Businesses across Gedling borough are being urged to prepare for an upcoming change to the law around allergen labelling on food.
Natasha’s Law will require all food businesses to provide full ingredient lists and allergen information on foods pre-packaged for direct sale.
From October 1, all foods which are packed at the same site as they are sold, including market stalls and vehicles, and those which are in packaging before being ordered or selected by customers must contain a full ingredient list on their labelling, emphasising allergens.
‘Natasha’s Law’ is being introduced following the death of teenager Natasha Ednan-Laperouse from an allergic reaction caused by a pre-packed baguette which, at the time, did not require allergen labelling.
Pre-packaged for direct sale foods can include those that customers select themselves, pre-wrapped foods which are kept behind a counter and some products packaged and sold at mobile or temporary outlets.
PICTURED: County Hall
Sarah Houlton, Trading Standards team manager at Nottinghamshire County Council, said: “This is a major change for businesses, but one that will help to protect consumers by providing potentially life-saving allergen information on the packaging.
“We want to make sure that Gedling borough food businesses are not only aware of the changes, but also that they know what they need to do to comply.
“Nottinghamshire businesses can get a 30-minute consultation with the Trading Standards commercial team free of charge, and we would urge any businesses who are unsure of what they need to do under this new law to contact us as soon as possible on tscommercial@nottscc.gov.uk or 0115 804 2912.
“Businesses can also access a wealth of information on the Food Standards Agency’s website, which includes sector specific guidance, examples of PPDS food, guidance on how to meet the requirements and an allergen and ingredients food labelling decision tool.”
The time to nominate your unsung community heroes from across Gedling borough has arrived as the annual Pride of Gedling Awards return for their seventh year.
Organised by Gedling Borough Council with support from sponsors, the awards celebrate the local volunteers and community heroes who make a difference and give them the recognition they deserve.
Due to the pandemic, the presentation ceremony was held online for the first time last year.
But now restrictions have been relaxed, the ceremony will again be held at the Civic Centre in Arnold this November. Plans are also in place to stream the ceremony so more people can see the work of local heroes being celebrated.
Nominations for this year’s awards are open until Friday, October 15 2021 so get nominating your community heroes.
All finalists will be invited to a special award ceremony at the civic centre on Wednesday, November 10, 2021.
To nominate someone for an award you just need to choose the appropriate category and then fill out the short form.
Organisers will then contact any nominees who are shortlisted.
The categories for this year are as follows:
The Community Hero(es) Award Recognising inspirational individuals or groups, from any walk of life, who have gone that extra mile to help others or to make life better in their community.
The Dylan Barker (Young Person of the Year) Award Celebrating young people, under the age of 21, who make an outstanding contribution to their communities.
Business in the Community Award Highlighting the role our local businesses play in supporting the community.
Outstanding Community Project Award This award is open to any project or group which helps our local communities and improves the lives of those who live in them.
The Environmental Hero Award In recognition of any individual, group, school, club, organisation or business in the borough that have made a positive impact on either; conservation, the environment or community space.
The Inspirational Healthy Lifestyles Award This award celebrates any individual, group, school, club, organisation or business in the borough that have made a positive impact on health and/or wellbeing in the borough.
An open day is planned to mark the 21st anniversary of Gedling Play Forum’s Scrapstore, which provides play materials for families, schools and playgroups across Gedling.
The open day will take place this Saturday (September 11) at the Forum’s base on Wollaton Avenue
Volunteers from the Play Forum provide free play activities across Gedling at events in parks and community centres. During the summer they run play days in the Borough’s parks and open spaces where families have the opportunity to get creative and have fun.
The Play Forum also runs the “Scrapstore” providing materials for use in play activities. Many of the materials are donated by businesses rather than going to landfill.
The Scrapstore is part of a national network which organises “swaps” between stores and encourages recycling of surplus material from businesses.
PICTURED: Inside the Scrapstore
Chair of Gedling Play Forum Racheal Ellis said: “Twenty one years ago there were play forums and play schemes across Nottinghamshire but with austerity and cuts to funding from local government many of these schemes have closed.
