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Gedling Conservative councillor resigns over party ‘irregularities’

Gedling Eye Reporter
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Gedling Conservative councillor resigns over party ‘irregularities’

A Conservative councillor has resigned from the party and become an independent after what she called ‘irregularities’ in the candidate selection process for councillors.

Now, a Conservative Party official has been drafted in to ensure rules are adhered to at the Gedling association.

A spokesman for Gedling Conservatives said they were ‘disappointed’ that the councillor had left, but that they are still on the lookout for ‘enthusiastic and hardworking candidates across the borough for next year’s local elections.’

The row emerged after the former Conservative councillor for the Plains ward, Sarah Hewson, left the party and decided to serve on Gedling Borough Council as an independent councillor over the way she says the selection process was run.

Councillor Hewson said: “This is not a decision that I have taken lightly, but came after months of reflection and disappointment in the conduct within the local party.

“When I got to the point of a lost sense of pride in the local party, then sadly there was no alternative for me but to leave.

“There were a number of issues that concerned me over time.”

A Gedling Conservatives Spokesman said: “Gedling Conservatives are currently selecting enthusiastic and hardworking candidates across the borough for next year’s local elections

“Although disappointed Councillor Hewson decided to withdraw from this process and resign from the party, we wish her well and the very best with future endeavours.

“A Conservative-run Gedling would deliver on the issues which really matter to local communities including making sure the voices of residents are heard over any new developments.”

Gedling Borough Council has been run by the Labour party since 2011.

RESIGNED: Cllr Sarah Hewson who represented Plains Ward

Tom Butcher is a member of the Gedling Conservatives, and a former county and district councillor, as well as being a former vice chairman of the party. He is also a former senior police officer.

He said: “It seems to have gone back to where it was a few years ago.

“I’m really upset because I thought we had got the association onto a good footing at least.

“I’m just peed off to see all this raising its head again. It breaks your heart.

“I just want to get the Conservative party back on its feet.”

Jeff Richardson is a member of the party. Speaking about sending in a party official he said: “It’s highly unusual. It should be completely open.”

The leader of the Conservatives at Gedling Borough Council is Councillor Chris Barnfather, who represents the Newstead Abbey ward.

He said: “I feel that the party did everything it could to accommodate Councillor Hewson, I’m not sure what more the party could have done because we bent over backwards.

“I genuinely wish her well, I’m always sorry when anyone leaves the party, and especially when they have contributed to it, but if councillor Hewson is happier to continue as an independent then so be it.”

The now-independent Councillor Hewson said: “This does not fit with Theresa May’s recent talk about the importance of transparency in the party.

“The world of politics carries a lot of important responsibilities – we are not talking about a tiddlywinks society, or a knitting club, so it’s very disheartening when some people in it behave unethically and spoil it for others.

“However, on a more positive note I am very much looking forward to being able to focus on the job in hand as Gedling Borough Council’s sole independent councillor, for the Plains ward.

“The needs of my constituents are far more important than those of any political party and I will now have more time to dedicate to them without the distraction of party obligations.

“As an independent councillor it’s more about what you can do for your constituents, rather than promoting a political party whose party line may not necessarily be in line with the needs of the residents.

“Other than that, my role remains the same at Gedling Borough Council, and it’s business as usual.”

Pets at Home to stop selling rabbits over Easter at Arnold and Netherfield stores

David Bratton
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Pets at Home to stop selling rabbits over Easter at Arnold and Netherfield stores

A pet store chain with branches in Arnold and Netherfield will stop selling rabbits over the Easter period over fears the popular pets could be abandoned.

The legend of the Easter Bunny has traditionally seen a massive spike in demand for rabbits as children’s pets – and as a result a ban on sales will come into force from Good Friday to Easter Monday.

Instead of selling the popular pets, the chain will be holding free workshops at its Arnold and Netherfield stores which teach people about their care commitments when becoming a rabbit owner.

Peter_Rabbit
PARTNERSHIP: Peter Rabbit activity sheets will be on offer at workshops being run by Pets at Home

The free workshops are taking place at the stores on Saturday, March 24 between 10.00-10.30am.

Places are limited but can be booked here: http://www.petsathome.com/shop/en/pets/easter-workshops

Peter Pritchard, CEO of Pets at Home, said: “Our decision to stop the sale and adoption of rabbits during Easter has been made to educate potential owners on the importance of responsible pet ownership. Our informative workshops will help families understand what’s involved in being a responsible pet owner. What’s more they’re also a fun and free way to learn about small furry animals and rabbits during the holidays.”

For more information and to read the full list of important considerations for prospective rabbit owners, please click here: http://www.petsathome.com/shop/en/pets/easter-workshops

Micropub in Newstead marks first anniversary with music festival

Gedling Eye
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Micropub in Newstead marks first anniversary with music festival

A micropub in Newstead is to mark its first year of pulling pints for punters with a three-day music festival.

