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Nottingham City Transport raises fares as cost of living bites

The price of some bus services running in Gedling borough is set to increase next week as a result of rising inflation, and the high cost of fuel, parts and wages. 

Nottingham City Transport have announced plans to introduce new fares from Sunday, August 28, 2022, in response to what they say are ‘significantly increased operating costs’.

A Lilac 25 bus in Carlton
PICTURED: Lilac 25 bus in Carlton

The transport firm says fuel and staffing costs are much higher than at the start of the year, with diesel costing NCT up to 50% more and its gas price almost double. 

They say NCT driver pay rates have also increased by 8.5-9.5% this year, in response to the national shortage of bus drivers, with higher rates of pay introduced to recruit new drivers and minimise cancellations that are affecting the industry.

Despite these significant cost pressures, the average fare increase is below the current 10.1% rate of inflation, at 6%, as NCT continues to absorb much of the higher costs being faced.

David Astill, NCT’s managing director said, “We appreciate these are difficult times for all and our business is contending with cost increases too. We have absorbed as much of the increase in staffing and fuel costs as we can and as a result, the increase on our main fares is well below the current rate of inflation. We are confident our fares continue to offer value for money with many discounted fare options for the regular traveller.”

New prices in the Nottingham City Area, which apply to all payment methods, will be:


Adult
Under 19Group
Short Hop Frozen at £1.50
Local Fare Clifton £1.50£1.50
Standard Single £2.50£1.50
Standard Single x 10 Trips (App only)£22.50£13.50 
All Day Ticket – Nottingham £4.70£2.70£7.00
All Day Ticket – NCT Network£7.00£5.50£10.00
Park & Ride £5.00 per car

Outer Area fares on South Notts 1, Pathfinder 26 and Sky Blue 46, 47 will increase for the first time in 3½ years, with single fares rising by up to 80p and day return fares rising by up to 90p.

New Easyrider Everyday and Anyday prices (and equivalent passes on the NCTX Buses app) are:

Nottingham City Area:

EverydayAdultUnder 19Student
Week£20.00£11.00£15.50
1 Month£65.00£32.50£50.00
3 Months£175.00£90.00
6 Months£325.00£162.50
12 Months£585.00£293.00£325.00
AnydayAdultUnder 19Student
5 Days£19.85£10.24£16.87
10 Days£37.71£19.45£32.05
20 Days£71.44£36.86£60.73
50 Days£168.68£87.02£143.38
100 Days£317.52£163.80£269.89
150 Days£446.52£230.34£379.54

Outer Area:

Everyday FurtherAdultUnder 19Student
Week£25.73£16.28£21.87
1 Month£93.19£63.00£79.21
3 Months£267.75£170.89
6 Months£504.00£339.15
12 Months£898.90£637.35£763.98
Anyday FurtherAdultUnder 19Student
5 Days£27.30£18.90£23.21
10 Days£51.87£35.91£44.09
20 Days£98.28£68.04£83.54
50 Days£232.05£160.65£197.24
100 Days£436.80£302.40£327.28
150 Days£614.28£425.25£522.11

Further details of the price rise are available at www.nctx.co.uk/farechange

Bungling Calverton thief jailed after pushing stolen fridge freezer in wheelbarrow

A persistent offender has been jailed after he was spotted pushing a stolen fridge freezer down the road in a wheelbarrow in Calverton

Officers patrolling the village were alerted to the theft of the fridge, a washing machine, dish washer and toilet from a nearby property.

Witnesses later reported seeing a man wheeling the fridge through the village.

Arrests Nottinghamshire Police
Michael Wilson was arrested at his home by police officers

Michael Wilson, 47, of Labray Road, Calverton, was arrested at his home address a short time later at around 3pm on August 15, 2022.

On searching the property, officers found the fridge freezer which was still in its packaging.

Wilson, who has previous convictions for burglary, was also found to have a small amount of cannabis in his pocket.

He appeared at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday (August 17) where he was jailed for 30 weeks after admitting possession of drugs and handling stolen goods.

Police Constable Carly Smith, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “Wilson is a persistent offender and we hope this result provides reassurance to the community.

“We have had a lot of reports of crime in this area but the public should rest assured that our officers are working tirelessly to remove this type of law breaking from our communities and to take offenders off our streets.”

Post disruption warned for Gedling borough residents as Royal Mail workers prepare to strike

Residents in Gedling borough are being warned of serious disruption to post over the next few weeks.

