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. Many apologies for the lack of a newsletter over the past couple of weeks and may I thank everyone who sent a message of sympathy or condolence following the death of my Grandad. Obviously there have been many news stories over the past couple of weeks but I’ll try and pick up on the most important ones.

1. Council Tax
There is good news and bad news about council tax for the coming year. Here in Broxtowe we decided at the council meeting last week to freeze council tax at the current rates. This is the fifth year in a row that this has happened. Stapleford Town Council, which is also run by the Liberal Democrats, have also decided to freeze their council tax. Unfortunately Notts County Council together with the police authority and fire authority, all of which are controlled by the Labour Party, have all decided to increase their council tax by the maximum amount permissible. They will be increasing council tax by 1.99%. These authorities have also turned down a grant from the government which could have been used to avoid the need to raise council tax. I think it is desperately unfortunate that the Labour Party have chosen to hit individuals in the pocket like this.

2. Council Budget
The council meeting last Wednesday was the budget meeting for the borough council. I’m pleased to say that for the second year in a row all three parties supported the budget that we put forward. Once again we have managed to protect all the front line council services despite not increasing council tax. We have done this by finding additional savings year on year and by working more closely with neighbouring councils to share the costs. This year we have given the staff a pay rise (of 2.2%) for he first time in several years.

3. Councillors Allowances
Every year and independent panel reviews the amount of allowances paid to councillors for their work as councillors. This year the panel recommended an increase of 2.2%. This would have been the first increase in councillors allowances for several years. However when this was discussed at the Council we were all agreed that it was inappropriate to be raising allowances at this point. As the amount of money that comes into the council from central government continues to fall it seemed to me to be inappropriate to be increasing the amount that we paid ourselves. We therefore rejected any increase in allowances for the forthcoming year. Broxtowe pays a lower allowance than nearly any other local authority in the East Midlands, and none of our councillors (of any party) is in it just for the money.

4. Councillor Richard Robinson
Readers may recall the furore that has developed around councillor Richard Robinson. He has been accused of encouraging lobbyists to write to organisations in support of the tram using both false names and false addresses. The idea seemed to be to give the impression that levels of support locally were different than they actually were. Councillor Robinson referred himself to the Standards Board when details of his apparent activities were made public, and at the full council meeting in January the council called for him to be suspended from his role as a portfolio holder. It was confirmed at this weeks full council meeting that the suspension has now been carried out. Cllr Robinson remains as a councillor for Kimberley, but is no longer functioning as a portfolio holder.

5. Stapleford Police Station
I read a story this week which claimed that Broxtowe Borough Council were trying to sell off the old Stapleford Police Station. May I assure residents that at this stage that story is completely untrue. The council is putting a master plan together for the area, and is part of that master plan it may well look to sell the police station in the future, but it would be extremely silly to try and do so whilst the plan is still being prepared. Unfortunately this is one of many ”silly season” stories that we are likely to get between now and the election.

6. Average House Prices
Figures released by the Land Registry show that the average house price in Nottinghamshire is now £124,700. This is the highest level it has been since 2009, at the heart of the recession. The cost of an average home in Nottingham City is £88,000 and the cost of an average home across the East Midlands was £187,750. The increase in house prices in the East Midlands is actually less than it is for the majority of the country.

7. Burglaries Down
The number of burglaries across Nottinghamshire has fallen by 51% in the past five years. This is extremely good news and long may the trend continue. There are all sorts of reasons why the figures have fallen so dramatically but the fact that we are a more caring society where people are more willing to watch out for one another is, I believe, a significant factor in the fall.

8. New Bus Shelter
A new bus shelter will be installed by the end of March outside Westbourne Court in Stapleford. This is something residents have been wanting for a long time and many congratulations must go to my colleague Jacky Williams for getting this sorted.

9. Wilkinsons To Return
It looks like Wilkinsons are to return to Beeston Town Square. The unit underneath the new Pure Gym is currently unoccupied and it appears that this will be taken over by Wilkinsons from the end of April.

10. Anti-Social Behaviour
I don’t usually talk about crime stories in the news but I thought I would mention one from last week. The borough council have prosecuted a resident from Chilwell for playing music too loud through the night, repeatedly causing problems for his neighbours. He was fined £110 together with a further £95 in additional charges. I mention this simply to remind people that if there are problems related to antisocial behaviour the council can take action to try and help.

11. New Writers Club
Fusion café in Chilwell High Road is launching a new “friendly and informal” club as part of the efforts to improve the areas cultural heritage. This will start on 25th March starting at 7.30pm. For more information ring 0115 970 0369.

12. Cards For Hope Street
I read an interesting story this week about residents on Hope Street in the Beeston receiving postcards from Sydney. It seems that as part of an arts project in Australia local youngsters there had been sending cards to residents of Hope Street across the world. Apparently the youngsters have written to the residents of over 100 different Hope streets around the world.

13. Buggy Walks
New Mum’s wishing to get fit after pregnancy are invited to take part in this years buggy walks. The first of these will be at Colliers Wood on 20th April, and there will also be further events at Attenborough Nature Reserve. For more details or to book a place ring 0115 917 3572.

14. Town street Resurfacing
The County Council have announced that they will be resurfacing Town Street in Bramcote this August. This is something that is desperately needed and my colleague Stan Heptinstall has been pressing for it for a long time.

15. Combined Authority
I mentioned some weeks ago the proposals to create a combined authority in Nottinghamshire. This is not a unitary authority but a commitment from the councils to work more closely with each other. At the same time the Derbyshire councils were creating a similar structure for Derbyshire and the Government wanted these two to proceed together. Erewash Council then decided not to take part, which put the whole programme in jeopardy, but they have now changed their mind and decided that they will participate. Hopefully this means that everything is back on track.

16. Toton Sidings Village Green Inquiry
Several years ago residents of Toton applied to have parts of Toton Sidings classified as a village green. This was shortly after the new owner of the sidings land felled a lot of trees. It seems to have taken forever to get to the point where the application is now being decided but we are finally there. A public inquiry will be held by Notts County Council staring on 13th April until 17th April 2015 at the Lucy and Vincent Brown Village Hall, Attenborough Lane, NG9 5AB. Everyone is able to attend.

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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