The Pit Micropub has organised Microfest, which will take place between Friday and Sunday, March 23-25.

There will be 20 ales, lagers and ciders offer and an amazing line-up of artists including Cornish buskers Phat Bollard, The Ruffs and Shanks Pony.

Other groups on the bill include Thee Eviltones, The Immortal Rich and King of Rome.

The festival will mark the first anniversary of The Pit micropub, which opened to serve Newstead village – a community without a pub until the Tilford Road venue was opened by real ales lover Lorraine Horrocks 12 months ago.

For more details about the event, visit The Pit’s Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/pg/thepitmicropub

Colwick office team step up for cancer charity challenge

Emily Sanchez
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Colwick office team step up for cancer charity challenge

A team of office workers in Colwick have stepped up to the challenge of each hitting a target of walking 10,000 steps a day in a bid to raise cash for a leading cancer charity.

Staff at Chapelle Jewellery, which has its head office on Colwick Quays Business Park, have just three weeks to achieve the number of steps it would take to carry out a tour all their stores across the UK – a total of 1660 miles.

Sarah Callaway, who is the firm’s e-commerce manager, said: “Chapelle Jewellery partnered with Macmillan Cancer Support last year and have undertaken various charity events from half marathons to cake sales and a swim-a-thon.

“This year the Chapelle Jewellery head office team have set themselves the challenge of walking 10,000 steps a day each over three weeks and complete enough steps to take a tour of all of our stores in the UK.

“The planned 1660-mile virtual route starts at their newest, and most Southern store – Gunwharf Quays and would see us visit each store in turn to end at the Livingston branch. The team’s steps will add up to complete this mammoth walk.

She added: “Being desk-based, it’s been quite a challenge to rack up 10,000 steps a day each and it’s been a real team effort. Many of the team are going to great lengths to ensure they hit the steps.

One of the team, Mark, has been walking four miles to work each day and some days he’s been walking back too and has been racking up an average of 17,000 steps a day. Georgia struggles to clock the steps up during work, but that hasn’t stopped her, she goes home, gets her dad and the dogs and sets off on what is quite often a two-hour walk. Sarah’s been boosting her steps by dancing around the kitchen as she’s making the tea, or whilst watching Emmerdale. And Pete has been walking his elderly neighbours dog, he bought an activity tracker and a treadmill

The Chapelle Jewellery head office team are now at the start of week three and have already raised in excess of £1300 for Macmillan Cancer Support and are determined to continue to raise funds for this important charity.

You can back the team’s bid by visiting their JustGiving page here: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/chapelle-jewellery-march

You can read more about the team’s progress on this blog: https://www.chapelle.co.uk/news/chapelle-jewellery-head-office-team-march-macmillan

Review: The Manfreds at Lowdham Village Hall

Gedling Eye Reporter
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Review: The Manfreds at Lowdham Village Hall

On what was the first day of their 2018 Spring Tour, The Manfreds hit Lowdham the day before the heavy snow returned. With the temperature already starting to drop outside, The Manfreds produced a show of such energy that the Village Hall was rocking to the rafters and nobody need fear the chill.

‘This is a new one for you,’ said Paul Jones, ‘and for us,’ when introducing jazzy instrumental, Cold Duck Time. For fans of this was probably the only unfamiliar number. The tune had a jazzy feel quite reminiscent of Georgie Fame’s, Yeah Yeah which also received a playing later. The opening number gave members opportunity to bat solos between them as did jazz funk, Put It Where You Want It originally by The Crusaders.

The core of the original Manfred Mann, Paul Jones (vocals and harmonica), Tom McGuinness (guitars and vocals), Mike Hugg (keyboards) and Rob Townsend (drums) joined by newer members Simon Currie (saxophones) and Marcus Cliffe (bass) bashed out many of the hits from the Jones era: Just Like A Woman, Pretty Flamingo, Doo Wah Diddy Diddy, Mighty Quinn, and, 5,4,3,2,1.

The hits kept coming with the crowd singing and clapping along, and Jones conducting their efforts from the stage. The group also harked back to their blues roots with King Pin and Howling Wolf’s Smokestack Lightning, which was a highlight.

Currie’s saxophones have given The Manfreds a jazzy edge and this was apparent in Jones’s solo hit, Bad Bad Boy, which was interwoven with Quincy Jones’s Killer Joe, and also on Nat King Cole’s, Straighten Up And Fly Right. Jones pointed out that Cole had written the lyrics based on the content of a sermon given by his church pastor Dad.