“Our volunteers believe that play is an important way for children to learn. Our activities help children be creative and explore physical skills. Many of the activities are designed to encourage children to think about the environment and local ecology. Play is important to all ages, supporting mental health and wellbeing. After the last year we all know how important this is”
The resource centre will be open from 10am to 4.30pm for parents and children to look around at what is on offer and purchase play materials. Cakes and refreshments will be served.
Vernon Coaker was the very first member to sign up when the resource centre opened in 2000. He will be there again on Saturday to officially open a garden dedicated to the memory of friends and volunteers who have been lost.
Mr Coaker said: “I’m delighted to attend the open day to publicise the excellent work that the Play Forum does.
“It’s great to see that it is going from strength to strength after 21 years.
“I’m also pleased to pay tribute to the hard work of all the volunteers past and present in providing play opportunities for the children of Gedling”.
Councillors warned of a “disastrous situation” emerging in local healthcare after figures showed around one in ten Nottinghamshire patients are having to wait more than three weeks to see their GP.
Figures from the clinical commissioning group (CCG), which organises NHS services in the city and county, show 231,702 patients out of 522,336 were seen on the same day as contacting their GP in June 2021.
This is the most recently available data, and while it was not compared to other years, the CCG provided assurances it is slightly better than the national average.
But the data showed 26,906 people had to wait more than 28 days before being seen by their doctor, and 26,153 waited between 22 and 28 days. Taken together, these figures mean around one in ten people had to wait more than 21 days – three weeks – for a consultation.
The data, reviewed by Nottinghamshire County Council’s health scrutiny committee on Tuesday (September 7), also showed the spread of patients seen either face-to-face, on the phone, at home or by video.
In total, 298,001 patients accessed face-to-face appointments, or roughly 57 per cent, while 191,704 were supported over the phone.
A further 3,071 accessed video appointments, with 1,677 seen in their homes.
The CCG conceded the demand for healthcare services is at its highest ever point, increasing even before the Covid-19 pandemic.
But councillors spoke of conversations with constituents who have struggled in the past to access their GP.
Councillor Michelle Welsh (Lab) said some patients have struggled to even get past receptionists, describing it as a real issue of residents being stuck at the “first hurdle”.
Other concerns were raised about patients being supported through telephone calls, which accounted for around one in three June appointments, and the potential of major health issues being missed.
Cllr Sue Saddington (Con), chairman of the committee, said: “This business of telephone calls is causing problems with people who have major surgical issues, and then being missed.
“They don’t work, people don’t like them, and there is nothing to replace a face-to-face meeting with a doctor.
“It’s also outrageous people are having to wait such a length of time.”
Cllr Matt Barney (Con), who represents Leake and Ruddington, added: “We know there is a huge differentiation across Nottinghamshire, in the experience of residents [accessing] their own practice.
“I think there is a disastrous situation here and this data reveals it.”
But the CCG assured councillors it will be “transparent” in looking towards a solution on the issue.
The committee requested the CCG return in November with more detailed figures, broken down by individual district and GP practice.
This, the committee hopes, will address issues of individual practices falling below a “standard of care” expected by patients.
Lucy Dadge, chief commissioning officer at the CCG, said: “We do recognise the demands on all our healthcare services now are greater than they ever were.
“They were growing pre-Covid, and they’re growing now.”
She added: “There are mechanisms for us to act on individual concerns, and we will come back and go through it.
“We don’t contract for individual episodes of care, but we want to support GPs to recover from Covid, to respond to our increasingly-frail elderly population, but we need to do it together.”
Here’s his latest update on progress his team made over August…
Road safety
We have received lots of feedback in relation to speeding and the anti-social use of the roads. This is heavily linked to our local priorities and this month we carried out a day of action known as ‘Operation Highway’.
Neighbourhood officers from Arnold were joined by Operation Reacher, Roads Policing and the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency. Throughout the day the team targeted the ‘Fatal 4’ offences and operated two check points on the Gedling North area.
In the morning the team focused their attention on Arnold and the A60 Mansfield Road at Redhill before moving to Mapperley, Calverton and Woodborough in the afternoon.
During the day 20 drivers were issued traffic offence reports for a number of offences. The DVSA also prohibited 5 vehicles due to defects being identified.
Over in Gedling South the team have also carried out recent speed enforcement work in the village of Burton Joyce.
Sgt O’Connor and the team issued one driver with a traffic offence report and the driver will be dealt with in due course.
