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20 residential properties set to be granted planning permission on former care home site in Carlton

Gedling Eye Reporter
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20 residential properties set to be granted planning permission on former care home site in Carlton

Planning permission is set to be granted for 20 residential apartments on a former care home site in Carlton.

Gedling Borough Council’s planning committee is set to discuss the application on Wednesday, December 1.

Developers want to build the one to two-bedroom apartments on the site of Highclere Lodge in Burton Road.

The site was once a 28-bed care home which has now been demolished.

There would be 16 car parking spaces as well as cycle parking as part of the development. Twenty per cent of the homes will be affordable.

Council planning officers were originally against the application as some of the trees on the site are protected by a Tree Preservation Order and there is a “potential” for archaeological remains to be present.

Changes to the plans have been made to address the issues raised.

PICTURED: The sire of former residential home Highclere Lodge in Carlton

The planning officer states in a report prepared for councillors the local authority had raised concerns with the original scheme.

“Concerns were raised that the proposal represented an overdevelopment of the site and that the development left very little room for soft landscaping or open space making it appear at odds with surrounding dwellings which are set back from the road in larger plots,” the officer stated.

The planning officer also supported both the arboricultural officer’s objection to the original proposal and the Nottinghamshire County Council’s tree officer’s objection.

“In particular, this was an objection to the removal of TPO (protected) trees to facilitate the development,” the officer added.

They said following negotiations between the planning officer and the applicant, a number of amended plans were submitted.

The report states: “The final set of amended plans, which are currently being considered, show a reduction in the number of residential units proposed from 22 to 20, a reduction in and a re-siting of the building away from the TPO trees and the incorporation of a mansard roof.

“On balance, I do consider the design of the amended proposal to be acceptable and to not have an unacceptable impact on the character or visual amenity of the area.”

Both the arboricultural Officer and the tree officer have raised no objections to the current amended plans, which allow for protected and other high-grade trees to remain.

The council has recommended planning permission is granted. Councillors will decide whether to grant the application on December 1.

Fears raised over ‘dangerous’ crossings in Netherfield town centre

David Bratton
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Fears raised over ‘dangerous’ crossings in Netherfield town centre

Residents and business owners have raised road safety concerns over “dangerous” pedestrian crossings in Netherfield town centre

They fear someone may be killed or seriously injured on the double crossings at the junction of Victoria Road and Meadow Road.

Residents and businesses in the town say they contacted the council in the past about the crossings but no action has yet been taken.

David Murphy runs the It’s Inn The Bank pub with wife Nicola. Both crossings are situated on the stretch of road outside their business.

He says he witnesses incidents on the crossings almost daily.

Mr Murphy said:”If someone stood here at these crossings for over an hour they would see someone nearly being run over.

“The problem here in Netherfield is you have one crossing and then as vehicles come round the corner there is another.

“Sometimes people who haven’t ever been in this area go straight through the second crossing. They see there is nobody on the first crossing and come round this corner like a chicane and go flying through the second one.

“When I am going to and fro to my van at least once or twice a weekend a car will go through while I am halfway on the crossing. I always laugh and say that if they hit me they’ll probably write their van off but we’ve got older and vulnerable people and we’ve got children and even worse, mums with prams using the crossings and cars are whipping round the corners so dangerously.

Netherfield crossings
PICTURED: The crossing on Meadow Road in Netherfield (PHOTO: Gedling Eye)

“I think the council needs to put up some major signage telling drivers there are two pedestrian crossings in this area. They need to come and do something because we’ve been talking about it for years and we’re going to end up talking about someone getting seriously injured, or worse – killed.

Stephen Swinn lives in Gedling and visits Netherfield on a regular basis. He told Gedling Eye he fears someone will soon be seriously hurt on these crossings if action isn’t taken.

He said: “I have grave concerns that many drivers in Netherfield are showing a complete disregard to these pedestrian crossings.

“Many think its acceptable to proceed over these two crossings even when in use by pedestrians.

“I did witness a very mature lady using the crossing here and being missed by inches.

