Gedling Borough Council has announced it has scrapped plans to sell council-owned land near Killisick Lane in Arnold.
The land had previously been allocated for housing in the 2018 cross-party agreed Local Plan but following a consultation with local residents, senior councillors have decided not to allow a sale of the land to go ahead.
A consultation was launched at the beginning of August to get views from local residents about the impact of a potential sale of the site.
PICTURED: Killisick Lane‘We listened’: Councillor Michael Payne revealed that plans to sell the land have have been scrapped
Following comments from the consultation and representations from councillors who represent the area affected, a decision was made by senior councillors not to take any consideration of sale of the land any further and review the feedback provided.
Deputy leader of Gedling Borough Council, Councillor Michael Payne said: “We were very clear at the start of the consultation process that the views of nearby residents were essential – we have listened to those views. We have decided the sale of this land will not go ahead.
We said we would listen to residents’ views, and we have. We remain firmly committed to working with the community on how we can improve the nearby Hobbucks Nature Reserve for all to enjoy.
Nationally imposed government housing targets have real consequences for local communities – pressure to allocate housing developments on our precious open land and green space is one such consequence.”
The scale of the crisis in local bus services has been laid bare after operator Trentbarton confirmed it has 130 vacant driver jobs.
The company, which runs dozens of routes around the East Midlands, was forced to cancel 1,614 individual timed services in just two weeks last month as a result of the staff shortage, leading to concerns of communities being left “high and dry”.
The figures, collected by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, show the 1,600 services were cancelled between August 3 and August 17.
August 6 was the worst-hit day, when 211 services were called off that morning.
The company says the cancellations were unavoidable as it struggles to fill gaps in its workforce, but it adds the figure was just three per cent of the almost 50,000 services provided during this period.
A company spokesperson told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “The national shortage of bus drivers has been caused by a variety of factors, including Covid retirements and absences, migration of bus drivers to logistics jobs, and strikes and delays at the driver licensing authority.
“Our driving team currently has 130 vacancies – 17 per cent short of what we would need to run a full timetable. That shows how well our drivers are doing to only lose three per cent of timetabled services.
“Our drivers – and their support teams – are working flat out to do their very best to carry as many customers as they can.
“Driver shortages are impacting the whole of the bus industry and many other sectors.
“Every day we announce via social media which services are not running at which times, to be upfront about cancellations so customers can plan journeys.
“Our thanks go to our customers for their understanding and patience whilst we tackle the problem.”
Major changes are on the horizon for bus provision in the county, with Nottinghamshire County Council confirming some routes could be at risk if longer-term funding models come forward.
It follows the removal of Covid-related Government bus grants, with dwindling passenger numbers leading to a cash crisis for providers struggling to keep services running.
Last month, the Conservative-led authority stepped in to provide alternative funding in a bid to temporarily save 19 routes from the axe.
Concerns remain, however, about how these routes will fair once funding packages come to an end next April.
Other funding support includes cash to maintain the 141 service, which was axed by Trentbarton this summer before rival Stagecoach agreed to take over the route following public criticism.
The new Stagecoach 141 will take effect from Monday, September 5, with the company publishing its unchanged timetable for the route.
And Councillor Neil Clarke (Con), the authority’s cabinet member for transport and environment, says he has sympathy with bus operators during this period.
He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “I can understand it from their point of view. They haven’t got a room full of drivers that they can use in case somebody doesn’t turn up.
“It is very difficult, but it’s a question of them trying to do their best to employ reliable drivers who are going to be there regularly when they’re needed.”
However, Councillor Jason Zadrozny (Ash Ind), the leader of Ashfield District Council, believes more action should come to prevent communities from being cut off.
“There is a bus crisis in Nottinghamshire and nobody seems willing or able to take responsibility,” he said.
“Bus users are being left high and dry by the systematic failure of bus operators like Trentbarton, the Government and the county council.
“All you ever hear from Conservative transport bosses is ‘use buses or lose buses’. Residents can’t use bus services if they don’t turn up.”
Trentbarton adds it has more than 55 drivers in its training academy who will be working behind the wheel “as soon as possible”.
A 35-year-old man who died in a collision at the weekend has been named.
Mark Hunter, of Mapperley, was a front seat passenger in a car that hit a tree in Hawton Road, Newark, on Sunday (28).