The gig also featured two classics from McGuiness’s time in McGuiness Flint: Malt And Barley Blues, and, When I’m Dead And Gone, which McGuiness noted was only kept off number one by Clive Dunn and the novelty hit Grandad! There was also a new ‘optimistic’ McGuiness song, How Lucky Can One Man Be from his new CD. Currie and Hugg had their time in the spotlight with an ambient instrumental Diamonds In The Sand before Cliffe delivered a unique vocal and bass version of Curtis Mayfield’s, People Get Ready. He used a loop pedal judiciously to set up bass grooves to underpin the song’s melody.

A standing ovation brought The Manfreds back to the stage for them to round off the gig, very appropriately, with a storming version of Bob Dylan’s, If You Gotta Go. This audience certainly wished they hadn’t got to!

Where were the gritters in Gedling borough? Council responds to criticism

Gedling Eye
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Where were the gritters in Gedling borough? Council responds to criticism

A council has clarified their gritting strategy after criticism from councillors, an MP and members of the public about the way the borough’s roads were managed during the heavy snowfall on Saturday.

In statement, Nottinghamshire County Council defended their gritting plan and said disruptions were ‘inevitable’ due to the amount of snow that fell on Saturday.

Gritting team manager Kevin Heathcote of Via East Midlands, which delivers highways services on behalf of Nottinghamshire County Council, including winter maintenance, said: “Our gritting teams have been working around the clock to help the county stay on the move during this recent bout of wintry conditions. We have already more than doubled amount of runs compared to last winter.

“Our activity is closely based on weather forecasts. So based on this, our crews were out gritting main routes and severe weather routes, late on Friday evening and early Saturday evening and again on Sunday morning, including the Gedling district.  We had nearly 50 staff working shifts over the weekend.

Snow
(PICTURE: Deposit Photos)

“Gritters spreading grit on the road is only the start of the deicing process.  Applying salt to the road does not guarantee that snow will not settle, as was the case on Saturday, as it was falling too quickly for salt to mix with it.

“Vehicle movement can help break the snow down and allow the salt to activate more quickly, so when traffic levels are low, roads can remain icy or snowy for some time, particularly given the amount of snow we had this weekend.

“Therefore it was a case of trying to manage the situation and keep treating and ploughing as necessary.  By mid-morning on Sunday the main roads were clear and easily accessible.

“With the amount of snow we’ve had  it’s inevitable that driving conditions will be tricky with some short-term disruptions – particularly when it comes to hilly routes.

“We are very thankful for the public’s support and patience in such tough conditions.

“Our teams remain on 24 hour standby, which has been the case since last November, with teams due to be out tonight gritting main routes.”

Nottinghamshire County Council were criticised yesterday by leaders from Gedling Borough Council about the way the borough was managed during the cold weather.

In a statement, Cllr Michael Payne, deputy leader of Gedling Bought Council, said: “Slower than normal gritting response by the County Council left a number of main gritting routes closed by the middle of the evening.

The statement also claimed that “bus routes were severely affected, leaving many residents to walk home from Nottingham and surrounding areas, which they said was “clearly unacceptable.”

Police release CCTV footage after pensioner punched during attempted robbery in Mapperley

Gedling Eye
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Police release CCTV footage after pensioner punched during attempted robbery in Mapperley

Police have issued CCTV footage of a man police they would like to speak to after a pensioner was assaulted during an attempted robbery in Mapperley.

Officers are investigating after a 76-year-old man is believed to have been punched in the face in an attempt to steal his wallet in Woodborough Road, Mapperley.

Police say they were called at around 9.30pm on January 27 after the suspect attempted to steal his wallet in an alleyway.

The victim was knocked to the ground and the wallet was dropped; his glasses were knocked off his face during the struggle.

A spokesman for Nottinghamshire Police said: “The man we would like to speak to in connection with the incident is described as white, late teens to early 20’s, of a slim build and was dressed in dark clothing.

“If anyone has any information, please call us on 101, quoting incident number 859 of 27 January 2018.

Gedling councillors slam county council gritting operation

Gedling Eye
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Gedling councillors slam county council gritting operation

Leaders from Gedling Borough Council have slammed the gritting operation carried out yesterday on roads in the borough.

Cllr. Michael Payne, deputy leader of Gedling Borough Council today released a joint statement with other leaders criticising the gritting operation carried out by Nottinghamshire County Council.

In the statement from Mr Payne, which was also agreed with  Cllr. John Clarke, leader of Gedling Borough Council and Vernon Coaker, MP for Gedling; said: “Residents in Gedling Borough have raised serious concerns with us about Nottinghamshire County Council’s gritting operation on the afternoon and evening of Saturday, March 17.

“Severe weather was predicted for our local area but Nottinghamshire County Council’s gritting operation across Gedling Borough – including Arnold, Mapperley Plains, Woodthorpe, Daybrook, Redhill, Carlton, Gedling, Netherfield and Colwick seemed to be slower and less effective than it has been previously.

“Once again we find ourselves having to call for an urgent review of the county council’s response to severe weather in Gedling Borough, which is one of the hilliest and steepest boroughs in the County of Nottinghamshire.

