Gedling Eye looks back at the highs and lows of 2022 across the borough, starting with January to March…

January

Two teenage sisters from Arnold who set up their own charity to protect the environment won British Empire Medals in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours. Given the honour were Arnold sisters Amy Meek, 18, and her sister Ella Meek, 16, for their voluntary service to the natural environment. They set up the charity Kids Against Plastic in February 2016 and have watched it grow while juggling school life and homework. 

The Leader of Gedling Borough Council, Councillor John Clarke was awarded an MBE in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours List.  Councillor John Clarke was awarded the MBE for his services to local government in Nottinghamshire, in particular, the work to transform the former Gedling Colliery into Gedling Country Park.  

Face masks were introduced in classrooms in secondary schools across Gedling borough in a bid to to reduce the spread of the Omicron variant, the government announced. The temporary reintroduction of face coverings was introduced across England following concerns about schools remaining open for face-to-face learning. 

Prime Minister Boris Johnson faced questions over his leadership after admitting he attending a party at Downing Street in May 2020. The PM told the House of Commons how he believed “implicitly” that the gathering was a work event, and apologised to the millions of people who have made sacrifices over the pandemic. In Gedling borough, many thought Boris should resign – or even be sacked over ‘Partygate’. A woman from Gedling, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “In early April 2020, my Grandma died alone in a nursing home aged 96 with no family ‘allowed’ to visit her for 2 weeks before she passed away. The Gedling Conservatives issued a statement and said: “All at Gedling Conservatives share the anger that many feel after hearing of parties at No10, while we and Gedling residents were in lockdown, abiding by the Government’s restrictions and missing events with our family and friends to prevent the spread of Coronavirus and save lives. 

A man was been locked up for his role in a revenge shooting in Arnold.  Jamal Roberts was in a stolen Volkswagen Golf with other men when one of the others fired a shotgun at another car – a Citroen – after it was caused to stop in a residential street. Appearing at Nottingham Crown Court Roberts was jailed for seven years. 

Dynamic duo Kirstie Allsopp and Phil Spencer’s filmed their popular Channel 4 show Love It or List It in Gedling Country Park. Each week the pair go head to head to convince a couple whether they should sell their home or refurbish it. 

FEBRUARY

Six people were arrested after a high street jeweller was burgled in Carlton.  Police arrived at D D & A Jewellers, in Carlton Hill, to find a window had been smashed and a metal grille had been ripped from the brickwork to gain access to the property. Acting on information provided by automatic number plate recognition cameras, officers quickly managed to locate and then pull over a car containing the six suspects just minutes later. 

Families celebrated after a bigger and better play area opened at a popular park in Burton Joyce. Villagers will now benefit from the newly refurbished playground on Church Road thanks to a £100,000 grant from FCC Communities Foundation.  New items included a large and challenging central play unit with curved slide, a four-seater seesaw, a trim trail, a spinner and a four-way springer. Chair of the Parish Council, Councillor Laurence King said: “I would like to add thanks to local business and individuals who donated funds that enabled the application to be made to the FCC.  “This valuable facility is going to make a real difference to those who use it, as well as the wider Gedling community. We are very grateful to FCC Communities Foundation for providing funding as without its support we would not have been able to proceed”.  

A Gedling man was jailed after assaulting multiple people and biting a police officer. Lynden Brown, 39, carried out the first assault after he became embroiled in a drunken argument outside the Greyhound Inn, in Nottingham Road, Arnold, and then punched a 44-year-old man to the ground who was trying to calm the situation. After leaving the pub following the assault, Brown then caused a disturbance at McDonald’s, in Sir John Robinson Way, Arnold, where he shouted and spat food at members of staff. And Brown continued acting aggressively when police arrived, shouting threats of violence and biting an officer three times while attempts were made to restrain him. He was sentenced to two years in prison. 

Gedling borough’s very first Nando’s officially opened for business, creating 40 new jobs. Famous for its Portuguese-inspired peri-peri chicken dishes, the restaurant at Victoria Retail Park in Netherfield offers indoor dining as well as collection and delivery. The restaurant has a total of 114 covers with 20 outside. 