Emergency services were called to the scene, where Mark sadly died from his injuries.
His family are continuing to be supported by specially trained officers.
Earlier this week, Anthony Riley, of Forest Road, Clipstone, was charged with causing death by dangerous driving, causing death by driving whilst disqualified, aggravated vehicle taking and failing to provide a specimen for analysis.
The 32-year-old appeared at Nottingham Magistrates Court on Monday (August 29) and was remanded in custody.
Anthony Riley appeared at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court on Monday charged with causing death by dangerous driving
The incident, which happened during a police pursuit, has been referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct in line with standard procedure.
Witnesses are asked to call 101 quoting incident 185 of 28 August 2022.
Monday, September 5 will see the start of a new era of public transport for a number of villages in Gedling borough.
After a campaign to save the 141 bus that 3643 residents signed up to – Stagecoach will officially take over the service from Trent Barton.
The bus serves Bestwood Village, Linby, Papplewick and Ravenshead, which are based in the borough.
Councillor Jason Zadrozny, leader of Ashfield District Council, who launched the petition and suggested Stagecoach took over the service labelled it a “victory for people power.”
The full timetable has now been published and is identical to the previous one – as requested by Councillors right along the route which also serves City Hospital and Kings Mill Hospital.
As soon as Trent Barton announced they were axing the service – Councillors say they ‘swung into action’.
They tracked down the managing director of Trent Barton Jeff Counsell who was on holiday.
An emergency meeting was held where Trent Barton confirmed they had no intention of continuing the service. A petition was launched – where at one point – concerned residents signed up at a rate of one a minute.
Councillor Zadrozny then wrote to the managing director of Stagecoach – Matthew Cranwell, asking the company to consider taking over the service. They confirmed they were looking at the proposal.
Stagecoach announced they were taking over the service a few weeks ago. They have now published the timetable and will run the first service on Monday, 5 September at 6.25am from Sutton. Councillors Jason Zadrozny and Helen-Ann Smith will be travelling on the first service.
Councillor Jason Zadrozny said, “Once again, I’d like to thank residents for signing our petition in such numbers.
“There’s no doubt that people power saved the day. This service was critical and its complete removal would have seen whole estates like Carsic, Stanton Hill and Healdswood in Skegby without a bus service.
“Our petition was signed by numerous residents up and down the route.
“Councillors like Martin Atherton and Tina Thompson in Blidworth and Rainworth were instrumental in ensuring their residents backed the petition. Councillors in Hucknall did the same. It was a real team effort.”
Councillor Helen-Ann Smith, Councillor for Stanton Hill and Teversal said, “It is a relief that due to unprecedented public pressure – the 141 will continue.
“It would have left thousands of residents without a bus service. We are really grateful to all the residents who signed up to our campaign.
“Stagecoach looked at the number of people who signed our petition. It will have been a factor in taking over this vital lifeline. I’ve had residents calling me in tears – this is such a valuable bus service.”
A councillor has put in an official request to a local authority for new cameras to help enforce a speed zone in Burton Joyce.
Nottinghamshire County Councillor Mike Adams, who represents Carlton East, informed villagers of the request via his Facebook page.
He said: ” I am incredibly excited to tell you that I have today submitted my official request with the council’s highways department for average speed cameras to enforce the 30mph speed zone in the village of Burton Joyce.
PICTURED: Councillor Michael Adams
“It will need approval from the cabinet members before the end of the calendar year and installation will be scheduled, if the bid is successful, in the next financial year.
“You will no doubt be aware we have had many accidents in recent times and over the years along this stretch of road.
It continues to be my mission to make safety of the A612 better for all across Carlton East.
Villagers were recently delighted to learn that a new crossing has been approved at Millfield Close and were also pleased to see speed warning signs installed targeting motorists leaving the village.
Following months of negotiations, a devolution deal has been signed and sealed – but not quite yet delivered – in the East Midlands.
On Tuesday (August 30) pen was put to paper on a £1.14 billion agreement to bring greater spending power and decision-making to local leaders.
And, most significantly, it could lead to the creation of the region’s first-ever directly elected mayor.
The move was described by council bosses as a “really important” step in ‘levelling up’ Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, Derby and Derbyshire.
But the finer details of how this will be put into practice are yet to be decided.
