Thank you for all your e-mails which I am ploughing through – bear with me you will get a reply.

I went to last Monday’s meeting of SOBS in the Town Council office. Inspector John Lees attended and confirmed the site is now so dangerous he will not allow his officers on to it. Inspector Lees is accordingly not only fully aware of the state of the site but the need for the owners, Greene King, to take responsibility for it making it both safe and secure.

You only have to take a cursory glance at the buildings to see how thieves have stripped it of most of its’ valuable metal. Concern has been expressed for many months at the security arrangements made by Greene King. The SOBS meeting was given an unconfirmed report that one of the security men working at the site had a knife pulled on him when he confronted two teenagers stealing what little metal remains. Of particular concern is that the incident had not been reported to the police.

Inspector Lees was fully appraised of the situation and SOBS members made a number of important points and observations, including the adverse effect on residents and policing levels in the town and . Inspector Lees is working with both the beat manager, PC Paul Toon and the Crime Reduction Manager. The police have identified the problems and will now meet with Greene King – who will hopefully now fulfil their obligations to make the site safe and secure.

As you may know SOBS has applied to English Heritage to have the buildings listed and their application is certainly supported by both Kimberley Conservatives and local Lib Dems. I am sure Labour’s Borough Councillor also supports the listing and I know he has been a good supporter of SOBS. Anyway for reasons which I cannot fathom the Borough Council has remained neutral on the issue even though it is controlled by the LIbDems and Labour. Finally, at the beginning of February there was a change of heart and listing is now officially backed. A letter has been sent to English Heritage and a copy of a report from an officer of Notts County Council supporting listing (which in my opinion should have been sent months ago).

English Heritage has still not reached a decision and I have no idea whether this late service of the report will make any difference. If EH refuse to list the buildings the decision can be appealed if “fresh evidence” is available so I had thought all may not be lost as the report would have constituted “fresh evidence”. Now it has been served any appeal may be scuppered but I hope to be proved wrong.
The potential for the site is enormous – but will be lost if the buildings are not listed. I would like to see a mix of housing, small businesses and community facilities. A micro brewery has expressed an interest; then there is the exciting prospect of an entertainment centre for Kimberley. What is needed is a huge amount of imagination, energy and leadership.  

Bramcote Green Belt meeting

 
Another public meeting to discuss the future of Gren Belt land; another packed out hall. It was standing room only at Bramcote Memorial Hall on Thursday evening as almost 200 people attended a meeting called by the Historical Society.  As you may expect there was considerable opposition to any development on the areas precious green belt. I was particularly struck by the strength of feeling to protect land which people obviously enjoy either by walking through it or because of the wildlife much of which makes welcome visits to suburban gardens.

No explanation was given for the fact that the Lib Dem Leader of Broxtowe Council didn’t attend as billed. I somewhat suspect he hasn’t quite recovered from his “Chilwell experience” when residents booed and heckled him with cries of “you’re too complacent”. Anyway his Lib Dem colleagues in Bramcote could not be accused of the same and like us, they have been urging supporters of the Green Belt to write to Broxtowe Borough Council. (full details in previous e-mail newsletters and www.broxtoweconservatives.com).

In recent weeks I have been concerned that the local Labour MP is raising a number of red herrings. Initially he blamed the threat to Broxtowe’s Green belt on “greedy developers” was not true and now concedes that the report that raised the threat was commissioned by all the local authorities in “Greater Nottingham”. Maybe it’s just a question of time before he admits that the figures of 60,000 new homes in twenty five years have come from his Government as a target that must be met and the undemocratic system that is enforcing this target is one devised by his Government.

Philip Hammond the Conservative shadow Minister for Trade and industry paid a visit to a business being successfully run by Kimberley resident Luke Smith. Rubbish Bags works with a Fair Trade co-operative based in the Philippines which collects empty juice cartons and then weaves them into stunning bags and purses. The business was launched last year and has already been commended for its eco friendly credentials. It was a good opportunity for Philip to see a successful and ethical enterprise being run by a couple of young Conservatives. The visit coincided with the launch of the Partys latest campaign to get people to join and donate – hence the photo.

