Work to create a pass that will allow an endangered species to make their way up the River Trent at Stoke Bardolph has been completed.
The £60,000 eel pass is now in place to help eels navigate their way over Stoke Bardolph Weir on the River Trent.
The new eel pass acts like a ladder enabling the eels to make their way over the weir. It follows one installed at Hazelford Weir in 2018. It’s part of a huge programme of work under way across Europe to help restore eel populations by restoring wetlands and removing barriers to the eels’ migration routes.
PICTURED: The weir at Stoke Bardolph
The European eel has an extraordinary life cycle. It starts as eggs in the Sargasso Sea near Bermuda on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean and spends 18 months floating on ocean currents towards the coasts of Europe and North Africa. It enters rivers and lakes and spends anything from 5 to 20 years feeding and growing into adult eels before returning to complete the life cycle. Their amazing transatlantic journey is interrupted only when they come to obstructions, such as dams, weirs and lock gates.
These barriers are part of the reason that the European Eel, once thriving across Europe and the UK, is currently classified as ‘critically endangered’. Numbers of the eels, which have also been impacted by climate change, destruction of habitats and illegal fishing, have declined by around 90% over the past 40 years.
The Canal and River Trust teamed up with the Environment Agency, EDF and Uniper to create the pass.
Richard Bennett, Canal & River Trust heritage & environment manager, said: “We’re so pleased to give the eels a helping hand as they make their incredible journey and enable them to extend their reach in our waterways right here in the East Midlands.
“Eels are such an important part of what makes our waterways so special. They feed on water bugs and dead and decaying animals – helping to recycle nutrients – and are also an important food source for some of our best loved species such as otters and herons.
“The River Trent provides vital habitats for so many species and this project will make it even more important as we hopefully see many more eels making their way up the river.”
Matt Buck, Fisheries Specialist at the Environment Agency, said: “The eel pass at Stoke Bardolph Weir will improve access for eels and enable them to reach habitats suitable for them to grow, which will increase their chances of returning to the sea to spawn in subsequent years. The initiative will also benefit local biodiversity and help to boost eel numbers.
“As well as re-opening rivers to fish migration and protecting ecologically important and sometimes endangered species like salmon, shad and eels – fish passes are an amazing opportunity to engage people with the river and reconnect them with the life within it.”
Flood alerts are in place for several areas across Gedling borough.
The Environment Agency says they expect river levels to rise as a result of persistent heavy rainfall.
They say flooding of roads and farmland is possible between 9:00am and 13:00pm today.
An EA spokesman said: “Areas most at risk are low-lying agricultural land, roads and footpaths. Further rainfall is forecast over the next 12 hours. River levels may begin to rise at 9:00am this morning as a consequence of intense rainfall.
“We are closely monitoring the situation.
They added: “Please plan driving routes to avoid low-lying roads near rivers, which may be flooded and avoid contact with flood water.”
Flood alerts have been issued for Burton Joyce, parts of Gedling, Lambley and Netherfield.
As the cost of living crisis takes its toll, families and households across Gedling borough find themselves facing the terrifying prospect of a winter without warmth.
As more and more people struggle to pay their energy bills, Gedling Borough Council and community partners have set up essential warm spaces across the borough in a bid to ensure no one goes without during this uncertain time.
A council spokesman said: “Warm spaces are initiatives set up to create places within the local community where people can come together, socialise, stay warm and in some cases have hot refreshments during the winter months.
“Alongside council venues, many of our valued Community Partners are also offering warm spaces as well as other services and support in local venues across the borough.
All venues listed below are free to attend unless otherwise stated. Some may ask for a small voluntary donations.
Main Street Methodist church, on the corner of Carlton Hill and Cromwell Street, NG4 1EE
Open: Tues/Fri 12pm-2.45pm
Contact: 0303 040 1110
Sacred Heart Catholic Church and Community Centre
91 Carlton Hill, NG4 1FP
Open: Thurs 1:30pm -3pm
The church is also open all day, every day and whilst there are not activities outside of our usual service times, it is a warm, quiet space for people to just sit if they wish. Fully accessible, Wi-Fi, activities include bingo, cards games, dominos, newspapers and magazines, other social activities
Men in Sheds supports older men in search of a hobby and those who want to socialise, share and learn new skills all in the welcoming setting of a workshop.
Equipment and tools are provided and volunteers are there for support. Members take part in the day-to-day running of the shed and decide on activities they want to follow including woodworking, skills sharing and socialising.
Community Kitchen: Every Saturday 12:15pm to 13.30pm. Seniors Tea: First Saturday in every month 14:30pm-16:30pm. Community Cinema: Third Tuesday of every month 7:30pm Community Kitchen: A warm welcome and friendly chat is always available . Seniors Tea: Games, Quizzes, and Sing Along. Community Cinema: Different film each month, chance to meet new people and watch a good old movie with friends
WiFi available £1 per session. Refreshments available. Providing lite bites and hot affordable meals also tea and coffee. TV and sky sports available Board games, pool, darts, dominoes and other games.
