The Forum Digest: Aug 15

Hello everyone,

Continuing current custom, it’s been another two weeks since the last edition. Normally, as you know, things become a little quieter during the peak summer period, so these reports tend to be less frequent – hence the re-branding to “The Forum Digest”. But when we have news to report, we’ll make sure another edition hits your inbox to keep you updated. This week’s edition comprises a number of little tidbits…

1. Consultation corner

  • A number of consultations are underway at the moment and you may want to take part in a couple of them yourself.
    • Broxtowe masterplanning working group. You’ll recall I reported on this group last month – it comprises a number of councillors and officers from Broxtowe and Erewash councils plus ourselves. The group is tasked to provide a report to the Toton Delivery Board on the key issues it wants to raise with the consultants who are producing a masterplan for the Area. The final meeting was held this week when we reviewed the draft report and provided final tweaks to strengthen it. Most of our suggestions have been taken on board and overall, we are very pleased with the draft. Once the final report has been approved by the council, we hope to publish it here so you can have a look.
    • Planning for the Future – Government White Paper. You may well have heard the government is undertaking a major review of planning regulations with the aim to streamline processes relating to house building. The proposals are radical and the Forum will be providing a response before the end of the consultation period. At this stage, we are still getting to grips with the ideas put forward however we thought you may want to have a look at the proposals yourself and provide us with your thoughts. Here are a couple of links:
    • Broxtowe Council’s Annual Parks Survey. To quote from the latest council newsletter: “It is that time of year, where we ask you to help us make our parks and open spaces even better. There are a number of parks included in the survey this year so if you have some ideas or feedback and have ten minutes, please complete the survey before 12th September.” 
      • Here is a link to the survey and we encourage you to take part – the more feedback provided the more chance we shall see improvements.

2. Meeting room news

  • We held a virtual meeting with HS2 Ltd this week. It was good to have a catch up with the new team (our previous contact, Paul, has moved elsewhere within the organisation). The latest news regarding our leg of phase 2b is that HS2 are waiting for the Integrated Rail Plan (IRP), which is being produced by the National Infrastructure Commission. The full IRP will hopefully be published by the end of the year. In the meantime, the Commission has published an interim report which may be of interest.  Until the Plan is published, HS2 Ltd are, not surprisingly, focusing most of their efforts on Phases 1 and 2a.  We’ve agreed to meet up with HS2 again in 3 months and maintain regular contact going forwards.
  • Homes England. We’ve asked to meet with Homes England when they have appointed their consultants to take forward the development of the Barracks. We received an email yesterday informing us they are close to announcing the appointment of the consultants and we can expect to hear who these are in the next couple of weeks. Once the consultants are appointed, we will be looking to meet them as soon as possible to introduce ourselves and let them know of our ambitions for the site.
  • Midlands Connect. We reported last time that we have sent a letter to Sir John Peace, Chair of Midlands Connect, requesting a meeting so we can explain the key elements of our Plan to him and his team. We’ve yet to hear back from him but, as already mentioned, it is peak holiday season so we’re not too surprised. We’ll wait until the end of August and get in touch again if necessary.

3. Community chest

  • A couple of community-related items have come our way that may be of interest:
    • Removal of telephone call box at Grisedale Court, Chilwell. BT are proposing to remove this call box and Broxtowe Council are inviting views before they decide whether to support or object to the removal. If you wish to submit comments here is the copy of the letter which contains relevant Council contact details. The SG have decided not to respond on behalf of the Forum as it is difficult for us to gather a truly representative view within the timeframe.
    • Trees felled outside the Western Power substation at the top of Stapleford Lane. A reader notified us that two trees have been recently felled and wondered if they had Tree Protection Orders (TPOs) in place and, if so, why where they cut down. In fact the Council have confirmed to us that the trees don’t have TPO status and they have directed us to the County Council (as the trees are classified as being on the ‘highway’ ) to find the purpose of the felling.
    • Antisocial behaviour in the area. Another reader has been in touch letting us know about antisocial behaviour in the evenings by ‘boy racers’ on Toton Lane tram park and ride site. He has written to our MP, Darren Henry, but wonders if any other residents have been disturbed by these incidents? If so, we suggest getting in touch with local ward councillors, as well as Darren Henry, to see what can be done to curb the nuisance.

4. And finally..

  • Nope, no further tidbits this time and, anyway, I’ve already taken up too much space.

I don’t know about you, but I feel these digests are starting to stretch out a bit. I’ve always tried to keep them relatively short and bite sized. However, I’m conscious the last couple of editions have been fare taken from the ‘go large’ portion of the menu and it needs some hefty gulps to consume. So, I’ll endeavour to get back to a slimmed-down version next time and cut out the extraneous waffle and padding that sometimes creeps in…

Kind regards
Graham

CTTC Neighbourhood Plan. Copies are available from this page on our website.

Broxtowe Lotto: tickets available from our CTTC Forum page where you’ll also find details of the scheme

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