Did fear of a ‘urban’ -v- ‘rural’ unitary council split scupper Conservative plans for a unitary county council?

The Nottinghamshire unitary county consultation report/summary/analysis makes interesting reading, An idea that was obviously gaining ground was that the more urban councils should split from the more rural councils.

There was less support for one county-wide unitary council than two councils. To quote from the report:

‘Overall, there was much more support for two unitary councils than for one (64% favoured two, while 36% favoured one). There was also more support for two in all seven of the districts/boroughs. The views of local authority staff were somewhat more evenly divided: 47% preferred one and 53% preferred two unitary councils.’

Also:

‘A North-South split would be distinctly unpopular with political leaders across the districts. A West-East split would be much more politically acceptable because it would reflect the aspirations of local political leaders and create two ‘harmonious’ unitary authorities. A single UA – though much the best solution in terms of service delivery and financial viability – might have difficulty in achieving effective political majorities or working arrangements between the different parties The east of the county would be fearful that it was ‘subsidising’ the poorer west.’

Broxtowe depends on Nottingham and now the county’s plans are dead Nottingham can happily back off and there will be no more talk of mergers with surrounding councils by the city, although the county’s more urban councils might still like to be free of the county’s more rural councils.

Perhaps a Broxtowe-Ashfield-Gedling (eventually unitary) ‘partnership’ council might emerge from all this, able to work with the city, given they share so many common interests. We shall see.

In the meantime a link to the consultation report:

http://www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/media/1727147/opinionresearchservicesreport.pdf


The following two tables from the Report may be of interest (click on images to enlarge):

Notice that some of those responding lived in Nottingham. Some Voluntary sector participants were of the view that district and parish councillors were more supportive of their activities than county councillors — hence the opposition to one unitary Nottinghamshire council.

Notice to low level of participation in the survey by younger people. Older folk are cursed for participating and blamed for determining the future of young people. In truth, younger voters hold the future in their own hands. They had every bit the same opportunity as a 70 year old to participate. Maybe we need to wear badges saying 'I'm voting. Will you?

A different look at Beeston HMOs.

The following two tables have taken a few days to compile and may well be out of date already as they are based on the copy of Broxtowe Borough Council's Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) Register I received on 4 December 2018.

Anyone can submit a Freedom of Information request to Broxtowe Borough Council if they wish to obtain an up-to-date copy. As I have commented in previous posts I am surprised that HMOs and Council Tax exemption records are not presented to all councillors annually. 

I intend this year to be my last year of summarising the available data, with one final report at the end of this month. In the meantime, examine the data for yourself. I will also make a map version over the next two weeks.

Remember to click on the tables to enlarge.

Oh no here we go again — unless pro-EU MPs take charge!

From The Guardian today:

A pledge to spend the “dividend” secured by staying in the European Union on nationwide regeneration is being drawn up by senior Remain strategists ahead of a possible second referendum. In anticipation of a fresh poll, they are developing plans for a grassroots campaign that will operate without a traditional figurehead.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/dec/08/remain-leaders-and-rivals-gear-up-for-second-referendum-campaign-with-new-pledge-on-nhs-funding?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Good friends dating back to my Young Socialist days in Wembley in the early-1960s, all of whom are still in the Labour Party and voted against Brexit, as did Susan and me, and all are committed Europeans. One’s daughter is now a French citizen with a French husband and family, another has a sister living in Paris the past 40 years and third married a German. All of them oppose a second referendum, believing it will be more damaging than the first. Susan dreads the repetition of the 1st referendum and until a couple of hours ago I hung onto the idea that a 2nd referendum was our best chance to save us from ourselves.

Wembley South Young Socialists at Southend-in-Sea in 1961. From left: Perry, Robert (me), Sam and Dave. I was 17.

This evening the above article and opening paragraph changed my mind. It speaks for itself and reminds me of the ‘Leave’ bus with its £350million NHS message. To reduce the EU to money reveals a complete lack of understanding of the European ideal that so many of us have spent a lifetime aspiring to.


The European ideal is strong enough to survive Brexit. It is time for MPs to earn their keep and make the decision, then face the voters and for those MPs to be given a clear run (ie. pro-Europe voters unite behind one candidate). I believe such honesty and courage will win enough support to carry the day and see off the Brexiteers.

As I have said in this blog more than once, I have an Irish father and I am proud of the fact despite not knowing him.

The story of four wartime boys from Wembley, Sudbury and Harrow who became friends when they joined the Labour Party as Young Socialists is nothing special. I just wish so many others like us, now in their 70s, looked at their own lives as closely, than perhaps, just perhaps, they might join us in seeing the madness of Brexit and why we have to look beyond ourselves, however hard that might be.