I know that speeding is a concern for a number of residents across the Gedling Borough and we will act on feedback from the community.
Autocrime
A number of vans have been targeted across Gedling during the last month with a number of offences reported in the Woodthorpe area. In some cases the vehicles have been taken whilst in others tools have been targeted by thieves. The Operation Reacher team have carried out some increased patrols in the area and this is being supported by neighbourhood policing officers.
Over on Bestwood Lodge Drive we received a report of a lorry having been targeted with machinery stolen. The tools were later advertised for sale on the internet and I was pleased to join the Arnold team on an operation to retrieve the stolen property. We arrested a 32-year-old male who remains under investigation. It was a pleasure to return the property to the victims and I want to be very clear that we will investigate all reports of Autocrime thoroughly.
As with any vehicle offences I would encourage the removal of tools from vans overnight or whilst working at a site.
Burglary
Throughout August we recorded an increase in Commercial Burglary with numerous premises in Arnold town centre targeted by offenders overnight.
We launched ‘Operation Neonfire’ to investigate and target the individuals involved in the offences.
I know what a difficult time it has been for all including the retail sector who cannot afford the financial loss of being targeted by thieves who damaged doors, windows and stole several thousand pounds worth of stock.
Officers were involved in a number of lengthy enquiries to review CCTV footage in the area. We worked with the victims to target harden their premises and finally in the early hours of 25th August following the deployment of plain clothes officers we made 4 arrests at a property on West Street, Arnold. Stolen property was recovered from the address along with a crowbar. The following day our CID colleagues continued the investigation resulting in two males (aged 25 and 45) being charged with Burglary offences and remanded to court. I want to pass on my thanks to all of the officers involved in this investigation. They put in a lengthy shift and carried out numerous enquiries to try and identify those involved.
A really good result for us at Arnold and once again a clear message that we will simply not tolerate burglary offences in our Borough.
Drug supply
The supply of controlled drugs remains very much in focus at Gedling.
Last month the team over at Gedling South carried out a Misuse of Drugs Act warrant on Cavendish Road, Carlton. The team recovered some controlled drugs for personal use and acted on concerns raised about the supply of controlled drugs in the community.
Over in Arnold I was pleased to hear that an argument in the street resulted in the seizure of Class A & B drugs, cash and mobile phones. Officers attended Nursery Road, Arnold at around 01:20 on August 16 before making the discovery. Two males were arrested aged 36 and 39. Both remain under investigation for drug supply offences.
Community engagement
Now that the Coronavirus regulations have eased we are getting back into our Community engagement schedule for the remainder of the year.
The Op Reacher team have been the first to get this up and running and they were recently invited to the open day at Arnold fire station. The team arrived with their ANPR car and a number of goodies to give away to members of the local community. It was great to read such positive feedback and over the next few weeks we will be increasing our engagement events across the area.
Community engagement is a really important part of our work so that we can break down barriers with our communities, understand concerns and make sure that members of the public know where to come for help.
Keep an eye on our social media for details of our future engagement events.
Operation Reacher
The Operation Reacher team continue to go from strength to strength.
The team have now carried out 56 Magistrates Court warrants across the Gedling Borough.
Alongside this the team have arrested or interviewed 250 suspects, made 147 individual drug seizures and seized 75 vehicles (5 of which were stolen).
The team has also dealt with 182 road traffic offences and have seized over £275k in suspected criminal money.
The team have generated a large amount of intelligence to help in our fight against crime and ASB across Gedling.
If you have any concerns or information for the Reacher team, particularly around the supply of drugs then please email gedlingreacher@nottinghamshire.pnn.police.uk or this can reported via the Crimestoppers website at www.crimestoppers-uk.org
Our website has the facility to report hate crime, fraud & cyber-crime and has a link to our advice centre where you can find crime prevention advice and guidance on a number of topics such as home or vehicle security.
The online reporting tool does not replace the 999 or 101 system but is there to enable you to report non-urgent incidents which can be passed to the neighbourhood policing team or our managed incident team for further investigation.
Workforce and labour issues as well as delays over Covid have caused council spending on the Gedling Access Road to be more than £5 million over budget.
It has led to mounting concern over where the funding will be found, with one councillor fearing the £40 million project could become “our HS2”.
