A Mapperley Labour branch has passed a vote of no confidence in the Nottingham East MP Chris Leslie.
The Labour MP, who has represented the constituency since 2010, said his party had been infiltrated by the “intolerant hard left”, and that the move had been “orchestrated nationally”.
PICTURED: Chris Leslie MP
Seperate votes of no confidence were passed against two other MPs this week – Joan Ryan and Gavin Shuker.
The vote against Mr Leslie was held by the Mapperley Labour Party. A wider vote will now be held with the whole of the Nottingham East Labour members.
The Mapperley vote of no confidence passed ‘overwhelmingly’ on Wednesday night, by around 80 percent of the estimated 30 people who were there.
But Mr Leslie has said it will “not distract him” from serving his constituents.
Labour member Steve Jansky was at the meeting, and voted in favour of the vote of no confidence.
He said: “Chris is one of those people who doesn’t support the leadership, against the wishes of the membership, who voted for him (Jeremy Corbyn) twice, overwhelmingly.[irp]
“He (Mr Leslie) seems to be on speed dial with the BBC whenever they want a negative view of Jeremy Corbyn.
“It’s all about democracy. The MP should reflect the views of the party and the local membership.”
A vote of no confidence is now expected to be held on the MP by Labour party members from across his constituency. If he lost, he would not be obliged to stand down as an MP.
Mr Jansky said: “My view is that he (Mr Leslie) will lose that vote.”
Mr Jansky said he is not a member of Momentum, a left-wing Labour group supporting Jeremy Corbyn, nor were the majority of people who voted against the MP.
Mr Leslie, speaking about the vote of no confidence in two other MPs as well as himself, said: “These are obviously motions now being orchestrated nationally by the leadership’s machine.
“Sadly, the recent infiltration of Labour by a small band of intolerant hard left elements means that they will target MPs who stand up to antisemitism and stand firm for what they believe in.
“I can reassure my constituents it will not distract me from continuing to represent the best interests of Nottingham East.”
Final preparations are being made for one of Gedling’s biggest shows in its busy calendar.
The Gedling Horticultural Show is set to take place on Sunday, September 9 at the Richard Herrod Centre on Foxhill Road in Carlton.
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There will be loads to see and do with tons of exhibits, a local history display, some craft stalls, a Paula is Baking Mad Vintage tea room and children’s activities including rock painting. There is also a quiz and raffle and a public auction of unreserved exhibits.
The event is free to enter and takes place between 1.30pm – 4.30pm.
Gedling Eye now has a Whatsapp group so you can keep up to date with the latest news from across the borough. We will send you one message a day with our main headlines, as well as the big breaking news alerts. To sign up text NEWS to 07958532672. Make sure you add the number to your contacts as ‘Gedling Eye’. We won’t share your phone number or use it anywhere else.
The Tour of Britain rolls into Gedling borough on Saturday with some of the country’s top class cyclists being able to take in some of the area’s most beautiful scenery.
This year’s cycle race is making its way through our area as part of stage seven of the event.
The riders are expected to enter the borough at picturesque Woodborough at mid-day and then follow the steep and scenic climb up Bank Hill and across to Dorket Head, before descending into Calverton at 12.12pm down St George’s Hill.
Calverton residents will cheer on the riders until they leave our borough, before returning later to Ravenshead at 14.54
MAP: This shows the Tour of Britain route through the borough
This second stage in the borough passes by Ravenshead and down the A60 before entering Newstead Abbey Park.
The riders will pass Newstead Abbey, the home of Lord Byron, before heading west and through Newstead Village – who welcomed the Tour last year with great pride and enthusiasm.
A meeting is being held behind closed doors today as the future of Gedling Borough Council is discussed.
Council bosses are meeting at County Hall to discuss scrapping all seven district and borough councils, and replacing them with a new ‘super council’.
The plan has been widely criticised by leaders of district and borough councils, and some county councillors.
But supporters of the scheme say it would help make much-needed savings, and streamline council services.
The meeting today is the first of a cross-party working group involving leaders of all the political parties who sit on the council.
The media asked to be present at the meeting in order to report the proceedings. This request was refused.
ANGRY: Cllr Michael Payne says the public have a right to know what’s going on (Photo: Facebook)
Yesterday it was announced that at least £250,000 is being spent on drawing up the plans, and a final vote would be held by councillors in May.
A spokesman for the Conservative-led county council said: “The meeting is not open to the public as it will discuss confidential information privy only to elected representatives.”
Councillor Jason Zadrozny is the leader of Ashfield District Council, and a county councillor.
