Hello again,
 
It’s been a rather unusual week. My work has taken me to Lincoln Crown Court which makes a very pleasant change from Nottingham Crown Court as the 18th Century Court is sited in the magnificent Castle Grounds. The Courts are big, beautiful, with natural light and perfect acoustics in total contrast to the Courts in Nottingham which are small, with no natural light, no character and terrible acoustics.
 
Anyway, as a result of my travels my bag containing my wig and gown was in my car which was parked right by my back door whilst my youngest daughter and I were cooking supper. Said bag was stolen but all was far from lost. The entire contents minus a pair of “spare earrings” and some collar studs were recovered – all in perfect order. In a strange way I rather grateful to the thief for dumping my bag with such care and in particular for not making off with my wig which would have cost £500 to replace!
 
I refuse to follow most of my neighbours and install electric gates as I don’t want to turn my home into a fortress (and they cost a small fortune). Theft of and from motor vehicles had fallen of late, undoubtedly due to the extra security measures built into new cars. But it’s on the rise (there’s been a real problem in hotel car parks in Chilwell and Nuthall for example) and the police have no doubt thieves are once again targeting cars because “sat navs” are so popular. My really helpful beat cop told me the police are even advising people to remove the rubber windscreen sucker that keeps the Sat Nav in place as it shows you have one which you have probably stowed away in the car. It’s advice I failed to follow but you shouldn’t leave any valuables in your car.
 
Green Belt Up-date
 
Thank you to everyone who has been writing to the Planning department of the Borough Council in protest at proposals to build on huge chunks of Green Belt throughout Broxtowe. Please check out the details on our web site www.broxtoweconservatives.com.
 
This weekend we began delivering 1,000 letters to residents in Toton about the threat to their local Green Belt. Our advice remains the same – e-mail and/or write to the Planning Department at the Borough Council and ask they send a copy of your e-mail/letter to the leader of the Borough Council and strategic planning at Notts County Council. (full details on the web site www.broxtoweconservatives.com)
 
Saturday’s Nottingham Evening Post carried an article about the Green Belt in which Labour MP’s expressed their “outrage” that the consultants who are assessing the sites did not want to hear the views of politicians. For reasons which I don’t understand no-one spoke to either myself or Richard Jackson who first raised the issue and who has been working so hard to see off the developers.
 
The result is an article which contains a considerable amount of Labour Party spin and I’d like to not only re-dress the balance but give a few facts.
 
The Government has laid down a target of 60,000 new homes in the Nottingham conurbation to be built within the next twenty five years.

An organisation called Nottingham Regeneration Ltd which was created by Labour and which is not elected and therefore not directly accountable to the public has been “tasked” with finding sites on which the extra houses can be built.

They have identified 22 sites and then appointed a firm of consultants to consider the merits of each site. Labour’s Nottingham Regeneration failed to place the consultants under a duty to listen to local politicians.

All of this has been done with the knowledge and agreement of Broxtowe Borough Council which is controlled by the LibDems and Labour in coalition.

It is the duty of the planning department at Broxtowe Borough Council to carry out the policies as determined by your elected Councillors. In other words your views and your interests should be being represented by your Borough Council which is why we have asked people who wish to save their Green Belt to write to the Borough Council.

Your Labour MP knows all this because this system was set up by his Government. He and other local Labour MP’s have set loose a real red herring – shifting the spotlight onto the consultants when the real problem lies with Government driven targets and a Labour devised system which seeks to take power away from your local council.

Way back in December, when Tory Group leader, Councillor Richard Jackson first raised the threat to the Green Belt he called for an all party campaign and got an assurance that the Council would fight to protect the Borough’s Green Belt.

Sadly, instead of everyone coming together people are playing politics.

Women in the World Today
 
I don’t want to become a political anorak and most times I’d rather be clearing up my garden than reading some heavy political tome. But I have forsaken the rake this weekend and have been reading “Women in the World Today” a report out this week from the Conservative Women’s Policy Group. It’s a policy document but primarily an examination of a hugely wide ranging set of topics concerning women, including the gap between women and men’s pay, child care, human trafficking and prostitution and forced marriage. You can download it from the Conservative Party web site www.conservatives.com <http://www.conservatives.com/> . I know you’ll say I am biased but it is a really worthwhile read; Theresay May states
“Our policy needs to be guided by a philosophy that welcomes
diversity, promotes choice and recognises that Britain’s “women”
are not a single monolithic bloc, but thirty million individuals.”
I couldn’t agree more with her but I am not convinced by all of the policy conclusions (for example the section on rape). I’m always keen to engage in political debate so if you do read it and want to discuss it with me please e-mail me back.
 
Next week I shall be in Nuthall on Monday evening, Kimberley on Tuesday and in Chilwell on Friday evening. Please keep in touch.
 
As ever
Anna