Work is well under way on the large bypass road, in the Gedling borough, with construction workers on-site in various stages since the start of 2020.
Official timelines for the project anticipate the road to be open in autumn this year, helping to ease traffic congestion in Gedling village by linking the B684 Mapperley Plains and the A612 Trent Valley Road.
But Nottinghamshire County Council documents, reviewed by Monday’s finance committee, forecast the project will cost £5.4 million more than originally planned.
Issues of delays accessing materials, construction workers being ‘pinged’ and the council continuing to pay costs have, documents say, caused the overall cost to rise.
Speaking at a finance committee meeting on Monday (September 6), some raised concerns over where the extra finance will be found to combat the “spiralling costs”.
Councillor Tom Hollis (Ash Ind), who represents Sutton West, told the committee: “I certainly feel that, with better planning, this overspend could have been avoided.
“The Gedling Access Road was originally meant to cost £40 million, it’s now gone up by £5.4 million or 12 per cent, but included in that initial £40 million was contingency costs.
PICTURED: Gedling Access Road progress
“We’ve gone above and beyond those contingency costs already, and seemingly that money has got to be found from somewhere within our budgets.
“I don’t suspect the transport committee will receive any more money from this council, so that’s going to come from our existing capital programme, and £5.4 million is a lot of money.
“I’m concerned the Gedling Access Road is going to become our HS2, with spiralling costs going out of control.”
Councillors were told an additional report will be brought forward to the same committee in the autumn, addressing how the overspend will be funded.
Nigel Stevenson, service director for finance, infrastructure and improvement, said: “Some issues are related to Covid, with some of the workforce pinged and not available, but we’re still paying for construction costs despite progress being less.
“In terms of materials, which has been the issue particularly in the past year, not only materials but costs have gone up.
“As you delay in getting materials, it means the workforce is still yet to use materials despite us still employing them [to do so].
“A report will come back to the finance committee, and I take points entirely about the impact on the highways budget.”
The 3.8km single carriageway road is scheduled to open in the autumn.
Work is now underway on a £100,000 makeover of a park in Arnold to revitalise its playground area.
The Killisick Recreational Ground in Arnold will be refurbished with new equipment, including 30m zip line, basket swing, roundabout and multi play unit, as well as accessible play equipment such as a wheelchair friendly roundabout, pod swing, play house and more.
Works at the park are expected to be completed by the end of October.
Improvements can be made thanks to funding from FCC Communities Foundation, a not-for-profit business that awards grants for community, conservation and heritage projects from funds donated by waste and resource management company FCC Environment through the Landfill Communities Fund. FCC Communities Foundation will be providing a grant total of £100,000.
The funding bid was made jointly by Gedling Borough Council and The Friends of Killisick Park, a local residents’ community group who undertook community consultation and identified a strong community need for the project.
Cheryl Raynor, FCC Communities Foundation grant manager for Nottinghamshire said;
“It’s always nice to see something we have funded start to take shape. We’re delighted to be supporting such a worthwhile project and look forward to it benefitting children across Nottinghamshire.”
PICTURED: Killisick Recreational Ground
Councillor Henry Wheeler, Chair of the Killisick Localities Initiative said: “In September 2019, myself and Councillor Marje Paling brought local residents together by holding an afternoon tea event to discuss how to get funding for new play equipment at Killisick Playground.
That initial meeting led to the formation of the Friends of Killisick group, and now two years on from that event, it’s fantastic to see that the hard work of Friends of Killisick has paid off and work will begin on Killisick Recreation Ground to replace the old play equipment.
This will be fantastic for the health and wellbeing of children who I am sure will love the new play area.”
Deputy Leader of Gedling Borough Council, Councillor Michael Payne said” “I’m excited to see that works have started at the site, and cannot wait for this new facility to open for our residents to enjoy.
“A key priority for the council is to enhance our parks and open spaces and provide an attractive environment that local people can enjoy, and by working closely with local community groups and funding providers we’ve been able to achieve that here for the community in Killisick.
“I’d like to thank the Friends of Killisick Park for working with us on the funding bid for this new play area and to FCC Communities for providing the funding for what is sure to be a fantastic addition for the borough.”