He said: “I’m genuinely angry about this. It’s a huge decision that affects hundreds of thousands of people, but they are refusing to have a proper debate in public. I don’t know what they’ve got to hide.
“If we’re having a genuine debate about this, it shouldn’t be done in smoke-filled rooms.
“You have got seven or eight people in the room and almost a million people outside it, and those are the people who pay the council tax to keep us in a job.
“This has massive ramifications on a huge number of things.”
Cllr Michael Payne is the deputy leader of Gedling Borough Council, and is also a Labour county councillor.
He said: “It’s outrageous that the media is being denied entry, but it’s hardly surprising.
“The whole thing is being done behind closed doors.
“A discussion as important as this needs to be done in public, openly and transparently, so that the claims they make can be checked and scrutinised by the media.
“The residents need to feel part of the discussion, but instead they are having this imposed on them from up high without any accountability.
“The public has a right to know, but instead they are doing it in the dark.”
* WARNING: this story contains several graphic photos below*
An abused cat was found dumped in a pet carrier in an alleyway in Mapperley with no food and water
The cat had eyes which were so infected he could not open them. It has now been put to sleep.
PICTURED: The alleyway on Lorne Walk, Mapperley, where the cat’s body was discovered
The grey male tabby was found abandoned on Tuesday (September 4) at about 7.30am, near Lorne Walk by a passerby who alerted the RSPCA.
Inspector Dave McAdam was called to the scene and found the poorly mature grey cat had severely infected eyes – which were so bad he was blind and his fur was matted and stained with diarrhoea.
The cat was rushed to the vets but on examination was found to have multiple tumours in his mouth; he was also riddled with fleas and flea dirt.
The vet decided that the cat was in such a terrible state that he had to be put to sleep to prevent further suffering.
PICTURED: The cat pictured after being taken to vets in Arnold
Vet Ben Berlyne, of Arnold and Carlton Vets, who treated the pet, said: “The poor cat was blinded by the pus in his eyes but as soon as we started wiping it away he began to show affection because he was obviously enjoying the relief.
“But then we found the eyes were in such a bad way they had actually sunken into the orbit of the skull.
“I also discovered multiple tumours in his mouth and he had teeth rotting. The poor cat was a bag of bones and it angers me that he was left this way untreated.
“Had he had medical treatment sooner he would not have had to suffer in this appalling way and he could have survived.”
Inspector Dave McAdam said: “It is horrendous that someone would allow a cat to get in such a state when he was clearly in need of medical treatment. Then to dump him like a piece of rubbish in his hour of need is horrendous.
“The cat was left in a blue and white pet carrier and was wearing a blue flea collar – he had clearly been someone’s pet so I would appeal to anyone who knows anything to get in touch.”
Anyone with information should contact the RSPCA appeals line on 0300 123 8018.
The RSPCA is called to collect thousands of abandoned animals every year. To help the charity continue rescuing, rehabilitating and rehoming animals please donate by visiting www.rspca.org.uk/give.
Gedling Eye now has a Whatsapp group so you can keep up to date with the latest news from across the borough. We will send you one message a day with our main headlines, as well as the big breaking news alerts. To sign up text NEWS to 07958532672. Make sure you add the number to your contacts as ‘Gedling Eye’. We won’t share your phone number or use it anywhere else.
Free school bus passes for children in Nottinghamshire will continue for the time being.
A decision was made in 2016 to take away free bus travel for some children travelling to school.
The change was expected to come into effect from September this year.
PICTURED: County Hall
But now, the move has been delayed.
By law, Nottinghamshire County Council has to provide bus travel for some children who live a certain distance from schools. But currently it provides bus travel for more than it has to.
Children aged eight and over are entitled to free transport to and from school if they live more than three miles away, while children under eight get free travel if they live two miles away.
However the council also provides help to the parents of 5,000 children who are not legally entitled to it. This costs the council around £4.5 million every year.
This will now continue until a review of bus transport throughout the county is published in the coming months.
The decision to take away some free bus travel was taken in 2016 when Labour ran the council, in an attempt to save money and bring the council in line with neighbouring authorities.
But the move has been paused by the council, which is now led by the Conservatives.
Councillor Philip Owen represents the ward for the Conservatives, and said: “The last Labour administration decided that it wanted to end all non-statutory school transport.
“If a child lives a certain distance from a school then they are entitled to statutory support.
“But we as an authority over many years have gone beyond that, particularly in respect of the faith schools.
“Those schools tend to be much further away, and the parents and children have been offered a bus pass.
“That is what the Labour group decided they wanted to end in 2016.
“When we took control last year we decided that we wanted to put a pause on that and review the consequences.”
A final decision is expected after a wider review of bus travel in the county is published in the coming months.
