Welcome to Broxtowe Enews, brought to you by the Liberal Democrats and edited by David Watts, on behalf of the Lib-Dems in Broxtowe. We don’t have any new subscribers this week which means that subscriber numbers have now plateaued for three weeks, something which I can’t recall happening before. I’m always keen to have new readers so if you have friends and neighbours who you think would enjoy reading this please mention us to them.

1. High Speed 2
The Government have confirmed this week that the east Midlands station for HS2 will be at Toton. This is good news and something that all the local political parties and all the local councils supported. When I was the leader of the borough council I brought together all the local authorities in the area to ensure that we work together to maximise the benefits for the area and this joint working is still continuing. Experts commissioned by the Government suggested that Broxtowe’s economy could grow by 8% but we can’t just sit back and wait for it to happen. We have to carefully plan for the future to make sure that our area really benefits from having the station here.

2. Christmas Lights Switch On
The dates for the switch on of Christmas lights around the borough have now been confirmed. Eastwood will see the lights switched on at 6pm on Tuesday 29th November, Stapleford at 6.30pm on Saturday 26th November (festivities start at 4.30pm) and Beeston at 4.30pm on Saturday 3rd December.

3. Durban House
Durban House in Eastwood, which was closed by the Conservative administration on Broxtowe Borough Council earlier this year, looks set to be converted into a beauty spa. The plan would create 8 jobs and if permission is granted by the council it will open in January.

4. Empty Homes
Figures released this week show that there are currently 986 homes standing empty in Broxtowe. This is less than any other authority in the county except for Ashfield and Rushcliffe. Overall there are nearly 9,000 homes uninhabited in Nottinghamshire. At a time when there is a major housing crisis it really is important that as many of these are brought back into use as possible, and as quickly as possible.

5. New Chief Constable
Craig Guilford, currently the deputy Chief Constable of Gwent, looks set to be Nottinghamshire’s new Chief Constable. He has been named as the “preferred candidate” by the Police and Crime Commissioner. The appointment will need to be ratified by the county’s Police and Crime Panel, and Mr Guilford will then take up his role in the new year.

6. Fracking
Notts County Council has approved it’s first application for extracting shale gas this week. The application site is in the north of the county, but south Broxtowe is one of the other areas being considered and it seems that the County will not stand it its way on policy grounds.

7. Kimberley Brewery
Broxtowe Borough Council have approved plans for 25 homes to be built at Kimberley Brewery. The local campaign group, SOBS, had objected to the plans as they felt that they detracted from the historic nature of the buildings, but the council gave the go ahead nevertheless. It is disappointing that they have settled for something second best when with a bit more effort and time a better scheme could have been developed.

8. Social Workers Wanted
Nottinghamshire County Council have started a search to recruit 20 new front line social workers. They are particularly hoping to attract people wanting to return to work after having had a break. If you are interested contact Liz Maslen on 0115 977 3004.

9. Fundraiser of the Year
Congratulations to 10 year old Diya Karwal of Nuthall who has been recognised as the Fundraiser of the Year for the charity Sense. She was inspired to help after her grandfather lost his sight and has raised hundreds of pounds by selling loom band ornaments.

10. House Prices In Broxtowe
Data released this week by the Land Registry shows that Broxtowe has gone against the trend in the rest of the county by recording a fall in average house prices over the last three months. The average house price is £164,326, which is £1,495 (0.9%) less than three months ago. It may well be that these figures are just a blip and that a higher than usual number of smaller properties were sold recently, but it is something that will merit further attention. The rest of the county saw prices rising in the region of 2% during the same period.

11. Bramcote Park Café
Broxtowe Borough Council will decide on Tuesday who their preferred partner is for developing a café and toilets at Bramcote Park. The recommendation from the officers is to partner with Bramcote Hills Park Community Café CIC, the community owned company who propose reinvesting the profits back into the local community. This is the company that I chair so obviously I do have a significant interest in the outcome.

As ever thank you for your support for this newsletter. Due to my work commitments there will not be a newsletter next week and so the next edition will be on 3rd December. There will then be two more editions prior to the Christmas break.

Best wishes

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