Democrats/78471665107
Email me at davidwatts@broxtoweliberaldemocrats.org.uk

Broxtowe Enews 6th January 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. I hope everyone had a great Christmas and new year. We had a wonderful trip to Lapland for my girls to meet the real Santa and then had Christmas lunch at my sister’s farmhouse in North Yorkshire, all of which was totally magical.

1. High Speed 2
The Government is due to announce this week where the route of the High Speed 2 rail line will run. The announcement may well come tomorrow, and the Sunday Times has reported today that it will include a new East Midlands station at Toton. If confirmed this will be an extremely significant piece of news as there will only be one station anywhere in the East Midlands. All parties on the borough council have previously expressed unanimous support for a station in Toton, but we will need to see whether that holds in the future. There are huge implications if the station does come to Toton regarding access to the site and whether a new junction will be built off the A52, whether London trains will still stop at Beeston etc, and all of these questions will need to be addressed over the next few months. It is vitally important that we don’t jump into any knee-jerk reactions but consider matters carefully and sensibly.

2. Beeston Town Centre
Henry Boot, the leaseholders who run Beeston Sqaure, have at long last unveiled their proposals for redeveloping the Square and held a public exhibition of these on Friday. Unfortunately the publicity was very poorly organised (they emailed me last thing on Thursday to tell me), the exhibition was only on whilst most people were at work, and the plans seemed to be lacking in vision and imagination. The Nottingham Post report can be seen here which seems to sum up local reaction quite well:
http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/glimpse-new-look-Beeston-Square/story-17768043-detail/story.html


3. Queens Road/station Road roadworks
NET have announced that they are about to begin the process of widening the junction between Queens Road and Station Road in Beeston. Works to move communication utility services at the junction, so that it can be widened, are due to begin on Monday 7th January. The works will take place between9.30am to 3.30pm, Monday to Friday each week. To be able to carry out the works safely, one westbound lane of Queens Road, towards Chilwell, will be closed during the above days / times only.

4. M1 Works
The Highways Agency have announced that they will be carrying out maintenance works on the M1 between junctions 24 and 25 between 14th and 26th January. The works will be carried out during the night but will include the closure of the on and off slip lanes at junction 25 and at times the full closure of the motorway.


5. Mobile Phone Masks
I have received a letter this week from Vodaphone and Telefonica UK informing councillors that they are seeking to upgrade their mobile phone masts and that six in the borough – Hickings Lane and Palmer Drive Stapleford, Acacia Walk Beeston, Coventry Lane Bramcote, Hallams Lane and the Sewage Works in Toton. These sites are shown on their web site here:
https://secure.broxtowe.gov.uk/map/,DanaInfo=.abbvfllkvHlyx+48895e22d46c01f49d373447b954f6e6#

6. University Wind Turbine
As regular readers may recall the borough council refused planning permission in November for the erection of a large wind turbine by Nottingham University in Beeston Rylands. Whilst members of the Development Control Committee were generally in favour of wind turbines (and I‘m a firm believer in them as part of a green energy strategy) the committee felt that the  impact on the enterprise Zone at the Boots site and especially the proposals to build some 500 houses there was too great. The University has now appealed against this decision and so ultimately the decision will now be made by Eric Pickles, the Secretary of State.

7. Fear of Crime
An annual survey by Notts County Council has shown that the fear of crime is reducing amongst Notts residents. 75% of people now said that they felt safe to go out after dark in their local area, up 8% on 2011. This is very good news. Crime has been falling for a number of years but the fear of crime has remained stubbornly high, and so movement here really is to be welcomed.

8. Indoor Cricket Coaching
Kimberley Cricket Club has organised cricket coaching for junior school children at Kimberley Sports Centre. There will be a six week course for beginners and improvers starting on Saturday 12th January from 6pm to 7pm. The course costs £18, and can be booked on 0115 938 2446.

9. Holocaust Memorial Day
To mark the 13th annual Holocaust Memorial Day a short ceremony will take place at the Holocaust Memorial within the Walled Garden at Bramcote Hills Park, Ilkeston Road, Bramcote, Nottingham, NG9 3JT on Monday 28th January 2013 at 10.50am for 11.00am. This year the theme  is ‘Communities Together: Build a Bridge’. Following the ceremony, tea and coffee will be served in the Walled Garden along with a special Friendship Cake to reflect this year’s theme.

10. Caroline Radford
Congratulations to Giltbrook mum Caroline Radford who has completed the challenge of running 2,012 km during 2012 to raise money for cancer research. It seems like a wonderful challenge and she should be very proud.

11. Harris Road Street Lighting
Notts County Council have announced that they will be trialling lower cost LED street lights in four locations which should be more energy efficient and cheaper. One of the trial areas is Harris Road in Chilwell. The switch over will take place over the next month and local residents will be surveyed about how they find the change. If the trial is successful then these lights will be rolled out across the county.

12. Broxtowe Council’s parks and Open Spaces Team
Congratulations to everyone in the Parks and open spaces team at Broxtowe Borough Council, and to my colleague Stan Heptinstall, the portfolio holder for the team. The team won the national award for the most improved parks at the Association of Public Centre Excellence awards in December.

13. County Council Mortgage assistance Scheme
 Few months ago the borough council decided, along with a number of other district councils in the area, to explore setting up a scheme to provide mortgage support for first time buyers. Plans have now changed as the County Council has decided to offer this service instead, and so the borough council will no longer be taking this further. (The rules on these schemes only permit one authority to run the scheme in an area.)

14. Children’s Names
There was an interesting report released over Christmas about the most common names now being given to babies in Nottinghamshire. For boys the top name is Oliver (or Ollie) and for girls it is Mia. David always used to be one of the top four or five names but it’s not on the top ten list anymore!