Gedling Result

I have never been particularly passionate about the EU. What does agitate me about the current debate on the EU Treaty, however, is that the Government has broken its promise to hold a referendum so for me it’s a matter of trust; how can politicians restore peoples trust in politics if solemn election promises are broken.

In their manifesto Labour promised a referendum on the EU Constitution. On June 24th 2007 Gordon Brown said “We’ve got to honour that manifesto. This is an issue of trust for me with the electorate”. Events have proved these to be hollow words. Labour has broken its promise to hold a referendum on the EU Treaty which is as most sensible people agree, the Constitution in a different guise.

Voters in Gedling have at least had the opportunity to give their views on the matter. 88% said they want a referendum on the Treaty and 89% said they would vote against ratification of the Treaty. 

The turn out was a remarkable 42% - 10% more than voted in the May Council elections and overall more people voted in favour of a referendum than votes for the local Labour MP. On Wednesday MP’s have the opportunity to give the people the referendum promised by all the political parties. Bet you any money you like that both Gelding and Broxtowe’s Labour MP will ignore the wishes of the people they support to represent and will slavishly follows their party whip.

Drugs

 
As I frequently tell my clients “I do a lot of drugs” – in the sense a large number of my defendants take a large amount of illegal drugs.

The Labour Government has announced another drug strategy which I believe is in itself an admission that notwithstanding they have been in power ten years and have spent a fortune, they have failed to tackle drugs.

The facts support my view.
•    Total recorded drugs offences have increased from 135,945 in 1998-99 to 194,502 in 2006-07, an increase of 43 per cent (Home Office, Crime in England and Wales 2006/07, July 2007).  According to the British Crime Survey, a fifth of victims of robbery believed the offender to be under the influence of drugs (ibid).  .
•    A recent report by the drug and alcohol treatment charity, Addaction, found that between 1998 to 2008,  drug-related health and crime costs to the UK totalled £110bn (Addaction, Cost of the UK’s illegal drug problem, 25 February 2008). 
•    A report by the independent UK Drug Policy Commission found that the UK has the highest level of problem drug use and the second highest level of drug-related deaths in Europe. There are now 327,000 problem drug users of opiates and cocaine in the UK (UK Drug Policy Commission, An Analysis of UK Drug Policy, April 2007). 

There is a fundamental difference between the Labour Governments approach to drug treatment and what we would do if in Government. Labour supports “maintenance and management” treatment plans which involve the widespread administration of methadone. Doping up heroin and crack addicts is a short term measure which admittedly results in addicts committing fewer crimes to support their habit, but does little or nothing to address the underlying problem which is their addiction to drugs. I’ve long been a supporter of abstinence-based drug treatment, and in particular residential re-hab and the Conservative Party will introduce these sorts of Drug Treatment Orders. I must add that I was shocked to learn from one client who has a long standing heroin addiction that he was getting a methadone script whilst in prison with none of the drug counselling and reduction plan he should be getting. I would not prescribe methadone to inmates – prisoner who are alcoholics don’t get alcohol substitutes. I fear drug addicts are being given methadone to “keep them quiet” and reduce the market in prisons for illegal drugs, which I am told are as plentiful inside prison as outside.

It seems to escape people that the key components of heroin and cocaine cannot be grown in Britain – the stuff comes in illegally. A Conservative Government will create a dedicated border police force, with the responsibility of protecting the UK from illegal immigration and drug smuggling. Gordon Brown’s proposal for a new Border Agency is more about spin than securing our borders–his Agency will not even include the police.   Our force will include the police, with officers having powers to stop, search, detain and prosecute.

I have come round to the view that cannabis should be re-classified as a Class B drug. Labour took it down to a Class C drug with serious consequences (you’d be surprised by the number of youngsters who think it is not illegal to possess cannabis). Most cannabis is “skunk” and I have represented too many people who have used it with devastating effect on their mental health. Personally, I think there is a good argument that amphetamine should be re classified as a Class A drug and Ecstasy taken down to a Class B drug. I welcome your views.

Finally, please keep sending me your views on school terms; is the Autumn term too long? Spring too short? (I think everyone agree it is this year). Would you support four “semesters”. Please e-mail me your views which I will share with County Councillor Philip Owen who wants to raise the matter with Notts County Council.

 

As ever