Broxtowe makes crucial planning decision. A perspective by Cllr Janet Patrick
May 18th, 2012
Without a local plan the Government have made it clear that developers can build what they like where they like said Steve Barber the Labour chair of Planning and Development Control.
I was very nervous. I’d read the council papers four times and been to two briefing sessions. I knew the arguments and was committed to Broxtowe’s development plan based on the core strategy. We had a plan that we believed would be robust and would produce 6,150 extra houses in Broxtowe in the next 15 years: the majority would be built on brown-field land but around 1,825 would need be in the Green Belt, taking up to 2% of it. Our plan had been prepared by working in partnership with Erewash, Gedling and Nottingham City through the Joint Planning Advisory Board chaired by Broxtowe Borough Council.
Twenty minutes before the meeting was due to start, the council chamber was full and by 7 0’clock over a hundred people filled the overflow in the old council chamber. The BBC and the press were there and the atmosphere was quietly exciting. Pedestrian business was put aside. David Watts, as portfolio holder for the Labour/LibDem partnership, introduced the discussion. The well researched arguments presented by the partnership members based on evidence were invaluable, and a Tory amendment (No building on Greenbelt land) was debated and lost.
Then the ‘real’ debate began. Essentially it was about losing a small amount of greenbelt land and safeguarding the rest. At least two dozen councillors rose to speak: they were full of passion and we could see why they wanted to be councillors. Some old hands spoke several times but it was those who rarely made speeches that were the most moving.
The arguments went back and forth. Would the plan save or destroy the greenbelt? Should councillors follow their conscience or do as their constituents wished? Sharp words were exchanged and apologies demanded. One of the most moving speeches was by Cllr Mary McGuckin of Kimberley. She spoke of a friend called Tracy who existed by sleeping on various friends floors for a week or two at a time. She desperately wanted a place she could call her own but none existed within her means.
The debate lasted for four hours, the longest debate ever. At the end of it we had a recorded vote: 24 for the strategy and 18 against. We won!! Read the rest of this entry »
Why we should keep our schools at the heart of our community
April 30th, 2012
In an article first published on the Beestonia blog, Andrea Oates, Broxtowe Labour councillor for Beeston North ward and a member of the Hands Off Our Schools campaign, explains why parents should use their voice to protect the community status of Alderman White school, Bramcote Park school and Bramcote Hills college and say ‘no’ to academy conversion.
Why we should keep our schools at the heart of our community
I believe in comprehensive education, where children from all walks of life learn together and enjoy the same opportunities in a good school rooted in the local community. I believe parents should have a democratic voice in the running of that school and I believe hard-working staff should be rewarded fairly for the hugely important job they do.
That is why I oppose academies. My concern is that Education Secretary Michael Gove’s academies programme is an attack on each and all of these principles.
The White Hills Park Federation, which includes Alderman White school, Bramcote Park school and Bramcote Hills college, is exploring the possibility of converting to academy status. Parents and prospective parents – and I am one – are being consulted at the moment and I believe we should respond with a resounding ‘no’. Read the rest of this entry »
Protecting the Greenbelt – Nick Palmer
April 3rd, 2012
The Government’s National Planning Framework is now out. Mixed messages on this are being sent out and I’ll try to explain, briefly:
a) Green Belt protection. The Framework makes it hard to change the boundaries of the Green Belt (which is good), and almost bans “inappropriate development” on the Green Belt (except “under very special circumstances”). So does this mean that the Government is going to stop house-building on the Green Belt? No – because it considers house-building to be “appropriate development”. The Government expects brownfield sites to be given preference for housing, where available, but otherwise they expect us to use what space we have to meet their target. See c).
b) Non-Green Belt green space protection. The first draft of the Framework removed protection from areas that are green but not officially Green Belt. The new version says their intrinsic beauty should be taken into account all the same. This is the concession that the Telegraph was campaigning for. It’s not relevant to the main areas of controversy in Broxtowe, since they are indeed official Green Belt.
c) Housing targets. The Framework requires the council to have a Local Plan within 12 months that identifies the use of every piece of land and meets what the Government expects in terms of new local housing (if the Council refuses, the Framework envisages no limit on housing at all). The Government inspector has indicated that at least 52,500 homes must be foreseen in Greater Nottingham, and under the Government’s separate Localism Act, Broxtowe is required to have a sizable chunk of this.
What this means in practice is unless the Council identifies enough sites for homes to meet Government targets by March 2013, the Local Plan will be invalid and there will be no limit on housing. There will be a public consultation on this in June and July, and I’ll report further. The bottom line is that there is no easy way out.
Beeston West CAT meeting discusses a vision for Beeston Square
March 27th, 2012
It’s just as important for Beeston as it is for London that urban development provides residents and businesses with the environment they need. The direction and control of the evolution of our town centre is to some extent in the hands of the Council, and thus in ours.