A slovenly indictment or a measure of pressure? — Broxtowe Borough Council's Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) Register

This HMO table has become a holding operation. I’ve decided to compile a new version based on years in chronological order so that Beeston residents can see how HMO registration has (or not!) progressed. The more I see the more I feel the need to map the obvious - that Broxtowe Borough Council has never taken changing housing needs in Beeston seriously and continues to have no policy/strategy.

Regular readers will know this is something I’ve been going on about for a few years now. 

In the meantime I will be back with a Beeston HMO map, a list of anomalies and some concerns I have. In the meantime you might like to examine my 2018 Beeston HMO Table based on the copy of the Register I received earlier this week after submitting a Freedom of Information request (click on the table to enlarge):

For the record ALL Broxtowe’s HMOs are in Beeston, except for one in Nuthall.

One final point for now. I can’t understand for one moment why HMO registrations are so low when all the evidence suggests the total should be much higher. More about this when I add to this post on Sunday/Monday.

Where do all the cars on Wollaton Road come from, especially Friday and Saturday mornings?

First, a fun pic of sorts of the little wool / knitting shop on Wollaton Road close to The Cricketers pub by the traffic lights at the road's junction with Albion Street.

Today has been Broxtowe Borough Council's 'Small Business Day' and I love the KnitBits Wool shop simple seasonal display. Having been in a few times with Susan I know that the owners are friendly and helpful — which, in my now considerable experience, is typical of Beeston's many fine small shops.

Below is an extract from my 2018 Beeston map showing you where KnitBits is:

This morning was wet, cold and miserable but I still had to go shopping for a few odds and ends. I try to avoid supermarket shopping on Fridays and Saturdays and I can't remember a Saturday when Wollaton Road from Wollaton Crescent down into Beeston has not been a solid line of traffic. Most times I usually beat the cars but today I had an L10 as my marker. It met me as I turned out of the Crescent onto Wollaton Road and only passed me for the last time as I turned onto Albion Street. I took this two pics:

Here the L10 has stopped outside the Thistle Teahouse. In some ways it has to be one of the best ways to begin a visit to Beeston. Off the L10 or L11, a cup of tea or coffee, then a leisurely walk into town.

And here it is again, front view this time, as I overtake it by the Abbey Road / Wollaton Road pedestrian crossing. This poor L10 was trapped in a solid line of traffic the whole time we were together and the driver had yet to negotiate the Station Road / Middle Street traffic lights which, because of the tram, can catch this little bus for ages. I have long been of the view that buses should have priority at traffic lights just like the tram. The L10 rarely leaves Beeston on time and I know this fact well because it is the bus Susan and I use most times we travel into Nottingham and it is rarely on time. The reasons for this are another story for another day.

The question I want to ask right now is 'Do Broxtowe and Nottinghamshire councils know where all the cars pouring into Beeston via Wollaton Road come from, especially on Saturdays?

I ask because with modern number plate reading technology it should be easy enough to plot where all these vehicles come from and if, as I suspect, this is mostly local traffic, why can't we have a more frequent bus service along Wollaton Road to reduce the need for car use?

On wet, cold, miserable days like today I understand why folk use their cars, but if we want people to get the bus habit then you have to provide high frequency daily bus services throughout the Beeston area. Once upon a time Wollaton Road and Dennis Avenue both had frequent bus routes and lost them for reasons not to do with lack of use. Again another story for another day. Right now I want to flag up the need for a traffic survey mapping where all the Wollaton Road traffic comes from, then for new or revised bus routes to be introduced which take account of where road users actually live.

Finally, consider this fact. If it wasn't for Nottingham City Council Wollaton Road and Dennis Avenue wouldn't have the limited Monday–Saturday daytime buses they presently enjoy — another good reason why I'm a fan of Beeston joining with Nottingham and not the county should the Conservatives retain control of Broxtowe come next May's borough council elections and support the borough becoming part of a unitary county council.

And as I walked back home up Wollaton Road, having done my shopping, this L11 was sitting in traffic waiting to have its photograph taken. It was already close to mid-day and running late. It had come all the way from Arnold and kept good time only to end up late because of all the cars on Wollaton Road.

The tram was created to serve a network of long-stay car parks around Nottingham for the benefit of drivers and their passengers (if they have any) whilst those who rely on buses are left standing in the rain and wind waiting for buses made late by other road users. There is something wrong with a logic that says it was worth spending hundreds of millions on a tram when the same money could have created a low fare, high frequency 24/7 bus network across our conurbation to the advantage of all. We have the tram, so we should make the best use of it we can. The same people who argued for the tram argue for HS2 and the arguments are as spurious now as they were then.

