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REVIEW: Cregan and Co at Lowdham Village Hall

Gedling Eye Reporter
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REVIEW: Cregan and Co at Lowdham Village Hall

For someone who played some of the most prestigious venues in the world as guitarist in the Rod Stewart band, as well as being a member of Cockney Rebel, Family, and recording with the likes of Cat Stevens, Jim Cregan is a most humble man. At the end of the show he could be found in the lobby casually chatting with many an audience member. He also clearly still loves playing live.

‘We’re having such a great time and hope you are to,’ he said half way into this Warthog gig in Lowdham Village Hall.

In 2011 Cregan formed his own group, Cregan and Co, as a vehicle to perform his catalogue which include many songs co-written, recorded with, or produced for, Rod Stewart. The Co part of Cregan and Co are X Factor finalist Ben Mills, adeptly delivering Rod Stewart’s vocals as well as adding guitar, Pat Davey (bass), Harry James (drums), and Sam Tanner (keyboards). All sensational musicians in their own right!

‘I hope you’re not just expecting the Rod Stewart show,’ said Cregan introducing The One That Got Away, a slice of Americana written to raise money for a charity which helps prevent suicides of US military veterans. Shane was a track written by Cregan and Elton John’s lyricist, Bernie Taupin. It was originally conceived for Roy Orbison who sadly died before he could record it but Cregan and Co have finally cut the track for their latest CD. Cregan’s guitar twang would certainly have suited the Big O.

PICTURED: Cregan and Co

It was at a concert after listening to Cregan’s the memorable guitar solo on Make Me Smile, Cockney Rebel’s number one that Rod Steward recruited him. Apart from this and the two afore mentioned songs, the show was pretty well all post-Faces, Stewart. The hits came one after another: Baby Jane, Hot Legs, The First Cut Is The Deepest, I Don’t Want To Talk About It, Tonight’s The Night, Forever Young, Young Turks, and so on and so on. Cregan played homage to Stewart’s lyric writing, exemplified in I Was Only Joking. It took little encouragement for folks to sing along.

Both Cregan and Mills referenced another project that Sam Tanner heads up and noted that he sells out venues in London with his own group. Blondes Have More Fun allowed Tanner to take lead vocal, as well as showcasing his rock and roll, keyboard wizardry.

It was all up on their feet for Maggie May, before the band returned for a three-track encore of Twisting The Night Away, Sweet Little Rock And Roller and the anthemic Sailing.

‘With the Rod Stewart Band, Sailing was the only song we ever used a pre-recorded backing for. In that case it was a choir. You folks will have to stand in!’ encouraged Cregan and he certainly won’t have been disappointed as to a person the crowd sang and swayed along.

For those struggling to get tickets for Rod’s latest tour, this was a pretty fine substitute.

Plans to replace Wells Community Centre with new facility given go-ahead

Gedling Eye
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Plans to replace Wells Community Centre with new facility given go-ahead
Plans to build a new community centre for residents in Mapperley has been given the go ahead by council chiefs.
The plans, submitted by Nottingham City Homes, include demolishing the Wells Community Centre in The Wells Road to make way for a new facility.

The new centre will feature a pavilion area for outdoor seating and a paved area for mobility scooters. It is hoped it will then be used by existing and new members of the community to meet and socialise.

PICTURED: An artists impression of what the new centre would look like

The proposed new centre would be built next to the old school site, which Nottingham City Homes has redeveloped into 33 new houses and six bungalows.

The existing building was built around 1945 and was originally the woodwork room for the old Morley School. It became a community centre in the late 1980s. It had to be closed on January 1st 2019 because of its poor condition.

The plans were submitted by Nottingham City Homes, working on behalf of Nottingham City Council. The council’s planning committee has now given the plans the green light.​

Buyers of new homes on Netherfield development can withhold money until any faults are fixed

Gedling Eye Reporter
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Buyers of new homes on Netherfield development can withhold money until any faults are fixed

The housebuilder behind the new Teal Close development, near Netherfield, will now allow homebuyers to withhold an average of £3,600 per home until any faults found are fixed.

