Welcome to Broxtowe Enews, brought to you by the Liberal Democrats and edited by David Watts, on behalf of the Lib-Dems in Broxtowe. I’m sorry that there wasn’t a newsletter last week and I’ll try and pick up the most important stories from the past fortnight today. May I take a moment at the start of this newsletter to express my horror at the events in Paris on Friday night, and also those of other less well reported IS targets over the past few days.

1. Budget Consultation
I mentioned in the last newsletter that the borough council have launched a consultation on their budget but they hadn’t put it on their web site. They have now corrected this and you ca66n have your say at www.broxtowe.gov.uk/budgetconsultation.

2. Police Control Room
The police in Nottinghamshire, along with Leicestershire and Northamptonshire, have commissioned G4S to produce a feasibility report into whether they could take over the running of the police control rooms. The Police Commissioner Paddy Tipping said that he wanted to keep the service in private hands and had just commissioned the report “to see what it said.” If that is the case then it is a colossal waste of money at a time when cuts are being made. The Nottingham Post reported this week that Notts Police may have to cut a further £45 million from its budgets on top of the £42 million hat they have already cut. Wasting money on “feasibility studies” that they have already decided not to use does not seem to be very clever. I am personally completely opposed to the privatisation of any core policing functions.

3. Bramcote Hills Park Community Café
Thank you to everyone who has responded to the invitation last week to become a founder member of Bramcote Hills Park Community Café. So far 35 people have said that they would like to become members, which is an excellent start and will help to show potential funders that there is a real demand for a café and toilets at the park. If you haven’t yet opted to become a founder member there is still time, just let me know that you would like to.

4. Robin Hood Cards
Public transport users will be able to buy Oyster-style cards from next month. Oyster Cards are used in London and are very popular (I use one when I’m in London) and the City Council have announced that they will be introducing them for their buses and trams, which includes services through Beeston. The cards will be called Robin Hood cards (which won’t surprise anyone) but I welcome their arrival, whatever they are called.

5. Ambulance Times
I’ve reported here in the past on the disappointing performance of East Midlands Ambulance Service. Sadly the latest figures are some of the worst, with the service having missed every target for the past two months. The fault here doesn’t rest with the staff who are extremely hard working but there is clearly a serious failing of management which has still not been properly addressed. Putting it simply, delays cost lives.

6. New Solar Farm
I reported earlier this year that the Tory administration on Broxtowe Borough Council had rejected plans for a solar farm at the site of the former Watnall brickworks. I’m pleased to say that they have now changed their minds and granted permission, although a number of the Tory councillors still voted against it. It is a shame that the Tory approach delayed the project by six months but work will now start to construct it in the new year. The site will generate enough electricity to power 5,151 houses and will create 119 jobs.

7. Hemlockstone Scan
Flying drones have been used to carry out a detailed scan of the Hemlockstone in Stapleford. The aim is to produce a 3D scan of the stone and two others in Nottinghamshire to help scientists try and understand more about the origins of the landmark rock. Of course those of us who live locally could have just told them that the devil threw it towards Lenton but missed, but apparently they need scientific proof of this.

8. Road Gritters
The County Council have announced that from the start of this month their gritters have been on standby. The council say that they have 20,000 tonnes of salt available, the maximum that they can store in their depots. Hopefully then we will have a trouble free winter.

9. Autism Treatment
Nottinghamshire has been selected as a pilot area to trial a new way of treating people with autism. The number of in-patient beds will be reduced by 60% and replaced with high quality community care. The government is providing an extra £1.2 million to fund this. The National Autism Society have welcomed the plans and I tend to trust their judgement. I have done a lot of work professionally with people with autism, and particularly with Aspergers Syndrome, which is on the autistic spectrum, and so this is something that I will keep a very interested eye on.

10. Kimberley Brewery
New plans have been submitted to the borough council for the redevelopment part of Kimberley Brewery. The new plans are for the Brewery Annex in Browns Flats and proposing converting these in to two houses.

11. Help For Young Carers
Notts County Council have recruited three new members of staff to help young carers. The posts will assess young people who care for a sibling or parent to see what extra support they need. In Notts there are 326 carers aged between 5 and 18 and these are the people that the staff will target. The new roles will cost just over £100,000 a year but this seems to me to be money well spent.