Gedling Eye now has a Whatsapp group so you can keep up to date with the latest news from across the borough. We will send you one message a day with our main headlines, as well as the big breaking news alerts. To sign up text NEWS to 07958532672. Make sure you add the number to your contacts as ‘Gedling Eye’. We won’t share your phone number or use it anywhere else.
It looks like being a fortnight to remember for filmgoers in Gedling borough with two open air screenings under the stars taking place in Mapperley and Bestwood Village.
Sunset Cinema Club has two events planned over the next two weeks, with pop-up cinemas appearing at Haywood Road in Mapperley and at the Winding Engine House in Bestwood Village over the next fortnight.
PICTURED: A previous Sunset Cinema Club event in Mapperley
Back by popular demand – following screenings earlier in the summer – the open air cinemas will be screening Bridesmaids and Harry Potter (and the Philosphers Stone) next weekend in Mapperley, and then end their season with ‘a last dance’ with Dirty Dancing at Bestwood Village on Saturday, September 15.
More than 500 people are expected to head outdoors as the sun sets to see their favourite film over the period, under the stars and in front of a giant 8m screen.[irp]
Louise Darby, founder of Sunset Cinema Club, who are based in Sherwood, said: “We hope to see new and old faces in the crowd as we gather at Sunset to end our summer season in two fabulous local spots.
“We have been grateful for the support of Gedling Borough Council, the Friends of Bestwood Country Park, BRAG and Haywood Road Community Centre to name but a few in helping to put together some truly GREAT events”.
Film goers are invited to bring a picnic to settle in, and can expect licensed pop-up bars run by community groups at both sites too (with profits helping to maintain the spaces), and with pizza available too.
Tickets, which must be bought in advance, cost £8–£11.50 and are still available here: www.sunsetcinemaclub.co.uk
Gedling Eye now has a Whatsapp group so you can keep up to date with the latest news from across the borough. We will send you one message a day with our main headlines, as well as the big breaking news alerts. To sign up text NEWS to 07958532672. Make sure you add the number to your contacts as ‘Gedling Eye’. We won’t share your phone number or use it anywhere else.
The deputy leader of Gedling Borough Council has said slammed plans to spend £270,000 on preparing a case for creating a ‘super council’ in Nottinghamshire – calling it a ‘shocking waste of taxpayers’ money’
Cllr Michael Payne told Gedling Eye it was ‘utterly unacceptable’ that Nottinghamshire County Council are proposing to spend up to £270,000 on external support for the preparation of the case for their idea of a ‘super council’ for Nottinghamshire.
The proposals being put forward by Nottinghamshire County Council would see a unitary council being created that would result in all small local authorities being abolished.
PICTURED: Cllr Michael Payne (Photo: Facebook)
He said: “This is a shocking waste of precious taxpayers’ money at a time when Nottinghamshire County Council is cutting frontline services left, right and centre.
“In our own local area Cllr. Kay Cutts and her team at County Hall plan to press ahead with the closure of our vital local care home – Leivers Court. It’s also been over a year now from the devastating fire at the Rolleston Drive site owned by the County Council; there have been warm words but little to no action by the county council to make good use of the site.
“Today’s news of the proposal to spend over a quarter of a million pounds on this costly vanity project to create a super council for Nottinghamshire is shocking and utterly unacceptable – it must be halted immediately.
“It’s time the Leader of the County Council focussed on the day job rather than wasting taxpayers’ money on an ill-thought-through power grab by redrawing boundaries for local government in Nottinghamshire.”
Nottinghamshire County Council yesterday revealed it intends to spend more than a quarter of a million pounds drawing up the plan, known as a business case, for the ‘super council’
It estimates that the costs of creating the business case include £50,000 on ‘independent financial validation’, £190,000 on consultation, and between £10,000 and £20,000 on legal advice.
On the timetable released, it says councillors will be given an update in November before a full report is presented in December.
If approved, there would be a formal public consultation between January and March. A final case would then be voted on in May.
PICTURED: Cllr Kay Cutts
Leader of Nottinghamshire County Council, Cllr Kay Cutts said there was a pressing case for change in the way local government is organised in Nottinghamshire.
She said: “We are faced with significant financial challenges and the need to live within our means, so it is only right that we do our bit to eliminate waste, bureaucracy and inefficiency in the provision of local government services.
Gedling Eye approached Nottinghamshire County Council about the proposed spend.
A spokesman for Nottinghamshire County Council said: “The total cost to prepare the case for change document is expected to be £270,000 of which £190,000 would be spent on community consultation and engagement.