Persimmon Homes today (21) announced it is to launch their ‘retention’ scheme to support customer satisfaction in its new build properties, in a response to recent criticism about the quality of their homes.

The firm are building 830 homes on the 135-acre Rivendell site in Teal Close between Netherfield and Stoke Bardolph, which is estimated to cost around £96million.

Persimmon Homes will become the first major housebuilder to establish such a scheme, which will see 1.5% of the total home value withheld by the buyer’s solicitor until any faults identified at the point of key release are resolved.

Neil Follows, managing director of Persimmon Homes Nottingham, said: “For most of our customers, moving into their new home is an exciting and positive experience. However sometimes there are teething problems that need to be addressed, and the introduction of this homebuyer’s retention is an important step towards ensuring every buyer is able to settle into their property with confidence and satisfaction.

“Put simply, we don’t receive the full price of the home until these issues have been resolved.”

The firm say their homebuyer’s retention scheme is the latest in a series of measures introduced ‘to assure high finish standards and improve customer care’.

The policy will see the company’s standard contract including a provision that 1.5% of the total home value (equating to around 6% of the build fabric costs) can be withheld until any faults identified at the point of key release are resolved.

The average amount withheld, based on current selling prices, will be approximately £3,600 per home. The new standard contract and policy are expected to be fully in place by the end of June.

Dave Jenkinson, chief executive officer of Persimmon, said: “Persimmon is listening hard to all stakeholders and we hear the message that we need to continue to raise our game in customer care.

“Initiatives already announced include action taken to deliver greater accuracy of anticipated moving in dates by adopting a more targeted approach to the phasing of sales on specific sites and improvements and investments made to our customer care team, operations and technology over the last few months.

“We are now accelerating the pace of change through the introduction of a contracted retention which will give homebuyers far greater satisfaction at the completion of the purchase.”

“Unfit for purpose” Home Brewery building in Arnold to be sold by Nottinghamshire County Council

Gedling Eye Reporter
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“Unfit for purpose” Home Brewery building in Arnold to be sold by Nottinghamshire County Council

Nottinghamshire County Council has announced to sell off the iconic Home Brewery building in Arnold as it’s “unfit for purpose”The sale is part of a major shake-up of council-owned buildings around Nottinghamshire – which has now been approved.

A new “iconic” building is also being planned next to the River Trent in West Bridgford, with £2.4m being set aside to pay for the construction, which would be built next to the existing County Hall.

In a debate on the issue on March 20, Labour councillors said they supported the plan in principle, but there was not enough detail for them to support it.

Concerns were also raised the project could run over budget as building costs are not yet known because the designs have not yet been drawn up. There are also no exact time frames yet.

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PICTURED: County Hall

The council hopes the scheme could save money in two ways; ongoing repair costs to older buildings would not have to be paid and new funds would be raised through the sale of buildings, such as the Home Brewery building.

Councillor Kay Cutts, the leader of the council, said as well as saving money, the scheme would help improve services by ensuring council staff were working in more suitable surroundings.

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PICTURED: The council-owned Home Brewery building in Arnold

“Our plans mean that we will vacate buildings we rent and move into fit-for-purpose buildings that we own, reducing our overheads and annual running costs by using the latest green technology,” she said.

Councillor Kate Foale, who Beeston Central and Rylands for Labour, said: “This is extremely ambitious, which is good, but I just wonder, because it’s a multi-agency hub, if any other agencies are going to contribute to the cost of it.

“Another concerns is where will the staff go, because already staff are saying ‘where will we go to?’

“Schemes like this never cost less than you think they’re going to, and I worry we may get a situation where you are coming back saying ‘we need a lot more money.’ A lot of this is high-risk, and there seems to be no plan B.”