A packed meeting of the Beeston Community Action Team [CAT] last night heard a broad-brush update of the Council’s vision from John Delaney, Broxtowe’s head of service for the Built Environment. The physical preparations for the NET Phase 2 tram service that will be running through the town centre by 2014 are shaping Beeston’s shopping centre: Wilkinson’s Hardware is already emptying its shelves prior to its regretted closure next month. We now have a clearer idea of how the rest of the shopping centre in the Square may appear to visitors from Nottingham and from the M1 via the Toton Park & Ride, disembarking at the new transport interchange in Styring Street.
Henry Boot Developments Ltd are about to submit their plans for The Square Retail Centre in which some of the existing units will be rebuilt and the remainder refurbished. They are hoping to attract some big national names and of course the establishment of a thriving commercial centre is in their interest as well as ours. Clearly, delicate negotiations are afoot, and we don’t yet know whether Wilkinsons can be accommodated. But we can perhaps get a glimpse of their priorities from the stores they highlight on their website, and they do mention “Completion by Autumn 2013”.
The imminent demolition of the multi-storey car park, the fire station and Blockbusters’ shop will leave a further large area ripe for development, but John Delaney could confirm no firm plans or even prospects for that part of the town yet. The recession has made investment in town centre development generally less attractive and we will have to be patient. There are glimmers of hope, however. Steve Barber [chair of Broxtowe’s planning committee] reported a recent expression of interest by an unnamed national developer; local residents showed that they were engaged and concerned, and senior Council Officers are committed to the cause. All these provide glimpses of a bright future for Beeston.
The ideal budget by Nick Palmer
March 27th, 2012
You’ll see plenty of other commentaries and may be reading this after the Budget so I’ll keep this brief. We’re clearly in an L-shaped recession – after the large slump, we’re bumping along with growth roughly flat. The media get excited about whether the first quarter will be something like minus 0.2% (which would mean an official recession, gloom!) or plus 0.2% (which would mean we’ve avoided it, hooray!), but basically the economy is going nowhere at the moment.
Bearing that in mind, the Budget should be judged primarily on what it’s doing for growth. Osborne has apparently quietly accepted that simply cutting is counter-productive (because it depresses demand, reducing tax revenue, so potentially makes the deficit worse rather than better), hence the discussion about cutting the 50p rate and/or raising tax thresholds and/or spending money on other projects.
Polls show, as usual, that most people are in favour of raising tax or lowering spending on someone else (the rich, the bankers, people on benefit, foreign aid) and reducing tax or raising spending for themselves – in particular, people want a cut in petrol tax, which I suspect isn’t going to happen.
Personally, I think the Budget ought to have these priorities: Read the rest of this entry »
Chilwell Bye-election results – Nick Palmer
March 16th, 2012
The election results were:
Borough
Halimah Khaled Con. 831
Jane Marshall Lab. 385
Barbara Carr LD 308
Keith Marriott UKIP 228
Turnout: 28.1%
County
John Doddy Con 1958
David Watts LD 1375
Lee Waters UKIP 682
Turnout: 25.5%
To be honest I don’t think any of the parties did very well. The Tories won easily but their vote was heavily down on last time; Labour actually lost voting share in the borough and didn’t stand at all in the County, the LibDems claims to be close to winning proved to be the usual nonsense in both elections; UKIP didn’t do too badly but still came last. The apathy party did well, with well over two thirds of voters not bothering! Perhaps we all need to have a think about ways to engage voters more in local elections.
Vote Jane Marshall on 15 March, Labour’s candidate in Toton and Chilwell Meadows
March 5th, 2012
What do you do to earn a living?
I work part time for the Environment Agency as an Environmental Advisor, ensuring all our own activities are ‘greener than green’. The rest of the time I look after our 2 young children, am a local school governor and I am part of an active in the thriving adoption/fostering community of Beeston.
How long have you been involved in politics?
I have been a member of the Labour Party since I was about 18 and I have experience of previously standing and campaigning in local elections – I nearly overturned a 600 Tory majority in 2011. But politics is also about campaigning and I’ve been active in helping to “save our libraries” and “Keep Our NHS public” in Broxtowe.
Which local issue do you feel is the most important to local residents in your area?
In Toton and Chilwell Meadows the main issues will be the tram and ensuring that the works cause minimum disruption and bring maximum benefits to the community. Housing is also a crucial issue and it will be important to balance the needs of affordable homes with the protection of the green belt. I also worry about the effect of the cuts on the most vulnerable in our communities.
Which person currently active in British politics do you most admire?
Locally I admire Richard Hepple (secretary of LGC) who had to try and enforce the All Women Shortlists for the last local election. Thanks to the hard work by many people Labour had 16 women candidates which resulted in 6 women councillors, a 600% increase from the previous election. It proves that people really want to see their elected representatives reflect their local community.
Who is your greatest supporter?
My husband.
Forthcoming by-elections in Chilwell – Nick Palmer
March 4th, 2012
By-election campaigning is now in full swing. The candidates in the Toton borough council by-election are:
Jane Marshall (Lab), Barbara Carr (LibDem), Khaled Halimah (Con), Keith Marriott (UKIP).
