19 Members present. Apologies received from Claire Clyde-Watson.
Chairman Norman Clyde-Watson welcomed members to the meeting -
Notices
- Green Pennant Award – There had been no further news re the Green Pennant application which had been delayed. It was uncertain whether an Inspector or “Mystery Shopper” would assess the site.
- Hedge Laying Project – This had now received funding and would go ahead this financial year – ie. The hedge would be professionally laid and the area behind would be rotovated and restored to heathland.
- Summer Walk – There will be a Summer Walk on Tuesday July 9th in the evening. It will be from Strelley Village and be about 3 miles returning to Strelley and the Broad Oak pub! Details to follow. Put the date in your Diary.
Norman introduced our Guest Speaker Steve Dance who is Head of Planning for Broxtowe B.C. and he gave a very interesting illustrated talk on
‘Seeing Development in the Positive’.
Steve started by showing development of urban properties in the Broxtowe area over the years and explained that despite the 1955 Greenbelt protection, building was to continue – there is a requirement for 52,000 new houses to be built in Notts by 2028 of which 6,150 will be in Broxtowe – some greenbelt has already been used eg Bramcote Moor.
Many projects in the Borough are funded from builders, developers and government grants and not Broxtowe B.C. itself. Money funded infrastructure, access to the countryside and to planning teams across the 6C’s – ie Cities of Nottingham, Derby and Leicester and their associated Counties. These projects have included improved canal paths, cycle tracks, playgrounds and nature reserve parking facilities which are now supported by local community and volunteer groups.
Bigger schemes such as Flood Defences – the 17 miles from Sawley to Nottingham – cost £40m and was only possible by cooperation between many groups to protect wildlife and the environment.
Other projects mentioned included the Real Time Bus Timetable seen on most bus stops now, replacement of Beeston Scout Hut, Car Park at Beeston Station, Anglo Scotian Mills and various others which involved big investors eg. Tesco – providing community facilities as part of site developments.
Note – Not all details of schemes are include in these notes but most can be found on the Broxtowe B.C. website.
Steve concluded by showing sites and proposals for the HS2 Rail development at Toton with links to local transport, the NET Tram, Midland Trains etc. Broxtowe B.C. supports the scheme which has a proposed completion date of 2032! Bilborough College will be hosting a consultation meeting in September.
Questions followed after which Geoff Ward thanked Steve for his informative and valued talk.
Refreshments were served during an interval and the Meeting ended at 9:15pm.
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