Thank you to everyone who attended Saturday morning’s public meeting in Watnall. We (the local Tory Councillors and I) had called the meeting to launch the campaign to protect the Green Belt from development.

It really was standing room only (we reckon there were over 100 people present) from Watnall, Greasley, Kimberley and Nuthall. Despite what the Leader of the Council says (Lib Dem Michael Rich) we all agreed this is an immediate threat that requires urgent action to “see off”.

County Councillor Philip Owen chaired the meeting and together we gave the history of this recent threat to the Green Belt in Watnall and perhaps most importantly advice on what we can and must do.

Green Belt throughout the Borough is under threat and wherever you live I would urge you to write as soon as possible  to the Planning Dept, Broxtowe Borough Council, Foster Avenue, Beeston, Nottingham, NG9 1AB or e-mail dpcd@broxtowe.gov.uk.  Please get your friends, neighbours, family and colleagues to do the same.

Saturday’s meeting in Watnall identified the specific points local residents should identify in their protest letters. But some of the points are pertinent wherever you live. If you read the document on http://www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/cdplanningsuesbrief2.pdf. You’ll see the sites and the criteria on which they will assessed. It is full of jargon but not too difficult to cut through!

In relation to the threat to the Green Belt around Watnall I believe you should make the following points: *
•    In 2003, following a public inquiry, the Planning Inspector ruled against similar plans**. Nothing has changed since then, save that the traffic congestion in the area has got considerably worse. Give details of your experiences.
•    Explain what the Green Belt means to you and your family – how you use it and appreciate it.
•    Explain how important your community identity is to you and how any development would threaten it. Explain how the Green Belt retains the identity of where you live.
Please ask that your comments are passed on to the Leader of Broxtowe Borough Council and Nottinghamshire County Council strategic planners.  

In 2002/3 a strong united local campaign saw off the threat to the Green Belt – we can achieve the same again if we act together now.

We will keep you updated on our web site www.broxtoweconservatives.com. You can e-mail me at  annasoubry@googlemail.com, if you have any questions or want to pass on your comments.

*The document which identifies all the Green Belt sites being considered for development can be found on
http://www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/cdplanningsuesbrief2.pdf. It identifies the criteria they will use to assess the suitability of the various sites
**The Inspectors Report is on Broxtwe Borough Council’s web site. www.broxtowe.gov.uk Councillor Jill Owen helpfully has provided a four click guide to get to it! 1.Planning (Left hand side) 2.Planning Policy. 3. Broxtowe Local Plan and the final click is Inspector's Report (Housing).

I would like to re-iterate that the document which identifies the Green Belt sites being considered for development was published on November 30th and neither the local Labour MP or the LibDem/Lab controlled Council brought it to public attention. That was done by the Conservative Group Leader, Councillor Richard Jackson at full Council on December 12th.
Since then we have produced leaflets throughout the Borough, carried items on our web site and generated publicity notably in the Nottingham Evening Post.

I am pleased the local Labour MP has joined our campaign (he even turned up at Saturday’s meeting). I’d be more pleased if he didn’t take my comments out of context! As I said last week and on Saturday if I were your MP I would Broxtowe’s voice in Westminster and would therefore be lobbying ministers and Government Departments on your behalf on this issue. It’s the Government’s targets of 60,000 new homes in “Greater Nottingham” that is driving the threat to our Green Belt. My other concern is that planning decisions are being taken away from local councils and given to Government quangos.

As your MP I will attend local meetings and listen to your views and concerns – I would then take them to Westminster and air them. Fine words are all well and good but it’s action in Parliament that is required from your MP.


I was appalled that Derek Conway had “employed” his sons at tax payers expense when they were students.
David Cameron was right to expel Conway from the Parliamentary Party (the technical term is removing the party whip). David acted swiftly and decisively.


MP’s are paid £60,675 and last week raised their staff budgets from £90,505 to between £96,630 and £102,650 a year, depending on whether the staff are based in London. Clearly MP’s need to employ people to run their office and help with constituency work. Some MP’s employ their spouse; for example Labour’s Margaret Beckett has for many years employed her husband Leo and former Lib Dem leader Ming Campbell employs his wife.


I believe Parliament must get its house in order. There must now be transparency and full scrutiny of how MP’s spend our money – something that was first championed last summer by Ken Clarke’s Democracy Task Force. There have been calls for a ban on family members working for an MP (as in Germany and the USA). I don’t have strong views on the matter.


I would publish a full list of everyone I employ as your MP. I can’t imagine myself being married again, far less working with my husband. I can assure you I would not employ either of my daughters.


We will soon discover if Labour have pinched yet another of our policies – this time reform of “stop and search”. I think most people recognise that filling in foot long form is not an efficient use of our police officers time. As you may know I work as a criminal barrister and although I defend more than I prosecute I spend a great deal of my time talking and listening to police officers. Far too much red tape and form filling is one of the biggest complaints made to me by our police. It demoralises them as it stops them from doing the job they are paid to and want to do – namely the prevention and detection of crime or as one cop said to me the other week “feeling collars”.

Anyway I was sent the following stats earlier this week which I share with you in an effort to convince you that our police need to be able to get on with their job and we all need to reclaim our streets. I hope it will also prove that there is much merit in the assertion that Labours greatest broken promise was their pledge to be tough on crime and the causes of crime.

Violent crime has increased by 99 per cent under Labour, with over 1.2 million violent crimes committed in 2006-7 (Home Office, Crime in England and Wales 2006/07, July 2007, Table 2.04). In 2007, 27 teenagers were murdered in London alone, almost all victims of knife or gun crime perpetrated by other youths. This year, four more teenagers have been murdered, three of them stabbed to death.

Statistics produced last week showed that gun crime increased by four per cent- an additional 400 crimes- in the 12 months to September 2007. The total number of gun crimes was 10,182, equivalent to 28 gun crimes every day (Home Office Statistical Bulletin, Crime in England and Wales, Quarterly Update to September 2007, 24 January 2008). Since 1998-9, the total number of gun crimes (excluding air weapons) has increased by 80 per cent (Home Office, Crime in England and Wales 2006/07, July 2007, p.63).

The number of 16-18 year-olds not in education, employment or training (NEETs) rose by more than a quarter between 1997 and 2006, from 160,000 to 206,000 (Participation in Education and Training of 16-18 year-olds by Labour Market Status in England 1992 onwards, 2006, DFES, 26 June 2007).

Better late than never

Congratulations to ex judge, now City Councillor and very good friend Richard (Dick) Benson who got married on Saturday and held a great party in the evening. Dick first met Lin 43 years ago when they were students at Nottingham University. They had a brief romance but parted on graduation and took their separate paths into adult hood, middle age and retirement. Less than a year ago they made contact with each other and fell in love all over again.
It’s more the stuff of Mills and Boon than a wannabe MP’s blog but I think it’s a story worth sharing and it’s good to end on a happy note.


As ever
Anna