Contact 0115 808 4191
St Alban’s Community Kitchen. (WSM)
Emmanuel Church Bestwood, 10 Church View Cl, Arnold, Nottingham NG5 9QP
Open: Tues 3pm-6pm
Small donations welcome for a three course sit down menu of soup, main, desert and refreshments. Takeaway option available. Activities for adults and children also on offer
People across Gedling borough are being asked for their views on a historic £1.14bn devolution deal for the East Midlands.
The consultation began yesterday (14) and lasts until Monday, January 9, 2023 and is an opportunity for everyone in the area to have their say about devolution proposals. It is open to residents, businesses, community and voluntary groups, and other organisations in the region.
Council leaders have said that devolution would provide the region with a guaranteed income stream of £38 million per year over a 30-year period, and would cover around 2.2 million people, making it one of the biggest in the country.
If the plans go ahead, it will mean a new regional mayor and it would create the first of a new type of combined authority for the two counties and cities, which requires new legislation from central government.
The new elected regional mayor, like those who are already in place in other areas, would represent the whole area. The role of the mayor would be to look at major issues affecting the whole region, give the area a bigger voice, and take advantage of local knowledge and expertise.
As well as the £1.14 billion, devolution plans include an extra £16 million for new homes on brownfield land, and control over a range of budgets like the Adult Education Budget, which could be better tailored to the needs of people in our communities.
The devolution deal would not mean scrapping or merging local councils, which would all continue to exist as they do now and would still be responsible for most public services in the area. The mayor and combined authority would instead focus on wider issues like transport, regeneration, and employment across both cities and counties.
The leaders of Derbyshire County Council, Nottinghamshire County Council, Derby City Council, and Nottingham City Council all signed up to work on a devolution deal on August 30 this year at Rolls Royce in Derby, following an announcement from the Government that a package of new powers and funding, worth £1.14 billion, were available for the area.
Since August the councils have been working on agreeing a more detailed proposal for consultation, which includes more information about how devolution would work in our area.
The four councils agreed to go ahead with a public consultation as the next step in the process, so everyone has the chance to give their views on the proposal.
Ben Bradley MP, Leader of Nottinghamshire County Council, said: “It’s great news that we’re moving forward with devolution plans for Nottinghamshire and the wider area. I’m really pleased that we’re making progress with this.
“Devolution can bring real benefits for local people, as it has done in other parts of the country. It will mean more funding for our region, and the opportunity to have more meaningful decisions made here, near the people they affect, rather than in London, so they can be better tailored to local needs.
“This is an opportunity to create jobs, boost our economy, enhance transport, build more and better homes, improve our environment, and more, and we need to grab it with both hands. I don’t want our area to miss out on a chance to improve things for everyone who lives and works here.
“Devolution can help us be more effective locally, make better use of public money, and most importantly, improve people’s lives. It would lay the groundwork for us to build on in the future, to benefit future generations.
“I’d encourage everyone to take part in the consultation and give us their views on the devolution deal.”
Nottinghamshire Police has placed knife amnesty bins in Arnold as part of a national week of action to tackle knife crime.
As many as 14 bins have been rolled out in Nottinghamshire as part of a national week of action, known as ‘Operation Sceptre’, to root out knife crime.
Anyone wanting to throw a knife away can do so without fear of being prosecuted by safely dropping it in one of the bins over the next few days.
The amnesty bins have been set up at the front counters inside the Civic Centre in Arnold and Oxclose Lane Police Station where they can be accessed by all throughout Operation Sceptre, which runs from November 14-20.
Nearly 200 knives were seized and destroyed after the bins were deployed during the two previous weeks of action in November 2021 and May of this year.
Superintendent Kathryn Craner, Nottinghamshire Police’s knife crime lead, said: “These bins are available for everyone to use, whether it’s to get rid of a blade that belongs to them, or they’ve found one and are worried about it falling into the hands of someone else.
“It’s important people realise that this initiative isn’t a trick and that they can drop off unwanted knives without getting into trouble.
“People may also be looking for ways to hand in certain weapons, like knuckledusters and zombie knives, which are now also illegal to have in their homes, so this offers a good opportunity to do that.
“We’ve seen lots of people come forward when we’ve rolled this service out in the past, so we’re hoping to see similar results throughout this latest week of action.
“While we’ll again be providing knife drop off points within the community throughout Operation Sceptre though, we want to stress that taking knives off our streets is very much a year-round aim for us.
Members of the public should check the opening times at the relevant police station near them before attempting to drop off any items.
Barney the Sprocker Spaniel and dog handler Tim Marston will work together to detect ignitable fluids at the scenes of suspicious fires, often getting results within minutes.
Barney can also search vehicles, clothing, houses, boats, or any building including large outdoor areas.
Tim said he and Barney will be “double trouble” alongside the service’s existing dog investigation team, Dave Coss and cocker spaniel Dexter.
PICTURED: Barney the new fire dog (IMAGE: LDRS)
Both teams can be deployed across Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Lincolnshire. They can also attend incidents across the UK if needed.