15. Electric Blanket Exchange
Notts County Council’s trading standards team have launched a scheme for those aged 55 or over or who have a disability to exchange old electric blankets for new ones. This greatly reduces the risk of fires or electrocutions. Since April 2009 there have been nine house fires in Notts directly linked to electric blankets. To take part in the exchange ring 01623 452005.

16. Paradiso Cinema

On Friday 11th January at 7.30pm Paradiso Cinema is presenting The Imposter (2012). This is a British documentary film about the 1997 case of the French confidence trickster, Frédéric Bourdin, who impersonated Nicholas Barclay, a Texas boy who had disappeared in 1994 at the age of 13. It takes place at Chilwell Arts Theatre, Chilwell School, NG9 5AL. Tickets on the door cost £5 (£4 conc). Come at 7pm for refreshments.

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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Housing Numbers

No sooner do I say that I'm finishing newsletters for the year than one of the big news stories that I mentioned breaks, and so I'm sending out an additional newsletter rather sooner than expected.

As regular readers will know one of the big issues for Broxtowe is the number of new houses that the council will permit to be built over the next 15 years.
Most of the councils in Greater Nottingham have worked together on this and as a result of those negotiations Broxtowe was given a figure of 6,150 houses to allocate, the lowest of any borough in the area.

Unfortunately there is not enough brownfield land available to build 6,150 houses and so this figure would mean that some greenbelt land would have to be used. No-one wants to do this but there is simply no other way to hit this target.

Our MP, Anna Soubry, and her colleagues in the Conservative Party have been campaigning against this, even though we are following the rules set by the Conservative Secretary of State. Anna's line consistently is that we should follow the example of the one authority in Greater Nottingham out of step with all the others, namely Rushcliffe. Rushcliffe have ignored the targets set by the Government and adopted by all the other authorities and simply tried to build the amount of houses that they think is appropriate. I have asked Anna how much housing she thinks should be allowed but she has chosen to ignore my emails.

Every council has to have it's strategy approved by an independent inspector at a public enquiry. The inspector appointed to conduct the enquiry for Rushcliffe has now written to them saying that their proposal is fundamentally flawed,
because:

1) It doesn't comply with the regional plan, which set the figure of 6,150
houses
2) It doesn’t comply with the National Planning policy Framework, the
new set of planning rules published by the Secretary of State earlier this year.
3) It doesn't allocate enough housing
4) It doesn't allocate enough affordable housing
5) It doesn't take into account the need across Greater Nottingham, and
just concentrates on Rushclffe. The inspector said that it is important that the needs of the wider area are considered.
6) They haven't fulfilled their duty to co-operate with other councils

As a result of these flaws the inspector has said that she is not even going to arrange a date for their public enquiry yet, as all this will need to be sorted first.

Rushcliffe have published the inspectors note to them about the problems with their strategy. To give them credit, they hid it very well. I can only find it on their web site as an attachment to a press release that was issued yesterday morning and which gives a wholly misleading picture of the inspectors comments.
They then immediately issued a whole load of other press releases so that this never appeared on the front page of their media centre, almost as though they were hoping no-one would see it. If you are interested in having a look this link will take you straight to it:
http://www.rushcliffe.gov.uk/media/rushcliffe/media/documents/pdf/newsandpromotions/Rushcliffe%20Core%20Strategy%20exploratory%20note.pdf

Where does this leave people as a result? Well for Rushcliffe Borough Council they are firmly up the creek without a paddle. They have no current plan and now no future plan. As a result it will be open season for developers there.
All their undeveloped land is now fair game for developers to try and build on.
It does raise very serious questions about the ability and judgement of their political leaders. This isn't just scare mongering on my part, the same thing is happening in Castle Point council in Essex, in Bude council in Cornwall and in Stratford Council in Warwickshire where a new housing estate is being developed right next to Anne Hatthaway's cottage.

Here in Broxtowe Anna Soubry is left with significant amounts of egg on her face. If we had taken the path that she was advocating, which she has been telling people for at least the past year was the right thing to do, then we would be in the same mess as Rushcliffe. No-one wants to build on the green belt but those of us running the council found ourselves in a position where we had no choice. To then have our MP launch an extremely nasty and vindictive campaign against us was extremely galling, and I do now feel completely vindicated. By being willing to consider sacrificing a small part of Broxtowe's green belt we have saved the rest of it from development.

I apologise if this sounds like gloating. It is not meant to, but I am highly relieved that no-one can now have any doubts that Broxtowe did the right thing by accepting the housing numbers proposed. The only question now still to be resolved is where exactly they should be built, and here there are genuine reasons to disagree as any site that is put forward will have it's supporters and it's critics I hope that we can engage with people in a constructive way over this question, now that the distraction of the overall numbers has been set aside.

Best wishes

David

Broxtowe Enews 9th December 2012

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. This will, I’m afraid, be the last scheduled edition for this year so may I wish everyone a very happy Christmas and a prosperous new year. This is quite a quiet news week this week as well so this is quite a short newsletter.

1. Stapleford Combined Services Fancy Dress Evening
Stapleford Combined Services club will be holding a fancy dress evening on Saturday, December 15th from 7-30pm until midnight, at The Chequers Inn at the Roach, Stapleford. Admission is free.

2. Book Launch & Exhibition
Local author Gill Morral will be launching her new book “Toton Revealed” at Coronation Hall in  Toton on Saturday 15th December together with an exhibition with the same title taking place between 10am and 1pm. Tea and biscuits are available.

