David Watts

Liberal Democrat Councillor For Bramcote, Parliamentary Spokesperson for Newark, Editor of Challenge Magazine for the Green Liberal Democrats and Crime and Policing Spokesperson for Nottinghamshire Learn more

Broxtowe Enews 23rd November 2014

by David Watts on 23 November, 2014

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. Bramcote Hills Golf Course
A planning application has been submitted to build a large retirement complex on the old Bramcote Hills Golf Course. A public meeting will be held for residents to discuss this next Wednesday (26th November) at 7.00pm at Bramcote College on Moor Lane. It will also be discussed at the Bramcote CAT meeting next Monday (1st December) also at 7.00pm. Applications like this illustrate the conflict that exists in the different roles that councillors have to undertake. As a member of the Development Control Committee I am meant to maintain neutrality until the night of the committee meeting but residents want their local councillors to say what they think of schemes like this. I’ve taken the view that this is one where being a spokesperson for my ward is most important so I will say from the outset that I think that this proposed scheme is absolutely awful. If this means that I can’t sit on the committee when this is discussed then so be it, but Bramcote residents have a right to know what their councillors think. I have to say that I do not think that there is any possibility of this scheme getting planning permission, nor do I think that the applicants will really expect to. What I imagine will happen is that the scheme will be turned down and that they will then come back with a smaller scheme in the hope that people will think “that’s not as bad as the last one” and therefore not object to this. If this is their tactic then I think that they will be disappointed. The golf course is protected open space and I do not think that any development there should be permitted.

2. Christmas Lights
Many apologies to the residents of Eastwood that I missed their Christmas lights switch on off the list that I gave last week. The Eastwood lights will be switched on this Tuesday, 25th November, at 6.00pm in the town centre. There will also be the opportunity the next day for children to meet a Christmas fairy at the DH Lawrence Centre from 6pm to 8pm. The event costs £4 for children with adult carers free.

3. Speeding Motorists
Less good news for Eastwood residents is that the NG16 post code, which includes Eastwood, Nuthall and Kimberley, has been listed as one of the top ten post code areas in the country for motorists being fined for speeding. It was Number 7 on the national list, and had 1,399 motorists who had been fined for speeding last year.

4. Freemen of the Borough
At a ceremony last Wednesday the borough council awarded the honour of being a Freeman of the Borough to four residents. Traditionally this is awarded to significant citizens of the borough (not councillors or former councillors) during the last year of a council administration. The four recipients this time round were Barry Thornley, Jessie Clarke, Ron Faulks and Patrick Hamilton. You can read about each of them here: http://www.broxtowe.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=13798

5. Homecoming Parade
Troops from 64 Works Group, 170 (Infrastructure Support) Engineer Group will mark their final return from Afghanistan on Friday 5th December at 10am with a Homecoming Parade through Beeston. They will be accompanied by the Queen’s Division Marching Band and the parade will march along Broadgate and Beeston High Road to the Town Hall in Foster Avenue. Hopefully there will be a good turn out from the public to support them.

6. Expensive Cigarettes
Usually I don’t report on criminal in the newsletter but this story is a little out of the ordinary. In April this year one of the borough council’s neighbourhood wardens saw a taxi driver dropping a cigarette in the street in Beeston. Attempts were made to speak to him but the taxi driver refused to do so and refused to supply any details. Ultimately the details were obtained from his firm and he was given a £60 fixed penalty for littering. He didn’t pay this and so he was prosecuted. He appeared in court this week and was fined £400 for littering, £200 for failing to provide his details and also ordered to pay £225 costs to the council. Hopefully he will think twice before dropping a cigarette again.

7. Fabric Collections
I reported last week that the council would now collect waste fabric for recycling and this has generated quite a bit of correspondence. May I make it clear that if you have items that could be donated to a charity shop then we would still encourage you to do this. We are only aiming to collect items which would not have any use elsewhere. Fabric can be left out with your green bin on the same day that glass can be left out (i.e. once every four weeks).

8. Beeston Crime Café
This is, I confess, a new one for me but members of Beeston Crime Café will be discussing clichés of crime at their next meeting on Monday 24th November at 10.30am at Beeston library. Everyone is welcome to attend.

9. QMC Donations
Congratulations to the customers, staff and visitors of the Cadland pub in Chilwell who have raised £1,100 to provide televisions and toys for the QMC. They will be presenting their gifts tomorrow, 24th November, at 1pm. This is a fantastic achievement so well done to everyone involved.

10. Alderman Pounder School
Alderman Pounder School in Chilwell is to receive a slightly unusual new library. Rather than a new building or refurbish an existing one the library will be installed in a former bendy-bus which has been donated to the school. Much of the cost has been met by the MoD as 49 pupils at the school have a parent in the armed forces.

11. Recycling Figures
Sadly the latest figures for the amount of waste recycled in Broxtowe make disappointing reading. The borough has the second highest recycling figures in Nottinghamshire, with 40% of our waste being recycled (behind Rushcliffe who recycle 51% of their waste) but this is down on last years figures and below the national average.

12. Christmas Market
Alderman White School in Chilwell will be organising a Christmas market on Saturday 29th November between 1.30 and 4.30pm. Entry is free and there will be a Santa’s grotto, arts and crafts and food and drink.

13. Stapleford Christmas Tree
Unfortunately the supplier who provides the Christmas tree to the council for Stapleford let us down badly by delivering a sub-standard tree. A number of residents have expressed their concerns about this and I’m pleased to say that they have now agreed to provide a replacement (and far better) tree free of charge.

14. Closure of Devonshire Avenue junction
As part of the expansion of tram services to Beeston and Chilwell, work to construct new traffic islands on Devonshire Avenue at its junction with Chilwell Road and Middle Street is expected to start on Monday (24 November 2014). The work is expected to take one month to complete and, while it takes place, it will not be possible for traffic to enter or exit Devonshire Avenue from the junction. Local traffic diversions will be in place. The works will be carried out between 8am – 6pm, Monday – Friday and 8am – 4pm on Saturday. There should not be any working on a Sunday.

15. Eastwood Planning Application
A planning application has been submitted this week for 14 new houses to be built on Frearson Farm Court in Eastwood. The land off Chewton Street is currently full of derelict farm buildings and outhouses which would be demolished to make way for the new homes if the plans are approved. The proposals would see ten two-bedroom houses and four three-bedroom houses constructed on the former farm as well as a new cobbled road constructed to provide access. This is the sort of application that the council generally welcomes, as it is a brownfield site bringing old land back into use.

16. Operation Christmas Child
Congratulations to the pupils and staff at Nuthall’s Larkfields Infant School who filled more than 100 shoeboxes with toys ,games, stationery, sweets, gloves, scarves, hygiene items (toothbrushes, soap, toothpaste, and sports equipment which will be distributed to needy children the Samaritans Purse Operation Christmas Child.
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As ever thank you for your support for this newsletter. Any feedback is gratefully received.

Best wishes

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

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