Get your buckets ready as raspberries will be ripe for the picking at an event taking place at a farm in Linby next month.
People popping along to the summer fun day at Brooke Farm on Saturday, July 7 can pick the fruit for £2.90 a kilo.
As well as fruit picking, visitors can enjoy cakes and craft stalls, barbecue food, children’s games, a bouncy castle, live music and a dog show.
Also on offer is a self-service café and seating area for refreshments for visitors.
Entry to the event is free – but some activities will have a charge.
The fun day will be running from 10am to 4pm.
PICTURED: Brooke Farm is based in Linby HEN PARTY: Hens feed at Brooke Farm in Linby
The farm is run by Nottinghamshire County Council and employs staff with mixed abilities and offers training to people with disabilities.
Councillor Stuart Wallace, chairman of Nottinghamshire County Council’s Adult Social Care and Public Health Committee, said: “Last year’s event went down a storm and we’re hoping for a nice day to attract even more people to this activity-packed event.”
The farm shop offers a range of home-grown produce for sale including, free range eggs, seasonal vegetables, salad and fruit, flowers and plants along with locally-sourced products such as bread, milk, preserves, pickles, cakes and biscuits.
Produce grown at Brooke Farm is sold at the farm shop in Main Street, Linby, and is open Monday to Thursday 8am to 3.45pm, Friday 8am to 3.15pm and Saturday 8am to 3pm.
For further information on the shop call 0115 963 2638 or visit bit.ly/brooke-farm
The leader of Gedling Borough Council said they will ‘fight to keep their independence’ after hearing of plans for a ‘super council’ that would result in the demise of borough authorities.
Today he reacted to the plans for a ‘super council’ revealed by Cllr Cutts yesterday.
He said: “I’m against the unitary authority because I think it’s much too big. We will resist any such take over.
“We still want to retain our independence, but work closely on some things with Nottingham and Derby, similar to London boroughs.
“If I thought it was a good thing for the people of Gedling then I would go for it.
“But we’re doing some good stuff as a small authority and I want to keep working on that.”
Cllr Clarke is in favour of a plan which would see his council keep its borders, but work more closely with Nottingham and Derby, known as the Metro Strategy.
He said: “It’s not just councils, we want to be working much more closely with health authorities, the police, and all these sort of things.
“We are all working on the same things really, but we’re doing it in our own silos.”
Councillor Cutts has requested a meeting with the Government minister responsible for local councils to discuss the scheme.
However while those talks are in early stages, Nottingham, Derby and Gedling are in advanced stages of what they call the ‘Metro Strategy.’
This could involve the three authorities working together on issues like procurement and infrastructure, but keeping borders and some powers, similar to London boroughs.
Gedling Borough Council could be abolished if plans to create a ‘super council’ move forward.
The leader of Nottinghamshire County Council, Cllr Kay Cutts, has said she is eager to get on with plans to abolish district and borough councils and increase co-operation between East Midlands councils.
Cllr Cutts is working on two projects: to create a unitary authority in Nottinghamshire by abolishing district and borough councils; and creating a ‘super council’ with four counties and three cities in the East Midlands.
PICTURED: County Hall
Speaking about the new unitary authority, she said the funding situation was now so serious that there were now three options: cut services, raise council tax or pool resources.
The Conservative councillor, who represents the Radcliffe on Trent ward, said: “This council needs to save £54 million out of our revenue, and if we’re going to do that, we have to close down services and for me that’s not acceptable.
“The other alternative we have is to put council tax up by something like five percent per annum for a decade.
“In Nottinghamshire, we’re going to pool our resources. In my view that’s the most sensible thing to do. We will probably double the number of councillors so everyone can have their say, and try to do what we’re elected to do which is try to provide members of the public with services.
PLANS: Cllr Kay Cutts
Councillor Cutts was speaking ahead of a meeting which has been requested with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, James Brokenshire to discuss the possibility of a ‘super council’.
She added: “The local issue for Nottinghamshire is we are going to look for re-organisation, and if I have an opportunity at this meeting I will raise it, but the meeting is not about that.”
However the abolishing of councils is likely to be controversial with the councils which would be absorbed, many of which have already come out against the plan.
Nottingham City Council leader Jon Collins favours a scheme which would see an expansion of Nottingham’s borders, known as the Metro Strategy.
Other council leaders, including the boss of Ashfield District Council Jason Zadrozny, have previously said they are opposed entirely to the abolition of district and borough councils.