Postal workers employed by Royal Mail are set to strike for the first time in 13 years in a national dispute over pay.

When are the Royal Mail strikes?

Royal Mail staff plan to strike on:

  • Friday, August 26
  • Wednesday, August 31
  • Thursday, September 8
  • Friday, September 9

How will services be affected?

The company has apologised to customers, but says it has plans to minimise the disruption.

In a statement it said: “Royal Mail has well-developed contingency plans, but they cannot fully replace the daily efforts of its frontline workforce. We will be doing what we can to keep services running, but customers should expect significant disruption.”

On days when strike action is taking place, Royal Mail says it will:

  • Deliver as many special delivery and tracked 24 parcels as possible
  • Prioritise the delivery of Covid test kits and medical prescriptions wherever possible
  • Not be delivering letters (with the exception of special delivery)
  • Items posted the day before, during or in the days after any strike action will be subject to delay.
Royal Mail

Why are the strikes happening?

The move follows an overwhelming vote earlier in July, in which postal workers voted by a margin of more than 97 per cent to take strike action.

This is in pursuance of their union’s pay claim, with the Communication Workers Union stating this is against a backdrop of the company imposing a two per cent increase on the workforce without reaching agreement with the trade union.

Workers are demanding a “dignified, proper pay rise”.

“We can’t keep on living in a country where bosses rake in billions in profit while their employees are forced to use food banks,” CWU general secretary Dave Ward has said.

“When Royal Mail bosses are raking in £758m in profit and shareholders pocketing £400m, our members won’t accept pleads of poverty from the company.

“The CWU’s message to Royal Mail’s leadership is simple – there will be serious disruption until you get real on pay.”

In response to the proposed action, a Royal Mail spokesman commented: “Instead of engaging meaningfully on change that will secure future jobs, the CWU has decided to ballot against change.

“We are losing £1million a day, and we need to change what we are doing to fix the situation and protect jobs.

“This change is also needed to support the pay package we have offered to CWU grade colleagues, worth up to 5.5 per cent.

“This is the biggest increase we have offered for many years and the CWU has rejected it.

“This would add around £230million to Royal Mail’s annual people costs when the business is already loss-making.

“The CWU has put forward ideas for change that would cost over £1billion, while not delivering the changes needed to ensure Royal Mail can grow and remain competitive in a fast-moving industry.

“These actions do not represent a union that supports change. We wanted to meet this week but were disappointed the CWU could not make it – we hope to meet next week.

“The CWU have their heads in the sand and are failing to grasp the seriousness of the situation.

“Royal Mail can have a bright future, but we cannot achieve that by living in the past. Customers want more parcels, bigger parcels, delivered the next day, including Sundays, and more environmentally friendly options.

“By modernising, we can offer more of what our customers want at a price they are willing to pay, all while protecting jobs on the best terms and conditions in the industry.”

Much-loved historic Arnold pub was sold to help start iconic brewery

There have been a large number of pubs in Arnold over the years, with some 40 public houses being recorded in the town at various times.

Many of these may in fact be the same pub as they changed their names from time to time with the Old Spot now being called Cooper’s Brook and the Horse and Jockey now being called Eagles Corner. These being two recent examples of this trend. 

Pub names were traditional and therefore old pub names have a meaning connected with the area, history or position of the establishment. Many original pub names were derived from a simple sign or object since most people could not read so the boozer had to be easily identified.

The Plough was an easy object to put outside a pub in the countryside. Some sign artists depict the Plough as the constellation; this consists of seven stars and so leads to the name the Seven Stars found in Arnold, Redcliffe, Bristol, Shincliffe, County Durham, Chancery Lane, Robertsbridge and High Holborn

The Seven Stars pub building on Calverton Road, Arnold was much older than its first recorded date of 1805 and is possibly from the 1700s. It is known that there were four pubs in Arnold in 1644 but not where they were positioned, or their names, so there may have been a previous building on this site. This may well have been called The Plough and had a plough as a sign. It could have also been The Star as this was traditionally the pub name of the building nearest to a St Mary’s Church. The Seven Stars and The Star being common in this form. An example of this was that my younger daughter used to live in a converted pub in Thetford, Norfolk next to the local St Mary’s Church and this had been called The Star.