In the meantime bus routes are axed and services reduced. Next week a story from 1947 when the old Beeston and Stapleford Urban District Council was busy complaining about bus services in Beeston and along Wollaton Road among others.

Anna Soubry cannot be faulted on her Brexit stance

Anna Soubry’s email newsletter contains the following statement on Brexit. Since Brexit she has been consistent and adopted a position which can reasonably be described as ‘cross party’. I re-publish here with no further comment:

Hello again, Well there’s certainly a lot going on! I was tempted to keep this week's email newsletter Brexit free but it would be irresponsible to ignore the most important decision we have taken since the Second World War. In short, Parliament will begin a five day debate on Tuesday and then vote the week after on whether to accept the Prime Minister’s Brexit “deal”. I will not be voting for it but will be supporting a cross party amendment which rejects Theresa May’s “deal”, ensures we will only leave the EU with a good deal in place  (so it rejects a “no deal’ Brexit) and keeps Parliament at the heart of what happens next. As you know, I believe the best deal is the one we currently have with the EU - it’s unique, cannot be replicated if we leave and has served us well. However, I have argued that if we leave the EU we should retain our membership (in effect) of the single market and the customs union, the so called 'Norway plus' model. I’ve made that case and voted for it for the last two years. Whichever Brexit “deal” Parliament settles on, it should be returned to the people so you can have the final say now we know what Brexit looks like. Three things are for sure; firstly, whichever way you do it, Brexit will make us poorer; secondly, people are entitled to change their minds and; finally, young people who will be most affected have a right to a say over their future.

Council tax exemptions and HMO updates for 2018 coming soon

In early-January at the latest I expect to post data relating to council tax exempt properties and HMOs  in and around Beeston, as I did for 2017. See link here.

Vanity vanity, oh vanity and a grandson taking on a different political foe makes us proud

To start with, a few words about Curtis Cooper Howard, our 19 year old grandson.

He's the one wearing the Labour Party rosette in the company of other members of Aberystwyth University Labour Students and, to his left, Christina Rees, the Labour MP for Neath, celebrating his selection as the Labour Party candidate for North ward on Aberystwyth Council in a forthcoming by-election.

He's  learning to press the flesh a bit younger than me (I was 25 when I first stood and won a seat on Birmingham City Council). It's going to be a tougher fight for Curtis, as the Party left it to the Liberals and Plaid Cymru to fight it out last year with the latter taking all three seats. This time, thanks to the students, there's going to be a fight.

He says his only claim to fame is having spoken to Mrs Cable about the weather when her husband Vince visited Aberystwyth. This isn’t quite true. During Brexit he appeared on TV questioning politicians and has upset the Momentum establishment in his part of Wales, being selected in spite of Momentum members who tried to stop it happening.

I can't claim he got his politics from us, but when we are together we talk little else. He is far more reasoned than me but we do share a belief that you shouldn't be tribal; that you should listen to others and be suspicious of leaders.

Susan and I are very proud of Curtis and will let you know how he gets on. I'm just hoping the by-election takes place whilst the students are at the university.

As for myself, a few weeks ago I had a Nottingham City Transport '35 History Bus' named after me. It came as a surprise. I was told I am the 26th person to ever have a NCT bus named after them. It beats any state 'gong' and has a duration of 5–8 years if I'm lucky. So out there, somewhere in Nottingham, there is a 35 bus plying its route between Bulwell and the city centre bearing my name.

The 35 History Bus is something I've spent the last five years promoting and, to date, NCT have given several local groups a 35 for a day so that I could lead a guided tour. Come Bluebell time in May I'm hoping to work with NCT to provide a special service of some kind between Bilborough Village and Strelley Church making it easier to reach Oldmoor Wood and the bluebells, with donations going to the Woodland trust, who own the wood. Watch out for more details nearer the time...

May’s betrayal of Gibraltar is reason enough to say no to her Brexit deal

A very short post. News that Gibraltar has been betrayed by May should make it impossible for any MP worth the name to support her Brexit deal.

May is a nasty person. The roots of the Windrush generation expulsions and the inhumane and racist treatment of many innocent, good, people  can be traced back to her time as Home Secretary. The racist nationalistic Home Office we have to endure is a May legacy. 

Is any  EU Brexit deal worth betraying Gibraltar?  The answer has to be NO! If I was in Scotland right now I would calling for another independence vote. May cannot be trusted.