Speaking after a meeting of the Policy Committee today, Councillor Cutts went on to discuss the plan for a ‘strategic alliance’ which has also been dubbed a ‘super council’.
This would involve four counties and three cities – Nottinghamshire, Nottingham, Derbyshire, Derby, Leicestershire, Leicester and Lincolnshire.
It is hoped this would rival the combined authority in the West Midlands.
She said: “I have been talking to my colleagues across the East Midlands and we’re very much involved in the Midlands Engine. We need to pull our weight more with the Midlands Engine.
“The West Midlands is already very well organised. We aren’t so well organised.
“We’re going to see James Brokenshire in order to see if we can come to an agreement about a strategic authority without a mayor, that’s going to draw down funding from Government and allow us to behave like responsible councillors that we are.”
When asked about a timeframe for when the changes in Nottinghamshire could come into effect, Councillor Cutts replied: “I want to get on with it.”
Scam-busters Action Fraud are warning people in Gedling borough to be aware of a new scam involving mobile phone company EE.
Fake text messages have been sent out to people in the area – which falsely claim to be from EE.
The mobile giant has now moved swiftly to block the link.
PICTURED: An image of the scam text
The scam texts claim the receiver hasn’t paid their EE bill.
The link in the message leads to a phishing website designed to steal your EE account log in details as well as personal and financial information.
A spokesman for EE told Gedling Eye: “As soon as our customers started receiving these messages from scammers, our security teams acted swiftly to block and remove the website in the messages to protect our customers.
“We continue to advise any customers who receive any spam messages to not click on any of the links, and delete the messages after forwarding them to 7726, Ofcom’s anti-spam service.”
A spokesman for Action Fraud said: “Don’t be tricked into giving a fraudster access to your personal or financial details. Never automatically click on a link or attachment in an unexpected email or text.”
A choir from Carlrton received a warm welcome when they performed in front of large numbers in Nottingham’s twin city in Germany, Karlsruhe.
The Carlton Male Voice Choir (CMVC) was received with open arms by the people of Karlsruhe, and received a standing ovation at the conclusion of the main concert in the magnificent StadtKirche where an audience of 600 people came to see and hear earlier this month.
Musical director, Ian Watts, who also planned the musical content, led the choir and was supported by their lead principal accompanist, Roger Holland.
It’s the second time that the Carlton choir has represented Nottingham in Karlsruhe; they first paid a visit to the city back in 1994. It was 24 years ago in 1994, when musical contacts were first made
Cultural visits were made to Ettlingen and Baden Baden in the Black Forest during the visit.
PICTURED: Carlton Male Voice Choir in Karlsruhe (PICTURE: Nigel Slater)
Carlton Male Voice Choir’s marketing manager, Howard Lloyd said: “The choir were hosted by The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) University Chamber Choir and they extended a very warm welcome. CMVC look forward to providing similar hospitality when the KIT choir visits Nottingham in 2019.
“KIT Choir member Nikolaus Indlekofer told CMVC how much they had enjoyed this first link with them. He was looking forward to 2019 and the return visit with his choir to Nottingham.
Carlton MVC’s next concert is at the Nottingham High School at 7.30pm on Saturday, June 23 and is a fundraiser for the NSPCC.
Severn Trent Water has been heavily criticised by regulator Ofwat for failing to protect customers in Arnold from water shortages in the aftermath that followed the Beast from the East.
The report by Ofwat cites “poor advance planning, inadequate communication with customers and a lack of basic support, such as bottled water” during the spell of bad weather earlier this year.
Ofwat is now requiring four water companies – Thames Water, Severn Trent, Southern Water and South East Water – to submit a detailed, externally audited, action plan setting out how they are addressing the issues identified. The plans must be submitted no later than September 28.
Ofwat chief executive Rachel Fletcher said: “The freeze and rapid thaw earlier this year was forecast and was not unprecedented.
“But too many companies were caught off guard and let people down, causing real hardship as a result. Our report shows there is no excuse for this level of failure.”
A number of residents in Arnold experienced interrupted supplies or water loss during the period of bad weather.
The leader of Gedling Borough Council, Cllr John Clarke, today issued a statement following the publication of Ofwat’s report.
He said: “During the cold weather at the beginning of March, a considerable number of residents living in and around the Arnold area experienced either an interrupted or complete loss of water supply for a significant period, causing them distress and extreme inconvenience.
ENCOURAGED: Gedling Borough Council leader John Clarke praised improvements being made by Severn Trent Water following the bad weather spell
“I know that plenty of local people found it hard to get hold of Severn Trent Water at the time of the incident and the organisation and provision of bottled water didn’t work as well as it should have done.
