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. Anna Soubry
The main news this week is that Broxtowe MP Anna Soubry has resigned as a government minister. This is a big surprise as she was being tipped for a promotion in Theresa May’s first cabinet. So far Anna has been silent about her reasons. I would like to think that it is because she realises that Brexit is a big mistake and as a matter of principle she is not willing to serve in a government making it happen. However we’ll no doubt hear from her in due course.

2. Bramcote Hills Golf Course
The Conservative run borough council will eventually decide on Wednesday whether or not to grant planning permission for a development on Bramcote Hills Golf Course. The officers are recommending that the scheme is approved. This is a massive U-turn. When I was the councillor for Bramcote I was assured by the officers that they would recommend refusal, and so they must have had a political steer from the new administration. The Conservatives ran their entire election campaign last year about not building on open spaces, but since then they have granted permission for a massive development on the green belt in Toton and now want to do the same in Bramcote. To say that I am angry about this would be a considerable understatement.

3. Tram Boost
An independent report published this week by the Nottingham Business School at Nottingham Trent University has concluded that the extension of the tram network to Toton and to Clifton has led to the creation of 1,600 new jobs and created a £100 million boost to the local economy. The report shows that employment in Greater Nottingham went up during the recession at a time when it was falling in most other places in the region. As regular readers will know I am a firm supporter of the tram (although I utterly deplore the appalling way in which construction of Lines 2 and 3 was handled) and so I welcome this report which confirms what I believed to be the case.

4. Knife Crime
Figures released this week showed that knife crime in Nottinghamshire (excluding the city) went up by 18% in the last year, from 39 to 46 stabbings. This is extremely disappointing, although the figures in Nottingham city were even worse, with offences there increasing by 25%.

5. Plessey Club
The Plessey Club in Beeston Rylands closed last Saturday as the area is being redeveloped as part of the new Beeston Business Park. Originally the developers intended to provide a new building for the club, but the scheme was sold to a new developer and that offer was withdrawn. Sadly therefore the club shut its doors for the last time on Saturday night.

6. Violence Towards Women
The new Chief Constable of Nottinghamshire, Sue Fish, has announced that the police will treat violence and harassment towards women as a hate crime. This means that it will be given a higher priority to be dealt with by the police. I strongly welcome this. No-one should have to put up with unwanted attention or harassment just because of their sex.

7. Saxon Cross
The Saxon Cross in St Helen’s churchyard in Stapleford, thought to date back to between 800 and 850 AD, now has its own historical plaque to tell visitors something of its history. The plaque was unveiled on Wednesday of last week.

8. Kimberley Summer Fun Day
On Saturday 23rd July the Kimberley Summer Fun Day will be held at James Street, Kimberley Town Centre, from 1:00pm. The Summer Fun day includes free and paid activities and takes place on the first Saturday of the Summer Holidays. This event includes traditional Punch and Judy shows, Fair Rides, Face painting and more activities on the day!

9. Find The Sheep
DH Lawrence Birthplace Museum is running a new competition to attract visitors. 30 hand made crocheted sheep have been hidden in the museum gardens and around the craft workshop area on Scargill Walk. Residents are being encouraged to give these missing sheep a new home and anyone who finds one can register its details on Facebook. The museum will give free entry to one new sheep owner drawn at random from those who register their finds on Facebook.

10. Eastwood Community FC
Eastwood Community Football Club have received a grant of more than £400,000 from the FA to install a new 3G pitch at its premises in Chewton Street. This will mean that all the teams and groups who use the pitches will benefit from a much higher quality playing surface than they have previously enjoyed.

11. Stapleford Town Council By Election
Labour won the Stapleford Town Council by election on Thursday, just 43 votes ahead of the Liberal Democrats in a seat that we haven’t contested for eight years. The Stapleford Alliance came third with the Conservatives in fourth place.

12. Stapleford Road Works
Stapleford residents are suffering very badly from roadworks being carried out by National Grid. Work began on Wednesday and has caused massive disruption along roads around the Roach, but despite the lane closures and traffic lights it has been hard to see any work actually being carried out. Frankly, utility companies need to ensure that when they are carrying out work which causes significant disruption (and which may have been essential) then they need to make sure they are carried out as swiftly as possible.

As ever thank you for your support for this newsletter. Any feedback is gratefully received. Next week will be the last edition before the summer break.

Best wishes

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