“Only this weekend I had a near miss while using this crossing when two cars didn’t stop.”

“Sadly I can see a situation where someone is killed by these actions.”

Alan Groves visits his daughter in the town and often takes his grandaughter out to the local shops.

“You’re risking you life when you use those crossings. Some drivers see I have a young child with me and still don’t stop,” he said.

“They need signs up warning people about the two crossings and a CCTV camera capturing the numberplate of those that ignore the fact someone is using them.”

Councillor Mike Adams represents Carlton East, which covers Netherfield, on Nottinghamshire County Council and are responsible for roads in the county.

He is also vice chairman of the council’s Transport and Environment Committee.

Councillor Adams said he was ‘sorry to hear of this’ problem and ‘would help and get involved’.

High-speed chase through Mapperley on tonight’s Police Interceptors

Gedling Eye Reporter
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High-speed chase through Mapperley on tonight’s Police Interceptors

A high-speed chase through Mapperley is featured on tonight’s episode of Channel Five’s Police Interceptors.

Two men landed jail sentences as a result of the pursuit.

The episode shows officers patrolling the streets of St Ann’s when they spot a Peugeot 607.

Following intelligence, they went to investigate and get a closer look at the car, but it soon took a sharp left onto Hungerhill Road and took off.

Having followed the car and seen this, cops switched on their lights – but the ‘blues and twos’ had no effect on the driver, who refused to stop.

It was then that trained tactical pursuit officers, including PC Rob Eley, were called in to bring the driver to a stop.

The driver reached speeds of 70mph, including through a 20mph speed limit zone, and narrowly missed a police car in his desperate attempt to evade officers, so it was a priority to stop him. Despite their efforts, he continued to hurtle around these built-up areas so, using their training, Rob and the team began to work on the tactics to bring the pursuit to a conclusion whilst pulling back to monitor the driver from further away, looking to decrease any additional risk.

As the car reached the junction of Mapperley Hall Drive and Woodland Drive, Mapperley, the driver lost control. Having reached a dead end it tried to reverse – but the interceptors were prepared and quickly boxed it in. They also quickly detained the man following the incident at around 1.25am on 1 September 2020.

Craig Ingle, 48, of no fixed address, was sentenced to 12 months in prison and disqualified from driving for five years after appearing at Nottingham Crown Court on 15 January 2021.

He was found guilty of dangerous driving, driving without insurance and driving without a licence.

PC Eley said: “Speed limits are in place for a reason, and, in particular where it is a 20mph zone it is likely because it is a highly built-up area which sees lots of footfall.

“Ingle took many, many risks driving how he did and travelling at such speeds and we are thankful this was in the early hours of the morning where the roads were slightly quieter and that no one was injured.

“When we were called up for support, it was imperative we acted quickly. Our priority is to keep members of the public safe – and the longer a pursuit goes on, the more risky it tends to get.

“So, as a team it was really important to work together to keep sight of him and bring him to a stop as soon as possible and prevent any conclusion that could potentially be disastrous. We saw him come towards us as the pursuit came through the Forest Fields area and we worked on our tactical plan to stop him.

“He lost control as he came to a dead end and we took that opportunity to stop him for good.

“We boxed him in and I took the initiative to block off the driver’s door to stop any chance that he would get away on foot.

“Shortly after, he was detained. It was definitely a relief when we got to stop him as he was showing a complete disregard for us and the road. It’s also pleasing to hear that he got a custodial sentence.

“It’s a reminder to anyone who tries to escape officers that we are highly trained tactical pursuit drivers and when there’s a team of us following them its only a matter of time before their luck runs out.”

Tune in to Channel 5 at 8pm to see all this and more on tonight’s Police Interceptors.

Relationship between patients and GPs is ‘starting to degrade’ as staff suffer from burnout

Anna Whittaker (LDR reporter)
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Relationship between patients and GPs is ‘starting to degrade’ as staff suffer from burnout

A leading Nottinghamshire doctor has spoken out about the ‘distressed’ state of general practice surgeries and says the relationship between patients and professionals is “starting to degrade”.

