Broxtowe Liberal Democrats

Broxtowe Liberal Democrats are aware that the leader of Broxtowe Borough Council, Labour Councillor Milan Radulovic, has been charged with an offence of fraud. This country has a long established and perfectly proper tradition that everyone should be treated as innocent unless and until a court finds them guilty. We respect and support that tradition. We do not therefore anticipate any changes to the leadership arrangements of the borough council at this time. We will not be making any further comment on this matter, either individually or as a group, until the conclusion of legal proceedings

Welcome to Broxtowe Enews, brought to you by the Liberal Democrats and edited by David Watts, the leader of the Lib-Dems on Broxtowe Borough Council. May I give a special welcome to the new readers that we have this week.

It's been a busy week this week. On Wednesday I attended a reception with Norman Baker, the Under-Secretary of State for Transport, to mark the launch of NET Line 2. I had a chat there with the chairman of Tramlink, who are building Line 2, and have invited them to open an office in the Broxtowe Council building in Beeston, so that local residents have a contact poimnt for any concerns. The next day I was in London to meet with the Deputy Prime Minister, discussing a range of issues relevant to local government, and then had a session with Andrew Stunnell, a Minister at the Department of Communities and Local Government. It is this department that produces the planning rules that are causing so much of a problem for Broxtowe, and was there to lobby him for changes. Effectively I was doing what our MP should have been doing, but she has decided that it's more fun to attack the council instead.

This report is my personal review of the current situation regarding the Planning Application for a Housing development on Field Farm following the public meeting on 14th January.
Written by Brian Wombwell and dated 15th January.

STRAG are being helped by Anna to stir up public feeling and getting everyone huffing and puffing with the result that their minds are so clouded that they cannot see the bigger picture. Most of the residents at the meeting went away with the opinion that if it was up to the local councillors the whole of Broxtowe would be built on and become an urban sprawl with no parks, no open spaces and no green fields. This is ridiculous and inflammatory comments like this do not help the situation.
We all want our opinions to be heard and no one wants to see more building on the greenbelt but I am afraid this is inevitable. The issue of the core strategy goes way beyond the opinions of a few people who live close to Field Farm. The problem of housing future generations is a national issue which projects right down to Stapleford and we will have to take our share of the load. Having said that I do have sympathy with the people who bothered to turn up on Saturday and as I live on Stanley Drive I will share in some of the problems highlighted at the meeting.
I am one of the local councillors but I am the representative on Broxtowe Council and have to act in the interests of the Borough but can still ensure that the objections raised by local residents are heard. The considerations are government policy, legislation which we have to comply with and Planning Law which is not very flexible. Turning down planning applications on flimsy objections can have very serious consequences for the council and for residents who live close to the sites if the decision is overturned on appeal. I have no doubt that if this planning application is turned down the developer will appeal in strength i.e. they will employ top lawyers to defend their position. That is why I advised the objectors to examine the plans and robustly challenge the information within them. I am currently studying the documents myself.
My responses to issues raised by Anna and STRAG:
• The council has handed Westerman's the site on a plate. The site has been owned by Westerman's for a number of years and they could have put a Planning Application in at any time. They did not have to wait until the core strategy review takes place.
• Anna objects to all building on all greenbelt land. This is against government policy and Conservative Cabinet members have said freely that this will be necessary. All Councils have been instructed to produce a plan which will provide for the projected housing demand in their area. Each plan has to be submitted to the government for scrutiny and if the numbers are inadequate the plans will be revoked. The consequences of this will be that the developers will then choose the sites they want rather than the council and the Government have said that will have a presumption in favour should any applications be refused. Broxtowe Council have examined every inch of land, in the Borough, both greenbelt and brownfield and eliminated those which have great ecological value, poor access to roads and infrastructure, not for sale, flooding issues etc. etc. Field Farm was one of the sites that remained on the list. To suggest that the site was cherry picked because it was an easy target is nonsense. Anna has been asked several times where she would locate the houses but as yet she has always avoided the question.
• Anna disputes the numbers of houses being provided for by Broxtowe Councilbut despite being challenged many times to say how many she would consider acceptable she has never responded. The numbers have been calculated by several independent consultants including the past and present governments and the figures produced do not vary by very much. The figures allow for more people living alone, for people living longer and, therefore, occupying their houses longer, and for the natural growth in population. They do not include for additional growth due to Nottingham being designated a "growth point' area.
• Before any Green belt land is built on all brownfield sites should be used up.The fact is that all brownfield sites are not yet available and are privately owned. The council does not have the financial ability to start buying up expensive land on compulsory purchase orders.
• The localism bill says that local people should have a voice. It does and should but this is not a single deciding factor in a planning application.
• The only helpful advice she gave was to tell people to write and object and to give reasons.
• Greenbelt land is protected. This is correct and all planning applications which impinge on greenbelt have to be submitted to the Secretary of State for approval.
• The statement that 450 homes will increase road congestion and pollution is an obvious and fatuous conclusion. People have to live somewhere and this does not stop them owning a car and driving on our roads. Some people want to jealously protect their own neighbourhood from traffic but jump into their cars and then drive around in other people's areas causing traffic jams and pollution.
• The roads have no play areas?? It took me three minutes to walk from the site to Bramcote Park which is the flagship park in Broxtowe. It also has the most popular children's playground for miles around.
• There are no shops or work places?? There are ample shops and superstores within easy reach of the site. An estate of 450 homes would not sustain a convenience store. There are ample employment centres with good access within easy commuting distance.
I have not stated the foregoing to support the application but I am just asking people to be realistic and get down to brass tacks.
In essence Anna Soubry has done very little to help the objectors but by engaging in soap box politics has made a very difficult situation almost impossible for local councillors to make the public aware of the actual very complicated issues surrounding this Planning Application.
The Government have vowed to reduce 1500 pages of planning law to 150 pages. The existing legislation has been refined over many years to produce a heavy but manageable document that ensures good practice. In my view an updated slimmed down version would be good but minimising the legislation will leave it wide open to challenge so that the bad practices of yesteryear may re emerge. When the new legislation is finally approved by Parliament planning the process for approving applications may change.