Post-Brexit there is now every chance that South American countries will unite behind Argentina and demand that the Falklands are ceded to Argentina as part of any trade deal. The world will be queuing up to take advantage of us. Spain have got the first bite and, make no mistake, there are plenty of others waiting to have their pound of flesh.

Spain has a string of  enclaves on the coast of North Africa and it complains about Gibraltar!

It is said that she is going to appeal to the ‘British people over the head of Parliament. By her actions she has betrayed all of us, not just Gibraltar.

With any luck this will be the attempt which forces her from office and enough of us will unite to say ‘enough is enough’ and that this Brexit madness is brought to an end! The trouble with this take is that the Leave voters I know haven’t changed their minds and blame Europe - not May - for the mess.   A few might have backed off had they foreseen the mess we’re now in but they do not imagine for one moment the outcome would have been any better had Corbyn been in charge. Right now Parliament might fairly be described as a rest home for headless chickens. Still Corbyn waits... need one say more.

For the record I supported the Falklands intervention after Argentina’s invasion in 1982 because I believe in the right of self-determination both nationally and locally. I stand by the same rights for Gibraltar and the constituent parts of the British Isles.

I was born during World War Two and I believe we have to be part of the European Union because history and our own liberty depends on it.

I should also declare I am 58% Irish and 42% English. I was born in Devon to an unmarried English mother. I believe in a federal Ireland like I believe in a federal Britain and Europe, and if I ever have a passport again I would like it to be a European Union passport.

My father was Irish, my step-father Scottish and my children are 25% Welsh. I have a 100% Irish half-brother and half-Scottish half-sisters. My surname could have been one of four and, for a while, it was changed, but I changed it back again at 13 or thereabouts. If asked where I’m from I usually say Wembley - a very global local place name. Giving that answer to someone recently they came back ‘But you’re English, right?’ and I answered ‘Yes’. I could when aged 3 have been adopted by the parents of my favourite aunt (by marriage) and stayed in Grantown-on-Spey. On reflection I would have liked that but I can’t imagine  life without Susan so I like to think we would have found one another somehow. As for Ireland my affinity to the Irish has been with me all my life, even though it was not until a DNA test in 2016 the link was confirmed and it was not until last year I found out the name of my father, thanks to someone I didn’t know posting a DNA result which gave us a close family link.

At the end of the day I am an islander with a love of the sea and glad that Europe is close at hand - just like Beeston High Road is a short walk away. In all this I consider myself blessed.

A touch of Highland hospitality comes to Beeston

Yesterday we went to new Thistle Teahouse for a light lunch in the company of close friends. I had met Maggie, the owner, some weeks ago whilst she was getting the Thistle ready to open and a week or so ago I re-produced her menu cards. This time my pics are of food:

Flat Scottish Sausage on toast with two poached eggs on top and a cheese baguette. See if you can guess which is which?

My friend Rosie was impressed with the 'Hotel toast' Maggie gave me. In her opinion, which I value, it should be 'Soft when you bite into it with a crisp crust' and this did it to near perfection. In my case old age has brought with it bowls which can no longer tolerate rye bread, be it home-made or shop bought (I used to make it, now I buy it for Susan from Birds on Beeston Square by the traffic lights).  When it comes to poached eggs I have to have them when I see them on a menu and I could see Maggie making them in her very impressive high-tech kitchen. Touched the yolk spilled over the toast and the square Scottish sausage. It really was a sensuous experience. Then the sausage, deliciously salty and tasty. Salt is something I rarely use at home, except when having boiled eggs, but sometimes it is part of the food and this was one of those occasions. Numerous cups of weak black Earl Grey (I have to be able to see the bottom of the cup) did their job and it took me a good 30 minutes to consume the treat that Maggie had placed before me.

Susan and Paul got on with eating their baguettes whilst I photographed Rosie's cheese baguette which came with a small bowl of crisps (I traded a quarter of sausage for some of Susan's crisps, the first this year). After eating her baguette Rosie and Susan had no room for cake, so we all agreed that we would come back for Maggie's afternoon tea nearer Christmas.

In the meantime I will be going in before too long, probably next week, when Susan's goes to the opera with a friend, for a takeaway Flat Scottish sausage & Black Pudding roll. I left the Black Pudding off my order yesterday because Rosie doesn't eat meat and the Black Pudding would have been too much, not that Rosie would say of course. Her husband Paul and I share a passion for sardine sandwiches but that's another story...

Maggie declined to have her photograph taken and I understand why and, quite frankly, it doesn't matter! Maggie's food and her menu tell you that this a woman who wants to share a love of Highlands hospitality with Beeston.