Gedling Borough Council’s Civic Centre was lit up in the colours of the Ukrainian flag while Gedling’s MP, Tom Randall, said he wanted the U.K. to take the toughest measures possible against Russia after the country invaded Ukraine.  The deputy leader of Gedling Borough Council, Councillor Michael Payne, in a joint letter to the Ukrainian ambassador in the U.K. with the Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service said: “Please know we will do all we can to support and care for our Ukrainian community here in Nottinghamshire and Nottingham at this incredibly difficult time. We stand side-by-side with the people of Ukraine and pray for the safety of those who are responding to the needs of others”. 

MARCH

An outbreak of bird flu was confirmed at a popular Gedling borough tourist attraction. Nottinghamshire County Council said it was working with the DEFRA to control the outbreak at Newstead Abbey. Visitors to the Abbey were urged not to interact with wild birds after a confirmed case of avian flu at the site. A council spokesman said: “Newstead Abbey currently has positive cases of bird flu on site in wild birds. “Residents and visitors are advised not to feed wild birds and not to touch or pick up any dead or sick birds that they find. “Dog owners are also advised to keep their pets on a lead and take reasonable precautions to reduce exposure to wild waterfowl to minimise the risk of transferring the virus into bird keeping areas. 

Police launched an appeal after a 77-year-old man from Burton Joyce sadly died following a road traffic collision. Police were called to a stretch of the A614, Farnsfield, following a report that two cars had crashed near the junction with Baulker Lane and Longland Lane. Bill Taylor, 77, passed away in hospital. 

Gedling boxer Leigh Wood retained his WBA featherweight title after producing a brutal last-round knockout of Michael Conlan. The Gedling boxer showed amazing desire, despite suffering a cut over his eye in the fourth round, as both men traded blows in a hugely entertaining clash. 

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) told leaders at Priory Hospital Arnold that they must make further improvements to the quality of services following an inspection in December. CQC carried out an inspection of the hospital, which provides acute mental health services for men and women, to follow up on concerns from a previous inspection where the service was rated as inadequate and placed into special measures.

Opened in June 2021, Rivendell View care home was awarded a Band 5 rating by Nottinghamshire County Council in recognition of its ‘excellent’ standards and the high quality of care it provides to residents. The care home, located on Magenta Way in Stoke Bardolph, is a residential and dementia home. The Council carried out its first Quality Monitoring Audit at Rivendell View and found it to be either ‘good’ or ‘excellent’ across all five of the standards assessed. 

Pupils from Carlton Le Willows Academy in Gedling helped the new £49m Colliery Way establish roots in the local community to mark its official opening. The year seven pupils played a key part at the official opening event by planting a Major Oak sapling on site alongside Nottinghamshire County Council Chairman, Councillor Mike Quigley MBE. The planting will complement the ecological measures put in place throughout the construction of Colliery Way, previously known as the Gedling Access Road, which include 53,000 new trees, seven badger tunnels, seven bat hop-overs and six amphibian tunnels, as well as improved pedestrian and cycle links to Gedling Country Park. 

A number of road improvement schemes in Gedling borough got the go ahead after Nottinghamshire County Council approved a three-year county-wide highway plan to be delivered at a cost of £47.4m. This was the first time a three-year plan of highway repair work had been created in contrast to previous annual programmes.  Councillor Neil Clarke MBE, Chairman of the Transport and Environment committee said: “There are 381 individual road, footway and drainage schemes planned across the county.

A new CCTV camera was installed in Carlton Square, in a bid to deter offenders and help locals feel safer in their own neighbourhood. The £15,000 camera was installed by Gedling Borough Council to monitor the recently redeveloped Carlton Square car park and surrounding area. The camera was funded by the Nottinghamshire Police and Crime Commissioner. 

A dance team from Killisick Junior School in Arnold celebrated after winning the primary school section in the regional heats of The Great Big Dance Off.  The Great Big Dance Off is a national dance competition, open to schools across England and Wales and brings together children of all abilities and age groups to have fun showcasing their dancing skills. The eight-strong Killisick dance team performed their dance called ‘Human’, at The Albert Hall, Nottingham.

A borough councillor for Gedling announced she was stepping down from the role with immediate effect. Jennifer Hemingway represented Gedling Ward on Gedling Borough Council, along with Labour’s Jenny Hollingsworth. Councillor Hemingway said the decision to leave her post was taken after deciding to move away from the area.