Dr Stephen Shortt, Clinical Chair at the NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), said some staff are considering their futures in the sector due to the “stress, burnout and the unsustainability of the workload”.

He made the comments during the Health Scrutiny Committee at Nottinghamshire County Council on November 23.

He says he sees around 50 patients a day, around half of them face-to-face.

He said: “From the start of the pandemic to current times the professional-patient relationship has been strong and effective.

“And yet, it is starting to degrade at the present time through to the longevity of the pandemic and frustrations which are now coming to the fore.

“Even before the pandemic, we were already dealing with a system which was struggling.

GP-Healthcare

“The burden on general practice was great to start with and its weaknesses have been amplified by the covid conditions.

“Currently the state of general practice is that it is distressed and it is struggling as many other parts of society are.

“Colleagues have found the last 18 months very difficult indeed and there is much stress, burnout and there is much talk of the unsustainability of the workload.

“Colleagues are considering their work-life balance and whether they want to remain in general practice or not.

“General practice is fundamentally vulnerable and the pandemic has revealed that.”

He added when he hears of patients waiting for 45 minutes in a queue it is “deeply embarrassing and unsatisfactory”.

Dr Shortt added that he didn’t want to “adopt the mantle of victimhood” and said that many colleagues regard working in the sector as “a joy”.

It comes as data from the Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), which was given to councillors, shows about one in six people waited 15 days or more to see a doctor across the 31 days in August 2021.

This amounted to 76,224 out of 454,315 appointments or 16.77 per cent – and more than 20,000 patients waited longer than four weeks to see their GP.

In August 2020, 52,736 patients had to wait more than two weeks to see their GP, which equated to 13.21 per cent of appointments.

Gedling borough MPs vote on Government social care reform plans

Gedling Eye Reporter
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Gedling borough MPs vote on Government social care reform plans

Plans to reform the way people pay for social care in England have been voted on – and Gedling borough MPs have had their say.

The Conservative-led government’s proposals were approved by 272 ayes to 246 noes.

This tight result was due to significant opposition from other political parties and some Tory MPs, with concerns that not enough is being done to protect the poorest pensioners.

One of the main features of the reform is a ‘cap’ on the amount people will have to pay towards their personal care.

It will be set at £86,000, and after this has been reached, the local authority will take over the financing.

Houses of Parliament

However, this does not include living costs such as food, energy bills or accommodation.

Many argue that the new proposal could lead to people living in cheaper houses having their assets wiped out.

See how your Gedling borough MP voted:

Tom Randall (Conservative – Gedling) – For

Mark Spencer (Conservative – Sherwood) – For

East Midlands Railway reveals plans for reinstating train services in Gedling borough

Gedling Eye Reporter
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East Midlands Railway reveals plans for reinstating train services in Gedling borough

East Midlands Railway (EMR) has today revealed plans to reinstate services in Gedling borough that were cancelled back in May of this year.

The timetable increase will be delivered in two stages, with the majority of services being reinstated from Monday, December 13. A second and slightly smaller increase will then be delivered from Monday, January 3, as customers return to work and education.

From January 3, EMR plans to increase Liverpool to Norwich services as well as further reinstatements between Crewe and Newark Castle, Leicester and Cleethorpes routes – which all run through the borough.

EMR has said that to help these service reinstatements, a small number of changes will be made on the Nottingham to Skegness route, which occasionally calls at Netherfield, during the Winter period to reflect the reduced passenger demand.

These changes will remain under review and arrangements will be made to either reinstate or supplement through strengthening during anticipated periods of strong passenger demand.

Train-suspended
More services will be running to and from Carlton Station

Paul Barnfield, operations director at East Midlands Railway, said: “In recent months, a dedicated team has been working hard to improve the reliability and performance of our services to allow us to reinstate a number of our regional services.

“In doing so, we have aimed to prioritise services which have been the most requested by our customers and local stakeholders while also being careful to ensure our timetable is robust, reliable and as cost efficient to taxpayers as possible.

