Welcome to Broxtowe Enews, brought to you by the Liberal Democrats and edited by David Watts, on behalf of the Lib-Dems in Broxtowe. May I give a special welcome to the new readers that we have this week. May I also say thank you to the numerous people who have contacted me in the last week to pass on their condolences following the tragic death of Charles Kennedy.

1. Hemlock Happening
Record numbers of people attended this years Hemlock Happening and for most of the day the event was a great success. I spoke to Stan Heptinstall from the organising committee during the day and he was really pleased about the way that things had gone. Unfortunately then the event ended very badly as a group of youths engaged in fighting, resulting in the event having to be ended early. Eleven police cars had to attend the incident. This is extremely disappointing and put a very dark cloud over what had been an excellent event.

2. Broxtowe Community Celebration
This is a free community event celebrating the diversity of cultures in the Borough of Broxtowe. It takes place at Round Hill Primary School, Foster Avenue, Beeston NG9 1AE on Saturday 13 June, between 11am and 4pm. Entrance to the event is free and there are lots of free multicultural activities for all ages, including music, dance, sports, arts and crafts, fun bikes, information stalls and food tasting from around the world. This popular event is now in its 11th year and is definitely one not to be missed!

3. Oxylane Sports Village
One casualty of the new administration at the borough council is the proposed sports village that Oxylane, the owners of the decathlon sports chain, wanted to build close to junction 26 of the M1. This would have provided world class sports facilities for the borough and also created about 250 jobs, but the Conservatives locally had always opposed it and Oxylane have apparently now abandoned their plans.

4. George Spencer School
George Spencer School in Stapleford has received an “outstanding” assessment from Ofsted. Congratulations to the head and all the staff for their work in achieving this.

5. Beeston Police Station
An application has been submitted to Broxtowe Borough Council to demolish part of the old police station in Beeston and build a new wing with 19 flats. The rest of the building, which is a listed building, is proposed to be converted into 5 further apartments. The council will decide on these in due course.

6. Beeston Retail Guide
The Beeston Business Improvement District have teamed up with Boots to produce a Good Retail Guide for the town. I’m not sure yet where this will be available from but will find out and report back later.

7. Park Improvements in Watnall and Attenborough
Broxtowe Borough Council, together with communities charity WREN, are funding £98,000 worth of improvements to local parks in Attenborough and Watnall. Works at Long Lane Recreation Ground, Attenborough and at Watnall Green will include new, play equipment for children and new wildlife features. This was work that the council had consulted with local residents about last year.

8. Disposable Income
Figures released this week by the Office for National Statistics show that people in the East Midlands have a lower disposable income than the average for the UK. A typical person in the East Midlands has a disposable income of £15,893 compared to a national figure of £17,559. Interestingly also the region has seen one of the lowest figures for growth in employment, showing an increase of 1.3% compared to a national average of 3%.

9. Barbeque and Treasure Hunt
On Tuesday 9 June 2nd Attenborough Scout Group are holding and open evening as well as a barbeque and treasure hunt starting at 6pm at Attenborough Village Hall.

10. Stapleford Town Football Club
Stapleford Town Football Club, who have over 125 boys and girls on their books and who run teams from age 6 to 16, are looking to raise £3,500 to provide new kits for their players. To donate please visit www.gofundme.com/STJFC. I will confess a personal interest here as my daughter plays for the under 9’s.

11. Beeston Food and Drink festival
This takes place on Friday 12 and Saturday 13 June between 10am and 4pm. There will be 30 stalls running from the Square to Broadgate Park. Alongside this top quality chefs are putting on cooking demonstrations at Wollaton Road Allotments. Full details can be found at http://www.letsgotobeeston.co.uk/beeston-to-hold-its-first-food-and-drink-festival/?dm_i=BLC,3FI81,1BHWII,CBBXZ,1.

12. Scarecrow Festivals
Next Saturday there will be scarecrow festivals in both Attenborough and in Cossall. I saw some f he scarecrows in Cossall today and they are of a really high quality. In Cossall the event runs alongside the Cossall Open Gardens Day and includes a children’s treasure hunt, a tea room, tombola, plat sales, big raffle prizes, trade stands, wood turning, cards and bric a brac. The cost is £3.50 which will go towards refurbishing the Old School Hall. In Attenborough there will be coffees served and a bric a brac stall at the cricket club.

13. Military Wives in Concert
Chilwell Military Wives Choir and the Nottinghamshire Band of the Royal Engineers will be performing in concert on Saturday 13th June, at Chilwell Road Methodist Church, starting at 2.30pm. Tickets cost £8 in advance of £10 on the door (concessions are available) and can be purchased from chilwell@militarywiveschoir.org or by ringing the church office on 0115 943 1164.

14. Cantata Ensemble Concert
The Cantata Ensemble will be performing at the Catholic Church of Assumption, Foster Avenue, Beeston on Saturday 13th June at 7.30pm. They will be performing songs from west end shows. Tickets cost £7.00 and are available by ringing 0115 922 9411.

15. HS2
The Transport Minister, Patrick Mcloughlin, this week confirmed in parliament that the Government intend to press ahead with the construction of HS2. He didn’t say anything about the East Midlands station but I still expect this to be built in Toton.

16. Bramcote School Summer Fare
Bramcote Schools summer fair will take place on Thursday 2nd July between 4pm and 7pm. Entry costs just 20p and full details can be found at http://bramcotetoday.org.uk/2015/06/08/bramcote-school-summer-fair-thursday-2-july-2/.

17. Charity Craft Garden Party

Between 10 am and 2 pm on Sunday 12 July 2015 there will be a Chariy Craft Garden Party at 397 Nottingham Road, Newthorpe, Nottingham NG16 2EB. There will be 30 plus stalls selling hand made gifts, textiles, cakes, soaps, cards etc as well as candy and popcorn, entertainment, picnic area and book stall. ‘Pitches’ cost £10 each. The profits from this event will go to the Ryan Lee Trust, Kimberley, a charity which supports children with cancer and their families. The organiser is Carol Marks Smith of ‘Not Just Crafty’, a gift shop in the craft workshops area of Eastwood which sells crafts made by local people. For more information call into Not Just Crafty (open Wednesday to Saturday), Telephone Carol on 07944 543739, visit www.notjustcrafty.co.uk or email Carol on Notjust.crafty@outlook.com.

18. Driving Licences
Finally may I mention a national change that has come in today regarding driving licences. Unfortunately this seems to have passed most people by. As of today the paper counterpart to driving licences is no longer valid. If you need to provide details of your driving record, for instance if hiring a vehicle, then you need to obtain a code from the DVLA and the information can then be seen on line. Full details are available at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/429025/How_to_share_your_driving_licence_information.pdf.

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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