In my book Maggie is up there with Jo at the Local Not Global Deli on Chilwell Road and Rosemary at Rosie Lea's Tea Room on Wilkinson Avenue. None of them on the High Road but worth the extra few minutes it takes to reach them if you're starting from the bus and tram Interchange, although in my case I walk past the Thistle and the end of Wilkinson Avenue on my way into town (sometime I go via Marlborough Road to avoid them).

Stop! I must be bloody mad! All three establishments are quite small and if you start going I will have to make sure I get there first.

Seriously, a small select bunch of Beeston's best. Each have their strengths. Next week I promise three pics, one of each, from my archive, so 'Watch this space' as they say.

As we left after 150 minutes Maggie was telling me about her 'must have' 'Gin and tonic tea', full of so much enthusiasm that I will have to try it on my next visit...

Mapping what's best for Beeston

Click on the map to enlarge (please contact me if you would like a PDF 300lpi version emailed to you) — Robert Howard.

The map above has been created to examine and ponder. If I have shown anything wrong in terms of the data I have used, then please contact me. All the data has come from the statutory bodies and some is not yet available.

I have added Heritage Open Day locations since my first version because I want to show how Beeston pulls places in Nottingham into its orbit as well as the other way round. During the month I spent in the Beeston High Road pop-up shop I met lots of interesting people, a good few regular visits from places like Bilborough and Bulwell as well as Wollaton. Most came here to shop, liking the fact that there were plenty of places to snack and get a drink. The fact that Beeston & District Civic Society publicises history events in Bilborough and Strelley is yet another example of Beeston relates more to the city than to the northern half of Broxtowe Borough.

Also bear in mind the Nottingham City Council is already a unitary council — Nottinghamshire County Council is not!  Becoming one will cost a lot of money because it will involve merging data and services presently provided by the 7 district councils, including Broxtowe Borough Council, with that of the county council

Beeston has little in common with any of them, including Broxtowe. It is by any measure part of the Nottingham conurbation sharing many of the same interests and problems as neighbouring Nottingham City Council wards.

If Beeston residents sit on their backsides and do nothing they will find themselves isolated in a small of corner of a county council which shares none of its interests or problems, some of which I have addressed in previous posts to this blog.

The purpose of this post is share the map I have created with as many people as possible. I don't do Facebook or other social media so I am hoping others with these skills will spread my map far and wide because they believe it to be in the best interests of Beeston — like I do!

There has been an online 'consultation' which finishes tomorrow are less than 4 weeks with no land address for written submission.

I posted a link in my 21 October 2018 blog, which you can click onto here.

The consultation document is a farce but the game begins in earnest in May 2019 after the local elections. From now on we need to argue the case for Beeston becoming part of Nottingham and we need to elect councillors who; IF faced with a choice, will choose joining with Nottingham City Council and not Nottinghamshire County Council.

A P.S.  Today I joined Facebook so I could share this map on the Beeston Update Facebook 'public' space and someone kindly pointed out that I had a Liberal councillor in Kimberley instead of a Labour councillor. This map is now amended. I got some positive feedback, but I will continue to blog. I hate how Facebook keeps throwing stuff at you and suggesting 'friends' I have never heard of. It is not a website I will be posting directly to more than I have to.

Map showing Council Tax Band 'A' charges in Broxtowe Borough and Nottingham City councils.

A map which speaks for itself. Beeston Band 'A' council tax payers transferring from Broxtowe borough Council to Nottingham City Council will, at the 2018/2019 charge rate, pay an extra £71 per annum, assuming the City Council's unitary charge matches the £885 levied by Nottinghamshire County Council onto Beeston Band 'A' council tax payers.

Usual thing, click on map /table to enlarge

I created the Council Tax chart below in August 2018:

The Broxtowe Council Tax charges are as for Beeston. As the above map shows these charges vary across Broxtowe because of charges levied by town and parish councils. 

Because Beeston's services are provided by two councils there has to be additional admin charges. By Beeston joining Nottingham there will only be one council managing council services and we should be as beneficiary of this.

A map showing Beeston in relation Broxtowe Borough Council and Nottingham City Council wards plus the Parliamentary case for Beeston going with Nottingham

A few days ago, in my last blog, I posted the first version of the map below. Here is the 4th version and this is how it will stay bar tweaking. Over the next week or so it will be joined by versions showing the total electorate in each ward, the area covered by the annual Beeston & District Heritage Open Days programme and a Council Tax version based on Band 'A'.