“These services will be reinstated in two stages either side of Christmas. This is an incremental and sensible approach to reinstating services at what is typically the quietest time of the year to travel. As such, I would ask customers to check their journeys between December 13 and January 3 before setting off, by visiting www.eastmidlandsrailway.co.uk.”

Full details can be found below and on EMR’s website here https://www.eastmidlandsrailway.co.uk/amended-timetable

Services reinstated from Monday, December 13 2021

Liverpool to Norwich (Full reinstatements)

  • 0642 Sheffield – Nottingham
  • 0741 Nottingham – Norwich
  • 1651 Liverpool Lime Street – Nottingham
  • 1851 Liverpool Lime Street – Nottingham
  • 2141 Manchester Piccadilly – Nottingham 
  • 1257 Norwich – Liverpool Lime Street
  • 1656 Norwich – Manchester Piccadilly

Matlock to Nottingham 

  • Continues to run Matlock to Derby only

Crewe to Newark Castle

  • 0736 Newark Castle – Crewe
  • 1243 Newark Castle – Crewe
  • 1736 Newark Castle – Crewe
  • 1008 Crewe – Newark Castle
  • 1508 Crewe – Newark Castle
  • 2009 Crewe – Nottingham

Leicester to Cleethorpes

  • 0727 Nottingham – Leicester
  • 0842 Leicester – Nottingham

Full cancellations

  • 0846 Nottingham – Skegness
  • 1114 Skegness – Nottingham
  • 1346 Nottingham – Skegness
  • 1614 Skegness – Nottingham

The following services will be temporarily removed from EMR’s timetable on Monday, December 13 and will be reinstated on Monday, January 3, 2022

  • 0607 Nottingham – Norwich
  • 0955 Norwich – Liverpool (between Norwich and Nottingham)
  • 1208 Crewe – Newark Castle (between Derby and Newark Castle on Weekdays and Nottingham and Newark Castle on Saturdays)
  • 1436 Newark Castle – Crewe (between Newark Castle and Derby Mon-Fri and between Newark Castle and Nottingham on Saturdays)

Services Reinstated from Monday, January 3, 2022

Liverpool to Norwich

  • 0647 Liverpool – Norwich (between Liverpool & Nottingham)
  • 1051 Liverpool – Norwich (between Liverpool & Nottingham)
  • 0747 Nottingham – Liverpool Lime Street
  • 1057 Norwich – Liverpool Lime Street  (between Nottingham 

Bulb Energy collapses into administration – what it means for the supplier’s customers in Gedling borough

Gedling Eye Reporter
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Bulb Energy collapses into administration – what it means for the supplier’s customers in Gedling borough

Energy supplier Bulb has gone bust and placed into special administration – but will continue to supply their customers in Gedling borough as normal.

The company’s demise is the latest in the sector with more than 20 suppliers collapsing since the start of the year amid the soaring price of gas.

Bulb said it would be placed into special administration – a process designed to protect customers when a large energy supplier can no longer trade.

What should Bulb customers do?

Bulb customers do not need to do anything at this stage.

Bulb says: “Special administration is designed to allow Bulb to continue to operate as usual so you don’t need to take any action. Your tariffs are not changing, and the price cap applies to all consumer energy tariffs. If you pay for your energy by top up, your top ups will continue to work as normal. If you’re in the process of switching to or from Bulb, your switch will continue.”

An Ofgem spokesperson said: “Customers of Bulb do not need to worry – Bulb will continue to operate as normal. Ofgem is working very closely with Government. This includes plans for Ofgem to apply to Court to appoint an administrator who will run the company. Customers will see no disruption to their supply and their account and tariff will continue as normal. Bulb staff will still be available to answer calls and queries.”

Bulb customers may want to take regular meter reading and record them in case of any changes in future.

Energy_gas

What is a special administration?

Special administration is a process that ensures electricity keeps flowing when large energy companies collapse.

Ofgem and the government will appoint an official administrator to run the business until a more permanent solution can be found. The cost of running the business in administration will be paid for by the government.

What happens next?