“Ofwat’s report published today highlights the improvements that are needed to better manage future incidents and builds on the discussions that have already taken place between the Council, local MP Vernon Coaker and Severn Trent Water during which assurances were sought from Severn Trent Water to improve the flow of information to local residents and businesses and ensure that support to our most vulnerable residents in particular was better co-ordinated.
He added: “I am encouraged to see the commitment from Severn Trent Water in respect of improvements and the Council will continue to work with the company to ensure that the impact of any future incident on our residents and businesses is minimised.
“In addition to this, positive work is underway with Severn Trent Water to recognise the heritage of the Borough with the company contributing £10,000 to fund work around this.”
In a statement issued by Severn Trent Water, they acknowledged significant numbers had experienced disruption.
A Severn Trent spokesperson said: “We’d like to apologise again to our customers who were affected during the extreme weather in March. Customers rightly expect water whenever they need it, and we’ve been working hard since March to make improvements to our incident response processes.
“We accept Ofwat’s findings and are committed to submitting our action plan in September. We’ve already announced a significant programme of investment in our network, including plans for additional monitors in our network to enable us to respond much more quickly and accurately in the future, should this ever happen again.”
A fire at a flat in Carlton which caused the death of a woman was most likely started by a damaged flex of a fridge freezer, an inquest heard earlier this month (June 5).
Anita Hanks, 33, died after the fire at her home in Walton Court on October 2, 2017.
Ms Hanks had returned home from a friend’s neighbouring flat during the early hours, before the fire, and friends alerted the fire service when they became aware of a fire in her flat later that morning.
Crews from Arnold, Carlton and Stockhill arrived to find that the fire had self-extinguished, and found significant damage to the fridge freezer, which is believed to be where the fire originated.
The court heard that the appliance was not subject to any recall notices and an independent forensic examination commissioned by the manufacturer found that there were no technical faults with the fridge freezer.
In what Ms Casey described as ‘an incredibly rare set of circumstances’, it is believed that the freezer’s ‘flex cable’ had become damaged at some point, either when the appliance was moved or had become trapped underneath the appliance.
Returning her narrative conclusion, Ms Casey, said Ms Hanks was overcome by fumes.
PICTURED: Walton Court in Carlton
“The situation that led to this was most likely to have been developing over a period of time and we cannot be fully sure how the cable became damaged. I am satisfied following such a detailed examination of the appliance that there were no technical problems, and I would like to thank the manufacturers for their assistance with the investigation.
“I would like to express my most sincere condolences to the family and friends of Ms Hanks and I would like to recognise the bravery and courage of her friends who, when they found out she was in trouble and that her flat was on fire, did everything they could to try to save her.”
Following the inquest, Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service (NFRS) would like to highlight the need to correctly install appliances and to follow manufacturer’s guidelines.
Ian Tomlin, Fire Investigation and Arson Reduction Officer, said: “As Ms Casey has said, this is an incredibly rare occurrence and, on behalf of NFRS, I would like to express our condolences to the family and friends of Ms Hanks.
“Both our fire investigation and an independent forensic investigation returned the same conclusion that the fire was caused due to accidental damage to the ‘flex cable’.
“This raises an important issue and our advice is that if you are buying an appliance, particularly if it is second-hand, you should always inspect not just the appliance itself for damage, but also the attached cables and plugs.
“When an appliance has been moved, sometimes cables can become trapped underneath the appliance with the base resting on them. When installing appliances, we would advise you to follow manufacturer’s recommendations for installation and maintenance.
“We would also always advise regular general maintenance of your electrical appliances, making sure they are in good working order and that you register them with Register My Appliance (www.registermyappliance.org.uk) to keep up to date with any relevant recall notices.”
The new Mayor of Gedling cut the ribbon on a revamped play area which was officially opened on Thursday in Arnold.
The new mayor Cllr Barbara Miller was joined by excited pupils from Arnold View School as she declared the new play area in Arnot Hill Park open.
The new-look park, which has been revamped at a cost of £124,ooo, now boasts a junior and toddler zone, new swings, climbing walls and a 2.9 metre slide in the shape of the iconic Arnot Hill House – which is situated next to the play area.
OPEN: The Mayor of Gedling Cllr Barbara Miller opens Arnot Hill Park play areaREVAMPED: The new-look play area at Arnot Hill Park play area
The play area was improved thanks to funding from WREN’s FCC Community Action Fund, a not-for-profit business that awards grants for community projects from funds donated by waste and resource management company FCC Environment through the Landfill Communities Fund.
