Welcome to Broxtowe Enews, brought to you by the Liberal Democrats and edited by David Watts, on behalf of the Lib-Dems in Broxtowe.

1. Childrens Home
The Conservative administration on Broxtowe Borough Council have rejected the advice of their own officers and decided to refuse planning permission for the development of a new childrens home for looked after children in Nuthall. The plan was to have a home for 5 children but according to the Tories this would cause unacceptable parking problems. I’ve heard some feeble excuses for the sort of prejudice that children in care have to face but this was one of the worst ever.

2. Oxjam 2015
The annual Oxjam music festival in Beeson, raising money for Oxfam, will take place next Saturday. There are 15 venues this year and a whole range of different bands and artists performing. Full details are available at http://www.oxjambeestontakeover.org/?dm_i=BLC,3Q0NB,KYLMQW,DEGQO,1.

3. The Tram
Whilst overall the tram is being well used and continuing to win awards (this week at the 2015 Light Rail Awards event in London NET was named as the UK Project of the Year) there were problems this week with three power failures in four days. NET have brought in a number of experts to ensure that the problem is solved.

4. School Places
There were interesting figures published by the Department for Education last week which predicted that across Nottinghamshire there will need to be an extra 300 more classrooms (or 42 new schools) by 2018 to meet the demand caused by population growth. I suspect that this is more than will actually turn out to be the case and I can’t for one moment imagine that 300 new classrooms will be built in the next three years, but it does illustrate some of the strains that the system will be facing.

5. Bulb Planting
Pupils from Albany Primary School in Stapleford will be planting bulbs at Pasture Road recreation ground on Tuesday, starting at 11am. The planting is the final stage of redevelopment work in the park, which has included installing a number of new paths and other works.

6. Woman of the Year
It was interesting to read this week that the Woman of the Year Award winner for 2015, Trishna Bharadia, grew up in Stapleford. Ms Bharadia was awarded the title for the charity work that she has done raising money and awareness of multiple sclerosis.

7. Police Complaints
There was an increase of 7% in the number of complaints made to Nottinghamshire Police in the last 12 months. For the year 2014-2015 there were 1,023 complaints recorded against the police.

8. Elected Mayor
Last year Broxtowe Borough Council joined with all the other authorities in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire to create a combined authority. This was an agreement between the authorities that we would work together on a number of different areas. Despite the name it was not intended that the authorities would actually merge. I supported this at the time but with reservations which I spoke about at the time. Now however it seems that the government have decided to change the goalposts and George Osborne in particular seems intent on forcing the region to accept a directly elected mayor. If they follow through with this then I really do fear for the future of Broxtowe as an authority and suspect that we will simply be lumped in with Nottingham City or a unitary county authority. I would be opposed to either of these options.

9. Broxtowe Sport Awards
Everyday hundreds of people dedicate their time to sport through volunteering, coaching or participating in a variety of activities and Broxtowe Borough Council’s Broxtowe Sport team are currently looking for nominations to recognise the contribution they make to the local community.
There are eight award categories, including:
• Sports Person of the Year (18 years and over)
• Young Sport Person of the Year (Under 18 years)
• Disabled Sports Person of the Year (Learning, sensory or physical disability)
• Volunteer of the Year (Coach, official or parent, 18 years and over)
• Young Volunteer of the Year (Coach, official or sibling, under 18 years)
• Team of the Year (Age group or school team)
• Club of the Year (Junior, adult or mixed club)
• More than Sport Award – An award for a special person or group who have really made a different, open to everyone in Broxtowe
Previous winners include Paralympic Fencer Simon Wilson, Beeston Hockey Club and Attenborough Cricket Club. Nominations can be made online at www.broxtowe.gov.uk/sportsreview. All nominees must live or represent a team within the Borough of Broxtowe and the work they have done must cover the period of the 1st November 2013 to 31st October 2015. The closing date for nominations is Saturday 31st October 2013. The awards evening will take place at the East Midlands Conference Centre on the evening of Sunday 17th January 2015.

10. Charity Fashion Show
There will be a charity Fashion Show and Sale on Thursday 12th November at Eastwood Town Football Club to raise money for the Mayor of Broxtowe’s charities, Nottingham Children’s Hospital and Forces in the Community. The event will start at 7.00pm and will include items from Next, River Island, Monsoon, Wallis and Topshop at discount prices. Tickets for the Fashion show are £5 each, to include a free gift courtesy of Coutaulds Brands Limited and Look Magazine. Further details are available at http://www.broxtowe.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=14911.

11. Public Toilets
The borough council is currently looking at the provision of public toilets in Broxtowe. You can have your say at https://broxtowe.firmstep.com/default.aspx/RenderForm/?F.Name=ciESBXHDZGq&HideAll.

12. No Trick Or Treat
As we get near to Halloween the borough council and Notts Police have reissued their No Trick Or Treat poster. You can download this from http://www.broxtowe.gov.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=32966&p=0 and display it at your door to hopefully stop people calling.

13. Are Solar Panels Right For You
A free energy saving event in Kimberley will help local people find out more about how they can save money and be more environmentally friendly by installing solar panels. The “Are Solar Panels Right For You?” event at Rumbletums, on Victoria Street in Kimberley will take place on Tuesday 27th October between 7.00pm and 8.30pm with guest speaker Jerome Baddley CEnv MIEMA from NetPositive who will be on hand to dispel the myth about solar panels including how they work, benefits, long term maintenance, potential savings and estimated costs for installation. Information will also be available on grants for renewable energy installation and Broxtowe Borough Council’s energy officers will provide energy advice, energy switching, energy saving tips and much more with the opportunity to pick up some freebies on a first come first serve basis. NetPostive are an impartial organisation offering free advice and information about renewables available to residents, NetPositive will provide a presentation with a focus on solar panels and answer all questions that you may have.

14. Celebrate Harvest At Dig In
On 24th October 2015 between 11am and 3pm there will be a family fun day to celebrate harvest with activities including apple pancakes, apple pressing, smoothie bikes with Pulp Friction, pumpkin carving, chutneys and preserves, seasonal produce grown on the allotment, tombola and more! The event is free to attend and will be at Albany Allotments site, Pasture Rd, Stapleford, NG9 8HZ.

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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