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.

1. General Election
Well, that was a bit of a surprise. This time last week no-one had any idea that Theresa May was going to call the general election that she had repeatedly promised not to call. Even though we didn’t expect it the Lib Dems were prepared just in case. Our candidate will be Tim Hallam from Stapleford. Tim is an engineer who served for many years in the RAF. He’s from Stapleford and after his military service he chose to return here with his family. He will be a great representative for us in parliament.
Since Tuesday we have seen more than 10,000 people join the Liberal Democrats, including many who have joined locally. It is really energising to have so many new and enthusiastic people becoming part of our team. By contrast I was amazed to hear the other day that Labour haven’t even got a candidate selected yet. This seems to be very poor planning on their part. If you would like to join the Lib Dems you can do so at www.broxtoweliberaldemocrats.org.uk and you can also volunteer to help or donate to our campaign there. Unlike the other parties we don’t get the financial support of big business or the trade unions and so we rely on the money that we raise from our members and supporters to fund our campaigns.
We will be having a meeting on Tuesday night and if you would be interested in helping in the campaign you are welcome to come along then. The meeting will take place at The Flour Mill Studio, Upper Floor, 2 Derby Street, Beeston, NG9 2LG, starting at 8pm. There is a car park on Derby Street which is free in an evening, almost opposite the venue, and there are tram and bus stops close by.

2. Bramcote Park Café
There was a very well attended fundraising dinner last night for the Bramcote Park Café. This added about £1,000 to the amount that we have raised. We have also been boosted by a grant from the National Lottery of £10,000 to fund the architectural costs, which is another big step forward. If anyone would like to donate towards the costs of the café you can do so directly from the café website at www.bramcoteparkcafe.uk.

3. County Council Elections
With all the excitement over the general election it is easy to forget that there are just eleven days until the County Council elections take place. These are still very important, and polling takes place on 4th May.

4. Toton HS2 Station
The companies that will design the new HS2 station at Toton have been announced. Architects Weston Williamson and Partners will join with engineers Aecom to design the building which is due to open in 2032. The platforms will be 415 metres long to accommodate the 400 metre long trains, each of which will be able to carry 1,100 passengers.

5. Bramcote School redevelopment
Bramcote Park School have unveiled their plans to build a new school next to the existing Bramcote College on Moor Lane. Proposals include the demolition and redevelopment of the existing college buildings to provide a new state of the art education facility incorporating a secondary school, sixth form centre and associated facilities. In order to finance these ambitious redevelopment proposals an existing area of former school playing fields, located adjacent to Coventry Lane, will be developed for up to 500 residential properties with associated access, infrastructure, open space and Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SuDS). The development areas can be split into two locations, which include the site of the current Bramcote College on Moor Lane and the large area of former playing fields to the north of the school adjacent to Coventry Lane. Full details are available on their web site at http://whpfederation.org/index.php/buildings-and-improvements/56-development-proposals-public-exhibition.

6. Police Recruitment
Nottinghamshire Police have announced that they will be launching a recruitment drive next month. In particular the police feel that at the moment they are under-representative of minority communities and they particularly encourage candidates from these. Full details are available on their website at www.nottinghamshire.police.uk.

7. Nursing Home Problems
The Care Quality Commission have produced a very disappointing report into the state of the Beeston Lodge Nursing Home in Beeston Rylands. This was found to require improvements in all areas and the CQC concluded that the home was putting residents at risk. The owners chose not to give any public comment about the report.

8. Free Easter Meals
Many congratulations to the management and staff of the Village Hotel in Chilwell who worked alongside the Canaan Trust on Easter Monday who served 80 meals to people who might otherwise have had no hot food over the Easter break. It is always encouraging to read the many stories of kindness and generosity that I hear from around Broxtowe.

9. Five Pound Notes
This is just a reminder that paper five pound notes cease to be legal tender in just over a fortnight. If you have any left then it would be a good idea to change these as soon as possible.

10. Hospitals Over Bank Holidays
Nottinghamshire County Council are to invest an extra £57,000 to help manage the discharge of patients from hospital into care homes over bank holidays to try and ensure that beds are freed up as soon as possible. We all know that bed blocking can be a serious problem in hospitals and so I welcome this investment.

11. Primary School Places
More than 90% of new primary school pupils for September have been offered their first choice schools. However this still means that 700 pupils across the country did not, and of these 164 children have been offered places at schools that their parents did not even apply for. This is of course deeply worrying for some, especially if they have other children at different schools. The County Council used to give priority to children with siblings at the same school. They stopped doing this just over a year ago and are reverting to it next year, but for the two years in the middle it has caused some parents real problems.

12. St Mary’s Church, Attenborough
It was very disappointing to read that St Mary’s Church in Attenborough was damaged in a fire on Easter Monday. Thankfully a neighbour sotted the blaze and the fire brigade were able to bring it under control before any serious damage was done. However I understand that a kitchen has suffered smoke damage. My best wishes go to everyone who is going to be involved in restoring the building.

13. Bramcote School Fashion Evening
Bramcote School PTA will be holding a fashion evening on Friday 5th May, starting at 7pm (doors open at 6.30). Tickets cost £3 in advance or £4 on the door.

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.