12. Santa Dash
Broxtowe’s sport development team have announced that they will be holding a 2K Santa dash fun run on Sunday 29th November at 10am. The event will involve a run around the playing fields at Chilwell Olympia sports centre and runners should be dressed as Santa or Santa’s little helpers. Father Christmas outfits will be provided for adults and elf-hats for children. Entry costs £9 for adults and £4 for children. If you want to take part you need to book by Tuesday at www.broxtowe.gov.uk/sportsevents.

13. Service of Remembrance
Bramcote Crematorium will be holding its annual service of remembrance on Sunday 6th December in the Serenity Chapel at 2pm. On arrival members of the congregation will be invited to light a candle in memory of their loved ones who have died over the past year. Doors will open at 1.15pm. More details are available by ringing 0115 917 3849.

14. Eastwood Christmas Grotto
A Christmas fairy will be in her grotto to hear children’s festive wishes in Eastwood on 24th November. (I hope she has a good memory for the very long list that my daughters seem to be coming up with.) The grotto will be at the DH Lawrence Birthplace Museum as part of the Christmas lights switch on and will be open between 6pm and 8pm. Admission is £4 which includes a goody bag for the children.

15. Life Expectancy
Figures released by the Office For National Statistics this week show how long children born now in Broxtowe can expect to live. The average life expectancy for a boy in Broxtowe is now 80.5 years and for girls it is 83.7 years. In neighbouring Nottingham the averages are 77.1 and 81.6 respectively.

16. Silent Award
Broxtowe Borough Council have been awarded the “Silent Approach” award at the John Connell Awards run by the Noise Abatement Society. This award recognises the efforts that the council have made not to disturb people whilst collecting their wheelie bins. A major factor in the award was the extra-quiet electric bin lifts on the rubbish lorries.

17. Leisure Bikes
The borough council have agreed to purchase 40 new spinning bikes for the Chilwell and Kimberley Leisure Centres. As a result the council will be able to offer new spin classes at the centres, with trials next month and a full programme from January. The new bikes cost £26,000.

18. Congratulations
There were three news items that caught my eye this week which I thought were worthy of mention. First Lizzie Shaw, a lifeguard at Kimberley Leisure Centre, won the national lifeguard triathlon last week. The lifeguard triathlon involves a times swim, a cardio-pulmonary resuscitation and a theory test. In addition to her individual award the centre came third out of the 53 entries in the UK. Both of these are excellent achievements. The same day I read about 17 year old Samuel wren from Beeston Rylands who has been awarded his private pilots licence. This is an incredible achievement for someone wo has only just passed their driving test! Finally congratulations to Kimberley cake designer Karen Mitchell who won second place at the NEC’s Cake International Show with a deer shaped cake.

19. Pumping Stations
If you own or know of a private water pumping station then Severn Trent Water needs to know about it. New legislation means that from October 2016 all pumping stations, which may be in gardens or nearby fields, must be owned and run by the utility companies. If you have a pumping station to report you can do this by visiting www.stwater.co.uk/sewerownership.

20. Creative Writing Class
Creating convincing characters is just one of the challenges that budding writers can face and this is just one of the issues that writer Megan Taylor will address in a unique creative writing workshop at Eastwood’s D.H Lawrence Heritage later this week. The workshop, on Wednesday 18th November at the D.H Lawrence Heritage Centre on Mansfield Road, is in celebration of this year’s national Being Human; Festival of Humanities and will see Megan provide some expert advice on ‘Writing People,’ from creating convincing characters to understanding their stories. It will take place from 1.00pm until 3.00pm and costs £5.00. Booking is essential. There is also an optional two-hour guided walk from 10.30am prior to the workshop, which takes in some of the sights and sounds which inspired D.H. Lawrence in his own writing. The walk will start at the D.H. Lawrence Heritage Centre. Please wear appropriate footwear. The Heritage Centre is hosting the event in partnership with the University of Nottingham for the Being Human festival. Please ring (01773) 717 353 to book.

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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