In addition there is the fact that in September just gone  the Government accepted the Boundary Commission's report on proposed new Parliamentary constituencies which MPs will have to agree, assuming the Government proceeds with trying to get the new constituencies in place for the next General Election. This will lead to the new Nottingham West and Beeston constituency, which includes all the Broxtowe Borough Council Beeston wards and the Attenborough & Chilwell East ward — yet further (and strong) evidence of the argument that Beeston should join with Nottingham City Council.

Click on the map to enlarge.

A new graphic Beeston - Broxtowe - Nottingham ward map – a work in progress

I still have some graphic tweaking to do but I think the motorway and the railway lines are self evident. The orange lines show where buses go to and from Beeston including Derby Road and Queens Road as both are in Beeston wards and its historic parish. One thing is startling clear — no buses go to the north of Broxtowe Borough.

Once you start looking at Beeston in relation to Broxtowe Borough it becomes clear that the links with Nottingham are social, historic, cultural, economic, and with Nottingham University too. 

Yet another important link between Beeston and Nottingham is the new proposed Parliamentary constituency of Nottingham West AND Beeston. The fact that boundary commissioners accept the link adds weight to the argument that come the demise of Broxtowe Borough Council Beeston should join with the already unitary Nottingham City Council and not the proposed unitary Nottinghamshire Country Council.

The other great advantage of joining with Nottingham (given that Broxtowe Borough Council's days are limited — hence the Conservatives supporting Nottinghamshire County Council's plan to merge with all the county's district councils to create a unitary council) is that the City Council is already a unitary council and for Beeston to join the City will save a whole load of money.

Over the coming days and weeks I will develop my arguments, even get a banner made of this map and it spin-offs. I believe maps and graphics make the case I am arguing easier to understand.

Comments welcome.  I am planning to add ward electorate numbers and Band 'A' council tax rates (the largest band).

I hope you find this map interesting. Updates will follow next week. For the next few days I have other things I need to do.

Robert Howard

A taste of Scotland comes to Wollaton Road shops

The new new teashop on Wollaton Road is now open and is called the Thistle Teahouse. They opened at the end of last week and it looks very different to Edwards, the Beeston award winning 'street food' café who previously occupied this little space.

A peek inside shows that it is nicely arranged and welcoming and here is a glimpse of its menus, one for afternoon tea and the other for more normal eating, albeit with a Scottish take:

Living as I do barely 5 minutes away I used to pass Edwards by, but in the next few days I will be going to the Thistle for brunch, with its black pudding, or maybe the Scottish square sausage roll and, oh, then there's the oatcakes. Not many eateries get off to a such good start as this. And then there's Afternoon Tea!!

If I was a betting man I suspect the Thistle TeaHouse will be quickly sniffed out and busy. The only threat on the horizon is being so successful that people give up trying to get in and that would be a pity, but I'm going to be kind and show you where it is.

I wish the owner, a lady called Maggie if I remember her name correctly, every success and, as for Beeston, this little parade of shops is turning into something quite special and a great advert for the town.

It's time for Beeston to wave good bye to Broxtowe Borough Council

I've spent an adult life mapping local issues and today I have compiled a map based on Broxtowe Borough Council's own website. 

The map speaks for itself. This at a time when the Conservative led Nottinghamshire County Council is pushing through a super fast consultation on the future of local government in the county (excluding Nottingham City Council) which could result in Conservative councillors across the county having even more control over Beeston. I've come to the conclusion it's time to wave goodbye to Broxtowe Borough Council and to campaign for a fourth option: that Beeston can join with Nottingham City Council. I will argue again for this option in a few days time. In the meantime look at my map and ponder, then go and fill in the County Council's rather dubious online questionnaire.

The green wards have councillors who voted to sell Beeston Town Hall and the red wards voted against selling the Town Hall. In no ward was there a split vote but councillors did abstain in Kimberley and Stapleford North, so one can reasonably assume they can live with the decision to sell Beeston Town Hall.

Click on map and vote record to enlarge.

I believe my map tells its own story. Beeston is isolated from the rest of Broxtowe Borough in so many ways. It graphically shows where the few Labour and even fewer Liberal Democrat councillors are.

The chances of Labour winning back control of Broxtowe on its own are small. In other words it will almost certainly have to govern post-May 2019 with the support of Liberal councillors. Given that this assumption is reasonable and I have seen no evidence to suggest otherwise, then logic says Labour and the Liberal Democrats need to be talking now so that over the next six months they can use their resources to best advantage.

'Heresy' I hear you say and you will be right, but I make no apology for telling it as it appears to me.

