Hello
I have a short break from producing these updates and suddenly everything takes off! There’s lots to report this week so I’ll try to be succinct – rather than ramble on and on and on as I’m told I’m sometimes prone to do. Well, that’s what my wife keeps telling me. I don’t see it myself: I like to think I produce informal, chatty updates that are laid-back and….
- Chetwynd Barracks consultations taking place next weekend!
- The Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) – part of the MOD – are selling the site and have commissioned 3 consultation sessions undertaken by external consultants. The dates and locations are:
- Thurs 18th 2pm – 8pm: Village Hotel, Chilwell NG9 6DL
- Fri 19th 2pm – 8pm: Scout Hall, 1 Attenborough Lane, Chilwell NG9 5JN
- Sat 20th 1pm – 6pm: Tesco Extra Community Room, Toton, NG9 6QX
- A leaflet drop to households in the area has been arranged. However, delivery seems to have been patchy: I know of several people (myself included) who haven’t received one. If you haven’t received a copy, please let me know – we are interested to know how effective the distribution has been.
- Here’s a link to the flyer if you haven’t received one.
- We encourage everyone to attend one/more of these sessions and provide feedback. We’ve not had a preview of the exhibition, so we are as curious as you to know their thoughts. Please attend and let them know your views!
- The Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) – part of the MOD – are selling the site and have commissioned 3 consultation sessions undertaken by external consultants. The dates and locations are:
- HS2 Ltd announce the next series of consultations
- And hot on the heels of the DIO sessions comes the next set of HS2 sessions. You may have seen the local news items over the last couple of days referring to the published Environmental Assessment for HS2 Phase 2b and the adverse impacts for Toton (as well as further afield).
- I’ve downloaded all the relevant files published by the government and will produce a condensed version – applicable to just our area – ready for next week’s digest.
- Here’s a link to the government website if you want direct access to the files. Be warned there are some huge files e.g. the summary document is 250-odd pages!
- For now, you may want to note the dates of the meetings held in our area:
- Fri 2nd Nov 2pm -8pm: Trowell Parish Hall, NG9 3QA
- Fri 7th Dec 2pm – 8pm: West Park Leisure Centre, Long Eaton NG10 4AA
- We are looking to arrange a further session in Toton, ideally at the Greenwood Centre, so more local people can attend. We’ll keep you updated on progress.
- Anna Soubry visit
- Our MP, Anna Soubry, made time this afternoon (Friday) to call in at our office in Oban House. The invitation to Anna followed on from the meeting with Ruth Hyde, Chief Exec of Borough Council. We are keen to meet all key influencers to explain current progress with our Plan.
- Anna is very interested in our work and offered her support whenever required. We discussed the recent announcement at the Conservative Party conference by Philip Hammond regarding the creation of a new ‘development body’ for Toton. [Link here if you haven’t seen it.] Anna confirmed she has already asked for the Forum to be closely involved with this body when it is set up. She also agreed to intercede on our behalf with the Minister for Housing, in the next few weeks. More on this in future editions.
- Overall, it was a very useful & productive meeting and we hope to invite her back in 6 months or so to provide further a further update.
- We are now planning to invite our ward councillors to the office to brief them on our work and progress with the Plan.
- Toton Strategic Planning Group
- This is the new working group set up by Notts County Council, chaired by David Hughes, Director of Investment and Growth. The Group supports the Toton Hub Station Delivery Board – the offshoot of the HS2 Strategic Board set up to deliver the HS2 Growth Strategy for the Station area.
- The Group met for the first time a couple of weeks ago and we are a member. Other members include key officers of local authorities (County, City and Borough) as well as reps from Dept of Communities/ Local Govt, Dept of Transport, HS2 Ltd, Highways England. The meeting was primarily a ‘get to know you’ session and agreed the terms of reference.
- A reader writes in…..
- …expressing concern about air quality especially around traffic on Stapleford Lane in particular and Toton generally. She asks if others are concerned and whether monitoring is taking place.
- I’m pleased to report that another of our members takes a strong interest in this matter and keeps us updated with latest monitoring results that take place in our Area. I’ll respond to the specific enquiry separately but in case anyone else is interested in air quality
- Average air quality readings for Stapleford Lane, Toton for 2017 are:
- Toton corner / Manor pub = 29
- Toton Branch Surgery 2 Banks Road = 21
- 1 Katherine Drive = 26
- 269 Stapleford Lane (nr Cleve Ave) = 29
- Toton Lane (other side of Electric substation) = 25
- Geo Spencer (Toton side) = 34
- Geo Spencer (Stapleford side) = 26
- 209 Toton Lane (Stapleford side) = 29
- The threshold for action to be triggered is a reading of ‘40’ so at this stage we are within acceptable limits. But we are keeping a close watch!
- If you have any queries like this that you’d like to raise with the Forum, please get in touch. We’ll be glad to take on board concerns you have.
- Broxtowe Lotto – the results are in!
- The local lotto scheme is now up and running and I’d like to thank all of you who have taken part and are supporting us as a ‘good cause’. I know some of our supporters are already winners, with some additional free entries; fingers crossed we’ll soon have cash winners.
- We have received our first ‘dividend’ payment of £25. Whilst some might regard this amount as being modest, we are absolutely delighted to receive this contribution to our funds.
- Our number of supporters have been steadily growing and we are now forecast to receive almost £800 over a 12-month period – a fantastic total!
- Am I being greedy in hoping we can reach £1,000 per annum? It’s not too late to join the scheme if you are minded – details can be found below. And if we do happen to reach this magic figure, I’ll commit to stop badgering you (so much!).
- And finally….
- Housing designs coming your way soon. Our Housing strand and Barracks subgroup have been collating various designs/styles of dwellings that we might like to see built in our area. We aim to produce a file we can share with you to get your views – so watch this space.
- Future Notts: local government re-organisation in Nottinghamshire. The Forum is explicitly non-partisan when it comes to politics, but I wanted to share this link to the Notts County Council consultation regarding the future of local government. Specifically, whether we should abolish Borough/District councils and centralise all local government to County Hall and parish/town councils.
Wherever you ‘sit’ on the political spectrum, I think it’s important we all take part in this consultation. The consultation closes at the end of this month
A ridiculously long missive this week so hope you’ve managed to stay with me. I’ve held over some important of stuff for next time to avoid overload. If there is one thing we’d like you to focus on this week it is the Chetwynd Barracks consultation sessions. Please do all you can to take part.
Kind regards
Graham
Broxtowe Lotto: tickets available from our CTTC Forum page where you’ll also find details of the scheme.