Ofgem and the government will appoint an official administrator to run the business until a more permanent solution can be found. The cost of running the business in administration will be paid for by the government.

Will bills go up?

Customers are protected from any price rises until April 2022 under Ofgem’s price cap system, so long as they remain on their current deals with Bulb.

Longer term, the rise in wholesale gas prices and the cost of dealing with widespread failures across the industry means bills are likely to go up next year across the sector when the price cap is reviewed next Spring.

Martin Young, an analyst at investment bank Investec, said: “Consumers look set to shoulder the price of failure, possibly to the tune of £75/dual-fuel customer or more. They will rightly want answers.”

‘Lessons learned’ over £8.6m price hike for Gedling Access Road

Andrew Topping (Local Democracy Reporter)
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‘Lessons learned’ over £8.6m price hike for Gedling Access Road

Council officers say ‘lessons have been learned’ about oversight on major infrastructure projects following the £8.619 million price hike on the Gedling Access Road.

Members of Nottinghamshire County Council’s finance committee discussed and debated the ballooned costs on Monday (November 22), with concerns raised over the overspend on the initial £40 million bypass.

The authority confirmed the surging costs were partly related to the Covid pandemic, while issues with site and weather conditions have also caused prices to rise and the project to be delayed.

The 3.8km road, which was due to open this autumn, will now not be open to motorists until next spring.

But members of the committee spoke in favour of the project’s overall benefits, which are estimated to provide a boost of about £73 million to Gedling and the wider county.

Once open, the carriageway will connect Mapperley Plains to the A612 Trent Valley Road/Nottingham Road, easing congestion through Gedling village and also unlocking more land for homes.

Its completion will allow for the remainder of the 1,050 homes on the Chase Farm development – at the former Gedling Colliery land – to be built, with current rules allowing a maximum of 315 homes on-site.

It will also allow for other parts of the Gedling Local Plan to come to fruition, help the creation of jobs and also support other infrastructure around Gedling, Netherfield and Colwick.

Speaking in the meeting, Adrian Smith, corporate director for place, outlined reasons for the cost rise and said the authority has learned from the overspend.

“Inevitably the costs have increased since we started on-site,” he said.

Gedling Access Road
PICTURED: Gedling Access Road

“Predominantly this is due to Covid but it’s also because we’ve taken into account a whole range of different site conditions and other changes to the scope.

“Earlier in the autumn we set out additional costs at that point, and now we’ve undertaken a more comprehensive assessment of the overall scheme and the cost schedule.

“It’s resulted in the [£8.619 million overspend] we have today.”

But he added: “There are lessons we’ve learned around project management oversight.

“I’d expect we will be revising and changing the way we approach this going forward for other schemes.

“We can take some learning from this forward.”

The Gedling Access Road was forecast to overspend by £5.4 million in September before the more detailed assessment revealed costs will increase even further.

Councillor John Clarke (Lab), who represents Arnold South, sits on the finance committee and is also the leader of Gedling Borough Council.

He believes the extra costs will “disappear into the ether” once the road is opened and its benefits come to fruition.

“This is a fact of life, these projects go over budget,” he said.

“But this will prove its worth, it will bring money into the area and has already brought in Sainsbury’s to Colwick.

“The £73 million is a good benefit to us and the £9 million extra will disappear into the ether in a very short time.

“It’s part of a long jigsaw and is boosting the economy of the area, at the end of the day, the quality of life will be improved for people in the village and nearby.”

But some councillors spoke of their concerns over wider increases to major infrastructure schemes.

Cllr Jim Creamer (Lab), who represents Carlton West, said: “I think there’s a responsibility here for monitoring the project more than anything else.

“It’s concerning a huge project like this can suddenly jump, this is millions we’re talking about, it’s just the reporting and the monitoring seems to have fallen extremely short.

“Something has gone wrong along the chain on this. I would like to see an explanation in the future of what went wrong and why it went wrong.”

The extra costs will be funded in part by Covid reserves and Government support, with councillors voting in favour of adjusting the council’s budgets to factor in the overspend.