3. Tram Jobs Drop In Session
The Borough Council have organised a jobs fair to highlight opportunities to work on the new tram scheme. This will take place at Eastwood Young Peoples Centre on Friday 14th December between 11am and 1pm. Space is limited and so advance booking on 0115 917 3618is recommended.

4. Drink Drive Campaign
Notts police have launched their annual drink drive campaign. In the first week they arrested 29 people for the offence. As a solicitor I’m well used to seeing the after effects on offenders in court, when the implications of a mandatory 12 month driving ban (at least) start to hit home. The only way to avoid a ban is simply to not drink and drive.

5. Rail Fare Increase
Rail Fares on East Midlands Trains will increase by an average of 4% on 2nd January next year. Under a system that has been in place for many years rail fares go up by the rate of inflation plus 2% to fund greater investment in services, but this year the government have restricted the increase to below that in recent years.

6. Winter Vomiting Bug
I caught this a couple of years ago and can confirm just how horrible it is. Figures just released show that last week 112,000 people in Notts caught the bug and are now suffering. The only way to really guard against this is to take extra care on personal hygiene issues.

7. Free Property Marking
Broxtowe residents can get their property marked with smart water for free in Eastwood on Wednesday. There will also be representatives from the council, the Fire Brigade, the police and the pensions service in attendance. The event will be at the Dora Phillips Hall on Wood Street between 11am and 1pm.

8. Arrests of Children
An interesting statistic that came out this week was that Notts Police arrested 4,460 children last year, which equates to 12 a day.  It is however significantly less than the peak year, 2008, when 7,008 children were arrested. The peak age for offending for both males and females is when they are in their teens, and so perhaps the figures should not come as a surprise. I still find them disappointing however.

9. Rare Birds in Chilwell
Bird watchers flocked to Chilwell (no pun intended) this week when 300 bohemian waxwings landed close to Attenborough nature Reserve. I have to say that it’s not a bird I have ever heard of before, but apparently they were stopping over on their flights north to Scandinavia.

10. Round Hill School
Congratulations to the staff, pupils and governors of Round Hill School in Beeston after they were graded as good by Ofsted inspectors. This is an improvement on the satisfactory rating that they had received previously.

As ever thank you for your support for this newsletter, and any feedback is gratefully received. As I mentioned at the start I’m not planning to do a further edition for this year, but there are two possible events which may occur this year that I will put a message out about should they happen. The first is if there is any significant news about housing proposals, and the second is if there is an announcement about the route of the HS2 railway line. The government did say earlier this year that they would announce the route before Christmas and if the route does affect Broxtowe, as it may, then I will send a message out.

Best wishes
David

www.broxtoweliberaldemocrats.org.uk
www.davidwatts.org.uk
Follow me on Twitter at @DavidWatts12.
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Broxtowe Enews 1st December 2012

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. Tram Problems
Unfortunately work on the trams is causing major problems in Beeston at the moment. The proposal originally was that for 18 months Chilwell Road would be a one way street, but now the construction team want to close the road completely for 12 months. Despite this the City Council are refusing to offer any extra compensation. The problem for traders would not be so bad if the County Council had not pulled out of the scheme, but as they had there is no-one to speak for businesses outside of the city boundary. The borough council do what we can but we are not promoters of the scheme and so our influence is limited.

Better news on the tram is that the works at the Meadow Lane/Queens Road junction should finish in the next few days and so traffic should soon be flowing more freely through that junction.

2. Enterprise Zone
This week we had confirmation that agreements have been reached for work to start on the Enterprise Zone at the Boots site. This will hopefully lead to a significant number of new homes being built as well as new businesses and new infrastructure. The scheme has secured £25 million of investment.

3. Lottery Funding for Wandsworth Fields School
Wandsworth Fields Junior School in Stapleford has been awarded £10,000 in lottery funding to pay for an all-weather canopy for their playground.

4. Car Parking
Just a reminder as to something I mentioned last week. From now until Christmas all the borough owned car parks will be free on Saturday’s to encourage shoppers into our town centres.

5. Tram Drop In Sessions
NET will be holding two drop in sessions for people to see the latest proposals on the tram and to ask any questions they have. These will be at Eskdale Junior School, Chilwell on Tuesday 4th December from 5:30 to 8:00pm, and at Beeston Town Hall on Thursday 13th December from 5.30pm to 8.00pm.

6. Attenborough Nature Reserve
The Attenborough Nature Reserve launched it’s new Access, Community and Education scheme this week, a £560,000 investment aiming to improve the visitor experience whilst also protecting and enhancing the reserve. As a director of the reserve I was planning to attend the launch but my full time job got in the way at the last minute and I couldn’t make it. Given the amount of water that came down in the 24 hours beforehand I’m delighted that it went ahead.

7. Woodhouse Way Proposals Display
Also arranging a public display shortly are the developers who wish to build a
750 house housing estate at Woodhouse Way in Nuthall. This will be at the Belfrey Hotel on the A6002 on the 14th December from 2pm to 7pm.

8. Christmas Lights switch on
The Christmas lights will be switched on in Stapleford this Thursday, 6th December, at 6.15pm, and the Kimberley lights will be switched on Friday 7th December, also at 6.15pm, starting with a parade.

9. Christmas Carols at Montrose Court
On Saturday 8th December there will be Christmas Carols at Montrose Court, Stapleford from 6pm until 8pm, led by members of St Helen's Church. There will also be festive food and soft drinks.

10. Beeston Tesco Charity Collection
Tomorrow, Sunday 2nd December, Tesco in Beeston are holding a food bank collection in aid of Framework, the homelessness charity based in Nottingham.
Customers are being asked to buy one extra item and place it in the Framework Collecting Boxes. Whilst mentioning this may I congratulate the staff at the Stapleford Care Centre who collected more than 900 tins for the Nottingham Post’s Five Tons of Tins campaign.