What is the deal?
On paper, the deal promises £38m per year for 30 years to redress previous imbalances. Some figures show the region has consistently been at the bottom of the pile for Government spending and services.
Treasury figures for 2020/21, for example, show total spending in the East Midlands was the lowest of all UK regions at £12,133 per head.
This was almost 10 per cent below the UK average of £13,414 and significantly below the £15,490 figure enjoyed by London.
But how will this deal make a difference to the level of spending made locally?
For a start, it would lead to the creation of a new combined authority – sitting above the city and county councils – to “empower” local leaders to determine how big economic schemes are funded.
This takes away the need to bid to Whitehall for things like major public transport projects, such as integrated ticket schemes.
In general, it allows for more decisions on how cash is handed out to be made by those with local knowledge.
And, according to Nottinghamshire County Council leader and Mansfield’s Conservative MP Ben Bradley, the £1.14bn could become £5-6bn once it has been invested.
PICTURED:Nottinghamshire County Council leader Ben Bradley
He says this initial figure would act as a starting deal, with the region to now compete alongside neighbouring areas like Greater Manchester, South Yorkshire and the West Midlands during Treasury spending reviews.
Eventually, it will fund the linking up of public transport networks across the entire region, create highly-skilled jobs – and offer education and training to help local residents in filling them – and kickstart countless other regional projects.
Will it ‘level up’ the region?
Opposition leaders say the deal doesn’t go far enough to “truly ‘level-up’” the East Midlands – or, in other words, putting it on a more even footing with areas which have previously seen more investment, such as the south east.
The new combined authority – expected to be operational by May 2024 following the first mayoral election – would govern roughly 2.2 million people.
When broken down per head, the annual £38m settlement promises an extra £17.27 for every resident in the two cities and counties each year.
And Councillor Kate Foale, Labour group leader at County Hall, is sceptical, stating this initial figure will leave the region “continuing to play catch-up” with its neighbours.
Cllr Jason Zadrozny, the Ashfield Independent leader of Ashfield District Council, also has concerns and sees the mayoral role as a “new level of bureaucracy”.
Other councils in the region are weighing up the deal presented on Tuesday, with district and borough authorities not getting individual seats at the table of the new combined authority.
However, the overriding theme in statements from local leaders – including Mansfield District Council’s new chief executive Adam Hill – is that the deal is a “potential giant leap in the right direction”.
What happens next?
Getting the deal over the line depends entirely on MPs voting to back the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill in Parliament next year.
But there’s no guarantee this will be on the agenda as the Conservative leadership contest concludes this week.
Either Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak will be Prime Minister by next Monday and could well enforce their own, new vision of ‘levelling up’ with an entirely new cabinet.
Greg Clark, the Secretary of State who signed the the devolution deal on behalf of the Government on Tuesday (August 30), may not even be in the job next week.
But Mr Bradley is optimistic there will be no major change of approach, saying both Ms Truss and Mr Sunak are backing the Levelling Up Bill.
In the meantime, while local leaders await the bill making it through Parliament, they will look closely for the results of a consultation on the plan being held this winter.
After all the effort to get to this point; what do residents think? Has the political rhetoric resonated with people on the street, or does the public not care about devolution?
It’s only once these two steps have passed that we’ll get more details on how the new structure will look.
Spring 2023 to May 2024 would be a pivotal time in setting up projects, governance and departments for the new authority – and the new mayor – to get on with once it’s all been finalised.
And there’s the question of who will actually stand for election to the new role.
Mr Bradley, who has invested considerable political capital in backing the devolution deal, has not officially declared he will stand – but he’s consistently declined to rule it out.
One other thing could also affect how the deal works. The last time it was on the agenda locally, back in 2016, there was no cross-party consensus on how devolution would work.
Now we have leaders from all political parties backing the deal in principle and, like the rest of us, waiting to hear the finer details.
The latest pricing pledge – which is part of wider a £500 million investment commitment – comes as fresh figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) reveal that customers witnessed 9.3% food inflation in August, compared with the same month last year.
It said this will predominantly go towards the Price Lock campaign which freezes the price of a raft of its most popular products.
Around 2,000 food products and household items have had their prices fixed for at least eight weeks, including a number of own label lines.
Sainsbury’s said funding will also go towards its price match campaign against discounter rival Aldi.