Vaccine plea to Gedling borough as NHS sounds warning over rise in flu cases

Gedling Eye
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Vaccine plea to Gedling borough as NHS sounds warning over rise in flu cases

NHS chiefs in Nottinghamshire are pleading with people across Gedling borough to get the flu jab this winter with Covid-19 still running riot.

The plea comes after local hospitals have begun to see cases of flu already this season.  

NHS Nottinghamshire say flu can cause severe illness and even death among vulnerable groups, as well as complications like bronchitis and pneumonia, so it is particularly important to have the flu vaccine.  

More people are likely to get the flu this winter as fewer people have build up natural immunity during the Covid-19 pandemic. Research has also shown getting flu and Covid-19 at the same time is likely to make people seriously ill, so getting vaccinated against both will provide protection against both serious illnesses.  

People in eligible groups can receive their free flu vaccine at their GP practice, a pharmacy offering the service, midwifery service if pregnant or at a hospital appointment. Eligible children can receive their vaccine via their school immunisation programme or at a GP practice – read more here.  

Flu-jab

Dr Stephen Shortt, Joint Clinical Leader at the NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire CCG, said: “It’s more important than ever this year that those eligible for their free Flu vaccine take up the offer to help protect themselves ahead of Winter.  

“Getting vaccinated will not only help protect people and their families, but it’ll also help to support the NHS at a time where our health service is facing extreme pressures.  I would urge all people who fit into the key groups to think about being vaccinated this year, it could save lives and help to maintain key services.” 

Michelle Rhodes, chief nurse at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust said: “We are starting to see flu cases in our hospitals and we are doing all we can to keep everyone safe through our staff vaccination programme. We strongly urge the public to take up the offer of a free flu jab this winter, especially if you are aged 50 or over, have certain health conditions, are pregnant, are in long-stay residential care or if you live with someone who is more likely to get infections.  

“Getting your flu jab is particularly important because more people are likely to get flu this winter as fewer people will have built up natural immunity to it during the Covid-19 pandemic”. 

Chief Nurse for Sherwood Forest Hospitals, Julie Hogg, said: “We have started to see cases of flu in our hospitals, so we would urge anyone who is eligible for their flu jab to get it as soon as they possibly can to help protect themselves. 

“We know that flu activity levels were extremely low globally in 2020/21 and as a result, a lower level of population immunity against flu is expected in 2021/22. We know this winter is going to be busy and that the flu season could be up to 50% larger than we have typically seen previously, so we are urging people to protect themselves now ahead of the winter months.” 

The Flu vaccine is available free of charge on the NHS if you: 

  • are 50 and over (including those who’ll be 50 by 31 March 2022) 
  • have certain health conditions 
  • are pregnant 
  • are in long-stay residential care 
  • receive a carer’s allowance, or are the main carer for an older or disabled person who may be at risk if you get sick 
  • live with someone who is more likely to get infections (such as someone who has HIV, has had a transplant or is having certain treatments for cancer, lupus or rheumatoid arthritis) 
  • frontline health or social care workers 
  • children in specific age groups or with long-term health conditions. 

More information on who is eligible for the flu vaccine is available here: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vaccinations/who-should-have-flu-vaccine/ 

Beavers plant hundreds of bulbs to help Calverton bloom

Gedling Eye Reporter
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Beavers plant hundreds of bulbs to help Calverton bloom

Beavers set the scene for a bright spring when they planted hundreds of daffodil bulbs in Calverton on Saturday (November 20).

The youngsters from Calverton Beavers buried hundreds of bulbs along the grass verge on Bonner Lane to compliment the newly-installed village sign.

The bulbs were donated to Calverton Parish Council by a village allotment holder.

We would also like to thank the motorists who slowed down when passing the group.
Councillors Joan Inger and Lorraine Brown would like to say a huge thank youall those involved.

They said: “We’d like to thank the Beavers and their parents who undertook this task to make the grass verges at this end of the village more colourful in the Spring.

“The Beavers came armed with trowels, spades, gloves and hi-vis vests and undertook the planting with great enthusiasm.  

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