11. Beeston Bus Station
Following a concern raised by a reader of this newsletter the council have this week changed some of the lighting in Beeston bus station to make it better lit at night.

12. Flood Defences
The one good thing about the rain this week was that we were able to see how well the flood defence scheme worked. The £50 million scheme was finished earlier this year and protects the whole of the left bank of the Trent through Nottingham, and as a result of it Attenborough and Beeston were protected from the flooding that would otherwise have affected them.

13. M1 Junction 25
The Highways Agency have announced that they will be carrying out work at Junction 25 of the M1 on 14th to 18th January and the 20th to 25th January. The junction will be closed between 8pm and 6am on each of those days and traffic will need to divert through junctions 24 or 26.

14. Beeston Shopmobility
Beeston shopmobility had to move into temporary accommodation earlier this year when the multi-storey car park closed, and most users agree that the current site is not very convenient. At a meeting on Friday the council’s budget working group agreed to offer them an alternative site at the old Beeston Market site. (We are looking at alternatives for the market to ensure that Beeston has a market again as soon as possible.)

As ever thank you for your support for this newsletter. Any feedback is very gratefully received.

Best wishes

David
d.k.watts@ntlworld.com
www.davidwatts.org.uk
Follow me on Twitter at @davidwatts12

Broxtowe Enews 24th November 2012

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.

1. Milan Radulovic
Cllr Radulovic, the Labour leader of Broxtowe Borough Council, was cleared this week of allegations of fraud which he has been facing. The DSS, who brought the prosecution, accepted that they had made a mistake and they offered no evidence against him. Cllr Radulovic had stood aside whilst the case was going on but is now free to resume his work as leader of the council.

I’m obviously pleased for Milan that the case has come to an end but I do think that the reaction that I’ve encountered from people about my own very limited role in the case illustrates the impossible job that politicians of any level have in trying to please their electorate. When the story about Milan’s case hit the media I issued a statement on behalf of my Lib-Dem colleagues saying that we took the view of innocent until found guilty (we were obviously right on this) and so we would not comment about the case. I was heavily criticised by some vocal residents for this. Privately however I advised Milan that he needed to step aside whilst the case was dealt with (advice he took). Some of his own councillors were horrified I had done this and went running to the media accusing me of stabbing him in the back. Milan himself did not take that view and he did ask me to be a character witness for him. I agreed and when I told people that I was doing this I was strongly criticised by other people for this. You just can’t win sometimes.

2. Police Commissioner
The first police commissioner for Nottingham is Paddy Tipping, who was elected last Thursday. My own preference, Malcolm Spencer, came second. The big winner however was apathy or lack of interest, given that the turnout was only about 15%.

3. Beeston Police Station
Plans to close Beeston Police Station and relocate them to the council offices have moved a step closer after the outgoing police authority approved the move. Assuming that Mr Tipping does not now stop it this will happen next April.

4. Housing at Nuthall
An application has been submitted to Broxtowe Borough Council to build a housing estate of over 700 houses in Nuthall, between the M1 and the A6002. I’ve already seen an email criticising the council for this but we have no power to stop anyone applying for anything. Just because an application is submitted does not mean that it will be granted and this application will need to be looked at by the Development Control Committee on the council in due course.

5. County Economic Development Officers
I’m delighted that the County Council has decided to recruit two economic development officers to promote growth across the County. This is an area that the County have cut back on for a number of years, so that in the past couple of years Broxtowe employed more people on Economic Development for our borough that the County Council did for the whole of Nottinghamshire, and it’s about time that this trend was reversed.

6. Ambulance Plans Consultation
I reported back in September that the Ambulance Service was consulting on plans to close nearly all the ambulance stations in Notts, retaining just two super-hubs, and deplying the ambulances to 22 hubs around the county. The consultation on this has now closed and just 122 people responded. I hope that this means that most people are happy with the proposals, which aim to reduce response times, and so didn’t feel the need to comment.

7. Rev Lillian Heptinstall
Congratulations to Rev Lillian Heptinstall, the associate priest at Chilwell, who is being installed as an honorary canon at Southwell Minster next month. She takes up her new role on 16th December.

8. PDSA Help
The PDSA shop in Beeston is looking for new volunteers to help out. In particular they are looking for staff who are available on Wednesday’s, Thursdays and Saturdays. You can aply online at www.pdsa.org.uk/volunteering.

9. New Toton Bus Service
The Toton Connect bus service was axed by Trent Barton early this year, leaving many people without  access to a local bus. The County Council has now decided that it will run a new service, starting on Monday, connecting Banks Road with Tesco and the Chilwell Retail Park. Regular readers will recall that this is something that I have been pressing for over a period of time, but many people from all three political parties have worked to bring this about. I’m delighted that it has happened but it is now up to local residents to use the service to show that it is worthwhile.

10. New Trowell Benches
The County Council has installed two new benches along the Nottingham Canal towpath in Trowell, giving walkers somewhere to sit and rest. My colleague Ken Rigby has arranged the funding for this and when walkers rest there hopefully they will take a moment to thank Ken for his hard work.

11. Recycling Rates
Across the whole of Nottinghamshire (apart from Gedling) the rates of recycling have fallen this year, for the first time in six years. In Broxtowe the rate dipped from 42.6% to 41.6%. However we are still the second highest recycling borough in Nottinghamshire (only Rushcliffe has a higher recycling percentage) and we are well above the county average of 35.1%. The council puts a lot of effort into ensuring that we recycle as much as possible and the officers are looking at how we can get rates up higher. There is also an online survey about bin services that can be completed this week on the council website at www.broxtowe.gov.uk.