Aldi and German rival Lidl have seen a jump in customer demand in recent months as cash-strapped shoppers have sought better deals for groceries as soaring energy bills continue to weigh on household spending.
Sainsbury’s said it would also use £5 million of its latest investment package to improve pricing at its Argos and Habitat homeware operations.
Mr Roberts said: “We know how tough this ‘back to school’ season is going to be for our customers.
“With families across the country facing big increases in their energy bills, the situation is serious and our most important job at Sainsbury’s is to help our customers in every way we can.
“We have made huge strides to lower prices since we launched our new plan but we are committed to going further.
“These are difficult times and all of us at Sainsbury’s are standing with our customers to ease the financial pressure they face.”
Friends and family of a Colwick woman celebrated for penning a humorous bus blog have splashed out on a surprise banner for her birthday, which is now being displayed on the side of her favourite mode of transport.
Jennie Wiseman has been an enthusiastic bus fan for some years and started a blog all about her favourite bus service – Red 44- a few years ago, much to the amusement of her friends & family.
They say Jennie’s blog has always kept them entertained with fun posts and humorous updates – especially during Covid when there wasn’t a lot of fun to be had.
The hashtag #buseswithjen, made popular on the blog, features on the birthday banner.
Friends and family say Wiseman has no knowledge of the birthday surprise which has caused some concern from her mother, Ruth, who said: “I just hope she notices it as she’s getting on and off her beloved bus”.
Elaine Flegg works with Jennie at the Windblowers music shop on Derby Road in the city centre says she always enjoys reading the blog.
She said: “Buseswithjen is hilarious, affectionate and familiar to all us fellow travellers.”
And she’s not the only one who thinks this is an appropriate gift – school friend Nikki Murphy added “Jen’s always been a fan of an easy rider; it’s a very fitting way to celebrate her milestone birthday.
“I hope she loves this as much as we all love her”
The bus banner took to the road on Monday (August 29) and will be on display for two weeks.
Asda has today announces it has agreed to acquire 132 sites from The Co-operative Group (“Co-op”) for £438m.
It’s estimated that the transaction has a total value of approximately £600m.
The supermarket giant has said the move is part of its growth strategy to move into the convenience market ‘and bring Asda value to more local communities’.
The purchase includes 129 established sites with a grocery retail store and attached petrol filling station.
The transaction is subject to normal conditions and will be financed through a combination of existing cash resources and bank finance.
(PHOTO: Asda)
2,300 colleagues currently employed in the Co-op stores will transfer to Asda’s employment under TUPE transfer following completion and after a transition period.
Mohsin Issa, Co-owner of Asda, said: “We have always been clear in our ambition to grow Asda and are hugely excited to create this new and distinct part of our business, giving us the opportunity to bring Asda value in fuel and groceries to even more customers and communities across the UK.
“We see convenience as a significant growth opportunity for the business. This acquisition accelerates our strategy in this area and forms part of our long-term ambition to become the UK’s second largest supermarket.
“We look forward to welcoming the Co-op colleagues to this new part of our business after we complete the transaction and due processes in the coming months.”
A new free bi-monthly magazine has been launched covering in-depth news from across Gedling borough.
This is Gedling was published for the first time last week and residents can now pick up a free copy from a number of venues across Gedling borough – including most bars, leisure centres, medical centres, libraries and takeaways.
The magazine features forty pages of news, features and lifestyle articles all about the borough.
This is Gedling has been created by independent publisher Swift Publications, with support from the team at Gedling Eye.
Magazine owner Justin Doddy said he decided to publish the magazine after spotting a gap in the market.
He said: “Digitally I think the borough is pretty much covered but there wasn’t really anything on the market covering local news in depth in print.
PICTURED: Readers enjoying the new magazine after picking up a copy at The Crossings Club in Carlton
“Not everyone can get online or access digital news so hopefully now they can read about news in their neighbourhoods the old fashioned way.
“Also, I think people still like to sit down and read something that they can hold in their hands rather than just via a phone or tablet all the time.”
Mr Doddy added: “I hope people will pick up one and let us know what they think.”
The free magazine is being supported by local advertisers.
If you run a venue and would like to stock This is Gedling, you can contact the team to organise a free delivery here: https://thisisgedling.co.uk/contact-us/