The Seven Stars in Arnold had been owned in the 1800s by the Robinson family and was one of a number of local pubs they acquired early on as part of their business ventures. The two brothers John and Samuel Robinson, who started Home Brewery and Daybrook Laundry, bought pubs before they started the brewery.

The brothers appear to have given this one up on Seven Stars however as it was a Hutchinsons Basford Brewery pub in 1913.

The sale along with others was possibly to raise money to start the Home Brewery. They must have bought it back again at a later date as it sold Home Ales later in its life.

Earlier landlords of this pub appear to have been from the same family and it was possible that it was family owned rather than having tenant landlords..Thomas Sulley was the publican of the Seven Stars Pub in Caverton Road, Arnold in 1881 Joseph Sulley was the publican in 1891 (presumably his son) and another Thomas Sulley was the publican in 1905 (presumably Joseph’s son).

In the 1800s venues around Nottingham included the Seven Stars in Arnold, would have been kept busy with inquests in to sudden deaths.

During the first half of the 20th century pit deaths in Notts were running at around five every month with 1929 topping the list with 64 men killed. Many of the local ones at Bestwood, Calverton and Gedling pits involved local Arnold men and these inquests were held at the Seven Stars.

These deaths from accidents included: Roof falls, falls down the shaft, falling objects, being killed by tools, being kicked/crushed/bitten by horses…and one death from a diseased animal. Men were caught in machinery, drowned, electrocuted, burnt, scalded, run over by moving tubs, asphyxiated or killed by rope breaks. Working the pits was a very dangerous occupation at the time.

When the Seven Stars finally closed its doors in 1969, the licence was transferred to the Long Bow pub which replaced it further up Calverton Road,

The last licensee Keith Robins went to the Flying Horse on High Street, Arnold. This was another pub with a long history but that’s a story for another day.

Gedling Borough Council reveals £150 tax rebate scheme has been extended for those who have not claimed cash using paper vouchers

Gedling Borough Council is urging those who have not claimed their £150 tax rebate using a paper voucher not to miss out.

The government issued the council tax rebate earlier this year to help with increased home energy costs

Gas stove

The rebates were mostly paid to residents via direct debit – but not everyone could accept payments in this way.

The council allowed people to claim the cash from a Post Office using a paper voucher, but they have revealed not all these vouchers have been used.

A council spokesman said: “We recently launched a scheme for residents who we could not pay their Energy Bills Rebate directly where they could claim the rebate from a local Post Office before August 13th, using a paper voucher sent to them in the post.

“A small number of these were not claimed before the expiry date.

“The scheme has now been extended until August 31, 2022 and new invites are on their way this week to residents that failed to redeem their first voucher.

They added: “The new vouchers also include an updated list of forms of ID that can be used to claim the rebate, including blue badges and local authority issued bus passes.”

Find out more about the Energy Bills Rebate https://orlo.uk/Energy_Bills_Rebate_AE458

Campaign success as council plans crossing on Digby Avenue in Mapperley

Highways chiefs have agreed in principle to install a zebra crossing on a busy Mapperley road, following a family’s high-profile campaign.

The crossing will now be installed on Digby Avenue – which has been described as a “racetrack” by residents with motorists driving down at “ridiculous speeds”

The road passes three schools, a park and residential complex for older people.

Pictured: Minnie Willis-Crowther,left, with Gedling MP Tom Randall MP, right, whose idea the crossing was, on Digby Avenue where a zebra crossing is desperately needed and will now be installed.

The campaign for the crossing was started by the Willis-Crowther family, who live on the road.

They set up a petition last year calling for a crossing on the road which went on to attract over 800 signatures. The idea for the petition came from the family’s five-year-old daughter Minnie.

The campaign was also backed by Gedling MP Tom Randall, who wrote to all residents in the street informing them of the petition and also helped collect signatures from those living on Digby Avenue and from parents at the nearby schools.

The petition was handed to Nottinghamshire County Council by Arnold North Cllr John Clarke (Lab), who told a meeting of councillors that “This road is in serious need of some traffic calming.”

The petition prompted Nottinghamshire County Council to carry out a traffic review, with a decision now being taken to include a crossing in their 2022/23 integrated transport plan for delivery.

Gedling MP Randall said he was ‘thrilled’ by the decision and visited residents earlier today to congratulate them on their campaign success.

He told Gedling Eye: “There was a strong response on the doorstep to the idea of a crossing. Many residents were concerned at the busy traffic, particularly at peak times. I am pleased the County Council has acted upon this and I hope that this crossing will help all local residents, from children going to school to walkers off to Digby Park.”