12. Tram Schedule
The latest six week programme of works for the Tram is now available on the Lib-Dem website at www.broxtoweliberaldemocrats.org.uk. On the theme of the tram the city council has apologised for the traffic chaos on Tuesday this week when work on University Boulevard overran and caused huge problems.

13. Mark Holmes
Congratulations to Beeston resident Mark Holmes who won the Nursing in Mental Health award at the Nursing Times Awards 2012. He specialises in working wth patients who have suffered from substance abuse and has managed to reduce the number of them having to return for further treatment.

14. Mini-Major Oak
There's a re-dedication of the mini major oak at Stapleford next Monday at 10am at Ilkeston Road Recreation Ground. There will be a new tree planting for national tree planting week too.

15. Dave Wood
On Friday Stapleford poet Dave Wood, who will also be speaking at the tree rededication, will be presenting a copy of “Emma's Perambulations” to Stapleford Town Council at the Town Council Meeting, starting 7pm. Details for both of these events are available from Dave on 07709977684.


As ever thank you for your support for this newsletter, and any feedback is gratefully received. I do appreciate the positive comments that I receive. This week someone took the time to phone and tell me how much they appreciated the newsletter just after I’d discovered that someone else had thrown eggs at the front window of my house, and that phone call made me feel far better.

Best wishes
David
www.broxtoweliberaldemocrats.org.uk
www.davidwatts.org.uk
Follow me on Twitter at @DavidWatts12.
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Broxtowe Enews 10th November 2012

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.
May I begin by apologising that there was no newsletter last week, but unfortunately I was ill and not up to writing anything. Normal service is hopefully resumed today.

1. Italian and Opera Evening
Amore's Italian Restaurant, on Station Road, Beeston will host an Italian and Opera Evening in aid of the Mayor's charities, the Royal British Legion and the Ryan Lee Trust on Thursday 29th November at 7.00pm. The event will feature live music from classically trained Tenor, Sam Barson and a delicious pizza, pasta or risotto dish and selected side - all for just £15.00. There will be a bar available with the restaurant serving appetisers, starters and desserts, all of which can be purchased separately. Please note that this is a ticket only event and availability is strictly limited. Tickets are available from the Corporate Communications Team on 0115 917 3200 or email civic@broxtowe.gov.uk.

2. Beeston Amnesty Quiz
The Beeston Amnesty International Group will be holding their annual Pub Quiz at the Commercial Inn, Wollaton Road, Beeston on Friday 16th November at 7:30 pm. £2.50 per person (£1 unwaged), maximum of six people in a team. Proceeds for Amnesty International, all welcome.

3. Police and Crime Commissioner Elections
This Thursday sees the first Police and Crime Commissioner elections in Nottinghamshire. There are four candidates, one from each of Labour and the Conservatives and two independents. The Liberal Democrats and the Greens are boycotting the elections as we don’t believe that these should be party political posts. I’ll be backing Malcolm Spencer, the independent candidate.

4. Tram Updates
The latest tram work schedule is now available on the Lib-Dem website at www.broxtoweliberaldemocrats.org.uk. The foundations for the tracks are now being laid, which is a significant step forward.

5. Erewash Towns improvements
I mentioned in the last edition that the Beeston BID team had been awarded £10,000 to improve Beeston by the government. I’m delighted that the borough council has also been awarded a similar amount for the three other towns in the borough. The video that was prepared as part of this bid, which features my colleague Stan Heptinstall, can be viewed on You Tube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRFNhFZ0tCA.

6. Business Start-up Grants
Broxtowe Borough Council has made a package of grants available for new businesses locating to the borough. We are awarding grants of up to £5,000 to independent businesses who take on empty shop units in the borough. Details of these can be obtained from the Economic Development team at the borough council on 0115 917 7777.

7. Knowle Park recreation Ground
Knowle Park recreation ground in Swingate has reopened this week after a major facelift by the borough council. £50,000 has been spent installing new play equipment. The funding for this was obtained by my colleague Ken Rigby, who is the county councillor for the area.

8. Free Parking
At the cabinet meeting last week the council agreed to introduce free car parking in the borough for the five Saturday’s leading up to Christmas, as a way of attracting more shoppers to our town centres. We have also made some money available to finance more street entertainment in the run up to Christmas.

9. County Council Service Number
The customer service team at Notts County Council have a new phone number. They can now be contacted on 0300 500 8080, which is a low priced number.

10. Beeston Food and Drink Festival
The first Beeston food and drink festival is to take place from 16th to 18th November, involving he pubs, cafes and coffee shops in the town. There will be an international food market in Beeston Square on 16th and a farmers market on the 17th. More details are available at www.letsgotoBeeston.co.uk

11. Sainsbury’s Recycling
For many years the borough council have operated recycling centres in the Sainsbury’s car parks in Beeston and Kimberley. It was very disappointing this week to hear that Sainsbury’s have decided to tear up their contracts with the borough council. Apparently they have taken a decision to now run their own centres so that the money the council currently gets for recycling will go into their profits instead. The council have already seen recycling rates drop for the first time in many years, and this decision from Sainsbury’s will not help.

12. New Youth Mayor
Congratulations to 15 year old Adam Stockdale from Stapleford, who has been appointed as the Broxtowe Youth Mayor for the next year. He takes over from Tilly Stone, who has held the post for the past two years, and who has been an excellent youth mayor.  Adam will be assisted by Leigh Alder,16, who has become the deputy youth mayor.

13. Christmas Lights
Broxtowe Borough Council have announced that Beeston Christmas lights will be switched on on 1st December, Stapleford will be on 6th December, Kimberley on 30th November and Eastwood on 27th November.

As ever thank you for your support for this newsletter. Any feedback is greatfully received.