“The total project costs represent just 0.05% of the County Council’s overall £495.9m total budget and are a fraction of the estimated savings local government reorganisation could deliver. ”
Cllr Cutts responded to our request for a response about the closure of Leivers Court.
She said: “Earlier this year we signed off plans to double the number of ‘housing with care’ units to 500 over the next three years in Nottinghamshire, which will provide an alternative to residential care for older people and will increase to 1,000 homes by 2025.
“The plans to close the Council’s remaining Care and Support Centres were agreed in February 2015 under the previous Labour administration.”
Cllr Payne is now calling on local people who are against the plans for a ‘super council’ to sign a petition calling on Nottinghamshire County Council to keep their ‘Hands off Gedling’
He said: “If you haven’t yet signed our petition to tell Cllr Cutts ‘Hands Off Gedling’, then today she’s given you 270,000 more reasons to do so.
“Join our efforts to stop this bonkers plan in its tracks before more of your money is wasted.”
Gedling Eye now has a Whatsapp group so you can keep up to date with the latest news from across the borough. We will send you one message a day with our main headlines, as well as the big breaking news alerts. To sign up text NEWS to 07958532672. Make sure you add the number to your contacts as ‘Gedling Eye’. We won’t share your phone number or use it anywhere else.
Three local parks and green spaces are in the running to be named among the nation’s top ten favourites, if they can secure the public’s support in an online vote.
Gedling Country Park, Arnot Hill Park in Arnold and Woodthorpe Grange Park were all handed a prestigious Green Flag Award in July.
PICTURED: Gedling Country Park (Photo: Gedling Eye)
Now, the award scheme is urging the nation to have its say and decide which parks and green spaces should receive the People’s Choice Award for being the UK’s favourites.
If you think your one of your local favourites deserves to be in the top 10 People’s Choice then cast your vote.
All you have to do is go to www.greenflagaward.org find your park on the winners map and click the voting button.[irp]
Once you’ve registered your vote, why not encourage others to get involved too through social media using the hashtag #PeoplesChoice
Voting is now open and closes on September 30, with the top 10 sites being announced on October 16.
Councillor Peter Barnes, Portfolio Holder for Environment said he was proud that two of the three parks were managed by Gedling Borough Council.
He said: “We are proud to have not one, but two, Green Flag Award winning parks in our borough. Both parks are incredibly popular places that everyone can enjoy, a fact that the public can cement by voting for them as the People’s Choice 2018”
Paul Todd, Green Flag Award manager said: This year 1883 parks and green spaces met the tough standards demanded by our Green Flag Award Judges but we want to know which parks the UK public love the most.
“The People’s Choice award is a chance to show how much your favourite park means to you. If it’s worth shouting about, make your voice heard and vote now.”
Work to refurbish a primary school in Carlton has now been completed – in time for the start of the new term.
Haddon Primary and Nursery School specialises in the education of pupils aged between three and 11, and is part of the Flying High Trust – a multi-academy trust (MAT) comprising 22 primary schools located across the East Midlands.
PICTURED: Inside one of the classrooms at Haddon Primary and Nursery School
Since its creation in 1976, the school had been confined to one level, with classrooms separated by curtains.
The project, which commenced in July 2017, also entailed the construction of a new assembly/sports hall, a library, and a sensory room.
Works at the school on Haddon Close were phased to minimise disruption to pupils, staff and visitors, with the refurbishment of the year six classroom and corridor undertaken during the 2017 summer holidays.
The project, which reached completion in early September, has been commended by staff, children and pupils alike, with eight-year-old Emaan Khan commenting: “I think it’s really good, it’s much bigger and better! I really like my classroom and I think I will learn better because the building is quieter with the new doors and windows. I think the teachers are happy, too!”
Headteacher Nina Capek added: “We are already seeing that the improved environment is having a positive effect on everyone, particularly with regards to teaching and learning.
“The new classrooms have vastly improved our previous problems of sound travelling through the building, now we have wonderfully quiet and calm corridors and each classroom is carefully designed to optimise its use for the children.
“Lessons can now be far more exciting as we no longer need to worry about lack of space or disturbing the other classes. We are all very excited about the future at Haddon and both the staff and pupils will thrive in the new building and learning spaces. Now we can really start to dream big and aim high!”
Pete Woods, construction director at J Tomlinson, who were responsible for carrying out work on the school, said: “It has been a pleasure to work with Haddon Primary School and to oversee the school’s considerable transformation over the past twelve months. We are particularly heartened to see what the refurbishment works means to pupils and staff; it’s great to hear how the learning environment has flourished across the school.
He added: “We look forward to continuing our relationship with the Flying High Trust.”