Britain’s youngest MP will return to parliament today (Monday,6), following a three-month leave of absence where she was able to recover from symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Ms Whittome announced in late May that she had been battling persistent health issues relating to her post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) diagnosis and needed to take time off work in order for her health to improve.
She said: “I want to thank everyone for their understanding over the last three months. The outpouring of support from so many different quarters was truly humbling – from colleagues checking in on me, to constituents stopping me in the street.”
“I was particularly heartened by messages from others who have also experienced PTSD. I’m glad that being open about my diagnosis has raised awareness about this condition and has in some small way helped others to talk about their own mental health.
“I was privileged to be able to take the time off that I needed for my recovery. But this should be a right for everyone. I look forward to fighting for the changes needed to make this a reality.
“While I’ve been away, my office has pulled out all the stops to support constituents – helping families in overcrowded housing, people owed money by the DWP, and constituents with relatives in Afghanistan. I’m pleased to be back at work tackling these important issues and so many more with renewed energy and determination.”
Sections of Colwick Country Park will be out of bounds to visitors later this month as preparations get underway for the Detonate Festival.
The festival will taking place in the park on September 25 and brings together some of the biggest DJs and live acts in electronic music.
Detonate runs from 10am in the morning until 11pm, finishing with a four-minute firework display.
Sections of the park will start being closed off to the public from Friday, September 17 and won’t reopen until the end of the month to allow festival organisers to set up and then dismantle equipment.
Paths towards West Lake will close from Friday, Saturday 17 until Thursday, September 30.
Sections around West Lake will then close from Saturday, September 18 until September 30.
Areas around Colwick Hall Hotel and also walks next to the River Trent will be closed off during the event on September 25.
Most of the area around Colwick Lake will remain open during the month.
PICTURED: There will be restricted parking on some roads around the park during the festival (PHOTO: Gedling Eye)
To stop unauthorised parking during the festival, a number of roads will have restricted access and parking for residents only. These are Racecourse Road, Waterside Way, Daleside Road, Windmill View, William Booth Road, Candle Meadow, Spring Moor, Crabtree Field and Bendigo Lane from 8am on September 25 until 1am on September 26.
Organisers said: “We appreciate the impact of an event like this can have on the local community. It is for this reason we work closely with local authorities to identify areas of concern. During our consultations, area of concern included noise levels, traffic control and unauthorised parking.
“We will have a dedicated phone line for any concerns over noise or festival related matters: 07587 551. This phone will be operational from 8am-6pm between September 17-29, with extended hours of 8am until 1am on the day of the event.”
The £40m Gedling Access Road continues to take shape, with the final stages of construction now underway.
The latest flyover video was issued by Nottinghamshire County Council this week and shows how the project is progressing.
A spokesman for Nottinghamshire County Council said: “It’s fair to say that things are really starting to take shape now as we head into the later stages of construction.
“Throughout August, drainage works have continued along the whole route, and verge works, footway construction and final highway surfacing has been done at the Lambley Lane section of the site ahead of the reopening later in September.
“But what do we mean by verge works? Well, put simply, this includes everything from installing street lighting columns to signs and fencing, all of which can now be seen on the flyover.”
Lambley Lane reopening
Lambley Lane will finally reopen to traffic on September 13 after a nine month full closure.
The road will have a new layout once opened, so here’s a few things you need to know before travelling:
I’m travelling from Spring Lane, what do I need to do?
From Spring Lane, you will need to stop at the end of a new downhill section of Lambley Lane which joins with the GAR. You will need to turn right and travel along a short section of the GAR before turning left onto a new section of road close to the site compound which leads to a new mini-roundabout. Upon reaching this roundabout, turn right to head towards Arnold Lane (see image on the left).
And what if I’m travelling from Arnold Lane?
As you travel down Lambley Lane from Arnold Lane, you will come to a new mini-roundabout. You will need to turn left on to the new link road and stop at the junction with the GAR. You will then need to turn right and travel along a short section of the GAR before turning left onto the new spur road which will take you up towards Spring Lane (see image on the right).
Roadworks update
Motorists are being warned that traffic management is returning to Mapperley Plains.
Over the next six weeks, there will be a nearside lane closure on Mapperley Plains for traffic heading towards Nottingham city.
This closure will be in place 24 hours a day, seven days a week, so please allow extra time for your journey.