Best wishes

David
www.davidwatts.org.uk
www.broxtoweliberaldemocrats.org.uk
Follow me on Twitter @davidwatts12.

Broxtowe Enews 29th October 2012

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. Improving Beeston Town Centre
Congratulations to Stephanie Wilkinson and the team at the Beeston business Improvement District who have this week secured £10,000 of Government funding to make Beeston town centre more attractive. This should have a real benefit to the town centre and I look forward to seeing the results of it. The BID team were also able to confirm this week that vacancy rates for shops in Beeston were well below the national average.

2. Field Farm Public Meeting
Although I do not believe that they can succeed with their aims may I begin by mentioning a meeting being organised by STRAG – the Stapleford and Trowell Rural Action Group – about Field Farm. It will take place at the Jaguar Pub is Stapleford on Saturday 10th November at 2pm. Unfortunately I already have two commitments that afternoon that I cannot break so I won’t be able to attend. They have asked me to send a statement which I am going to do.

3. Town Centre Manager
When I took over the portfolio for Planning and Economic Development one of the things that I identified from the outset as being needed was a town centre manager for the town centres in Broxtowe (other than Beeston which already has one). I’m delighted that Matt Batterham will be joining the borough council tomorrow to take up this post.

4. Youth Mayor
The council meeting on Wednesday will also I believe be the last meeting where Tilly Stone will be the youth mayor. Tilly has held the post for the past two years and has been an excellent ambassador for young people, including travelling around the world to represent the borough. She was also the first non-councillor ever to speak at a council meeting after a rule change to allow this to happen. She will be a very hard act to follow as the youth mayor.

5. Police and Crime Commissioner Elections
As I’ve mentioned before these elections, which take place on 15th November, are being boycotted by the Liberal Democrats as we do not believe that these should be political posts, and I personally have decided to back Malcolm Spencer, one of the independents. Given that the independents do not have the networks that Labour and the Tories do to promote their candidates may I urge other people to vote for Malcolm as well.

6. Planning Rules
The borough council is meeting on Wednesday and the main topic for debate is the Governments plans to change planning rules. I have put a motion forward recognising the benefits of some parts of the proposals but expressing concern about others, in particular the loss of control by local councils. The danger is that it will lead to a free for all causing all sorts of neighbour disputes. I’ll report back next week how the debate went.

7. New Nuthall Councillor
Congratulations to Stephen green on being elected as the new town councillor for Nuthall following a by election. Stephen is, according to reports, the first councillor in the country to suffer from Downs Syndrome. I wish him every success.

8. Boots Concert Orchestra
The Boots Concert Orchestra will be performing “All sorts and conditions of men” at St Johns Baptist Church in Beeston on Saturday 24th November at 7.30pm. Admission is £5 on the door and all proceeds will go towards church funds.

9. Deliverers
Approximately three quarters of Broxtowe receive regular Focus leaflets, a ward specific newsletter produced and paid for by the local Liberal Democrats. We are looking to expand our coverage and are looking for volunteers to help us deliver. It takes about 1 hour four times a year. Volunteers from anywhere in the borough are gratefully received, but we are particularly keen to recruit people who live in Nuthall and Kimberley. You don’t even need to commit to voting for the Lib-Dems. If you believe that politicians should keep in touch with residents, rather than just turn up every four years when it’s election time, then please consider helping. If you can just let me know.

10. Double Image Photography
Congratulations to Double Image Photography in Beeston who this week celebrated ten years in business. Philippa Double has won numerous awards as a photographer.

11. Broxtowe Warm Zone
Broxtowe Warm Zone is a home insulation scheme designed for home owners and private tenants to make homes in the Borough of Broxtowe affordably warm and energy efficient. At present this scheme is going to finish in December and the last chance to sign up is the 23rd November. The loft insulation is free if you don't have any at all or the depth of your insulation is less than 60mm. Loft top-ups are available to households with an existing loft depth of between 60mm and 130mm for £99. Cavity wall insulation is free.
The benefits of this scheme are:
- Helps residents cut their fuel bills
- Reduces the effects of climate change
- It helps people stay warm over winter
- There are health benefits associated with a warm house such as reducing winter deaths
- Reduces people living in fuel poverty
People can sign up for a free survey by calling 0300 6887766 or visit  www.broxtowewarmzone.com/ .

12. County Council Budget Conversation
The County Council is launching a consultation about it’s spending priorities for next year. It launches on Monday 5th November and can be accessed at www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/budget.

13. Eastwood Elderly Persons Development
The County Council have unveiled plans this week to build a £21 million complex for the elderly on land that they own on Walker Street in Eastwood. The scheme will need to go through the normal planning process but the idea seems an extremely good one. 140 apartments together with a range of services will be created, and I have been calling on the County Council to make this land available for building for the last couple of years.

14. HS2
The Transport Secretary has said this week that the Government will announce plans for the HS2 route prior to Christmas. There have been rumours for a while that this may come through Broxtowe and so it will be useful to have them either confirmed or quashed before the end of the year.

15. AGM
This Friday is Broxtowe Lib-Dems AGM, at the memorial hall in Bramcote. The prospective Lib-Dem candidates for the European elections next year have all been invited to attend for a question and answer session. New members are welcome and you will be able to sign up on the night.

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
Follow me on Twitter at @DavidWatts12.
Visit our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Broxtowe-Liberal-Democrats/78471665107
Email me at davidwatts@broxtoweliberaldemocrats.org.uk

Broxtowe Enews 21st October 2012

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.

1. Oxjam
Congratulations to everyone connected with Oxjam, the fund raising event in Beeston for Oxfam, who held a very successful series of events yesterday. I haven’t heard yet how much they raised but as well as the money they raise the profile of Oxfam, and in that regard it has already been a complete success.