I’ve known Jane for a long time – she’s one of the most active local members, and comes from a family with a long tradition in Broxtowe Labour. She is particularly committed to protecting public services in the current climate of cuts.
Barbara was previously a Beeston North councillor, but stood down there last year. She is traditionally critical of Labour, like her husband Steve, who remains a councillor but left the LibDem group because he opposed the Lab-Lib coalition.
I’ve not met Khaled yet, but Keith is a veteran UKIP campaigner.
I hope you’ll support Labour’s campaign, and if you’d like to help with the leafleting, canvassing or final push on election day March 15, please contact Jane on marshalljane@rocketmail.com or tweet her on @jazi68.
The candidates is the Toton and Chilwell by-election are John Doddy (Con), Lee Waters (UKIP), David Watts (LibDem), so we have the novelty in this traditionally Tory area of the LibDems having a clear run to challenge them. John is a long-standing Conservative activist and local GP: he helped launch Anna Soubry’s 2010 campaign. David Watts is the former borough council leader and part of the Lab-Lib coalition on the council. He stood for Parliament against me in the last two elections and is clearly the most experienced of the three in council issues, though I’ve not yet met Lee.
Pat Lally announces freeze on council tax for next year
March 1st, 2012
At a meeting of Broxtowe Borough Councillors on Wednesday, 29th February, Leader of the Council, Pat Lally announced that “the Labour and Liberal Democrat councillors have worked together to produce a budget which protects jobs, protects services and which is affordable. There is to be no overall increase in council tax, no compulsory redundancies and no reduction in front line services.”
Broxtowe Borough Council’s budget for the financial year 2012/13 was approved with cross party support from Conservative and Liberal Democrat Councillors.
A summary of the Broxtowe Budget is here as well as the full text of Pat Lally’s speech.
Why I went from Blue to Red
February 14th, 2012
Saturday May 15th 2010 is a day which will stay in my mind for some time. It is the day I joined the Labour Party. You might not think there is anything special in that, but for the previous 6 years I had been a member of the Conservatives.
I should have joined Labour much sooner, growing up in a working class household and benefiting as I did from so many of their policies: EMA enabled me to go to sixth form; student grants enabled me to go to university (the first in my family) and working tax credits allowed my mum to provide all we needed, to name a few. Like so many working class families, however, mine was firmly in the small-state, help yourself and not others mind set which typified the Tories.
It wasn’t until after university that I came into contact with a Labour politician, my local MP Nick Palmer. During the passage of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill, Nick had I talked about various issues, and though we didn’t agree, the debate was constructive and sensible. This was in contrast to the Tory candidate, whose only response was to agree with all of my points, only days after she had given an interview to the Guardian where she explained her opinion was the exact opposite to mine. The seeds of doubt were sown.
A short while later I set up ‘Conservatives for Nick Palmer’ in Broxtowe, as far as I know the first group in the country where voters of one of the big parties were publically backing a candidate from another. It was a tough decision for an aspiring politician, but I knew it was right for Broxtowe, which had to be more important than my personal ambitions. By polling day we had over 300 people, including former Tory councillors, backing Nick. The Tories didn’t take this laying down, an angry phone call with the local party chairman left me in no doubt what they thought of me. Two days later came the letter in the post telling me I had been expelled.
I was always told that you didn’t really know someone until you’d spent a night in a tent with them, and I realised you never knew a political party until they were close to power. Tories in opposition seemed nice enough – I certainly fell for the rebranding exercise – but arguing over foreign aid figures, plans to privatise the NHS and cutting support for the most vulnerable in society was something totally different. When my 99 year old blind great-nan had her talking books stopped because of government cuts, I knew I had made the right decision, just too late.
Nick lost the election by 388 votes, but the experience of being part of a Labour campaign team, and the contrast with the Tory teams I’d experienced, made me realise that Labour was where my heart, and my head, belonged. Concerned with others, not just self, and the common good, rather than narrow interests of a few.
As with all political defections, the new party made a fuss, allowing me to make a speech at Conference to highlight my switch. The Tories shrugged their shoulders and said I’d always been a left-winger, and I was no great loss (both probably true). I didn’t move for the fanfare, even locally, but because it was the right thing to do. Similarly, Labour shouldn’t be overly concerned when people leave when we’re in opposition, some will have genuine policy concerns, while some will enjoy being in government regardless of party.
I hope that the group we pioneered in Broxtowe can be repeated throughout the country at elections in the future. Decent, hardworking, Labour politicians connecting with people, regardless of their own political views. The tribal ‘us and them’ of British politics which turns off so many voters should be forcing us to seek out people who wouldn’t naturally agree with us, not necessarily to get involved with campaigns, but to engage in dialogue. Who knows how many majorities we might overturn in 2015 that way?
Russell Whiting
Beeston South
Source: LabourList