Portfolio holder for parks, Cllr Peter Barnes said: “We are absolutely delighted that the new play is ready for the young children to use. We have to say a huge thank you to WREN for the funding, they have been brilliant supporters of our borough and this park will be something children can enjoy for many years to come.”
River coarse fishing gets back into full swing today following the three month close season from March 15 to June 15.
But the Environment Agency is reminding anglers to make sure they have a fishing licence before they go.
The Agency reported 87 close season offences during the first 10 weeks of the annual restricted period for coarse fish.
Officers undertook 729 targeted patrols, also detecting 115 other offences, mainly unlicensed fishing, but also several illegally set traps.
Environment Agency Fisheries Enforcement Officers were supported again by Angling Trust Voluntary Bailiff Service members on Operation CLAMPDOWN.
Now in its sixth year, Operation CLAMPDOWN is a joint initiative between the Environment Agency, Angling Trust’s Fisheries Enforcement Support Service and police forces, aimed at gathering intelligence about illegal fishing and responding through targeted patrols.
Patrols took place across rivers, streams, drains and on specific canals and stillwaters that still retain the close season.
RELAXING: The coarse fishing season begins again todayWARNING: Don’t forget your fishing licence
Kevin Austin, Environment Agency Deputy Director Agriculture, Fisheries and the Natural Environment, said: “It’s a great time to go fishing. So I’d encourage anglers to get out there, enjoy yourselves fishing and make sure you are doing the right thing.”
“The vast majority of anglers fish legally; sadly there are a small number of anglers who cheat others by fishing during the close season. It is still possible for anglers to fish during this time on many stillwaters and canals, which are open all year round.
“We respond to the intelligence we receive about illegal fishing by ensuring our patrols are targeted at the right places – and the right people.”
Dilip Sarkar MBE, Angling Trust National Enforcement Manager, said: “These figures show that our volunteer bailiffs throughout England are demonstrating their massive commitment to protecting fish and fisheries and cracking down on illegal fishing.
All anglers can help this process, in fact – at any time of year – by reporting information and offences in progress to the Environment Agency on 0800 80 70 60, or the police on 101/999 as appropriate.”
If you want to fish a new river this season, why not visit the fishinginfo website (www.fishinginfo.co.uk) to find details of different venues, river levels and angling clubs.
Anyone who suspects illegal fishing to be taking place should report the matter to the Environment Agency’s incident hotline on 0800 80 70 60.
60 motorists were stopped and 10 dangerous vehicles taken off the road during a police clampdown in Gedling borough during the past two days.
Officers stopped the vehicles as part of Operation Highway, which took place in Gedling and also Rushcliffe during Thursday and Friday.
The aim of the operation was to combat illegal and dangerous vehicle use. These operations can take place anywhere in Nottinghamshire and on any day of the week. The teams have been on rural roads and in villages, as well as major routes.
Ten drivers were reported for vehicles being in dangerous and un-roadworthy conditions, four drivers were stopped for using mobile phones and five for failing to wear a seatbelt. Five vehicles were seized for no insurance and 10 vehicles were also banned from the road due to being in such dangerous conditions, including being overweight and having major mechanical and braking issues.
Officers also arrested a man on suspicion of taking a vehicle without consent and driving whilst banned. He was pulled over as part of the operation. He remains in custody while inquiries are on-going.
CLAMPDOWN: Vehicles taking part in the two-day operation in GedlingSUCCESS: Officers from the agencies involved in the operation
Operation Highway is a proactive operation that sees officers tackle all sorts of dangers on the road. There have been teams conducting speed checks, teams using unmarked vehicles and plain clothes officers to spot offences like mobile phone use and teams operating multi-agency check sites for commercial vehicles.
The officers have covered several locations at any one time.
The multiple agency meeting saw Divisional officers, Special Constables, Roads Policing Team and Police Cadets work alongside the Environment Agency, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA), Nottinghamshire Fire & Rescue, VIA East Midlands and HMRC.
Co-ordinating Op Transporter, PC Adam Pace said: “The difference with Op Highway is that where suitable we will seek to use education and training from our partners, instead of prosecution for minor offences. However, we will always seek to prosecute those who recklessly endanger people’s lives.
“Our Special Constables and Cadets play an ongoing, major role in this ever growing operation, which was first implemented by SC Alan Marwood in 2017.”