2. Living Wage Campaign
The Living Wage campaign is a non-political campaign aiming to ensure that all employers pay their staff a sufficient salary to afford “the essentials of life.” The borough council have now agreed to look at the details of this so that we can consider whether this is a scheme we wish to affiliate to.

3. Tram latest
Broxtowe Liberal Democrats publish the latest work schedules for the tram on their website on a regular basis, but I’ve checked recently on a number of issues and can report as follows. The consortium doing the construction work still say that they are expecting to start demolition of the Wilkinson’s Store this month (I would have preferred it if they had kept the store open until then) although there are strong rumours that this may be put off until January. The delays generally to the project also mean that Christmas trading should be unaffected by the works this year. The NET consortium have also indicated that they want to install a 20 metre radio mast near Cator Lane, something the council is not happy about. (Incidentally the Nottingham post ran a test this week to see what was the quickest way to get into the city centre and decided that it was by cycling. However the estimated journey times for the tram will be far quicker, and so it is likely that this will be the quickest way for people to get into the city centre.)

4. Mortgage Guarantee Scheme
A government backed scheme already exists to encourage first time buyers to purchase newly built houses by guaranteeing deposits, making mortgages easier to obtain. The council is now looking at whether we can fund a similar scheme for houses already built. If we can then it may well help to stimulate the housing market here in Broxtowe. There will be a lot of work to develop a scheme and ensure that it can be properly financed, but the initial ideas have received all party support on the council.

5. Council Tax Benefit Survey
The borough council recently ran a public survey into options that we have regarding council tax benefits when the system change next year. 83% of respondents agreed that council tax exemptions on second or empty properties should be reduced and 87% of respondents agreed that properties which are kept empty in the long term should be charged a premium. Thank you to everyone who took the time to respond to this, and the council will now work up some firm proposals.

6. New Jobs
This week has seen some significant announcements which should lead to some 1,500 new jobs being created in Nottinghamshire. Nearly £30 million of new money is being invested and Vince Cable, the Lib-Dem Secretary of State for Business, says that the money is to create the long term growth and jobs that the country needs.”
7. School Crossing patrols
The County Council has issued a press release this week saying that they are looking to recruit a number of new school crossing patrol wardens (lollipop ladies to most of us). Full time and relief workers are needed. Applicants must be aged 18 and in good health. If anyone is interested in applying then please ring 0115 977 4373 for details.

8. Reusing Jam jars
Readers may have seen stories in the media this week suggesting that EU rules may prohibit the reuse of jam jars by people making their own jams and pickles. I’m very grateful to our Lib-Dem Euro MP Bill Newton-Dunn  for confirming that these stories are completely false.

9. Mayor’s Blindfold Walk
Broxtowe’s mayor Cllr Margaret Handley has taken part in a blindfold walk (with a sighted guide) from Beeston Town Hall to Broadgate Park as part of Guide Dog Week. Congratulations to Margaret for successfully completing the route.

10. Cycling High Visibility Kits
For anyone who (like me) was unable to collect the free cycling visibility kits that the police were handing out in Beeston last week, these can still be collected whilst stocks last from Central Police Station in Nottingham City Centre.

11. Boundary Changes
The Boundary Commission have now published their final proposals for reshaping constituency boundaries in the East Midlands, and they have stuck with their initial proposals that the Broxtowe Constituency should be increased by adding Gotham to it (despite the fact that there is no way of getting directly from Gotham to Broxtowe. However as the Lib-Dems have already said that we will veto these proposals in Parliament the proposals are unlikely to be implemented.

12. Blue Monkey brewery
Congratulations to the Blue Monkey Brewery in Giltbrook for collecting 5 gold medals at the Nottingham Beer Festival, including the Champion Beer.

13. Attenborough Nature Reserve Revamp
Attenborough Nature Reserve (where I am a director) has applied to the council for planning permission to create a new sand martin bank, a further hide and a bat loft. Sadly the current sand martin bank is no longer workable because of it’s poor condition.

14. Half term activities
The Pearson centre in Beeston is running a series of activities for children ages from 6-11 from Wednesday to Friday this week. Activities run from 9.00 am to 4.30pm and are on a first come first served basis. More details are available on 0115 925 4112 or by emailing sportsworker@thepearsoncentre.org.uk

15. Clocks Change
Finally may I remind people that the clocks go back next Sunday, so we get an extra hour in bed.

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
Follow me on Twitter at @DavidWatts12.
Visit our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Broxtowe-Liberal-Democrats/78471665107
Email me at davidwatts@broxtoweliberaldemocrats.org.uk

Broxtowe Enews 14th October 2012

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. We have now hit a new record for the highest number of subscribers that we have ever had. Thank you all for this.

I’m going to start off this morning by plugging three different charity events.

1. Oxjam
Oxjam is the series of concerts and events held on one day in Beeston in aid of Oxfam.  It will be taking over Beeston on Saturday, October 20th, at Wollaton Road Allotments, Beeston Square, The Cricketers, The Bean, Belle and Jerome, Barton House, The Hop Pole, The Flying Goose, Latinos, Relish, The White Lion, The Bar, The Chequers, The Crown and possibly a couple of other places as yet unconfirmed.  It'll be running from noon till midnight, with over 50 acts making music through the day and night. The organisers are aiming to raise £5,000+ for Oxfam, and to raise awareness of their work round the globe. They still need to find volunteers, who will get a free ticket after a three-hour stint. Otherwise, tickets are a snip at £5, available: http://www.oxjambeestontakeover.org/p/oxjam-music-festival.html, alongside the line-up and further details.