The statement goes on to claim a ‘slower than normal gritting response by the County Council left a number of main gritting routes closed by the middle of the evening’ it also claims ‘bus routes were severely affected, leaving many residents to walk home from Nottingham and surrounding areas – this is clearly unacceptable.”

In the statement, Mr Payne, Clarke and Coaker did also praise efforts from police.

They said: “We’d like to thank Nottinghamshire Police for their outstanding efforts to assist those left stranded and struggling yesterday evening on our local roads.

They also thanked residents across the borough for their efforts during the bad weather.

They said: “Thank you to a number of residents who also got stuck in to help others out. We’d also like to thank the frontline council staff who do their very best in difficult and challenging circumstances.”

The councillors have said they are now requesting a review from Nottinghamshire County Council about the operation.

They wrote: “We are requesting an urgent meeting with the leader of Nottinghamshire County Council and her senior officials to seek improvements in the County Council’s response to severe weather in our borough and ensure lessons are learned to avoid this kind of havoc being repeated in the future.

“A number of years ago we decided to install extra grit bins across our borough, provided by Gedling Borough Council and also purchased additional gritting machinery specifically for Gedling Borough. We also managed to secure a number of additional local roads being included on the County Council’s main gritting routes.

“It is clear the urgent review we are now calling for will need to look again at what more can be done to further improve things.”

Gedling Eye has contacted Nottinghamshire County Council for a response

Teens to be trained about online safety at school in Gedling

Gedling Eye
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Teens to be trained about online safety at school in Gedling

A school in Gedling is to work with police to educate young people about staying safe online

Nottinghamshire Police has launched a new training initiative which will educate young people about online grooming, sexting and consensual sex. The training will begin next week following tomorrow’s National CSE Awareness Day (Sunday 18 March) and aims to raise awareness of this important area.

Working in partnership with Carlton le Willows, officers from the Public Protection team will delivering training sessions to 250 of their Year 9 students. Officers will then also carry out the training at other schools across the city and county.

DC Stuart Barson and DC John Whitworth first came up with the idea after working on several incidents of sexual offences which involved young people. Additional research found that teenagers in the Year 9 age bracket were most at risk of experiencing a sexual offence, making it more important than ever that we educate young people and ensure they are staying safe online.

“For many of us, technology just wasn’t part of our lives growing up. We were taught not to talk to strangers in the street or accept lifts from people we didn’t know. Those lessons are still invaluable, but our children face a different kind of threat today. Over the last year, we’ve seen significant increases in reports of grooming or exposure offences against under-18s and, in 2016/17, the majority of victims were aged between 13 and 15,” said DI Jamie Hill, who is an investigator in the Public Protection team.

“We don’t want to frighten young people, or imply that they are to blame in any way. However, we have to face the reality of the world we live in and we need to equip our children with the right tools and knowledge to keep themselves safe, both online and offline.”

The training will be delivered in small groups by DC Barson, who will focus on consent and the law, and DC Whitworth, who will focus on online grooming and safety.

The schools volunteered to be part of a pilot scheme, and the overall aim is to roll this training out to all secondary schools in the city and county.

Alongside the training for teenagers, Nottinghamshire Police is also running a number of sessions to educate parents about the types of behaviour to look out for and the steps they can take to protect their children online.

“We want to make sure young people know that there’s always someone they can talk to, whether that’s the police, the NSPCC, their parents or a teacher,” added DI Hill. “This week is all about talking – encouraging parents to discuss uncomfortable subjects with their children and reminding young people that their parents and teachers will understand.” 

Facebook will soon be showing less news. Here’s how to keep seeing Gedling Eye

David Bratton
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Facebook will soon be showing less news. Here’s how to keep seeing Gedling Eye

Facebook is showing less news. Here’s how to keep seeing Gedling Eye

Facebook is making it a little complicated to keep up with everything that’s happening in your community by showing you fewer local news stories in your News Feed. But you can still make sure you see Gedling Eye by following these very easy steps:

Are you reading this on your phone or tablet? Click here to go to the Gedling Eye Facebook page . Right under the photo at the top, find the word “Follow” or “Following.”

  • If you see the word “Following,” click on it and then click “See First.” You’re good to go!
  • If you see the word “Follow,” click it and then click “See First.” That’s all there is to it!

Are you reading this on a desktop or laptop computer? Click here to go to the Gedling Eye Facebook page and look under the cover photo at the top.

▪ First, make sure you “Like” the Gedling Eye page.  Next to the “Like” button, you’ll see the word “Following.”

▪ If you see the word “Following,” click on it and then click “See First.” You’re good to go!

▪ If you see the word “Follow,” click it and then click “See First.” That’s all there is to it!

Thank you very much for reading Gedling Eye on Facebook!

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