Where would draw the line if you were creating a council to replace Broxtowe Borough Council?

Over the past week I have had about a dozen conversations about the future of Beeston and Broxtowe. Not one person has opted to become part of a unitary Nottinghamshire local authority comparable to Nottingham City Council in status. Most agree with me that Broxtowe as a council has never made sense. Several have mentioned joining up with Long Eaton (and by default, Erewash Borough Council). Given the close working relationship there has been between the two councils (sharing backroom services and staff) it is an idea with some merit if the cross-county nature of such a council could overcome those who see county boundaries as set in stone.

'Erewash stretches from Little Eaton to Long Eaton'. The impression this creates is rather different to the geographical reality. Like Beeston and Eastwood, the two places have no direct link unless you follow rivers. In other words, as presently defined Erewash makes no more sense than Broxtowe, but what the map below shows is that a council centred on the Erewash Valley would make geographical sense and from this follows political sense.

If you don't want to go in with Nottingham even though we are part of the same conurbation, then you have to look for links, and geography and the urban area to the west and and north-west of Beeston offer an option. The question is where would you draw the lines if you were trying to keep Beeston separate from Nottingham?

Click on the map to enlarge.

Over the next week I will add some data about council tax, population and registered voters for Erewash, Broxtowe and Nottingham.

Beeston banner looks good and some thoughts of engaging with students

Simon at Pixels & Graphics on Chilwell Road worked his usual magic by taking my artwork and turning it into a banner. It was deliberately designed with space at the bottom for the name of a sponsor, someone who will help cover production costs. In this case it was Simon who gave me a discount, for which I say a big 'thank you'.

I spent Saturday on the Beeston & District Civic Society stand, at the annual Beeston Festival in Broadgate Park, folding and handing out the 2018 edition of my Beeston pocket map. The feedback was generally good. My mistakes seemed to go unnoticed, but I suspect some will come to light on closer examination. My maps are created in 'layers' which can be moved up and down, with the result that I sometimes bury parts of of the map, so they cannot be seen. My other problem is that I habitually do everything in a rush!

The banner is in the care of Judy Sleath, the Chair of the Civic Society, so you should see it about because it has been made to be seen.

Looking at my map and comparing it with the information on the Let's go to Beeston website it is possible to see what each of us misses or information which is out-of-date. If I do it again next year I may well include inset maps (for the stretch between City Road and Regent Street for example). I'd like to extend this version of the map beyond the station as far as Beeston Canal and the Trent, and down as far as Nottingham University's west entrance (as I have done with previous maps). As I have explained before, losing these areas was the price I paid for creating a map which enables me to mark every retail unit in the Beeston town centre area.

If you would like to borrow the map so it can be displayed at a meeting or in a building I'm sure this can be arranged.

A BEESTON FESTIVAL FOOTNOTE.

I am sure that the timing of the event has historical roots, but Beeston has changed and continues to change. If the Festival was held on a Saturday in May, Beeston's large (and growing) student population would still be about, able to attend and participate. You would also miss clashing with large sporting occasions, such as Wimbledon and international football tournaments which occur every other year.

A 'WELCOME TO BEESTON' EVENT?

I know from my years in Lenton that a good few students like to get involved with the local community, if given encouragement and the opportunity, but for this to happen there has to be engagement. Perhaps there is still time for some kind of 'Welcome to Beeston' event in late-September / October this year? It could take place on one of the market days at The Garage? The Middle Street Resource Centre would also make a good venue.

Change is afoot - what side are you on? City or County?

Yesterday's meeting of Nottinghamshire County Council was, potentially, a very important meeting for the future of Beeston (and the rest of Broxtowe Borough for that matter).

According to a BBC News report, the County Council voted to take over the powers of the county's district and borough councils to create a county council area based unitary authority. No maps were provided, so I have created my own: 

Click on text/maps below to enlarge. This way the maps can be copied as a block:

Back in the 1980s I was a Labour Party county councillor for the then ward of Portland (covering Highbury Vale, Old Basford and Stockhill) in  Nottingham, which was then just a district council like Broxtowe. It wasn't until 1997 that Nottingham became a unitary council and I, like lots of others, had campaigned long and hard to bring this about.

The county council in my time was riven with petty divisions based on geography. I suspect it is the same now, with decisions about Beeston being made by councillors living 40 miles away in Worksop and Retford. My view then was to go with what local county councillors wanted and not County Hall. I did one term (1981-85) and had a good time with good jobs (chairing East Midlands Airport, the Youth & Community sub-committee and having the arts brief on Leisure Services), but even in the Labour Group there was too much wheeler-dealing for me and I thought it madness that Nottingham had to be part of it. 

Logic says that Nottingham should have a boundary which incorporates the conurbation. Beeston has far more in common with the city than it does with the county and it is a beneficiary of the city in so many ways.

The county council by its decision yesterday has provided Beeston with a golden opportunity to recognise that it is part of Nottingham is so many ways and to contribute to its future development.

I will actively support a counter proposal from the City Council to merge with surrounding urban areas (accepting that this will include rural pockets) and I hope many others will do the same. 

Over coming weeks and months I will take part in the debate. One thing is sure, it will be an issue in next year's Broxtowe Borough Council elections. No change is not an option.

There are caveats. There will have to be local referendas across the county based on localities, not wards*. Maybe 3 choices:

★ No change.

★ Go with the county.

★ Merge with the city.

Historically, such matters have been decided by central government and Parliament.

I would also like all voters to have a say in how the new council of whatever complexion is elected:

★ No change, stay with first past the post voting.

★ Change to the added member system of proportional representation used in Scotland and Wales.

★ A transferable vote system.

*So in the case of Beeston it would be the total vote for Beeston — Attenborough, Bramcote, Chilwell and Stapleford voters would have their own ballots.

It may be 3 or 4 years before change happens and I have not mentioned another option I quite like — Broxtowe and Erewash boroughs merging to create a 'third force' in the Derby–Nottingham conurbation. The councils already work together.

I will watch the debate develop with interest.

In the meantime this link might be of interest: https://lra.le.ac.uk/handle/2381/28203

Dr. Dockerill's thesis is full of maps and tables. The one below relates to 1952 how one one writer saw 'Greater Nottingham' as an area. Nottingham much different to my own take above, except I have included Bestwood and Papplewick as well. 

It is an exhaustive history which actually go back further than the title of the thesis would suggest, as the following map dated 1919 shows:

In other words the debate about how local government is organised in the Nottingham area has been ongoing. The evidence in favour of a larger city/conurbation council area was as cogent in 1919 as it now.

New Beeston Map ready to go

This is the new Beeston map which I hope will be launched at the Beeston Festival next Saturday. It has two sides.

The map sacrifices a few locations, but is far more detailed when it comes to the town centre: from Cator Lane to Humber Road and from Beeston railway station the the Wollaton Road allotments.

I checked all the locations yesterday morning (7 July 2018).

Possible Beeston 'banner' map as at today

This morning I started walking around Beeston at 7.30am before it got too hot and humid! This is as up-to-date as a map can be. I last did the complete walk 5 weeks ago and in the meantime there have been changes, and as I have gone round I have been told of more changes coming in the next few weeks, but the best any map can do is to catch a moment in time and this is it.

I'm hoping we can have the banner on display at the Beeston Festival next Saturday. We shall see...

Feedback always welcome. Hope we can pick up a couple of ads to help cover the cost of printing.