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. There seems to be a lot going on at the moment so this is quite a long newsletter.

1. Bramcote Hills Park Café
I’m starting this week with some really exciting news. I don’t usually ask for money and this newsletter is of course completely free but I am hoping that this week people will donate towards a really good project. The fundraising for the Bramcote Hills Park café has now started. We have launched a crowd funding site for residents to donate towards the costs of the architects, and we are hoping to raise £10,000 using this route. If everyone who subscribes to this newsletter donates £10 then we will hit our target straight away, and if people could donate £20 then we would hit our stretch target which covers the next stage of the plans as well. You can donate at https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/bramcote-hills-park-community-cafe and we also have a new Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/BramcoteParkCafe. As well as donating may I please ask you to circulate these links to your email and social media contacts. The more people that we can reach the more effective our fundraising will be. We will be updating the sites regularly, and I hope that we will have a promotional video online in the next few days. A lot of people have put a lot of work into this project so I really hope that people will back it. Everyone who donates will be invited to a funders reception when the café opens.

2. Field Farm
The Conservative government have overridden the views of the local council and given permission for the development at Field Farm to go ahead. Although planning permission was given in principle some time ago the detailed design was rejected by the council as not being of sufficiently high quality, but the inspector disagreed and planning permission has now been granted. Work could now start at any time in the next three years. Despite turning down the detailed design the local Conservative council did recently decide to expand the footprint of the development and allow hundreds of extra homes to be built there.

3. Toton City
There was an interesting prediction this week from the head of HS2 that once the station is built at Toton a new city will develop around it. Sir David Higgins said that the amount of available land around the station site would give plenty of scope for development. Readers may recall that during the last general election campaign the Conservatives claimed that the plans put forward by the Lib Dems for the area meant that the station would not be able to be built, but the assessment from Sir David shows that this was clearly nonsense (and now that the Conservatives run the council they have decided to build more around this area).

4. East Midlands Trains
East Midlands Trains, who run services through Beeston station, has been named as one of the UK’s top employers in a national survey. The Top Employers Institute produced a list of 78 employers awarded the accolade. Also named were Nottingham based Experian.

5. Pulp Friction
Broxtowe based Pulp Friction, which provides training opportunities for adults with learning difficulties, has been awarded a contract to run a canteen at the Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue headquarters in Arnold. This will provide an excellent new opportunity for the community interest company, and I’d like to congratulate everyone who has been involved in making this happen.

6. Ilkeston Railway Station
Ilkeston Railway Station, whose car park is in Broxtowe, will be opening for customers on 7th April. Construction work is now finished and testing of the station is under way, and I look forward to local residents having a new option for public transport. It does strike me that if the tram line is ever extended to Kimberley then consideration should be given to extending it further to the new station, but that will be a decision for others to make.

7. Changing Minds on the EU
An opinion poll run by the Nottingham Post was reported on this week and shows that more Nottinghamshire people would vote to stay in the EU than to leave now, a reversal of the result in the referendum last year. It is of course perfectly possible for people to change their minds, which is why the Liberal Democrats believe that it is crucial the people are given a say on the final deal agreed with the EU, including an option on the ballot paper to remain.

8. Beeston Hockey Club
Congratulations to Beeston Hockety Club for raising £2,400 for cencer research last week. Both the mens and womens teams played charity matches, and both won. The money will be used by the John Van Geest Cancer Centre at Nottingham University who are trying to develop a vaccine for cancer.

9. Rise in Hate Crime
I don’t usually comment on criminal matters in the newsletter but I did want to mention this one. Unfortunately there has been a huge rise in hate crimes in Nottinghamshire since the EU referendum. There was a 75% rise in hate crimes in the three months after the referendum, the second largest increase in the country. I hope that no-one will just turn a blind eye if they see a hate crime happening, but instead please call the police immediately.

10. Forever Stars
Congratulations to Michelle and Richard Daniels from Chilwell, who have been given a Point of Light award by the Prime Minister. This award recognises their work in raising more than £100,000 through their Forever Stars charity, which was used to create a state of the art bereavement suite at the Queens Medical Centre for families who have suffered a still birth. Mr and Mrs Daniels suffered that heart breaking experience and it is inspirational to see how they have used their tragedy to help other people. This award is richly deserved.

11. Attenborough Road Works
Sewer works are being carried out on Riverdale Road in Attenborough, so it will be closed until 13th March.

12. Stapleford Road Works
The County Council have announced that Toton Lane in Stapleford will be closed for repair work from 9am to 3.30pm each day between 27th February and 10th March.

13. DH Lawrence Museum
Eastwoods D.H Lawrence Birthplace Museum has been awarded a VisitEngland Hidden Gem Accolade, received as part of VisitEngland’s Visitor Attraction Quality Scheme. Assessors who visited praised the Museum for its exceptionally interesting tour, the outstanding knowledge and enthusiasm and great visitor care displayed by the staff, the intriguing human interest information provided and the overall high level of presentation and maintenance of the museum.

14. Night Owl Run
Runners In Broxtowe are being urged to join 200 others in the local area to take part in a challenge with a difference next month, to help raise as much as possible for Prostate Cancer UK. Liberty Leisure, who run leisure, culture and sports events on behalf of Broxtowe Borough Council have teamed up with Virtual Runner to host the Night Owler Run where participants complete a ‘virtual’ 5K, 10K or a half marathon distance, picking the time, the place and the route they wish, all in aid of Prostate Cancer UK. Whether it’s at the park, on the road, at a local parkrun or even on the treadmill in the gym, complete the challenge with friends, colleagues, family or solo. Distances must be completed between the 1st March and 31st March 2017 and once completed, Virtual Runner will send each participant their very own owl shaped medal. The event costs £12.00 to enter at www.virtualrunneruk.com/product/the-night-owler.

15. Consultation om Brinsley Development
Brinsley Residents are being urged to have their say on future development in Brinsley as part of a consultation on a potential alternative site allocation for the Part 2 Local Plan. The consultation will run on the Council’s website at www.broxtowe.gov.uk/part2localplan from Monday 13th February until Friday 24th March and will give local people an opportunity to have their say on which site in Brinsley should be selected to accommodate housing development. The Site Allocations Potential Alternative Site document and response form are available online at www.broxtowe.gov.uk/part2localplan or for inspection at Broxtowe Borough Council, Foster Avenue, Beeston, Nottingham NG9 1AB.

16. Stapleford Town Team Open Meeting
Businesses, Local Residents, Landlords, Local Councillors and any other Town Centre stakeholders are invited to attend an open meeting about improving Stapleford High Street, which will follow a drop in format, enabling people to come and go at their own leisure. It will take place on Thursday 23rd February 2017 between 5.30pm and 8.00pm at The Sanctuary Coffee House, 12 Toton Lane, Stapleford, Nottingham NG9 7HA.

17. Chilwell Military Wives Choir
Chilwell Military Wives Choir will be performing at Bramcote Memorial Hall on Saturday 25th March, starting at 7.30pm. The event is being put on by Bramcote WI and tickets, which cost £9.00 are available from elaine.smith@gmail.com or suegrundy708@gmail.com or by telephone 0115 916 4884.

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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