Police discover cannabis grow in Bakersfield

Gedling Eye Reporter
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Police discover cannabis grow in Bakersfield

Police investigating an attempted burglary have discovered a cannabis grow in Bakersfield.

Officers were called to a property in Oakdale Road at around 11.35pm last night (Tuesday, March 19) following reports of an attempted burglary.

The four suspects had fled the scene but, on arrival, officers discovered a large quantity of cannabis plants.

A spokesman for Nottinghamshire Police said: “The plants, which total more than 500, will be dismantled today.

“Officers were assisted by the police helicopter and fire service.”

The added: “A 24-year-old man and a 25-year-old man have been arrested on suspicion of cannabis cultivation.”

Volunteers take action on borough’s litter for Gedling Big Spring Clean event

Gedling Eye Reporter
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Volunteers take action on borough’s litter for Gedling Big Spring Clean event

Volunteers got behind a borough-wide initiative on Saturday (16) and were out and about clearing their local streets and parks of litter.

The Gedling Big Spring Clean was organised to help rid the borough of litter, which has blighted the area in recent months.

Teams from Arnold, Mapperley, Carlton, Netherfield and other areas helped rid their local parks and streets of litter and also waste left by flytippers.

A team in Gedling also removed rubbish from Willow Park and Lambley Lane Park. Amongst the volunteers was Philip Oddie, who helped raise interest in the issue locally with a number of articles for Gedling Eye.

PICTURED: Mr Oddie in Willow Park in Gedling
GONE: Litter and waste collected form Carlton after volunteers targeted the area (PICTURE: Twitter)
GOOD EFFORT: A team from Mapperley with their haul

Lucy Anderson joined in with the clean up in Netherfield, tackling litter in the nearby Jackie Bells play area with her young children.

She said: “I saw people were getting out and about picking litter so I took a few bin liners and headed out to our local park.

“Most of what we collected was plastic bottles and sweet wrappers, but it certainly looks a lot better. I saw other teams about the town too. It was a great effort.”

Following the success of this event, Carlton Community Cleaners are planning a second clean-up on Saturday, April 20 to coincide with Keep Britain Tidy’s ‘s Great British Spring Clean.

People are being asked to meet at 9.30am at Piggins Cafe on Carlton Hill.

 

Council plots to build housing business in Gedling borough

Gedling Eye Reporter
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Council plots to build housing business in Gedling borough

Gedling Borough Council has said it is considering creating its own housing company to meet the needs of local people.

The authority believes that by setting up its own housing firm could help accelerate the need for new homes in the borough and also help boost council coffers.

Cabinet members will now consider approval of a business case which will explore the establishment of a local housing company to create a mix of affordable, rented and for sale homes controlled by the council.

The council has spoken to experts from the housing sector about possible options which included looking at creating a housing revenue account, a general fund or possibly a joint venture with another company.

House_building

However, the option for a local housing company was deemed the most viable based on the consultation and advice from the market experts.

If approved, the business case would be prepared setting out the financial, resource and risk implications of different housing delivery models for Gedling.

The plans are part of the council’s strategy for increasing income whilst dealing with severe budget cuts from central government.

Gedling Borough Council say they are one of the worst affected councils in the UK when it comes to government funding cuts and this business case could help reduce the strain on council resources, whilst providing much needed new homes.

Leader of Gedling Borough Council, Councillor John Clarke said: “We’re determined to play our part in providing much needed affordable homes for local families to buy and rent – establishing our own housing company is just one way for the council to do that.

“This proposal could also help reduce the strain on our budget as we continue to face severe cuts from central government.”

Bonanza book sale in Gedling with over 15,000 titles on offer will raise vital funds for good causes

Emily Sanchez
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Bonanza book sale in Gedling with over 15,000 titles on offer will raise vital funds for good causes

Bookworms in the borough are being invited to bag a bargain at a unique annual charity sale in Gedling and help raise much-needed funds for local charities.