Tom Randall Digby Avenue-Mapperley
PICTURED: Gedling MP Tom Randall collecting signatures calling for a pedestrian crossing on Digby Avenue (PHOTO: Facebook)

Nottinghamshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Transport and Environment, Councillor Neil Clarke MBE, said: “This is yet another example of Nottinghamshire County Council listening to the priorities of our residents and taking steps to protect the safety of school children and other pedestrians.”

Nottingham Hospital’s comms chief ‘blocked’ bereaved parents on Twitter

Nottingham University Hospital’s director of communications has apologised after she blocked the Twitter accounts of parents whose babies have died in the care of the trust.

Tiffany Jones, director of Communications and Engagement at the trust – which runs the Queen’s Medical Centre and City Hospital – has also since deleted her Twitter account.

QMC
PICTURED: Queen’s Medical Centre

One of the parents who was blocked, Kimberley Errington, whose baby Teddy died in November 2020, said she was “shocked and utterly dismayed” at “yet another unbelievable blunder” involving the trust.

She tweeted to say she had noticed she had been blocked by Ms Jones on Thursday evening (Aug 18). Some other parents then also tweeted that they had been blocked.

By ‘blocking’ someone on the social media platform, a Twitter user prevents another specific user from contacting them, seeing their Tweets, and following them.

Anyone who visits the profile of an account that has blocked them sees a message alerting them of the block.

“I apologise wholeheartedly for the upset my decision to block some individuals from my personal Twitter account may have unintentionally caused”, Ms Jones wrote on August 19.

She added: “I have reflected and made the decision to delete my Twitter account.”

Ms Jones’ account profile displayed her job title and tagged the trust before it was deleted.

NUH’s maternity services are ‘rated’ inadequate by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), which has also criticised the trust’s culture and leadership.

Senior midwife Donna Ockenden is due to start a review into the trust’s maternity units next month.

NUH’s social media policy, approved in 2019, covers both work and personal accounts – and says social media users must not “criticise or cause embarrassment to the Trust, its patients, healthcare partners, other stakeholders or staff in a public post”.

It is not clear when individual families were blocked by the account.

Ms Errington, whose baby Teddy died after “undoubted failings” by healthcare professionals, said: “I want the hospital and their senior staff to start accepting their mistakes and shortcomings, learn from them and stop repeating them.

“Listen, learn, engage, own and then act; with compassion and empathy.”

Jack and Sarah Hawkins, whose baby Harriet died at Nottingham City Hospital in 2016, were also blocked by the account.

Mrs Hawkins said: “I was on Twitter and I didn’t recognise the name of the account, so I clicked on it and saw I was blocked.

“We have never tweeted her or direct messaged her so it’s completely random.

“Considering her job as director of communications, to block bereaved parents is completely confusing and wrong.

“She is a mouthpiece for the organisation so this is our concern – that the culture of NUH is to block us out.”

A spokesperson for Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust said: “We offer our sincere apologies for the undue upset caused.

“We know the devastation caused to families when we have not delivered the best care in our maternity service and we are committed to engaging with and listening to families in order to make the necessary improvements.”

OPINION: I fear for future of Hobbucks Nature Reserve if Killisick Lane land sale isn’t managed properly by council

I use the Hobbucks Nature Reserve and surrounding fields two to three times per week for walks, exercise, to botanise, to observe wildlife and for photography. The benefit to my mental and physical health is enormous, in turn saving the NHS money.

I’ve been trying to digest the proposals made as part of the consultation over the sale of council-owned land near Killisick Lane and have significant concerns – but I do understand the difficult position the council is in.

PICTURED: Killisick Lane in Arnold (PHOTO: Howard Usher)

My main concern is around the ‘fields’ to the left or west of Killisick Lane, directly adjoining the Hobbucks Nature Reserve. The land to the right or east has always been likely to be built on.

The concerns about the land to the west are that it is already part of the nature reserve in all but name. Nature does not understand ownership and boundaries, and flora and fauna have already moved in – contrary to what Gedling Borough Council have said, the area is not overgrown, but is naturally regenerating into a wildlife rich area alongside the existing nature reserve.

Destruction of this land, alongside the corner of the Hobbucks being sold and the established hedgerows alongside Killisick Lane amounts to environmental vandalism. We cannot afford to lose any more trees, hedgerows, plants or wildlife in this climate emergency.