If, between them, Labour and Liberal Democrats by their desire to go it alone allow the Conservatives to hold onto Broxtowe Borough Council to its very end then they will be doing a grave disservice to the people of Broxtowe.

I am no fan of Liberal Democrats, but deeply regret that Labour failed to find a way to work with them after its 2010 General Election defeat. We live with the consequences every day.

The best to avoid being governed by Conservatives councillors or having to do deals with Liberal Democrat councillors is to become part of a Greater Nottingham City Council at the first opportunity — something I will return to again and again over coming months, even taking myself onto Beeston High Road with a banner to argue the cause if I have to!

It's time to hibernate

Two days ago I realised it was time to hibernate, something I’ve been doing the last couple of years. This time two years ago  I had already slowed down to the point where exercise was difficult thanks to my heart condition and I was expecting to have my aortic valve replaced before the end of October. In the event that didn't happen until the end of February last year. No pain or discomfort, just a case of being overwhelmed by lethargy.

Alongside it I had my ideopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), which had been diagnosed in May 2015 and led directly to the discovery of the fact that I had managed to live with only two cusps in my aortic heart valve instead of the usual 3, which meant my heart had spent a lifetime working 50% harder. And my lung condition was only found because of an x-ray I had at the QMC on the day after the 2015 General Election and within 21 days I was facing the prospect of being dead in three years, but here I am battling on, although as of yet it doesn't seem much of a fight.

I started doing what I was told by the medics and my open heart surgery marks the first day still in my Filofax diary. I have been more amazed by the experience than overwhelmed. Even looking death in the eye, and it was a dramatic as that, I felt like an observer, never a victim, but that moment passed in hours thanks to the care and support I received whilst in Nottingham City Hospital.

At the beginning of November last year I had my vanity appealed to (not that the person asking me knew that) and I went to a meeting. Within two days I was in bed with a chest infection that felt as if my lungs were being squeezed shut. Two weeks of antibiotics helped me through it and it was close to Christmas before I felt well enough to go out again. I actually remember that experience more vividly than anything else — which is why when I got the first signs of winter two days ago, the cold, the damp and that tightness of the chest, I stopped!

I will miss the pop-up shop I have been helping Judy Sleeth in and blogged about, but I know the signs and the potential consequences of not slowing down. There will be things I still do, my lung and heart exercise group every Thursday morning, going to Jo in the Local Not Global Deli once a week, but now for brunch and Rosie Lea's on Wilkinson Avenue. I'll walk every day, I'll deliver for the Labour Party and the Civic Society, but I'll avoid crowded rooms and buses, the latter almost the thing I will miss most for the next 4-5 months.

At home I will still cook and go shopping with my trolley, write, draw maps, make bus boxes and watch Christmas films on Channel 5 (as I have done for past two years) if they do them again, even garden a little, not too much as I know the wildlife in our garden depends on it being untidy if they are to make it through the winter. In so many ways I am very lucky. I have Susan and close friends I love and with whom I will do things during my 'hibernation'. Perhaps the word is too dramatic, but it doesn't feel that way if you have spent all of your life being actively engaged with people.

Five days ago I was still in my spring and summer mode, enjoying autumn. Now I am in late-autumn / winter mode busy looking forward. 

Of one thing I am sure. It's good to be alive!

The fate of Beeston Town Hall is very much a local issue, but the process of its going should concern every every Broxtowe Borough resident

I can't pretend that I regard Beeston Town Hall as anything other than an uninspiring example of toy town architecture. Pretty at best. Having said that I understand why many Beestonians feel a fierce attachment to the building and, how, despite 45 years of being part of Broxtowe Borough Council they have never quite accepted the fact.

Countless town halls around the country have been sold off over the past fifty years because local authorities have merged or have been replaced by modern civic 'sheds'. The creation of the metropolitan boroughs in 1974 resulted in mergers between not just two councils, but several. Just to name three: Sandwell and Stoke-on-Trent in the West Midlands are both comprised of 6 former councils and Broxtowe 3: Basford Rural District (part); Eastwood and Beeston & Stapleford (the result of an earlier merger in 1935). 

In the latter's case the decision was made in 1973 (I am assuming it was then because there were shadow local authorities in the run-up to April 1974) to keep Beeston Town Hall council chamber rather than move the Council's meeting place to Ilkeston — which is what I would have argued for had I been a borough councillor on the grounds that it is as near to a geographical centre that Broxtowe has despite being in Derbyshire.

Erewash and Broxtowe councils sharing a council chamber would have made sense then and it still does, so long as Broxtowe Borough Council exists, and if the Conservatives have their way Broxtowe will be subsumed into Notts County Council at the first opportunity!