For the past 13 years Bob and Chris Cann have hosted the Masked Charity Booksale at their home in Vernon Avenue, which brings in thousands of pounds for their chosen charities.

Their property will again be crammed full of 15,000 second-hand books from as little as 10p when the sale begins on Friday, April 26.

Last year’s mammoth sale brought in £2176 for local charities and boosted the total amount raised over the past 13 years to nearly £20,000.

It takes Chris, Bob and a team of volunteers over ten weeks to prepare for the sale, and over the years a special insulated  building has been erected to help house the mammoth collection.

Chris said the continuing popularity of the sale proves that books will never be replaced, despite the growth in electronic devices.

She said: “There’s something magical about a book, that you just don’t find on an electronic device.  And that magic is even greater when it’s a second-hand book, because as wellbeing directly connected to the author’s mind, you’re also physically holding something that may be a hundred years old, and you’re connected to all the previous owners and readers.”

As well as books, homemade cakes will be available for donation, and children can play on the ExLibris Express – a train built out of reclaimed wood. They can ring the train’s bell, toot the horn, sell tickets, blow bubbles, shovel “coal”, and more.

Many visitors to the sale also take part in the tradition of wearing a mask while attending the event.

The tradition was started by Josiah Saithwaite, founder of the Federation of Masked Booksellers who are the group who organise the event. Saithwaite believed in doing good by stealth and decided therefore that the identities of all who helped out on his bookstalls should be concealed behind masks.

This year visitors are also invited to bring a tin of vegetarian food, which will be passed on to Netherfield Food Bank after the booksale.

The sale takes place between at 16, Vernon Avenue in Gedling between 10-6 on April 26, 27, 28 and 29.

It will also be open again the public on May 3,4 and 5 between 10-6.

For more information email boraxwoman-exlibris@yahoo.co.uk or visit their Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/ExLibrisTheMaskedBooksellers/

Work to begin on demolishing dangerous ‘eyesore’ site in Carlton

Gedling Eye Reporter
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Work to begin on demolishing dangerous ‘eyesore’ site in Carlton

Diggers are set to move in and demolish two dilapidated properties in Carlton before the area is transformed in a bid to boost trade in the area.

Gedling Borough Council has appointed CMEC to demolish the dangerous properties on Burton Road – with works expected to begin in the next few weeks.

The council took ownership of the properties in October 2018 due to the dangerous state of the buildings – which locals have described as ‘an eyesore’.

Since taking on the buildings, the council has been working with CMEC and neighbouring properties to ensure that the buildings can be taken down safely, with minimal disruption to businesses and residential properties nearby.

The area is set to get a big boost in the coming months with plans now in place to transform the nearby Carlton Square shopping centre and help improve trade for local businesses.

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PICTURED Cllr Jenny Hollingsworth, Portfolio Holder for Growth and Regeneration, at the demolition site on Burton Road, Carlton.

Cllr Jenny Hollingsworth, Portfolio Holder for Growth and Regeneration said she was looking forward to work starting to help revitalise the area.

She said: “I’m delighted that works will be starting on these properties. This is part of the wider regeneration of the Carlton Square area and I’m excited to see how things progress in the near future.

“There are big changes coming to Carlton Square that are really going to improve the appearance of the area as well as attract shoppers and retailers.”

Police find drugs and weapons during raid on address in Carlton

Gedling Eye Reporter
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Police find drugs and weapons during raid on address in Carlton

Police recovered drugs, stolen goods, air weapons and counterfeit cash after executing a warrant in Carlton yesterday (March 18).

Officers arrested two men aged 48 and 47, on suspicion of possession of drugs with intent to supply and possession of criminal property.

Officers executed the warrant at an address in Southdale Road at about 5.20pm yesterday.

A spokesman for Nottinghamshire Police said: “Items recovered from the property included two air weapons – namely an air rifle and realistic-looking handgun, quantities of Class A and B drugs, stolen property and counterfeit cash.

“The two men arrested remain in police custody.”

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