Tim first joined Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service 30 years ago, aged 22.
He joined the fire investigation team later in his career and bought one-year-old Barney in December 2021.
Tim has been training him ever since – and in two weeks’ time he will become an official working fire dog.
Barney will not go into a building where there is a fire – instead, he will sniff out ignitable fluids at scenes – in return for a tennis ball as a reward.
Tim, who’s full title is Regional Hydrocarbon Detection Dog Handler, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service it was “a privilege and an honour” to be in the role.
He said: “All this is a game to Barney. The tennis ball is king from a training perspective. He is looking for his reward and he knows he gets that if he finds the ignitable liquid.
“It may be we go to a scene and there’s nothing to find, but it’s equally important for us to prove that.
“It was always hoped that he would become a fire dog but it’s like telling him he’s going to be the next world champion racing driver. You never know what you’re going to get.
“It was a win-win for me in that if he didn’t become a fire dog, I’d gained a pet.
“He’s a family dog and loves cuddles and playing in the park as normal dogs do.”
Tim says with two dog handlers and two fire dogs, there is now “increased resilience” in the region.
He said: “We talked hypothetically about when the other dog handler retired, who was going to plug the gap.
“We will work very closely with Dave and Dexter.
“We train the dog to search and then we introduced the ignitable liquids.
“The dog never goes in a building or an area where there is a fire. The boots are for the protection of the paws, we also have different boots so we don’t get cross-contamination at scenes.”
Bryn Coleman, Head of Prevention, Protection and Fire Investigation at Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service, added: “It’s great to have Tim and Barney join us as a second fire dog team. The pair will bring critical resilience across the region, and beyond.
“We take deliberate fire setting very seriously at Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service, and work hard to discourage the behaviour.
“We will always be there for our communities when you are in need, but not only do deliberate fires put people at risk, they take us away from other emergencies. Tim and Barney will be an invaluable part of tackling arson and keeping people safe.”
Gedling Borough Council has announced the revised collection days for refuse and recycling over the Christmas Period.
If your bin is due to be collected on any of these days, please put it out before 6am.
Usual collection day
Revised collection day
Monday, December 26
Saturday, December 24
Tuesday, December 27
Tuesday, December 27
Wednesday, December 28
Wednesday, December 28
Thursday, December 29
Thursday, December 29
Friday, December 30
Friday, December 30
Monday, January 2
Saturday, December 31
The council has said it will take take a maximum of two extra bags of black bin waste over the festive period between December 26, 2022 – January 6, 2023.
If you have extra recycling then leave it in the cardboard box next to your bin.
The council will also remind you when to put your bin out when you sign up to their email reminder service. Once signed up, you will receive an email the night before to tell you what bin you need to put out and what can go in it.
Pub chain Wetherspoons has announced it is running short of eggs.
Breakfast punters in the borough may now face an alternative of hash browns, sausage or onion rings on their plate due to ‘temporary supply issues’ caused by avian flu.
Wetherspoons spokesman Eddie Gershon told The Sun : “We can confirm that there are temporary issues with egg supplies at some Wetherspoon pubs, due to the current impact of Avian flu on egg production.
“We are experiencing issues in receiving all the supplies we require to satisfy demand in every pub. This is not specific to Wetherspoon and other hospitality operators and supermarkets are facing similar issues.”
Major supermarkets are said to be undertaking urgent talks on how to manage the egg crisis.
The shortage of eggs has been partly caused by another outbreak of avian flu but also a delayed knock-on impact from millions of birds dying during the summer’s heatwave. Many birds reportedly died from heat exhaustion as summer temperatures reached record highs in Britain.
Farmers are leaving the industry in their droves as rising costs stifle their ability to make profit from farms and small holds. This means fewer hens are laying eggs than ever before.
During the Eat Out to Help Out scheme back in August 2020 to counter the economic impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, the chain ran out of ketchup. And supply chain issues last year also meant that some Wetherspoons pubs ran out of booze.
Morrisons has slashed the prices of 52 festive products as Christmas approaches, and said it is committed to keeping prices low until the end of the year.
The grocer, who has a store in Netherfield, revealed products including cranberry sauce, stuffing and tin foil are among the 52 items being reduced, which Morrisons sees a 50% rise in sales of from mid-November until Christmas, compared with the rest of the year.
Other products include mince pies, prawns, dips and flavoured cheeses, while prices of roast potatoes, carrots and sprouts are also being decreased.
Cupboard fillers such as peanuts and jam have also been reduced in price, alongside packs of AA and AAA batteries and ingredients needed to create seasonal bakes including mincemeat, sultanas, glacé cherries and pastry.
“These festive price cuts are on the key seasonal products that we know customers buy more of at this time of year because of the important part they play in Christmas celebrations,” Morrisons CEO, David Potts said.
“We understand that our customers are having to make tough choices at the moment about what items to put in their baskets and so we are working hard to help them when it comes to their festive grocery shopping.”
In September, the grocer announced it would be freezing its prices on 150 products including cupboard staples and everyday essentials including toilet paper and cereal.