2. Charity Quiz Night and Fish ‘n’ Chip Supper
A fish and chip supper is being held on Wednesday 24th October at 7pm to raise money for the Mayor’s charities, the Royal British Legion and Ryan Lee Trust. The event will take place at Greasley Sports Centre, Newthorpe. Tickets are on sale now priced £8, which includes the price of your fish and chip supper. Tickets can be obtained from the council on 0115 917 7777.


3. Staffordshire Bull Terrier Tea Party
Babbington Rescue Kennels are hosting this event on Saturday 21st October from 11am – 2pm to invite local people to learn more about this breed of dog. There will be hot drinks and cakes available, as well as a mini dog show.

4. Local Photographers Wanted
Experience Nottinghamshire is inviting amateur photographers to take part in a competition launching today, to showcase the county of Nottinghamshire and everything that makes it great.
The annual competition, launched in 2011, aims to uncover beautiful photos of the county's landscapes and attractions. This year, photographers need to enter a photo inspired by one of four themes;
Cultural and Sporting Inspiration - Celebrating Nottinghamshire's events, culture and sporting venues.
Legends - from Robin Hood to literary legends and modern day heroes.
The Great Outdoors - Nottinghamshire's outdoor experiences and spaces, countryside and landscapes.
Local Life - Local food, produce, markets and traditions such as industrial heritage, lace and farming days out.
The competition will bring together a beautiful array of different aspects of Nottingham, and is open to anybody with a passion for photography and the county.  Thirty finalists will be chosen, and their images uploaded to the Experience Nottinghamshire Facebook page, which will then be passed to a public vote and a panel of tourism judges to decide the four winning photos, one for each of the themes.
The overall winning photographer will receive a £200 cash prize and their photograph featured on the Experience Nottinghamshire's marketing material, promoting the county nationally. The themed winners will also receive a prize for their outstanding efforts. All finalist photos will be featured in the visitor guide and the www.experiencenottinghamshire.com website to encourage tourism to the county.
The competition is open for entries from today through to midnight on 16th November 2012. Please note - only one entry should be sent per email and should be no bigger than 5MB. Entries should be emailed to stephanie.murphy@experiencenottinghamshire.com

5. Cycle Safety Kits
Cyclists in the county can receive FREE high-visibility safety gear thanks to a county-wide road safety campaign. The campaign will see a number of cycle safety 'hubs' rolled out across the county, offering free high-visibility 'Think Bike' backpacks to cyclists. Free cycle packs will be available in Beeston at the Queen's Road junction with Vincent Avenue, Beeston between 7.30am and 9.00am on Monday 15th October 2012. More than 1,000 packs will be available, including a high-visibility rucksack and jacket, a multi-tool, bike lock and lights.
For more information, visit http://www.broxtowe.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=11397

6. Kimberley Brewery
The first planning application for houses on the site of the old Kimberley Brewery has now been received by the council. This can be seen on the borough council web site at http://planning.broxtowe.gov.uk/(S(kugernqh2bq3rj55vzlnnuii))/applicationdetail.aspx?refval=12/00575/CAC. This application is for 22 houses on Hardy Close.

7. Olympic Legacy Plans
Notts county council have announced plans to create a new sports fund aimed at resourcing athletes of the future. They plan to create a million pound fund to enable them to make grants to clubs for equipment and materials that they need.

8. Beeston Turbines Plans
At the Development Control meeting on Wednesday evening the borough council rejected plans by Nottingham University to build a 125 metre high wind turbine in Beeston Rylands. Whilst we want to encourage green energy wherever possible this scheme was for a really high turbine far too close to both existing and planned housing. As I said at the meeting it was the right scheme, but in totally the wrong place.

9. Beeston Poets reborn
The Beeston poets group, which closed down ten years ago, is being relaunched this week. The group will meet at Beeston library and feature readings of contemporary poetry. The first meeting will be on 20th October and full details can be found at www.beestonpoets.wordpress.com

10. Ben Kristian
Congratulations to 23 year old Ben Kristian from Kimberley who was voted Britain’s best young hairdressing talent at the at the Trend Vision hairdressing awards. He will now go on to represent the UK in the international competition in Madrid.

11. Police Commissioners
I reported a couple of weeks ago that the Lib-Dems in Nottinghamshire have decided not to contest the Police Commissioner elections being held next month as we do not believe that these posts should be political. The Green Party have announced this week that they are taking the same approach. It is a shame that the other parties did not follow suit.

12. Extradition Campaign
I don’t normally mention many national issues on this newsletter (very deliberately) but I just want to give a plug for a campaign that I am supporting aimed at ending the current imbalance in the extradition treaty between the UK and the US. Simply put, the previous Labour Government signed an agreement with America that makes it far easier for them to demand the extradition of British subjects than it is for us to extradite American citizens in respect of crimes committed here. A campaign has now been launched to try and persuade the coalition to change this so that there is a level playing field, and a petition is available to sign to demonstrate support. You can sign the petition here - http://signme.org.uk/749.

13. Poetry Event
Stapleford poet Dave Wood has asked me to promote the following event:
Put 20th October 2012 in your diaries.  The final part of the Perambulations; the performance and give-away of the broadsheet of some of the stories/poems.  The session will start at 11.15am at the Acacia Centre, Annesely. There will be a drop in workshop where you can decorate your t-shirt (please bring your own light coloured one) and make it into a Tree-shirt. Please let me know if you are definitely coming along as we have limited seating.  Contact me on O77O9977684 or email me davewrite2002 @ yahoo.com.

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
Follow me on Twitter at @DavidWatts12.
Visit our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Broxtowe-Liberal-Democrats/78471665107
Email me at davidwatts@broxtoweliberaldemocrats.org.uk