Welcome to Broxtowe Enews, brought to you by the Liberal Democrats and edited by David Watts, on behalf of the Lib-Dems in Broxtowe. The Watts family have been very excited this week after Peppa, one of our cats, gave birth to two gorgeous kittens. They are now five days old and are just starting to find their voices.

1. Garage Sale
Broxtowe Borough Council is selling off more than 70 garages in Beeston and Chilwell to make way for new homes. They are also considering the sale of a further 89 garages. These are all garages which are, at the moment, rented to local residents. One of the sites is in Redwood Crescent in Beeston and here the Conservative administration have also sold off the green space around it. This has been used by local residents for many years and they are now threatened with the loss of this area. Readers may think that this is very different to the promise to protect green spaces which the Tories made prior to the 2015 elections.

2. School Standards
Nottinghamshire County Council have released a report identifying schools which have not met the expected standards for results. I’m reporting this as it stands, although I know as a school governor how difficult it has been this year even knowing what standards schools were expected to meet, given the changes to assessments that have been implemented. The two schools in Broxtowe included in the report were Beeston Fields Primary School and Kimberley Primary.

3. Ilkeston Railway Station
Ilkeston Railway Station, which its the car park in Broxtowe, has now opened to the public. The first train to arrive was late, but that was due to the large number of photo’s being taken of it. This will now provide an alternative method of public transport for people from the north and centre of the borough.

4. New Assistant Chief Constable
Nottinghamshire Police have a new Assistant Chief Constable. Steve Cooper has been with Notts Police for 16 years, and his appointment follows that of Craig Guilford as the new Chief Constable who took up his role in February.

5. County Council Elections
The County Council elections are now less than a month away. Independent experts were predicting this week that the Liberal Democrats would make 100 gains, confirming that we are attracting votes from huge numbers of people who are disappointed by both Labour and the Conservatives. As we have new boundaries for these elections it won’t be possible to do a direct comparison in Nottinghamshire with the results in 2013, when the County Council was last elected, but I think it is quite possible that the Lib-Dems will end up holding the balance of power in Notts after the election.

6. Notts TV
I was on Notts TV’s debate show on Thursday evening, along with Kat Boettge from the Green Party locally and representatives from Labour and the Conservatives. Personally I think that the debate illustrated the huge difference in attitudes between the Conservatives and the other parties. You can watch the debate on the Notts TV website at https://nottstv.com/programme/notts-tv-debate-thursday-6th-april/.

7. Visit Nottinghamshire
Visit Nottinghamshire, the organisation which promotes the county across the UK and further afield, has produced a new 96 page visitors guide for the council. The guide is intended to highlight the best attractions of Nottinghamshire.

8. Arson Attack on Tram Terminus
There was an arson attack on Thursday night at the Toton tram terminus. Thankfully no significant damage was caused although there was some damage to trees which had been recently planted. If anyone has any information relating to this please give this to the police or via Crimestoppers should you wish to remain anonymous.

9. Outstanding Nursery
I’m delighted to report that another Broxtowe nursery has been rated as outstanding by Ofsted. This time it is the Treetops Toton nursery in Minton Close which has been awarded the accolade. Congratulations to everyone who has been involved in achieving this.

10. Beeston Great Get Together
Beeston resident Ginny Hartman is planning a community picnic as part of a national event to celebrate the life and values of Jo Cox MP. You will no doubt remember that she was murdered last June and the Great Get Together is in recognition of her motto “We have more in common”. The venue will be Dovecote Park and the date will be June 17. More details will be provided when things are finalised

11. Free Entry to DH Lawrence Museum
Eastwood’s D.H Lawrence Birthplace Museum will open its doors for free later this month as part of BBC Radio Nottingham’s annual Big Day Out. On Sunday 30th April, visitors can enjoy free taster tours of the museum with costumed guides and demonstrations of the Victorian Wash-house.
The museum will be opening specially for the event from 11.00am until 4.00pm The Big Day Out is a great opportunity to see the authentically restored Victorian cottage where one of the most famous and controversial writers of the 20th century was born. There is no need to book for this event, just turn up at the museum between 11am and 3.40pm. There is parking around the back of the museum which is free on Sundays.

It’s been quite a quiet news week this week, probably because we are getting near to elections and the councils will therefore be avoiding doing anything controversial. However I have heard some really interesting rumours about a couple of story’s. I won’t report them until I have confirmation that they are correct but if they are then they are pretty big news locally. 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.