Like other people, I fear we will not really have any say and decisions have already been made.

If a development does go ahead, I fear for the existing nature reserve, land grabs and the impact developers will have on the Hobbucks itself.

If the development does go ahead, there must be a no-build zone created on the land sold that is adjacent to the existing Hobbucks boundary otherwise developers will creep into the Hobbucks, removing overhanging vegetation from the reserve and destroying the margins of the Hobbucks. Developers are not renowned for their sensitivity to wildlife or nearby areas.

The Hobbucks in its entirety must be protected at all costs and in fact extended or what do we have left? Where can we walk to get exercise or connect with nature?

The so-called countryside is bereft of wildlife already – field after field of monoculture or sheep, hedgerows ripped out to improve productivity.

The nature reserve is one of the main things attracting people to the area to live – in the spring the birdsong is amazing, providing an escape from the built-up world, improving people’s lives. Any development impacting the reserve will reduce the attractiveness of the area and take away the benefit of living here, leading to further mental and physical problems for residents.

The Hobbucks, Killisick Lane and surrounding land contains rich established woodland, hedgerows, scrub and grassland, high in biodiversity at a time where nature is being attacked from all quarters. Much of this would take 30-plus years to establish elsewhere, so it is irreplaceable.

The best compromise, in my opinion, would be development to the right/east of Killisick Lane in the uncultivated fields, whilst re-investing in expansion of the Hobbucks to the left/west – a win-win for wildlife, local people and house building.

Anything else will lead to the council losing support of people like myself.

You can read more of Howard’s nature blogs at his website that can be found HERE

Preloved school uniforms available for free at upcycling event in Mapperley to help parents during cost of living crisis

Parents and carers can pick up free school uniforms for their children at an event tomorrow (20) being held in Mapperley to help those struggling due to the cost of living crisis and also help save the planet.

The Open Day has been organised by The Uniform Project and is taking place at St Jude’s Church, on Woodborough Road between 1pm-4pm.

school-pupil

Uniforms on display are free – although organisers ask that a small donation is made if possible to help them continue running the events.

Those attending are only asked to take what they need and ‘think of others’. A spokesman for the project said: “If your child is in 4-5 jumpers, they do not need 7-8 jumpers just yet. If you take items in advance, you are taking away a jumper from someone who needs this size for this school year.”

READ MORE:

They added: “Once your child has grown out of their items, please donate them back to us, so they can be recycled all over again and benefit another child as well as our beautiful planet.”

The Uniform Project was set up to help parents, schools and communities in Nottingham to reduce clothing waste by upcycling school uniforms.

The Project achieves this by collecting uniform donations from schools throughout the year and releasing them back to the community for parents to upcycle and save money at the same time.

The Uniform Project was founded by a Nottingham mum called Emma, is supported by Councillor Audrey Dinnall, the Woven Churches and St John’s Church (Carrington), Himmah and Sharewear to save school uniforms from landfill, helping save the planet.

Asda rewards card launches in Arnold store following successful trial

Asda is now rolling out its loyalty programme, Asda Rewards, to its Arnold store following a successful trial.

The loyalty scheme has been in customer trials since October 2021 and more than one million customers have signed up to the app.

Asda store Arnold
PICTURED: Asda’s store on Front Street in Arnold

The app is available on both Google Play Store and Apple’s App Store

Shoppers can earn Asda Rewards every time they shop by scanning their app when they check out. They will be rewarded in three simple ways easy ways:

· By completing in-app missions, such as:

  • The ‘Back to School’ mission, where customers receive £5 into their Cashpots when they spend £25 on George school uniform.
  • Fruit and Veg Bonus – buying any 10 fruit and veg products will earn £1.50 for the Cashpot.

· By buying ‘Star Products’ which are highlighted throughout the store:

  • There are over 400 ‘Star Products’ available across own brand and branded lines – where customers will receive 10% back into their Cashpot when they add any of these products to their basket.

READ MORE: Latest planning applications in Gedling borough

The cash each customer saves in their cashpot via the app can then be used for money off their next shop.

Asda senior director for loyalty, Mark Baxter, said: “We’re incredibly excited to be able to give all our customers access to Asda Rewards across the UK so they can start to earn rewards & build their cashpot,” said

“We know that times are tough for families right now, so it’s great to be able to reward them for simply shopping with us.”