Ilkeston is geographically easier to reach from ALL parts of Broxtowe borough. It's a bit like County Hall being in West Bridgford. Logic says it should be moved to Ollerton in the middle of the county or, once I would have argued Kelham Hall but, oh, wait a minute, Newark & Sherwood District Council sold it to a private company in 2014.

The fate of Beeston Town Hall is very much a local issue and I am assuming the community group bidding to run it have done their sums with regards to rent, servicing and maintenance. As a charity they can plug into the Lottery for capital and project grants, but there is already fierce competition between local groups for what Lottery money there is. If the council lease or rent the Town Hall to the community group they will still have landlord responsibilities, which I'm sure is the last thing they want.

At this late stage I believe the 'community' argument is countered by mismanagement on the part of Broxtowe Borough Council; that the cost of moving a computer hub and decommissioning the Town Hall will take much of the £450,000 the church group is, as I understand it, paying for the building. The community group's offer it can be argued provides income, but the rent will not be a peppercorn one.

The Council could sell the Town Hall to the community group for a nominal £10 as happened when Nottingham City Council sold Lenton Leisure Centre to Lenton Community Association and the whole site morphed into The Lenton Centre. Back then the City Council were trying to sell the site for £160,000 with LCA occupying a third of the building and a 10 year lease because they had refurbished and extended their part of the building with Lottery funding and other charitable grants. 

I was was actively involved in LCA and renting was our first approach until at a meeting attended by the Development Trust they suggested we buy the site instead and that our business plan needed third party input despite LCA having the skills in-house to produce such a business plan. Susan and I raised £15,000 from Social Enterprise East Midlands* (SEEM) and Tesco gave us the services of a senior financial executive to oversee the creation of the business plan. In the event I believe this outside third party support was key to LCA's success. We carried out a door-to-door consultation with our questionnaire across the whole of (New) Lenton and  had a 41% response — it also helped to identify new volunteers with skills which help  the campaign immensely and one of the those volunteers, Carl Towner, an active member of St. Nicholas Church in Nottingham city centre, went on to become The Lenton Centre's first Chief Executive. 12 years on TLC is still going strong and now runs the 'wet' side of the Portland Leisure Centre in The Meadows.

NOTE: * SEEM has obviously changed, but it still exist.

It was a long time ago, but we've kept a few papers and among  them was a copy of the questionnaire we designed and delivered to every house in New Lenton as early as 2004 when Lenton Leisure Centre finally closed (two previous attempts, in 1994 and 2000, were fought off by the local community). We printed it on cream card, because people are more likely to open cream envelopes and to read leaflets printed on cream, thicker, paper (I have no idea if this is still true in 2018).

Click on the images to enlarge.

I had also forgotten that the reason for the 41% response rate was the free draw offering 4 x £50 cash prizes to people completing the form with Lenton addresses.

Getting grants quickly was easier then and, if I remember correctly, the questionnaire was funded by  Nottinghamshire Community Foundation who gave LCA a number of small grants during the course of our campaign.

It is a story I know well because Susan and me were part of it. The logo Susan created was being used until quite recently and it is my history of the building and how it all happened that is on The Lenton Centre website. Back in 2016 we gave the archives of Lenton Community Association to Nottinghamshire Archives and they end on the day The Lenton Centre took over the building from Lenton Community Association and Susan was one of the first directors.

It was hard work, I couldn't do it now, but whole process from beginning to end was in the public domain, all the meetings were open to the community. We were pushing newsletters through every door in Lenton almost monthly for 2 years.

Our Labour ward councillors, Zahoor Mir and Dave Trimble were fantastic throughout, as was our then Labour MP Alan Simpson and the value of their support cannot be underestimated.

You do not win community campaigns by being polite or non-political. Our campaign was open and that was at the heart of our success. No one was excluded.

The only thing that can save Beeston Town Hall from falling into the hands of a church group is that the bidding process has been flawed from the beginning and Matt Turpin and his colleagues are to be praised for all their hard work in revealing this fact more than once in such minute detail. The latest post to his Beestonia blog should be enough to ensure the church bid is never considered by Broxtowe Borough Councillors.

No councillor worth the title will agree to selling it to a non-community group. It should be as simple as that!

Somehow every voter in Broxtowe needs to be alerted to the flawed process at the heart of this sell-off and this is the argument which needs to be concentrated on!

Mention of Beeston will alienate many who live in other parts of the borough. Beeston appears to thrive whilst other parts suffer, so the argument to save the Town Hall has to focus on the process — not the outcome.