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. We have a new record for the number of subscribers this week. It has however been quite a quiet week for news. I suspect that most people are still in shock from the Americans electing Donald Trump as their next president! I think I have now caught up on all the outstanding emails from the past couple of weeks so if you are still waiting for a reply from me please send me a reminder as I must have overlooked the original.

1. Chetwynd Barracks
The Ministry of Defence have confirmed this week that they will be closing Chetwynd Barracks in Chilwell. The barracks was opened in 1919 and currently houses 1,000 soldiers and employs 160 civilian personnel. It will close in 2021 when the land will be used for housing.

2. Midland Mailine Electrification
I mentioned last week that there would be a debate in parliament this week about the proposed electrification of the Midland Mainline through Nottinghamshire after reports that the Government had cooled their support for the scheme. This took place on Monday night and unfortunately the government refused to give any assurances about when or even if the scheme would go ahead. The most optimistic way of looking at things is that they did not say no, and that has happened to other schemes over the last few days. Nevertheless it is still quite worrying. I hope that all our local politicians of all parties will be pushing for this to happen.

3. Speeding on the Motorway
Figures released this week show that on the stretch of the M1 that runs through Broxtowe 8,489 speeding tickets were handed out to motorists. They were caught by the fixed cameras on the smart motorway section. I did read a report contrasting it with there being no tickets on that stretch in 2010, but this was before the smart motorway was installed so it’s hardly a fair comparison.

4. Primary School Places
Parents can now apply to the County Council for primary school places for children who will be starting school in September 2017. Applications must be submitted by 15th January next year. To apply visit the County Council website at www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/schooladmissions or ring 0300 500 8080.

5. Hickings Lane Medical Centre
Congratulations to the doctors and team at the Hickings Lane Medical Centre in Stapleford who have been rated outstanding by inspectors in a report published this week. This is the highest rating that can be awarded, and is all the more impressive as it was obtained whilst building work was going on at the practice.

6. New Tenants At Beeston Business Park
AW Accident Repair Centre is the latest tenant to move onto Beeston Business Park. They already have a range of centres across Nottinghamshire and South Yorkshire, and the new site is their latest expansion. Their site is 12,500 sq feet and will house a repair and recovery deport as well as management offices.

7. Beeston Library
An application for planning permission for the refurbishment of Beeston library will be debated by the council on 15th November. The officers are recommending that the scheme, which will see a new entrance and replacement windows installed, is approved. However a survey by the councils wildlife officer recently identified that there are two locations in the library where bats are residing and as these are a protected species work may be delayed so as not to impact on them.

8. Burglary Figures
Nottinghamshire Police this week published statistics on burglaries across the county, and it was good to see that nowhere in Broxtowe was on the top ten list of places where you are likely to be burgled. However there were 164 burglaries in Beeston over the last year, 190 in Stapleford and 289 in Eastwood. This includes all types of burglaries, including commercial units, sheds and garages, as well as houses, but every one is a personal tragedy for someone.

9. St Johns School, Stapleford
St Johns School in Stapleford has never had a school hall. However this may change as the school has now applied for planning permission to convert a vacant house in the school grounds into an educational space, and if approved by the council part of this will be used to create a hall. The council will make a decision on this by the end of the year all being well.

10. DH Lawrence Museum Christmas Grotto
The Christmas fairy will be making a special stop at the D.H Lawrence Birthplace Museum later this month as the ever popular Enchanted Fairy Grotto returns. Children can visit the Fairy on Tuesday 29th November from 6.00pm until 8.00pm at the Museum on Victoria Street with a special goody bag and a little sprinkling of magic for each child. Parents and guardians will also be able to enjoy some free mulled wine and traditional Victorian gingerbread as well as explore the gift shop for some unusual gifts, traditional toys and original little stocking-fillers for all ages. The Grotto is part of Eastwood Christmas Lights Switch On event. Admission is £4.00 per child which includes the goody bag containing gifts and a voucher to come back and have a tour of the Birthplace Museum for free. Children with access needs can visit the grotto from 5.30pm.

11. Free Wifi In Stapleford Town centre
The Town Team which manages Stapleford Town Centre have been given permission by the borough council to install free Wi-Fi in the town centre. A feasibility study has been carried out and the council have now agreed to advertise the work and invite tenders for it to be installed. Hopefully the work will be done early next year.

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.