Stan Heptinstall writes on: Councillor Tom Pettengell, Bramcote Community Action Team, Musical Supper, Charity Ball Tickets - On Sale Now, Chinese New Year Celebration, Hot Air Balloons in Bramcote Hills Park, Free electric Blanket Safety Check, Free Home Insulation for All, Hickings Lane Skate Park, Free Summer Swimming, Bramcote Crematorium - Heat Exchanger, Bramcote Crematorium - Remembrance Service, New Jobs though NET, More Rooms at Local Care Homes?, Convenience Store - Ewe Lamb Lane, Field Farm Application - Public Meeting, Response from the Highways Agency, Poems and Actions, Stapleford Historical Society.

Welcome to Broxtowe Enews, brought to you by the Liberal Democrats and edited by David Watts, the leader of the Lib-Dems on Broxtowe Borough Council. A special welcome to the new readers who signed up over the holiday and may I wish all our readers a very happy new year and I hope everyone had the opportunity of a good break over Christmas. Sadly I received yet more proof that I'm getting old, as the optician has dictated that I start wearing reading glasses! Apparently my argument that my arms just needed stretching a bit wasn't persuasive!

Call for Help with Youth Unemployment in Nottinghamshire

At the December meeting of the County Council there was a debate on the increasing youth unemployment figures in Nottinghamshire. Unfortunately the Labour and Conservative groups were unable to construct wording for a motion that they could agree on. I am happy to say that I managed to break the deadlock by proposing wording that proved to be acceptable to all. The motion calls on the Government to ensure that Nottinghamshire gets its fair share of additional Government funding targeted at getting young people into employment.

Call for Help with Youth Unemployment in Nottinghamshire

At the December meeting of the County Council there was a debate on the increasing youth unemployment figures in Nottinghamshire. Unfortunately the Labour and Conservative groups were unable to construct wording for a motion that they could agree on. I am happy to say that I managed to break the deadlock by proposing wording that proved to be acceptable to all. The motion calls on the Government to ensure that Nottinghamshire gets its fair share of additional Government funding targeted at getting young people into employment.

This time last year I spoke about how the most important job for Liberal Democrats was dealing with the economic problems we inherited. 12 months on, that task remains the number one priority for our party and the Coalition.

We have had to make some very difficult decisions, but they've been the right ones for the long term good of our country.