PETERSHAM GREEN SHOPPING ZONE

Many local residents would welcome a redesign of the area in front of the shops opposite Petersham Green on Grasmere Road, Long Eaton. Enhancing the space and providing better car parking has been talked about for years but so far no results. Lets get moving to provide an area people can be proud of and feel safe in. There is potential for more businesses and public amenities to make the area even better.

The building of the Outlook Centre and the new play cage have improved the area . Further changes with the development of the old Petersham Hotel site and the old ambulance station site should bring more life to the place. That should add to economic activity for Petersham. Now's the time to boost this edge of Town area and I will be striving to highlight the issue with the local Council.



COUNCILLOR HOWARD GRIFFITHS: PARKING PROBLEMS PROBE

COUNCILLOR HOWARD GRIFFITHS: PARKING PROBLEMS PROBE: " BRIDGE STREET LONG EATON  Derbyshire County Council are to look into the parking problems in Bridge Street Long Eaton and the sur..."

PARKING PROBLEMS PROBE



BRIDGE STREET LONG EATON



Derbyshire County Council are to look into the parking problems in Bridge Street Long Eaton and the surrounding area in the new year. Highways officials are of the opinion that more spaces could be freed up for residents without resorting to a residents only scheme. Cllr Margaret Griffiths and I have been campaigning for changes to be implemented to benefit local people. Not only is it sometimes damned annoying for residents not to be able to park near their homes but it is reflected in property prices. Thus adding insult to injury. We are also asking for the one-way system in Hamilton Road to be looked at because some residents would prefer the direction to be switched to avoid the Bridge Street junction where visibility is a problem.

Perhaps it could be good news in the new year, but proper consultation is needed as well as innovative solutions aimed at maintaining and enhancing safety and security. We look forward to progress.

TOWN HALL TANTRUMS

Following a recent meeting at which Conservative Councillors refused to debate the large amount of money granted each year to Parish Councils,  Councillors Corbett, Harrison, Smith and Shaw have reported several Labour members to the Standards Committee. My crime was to call Cllr Corbett "Chicken" because he cowardly declined to enter into a debate on this controversial issue.

Eighteen of the Erewash Tory Councillors are also Parish Councillors and for years they have waved through money for their own Parishes whilst cutting services to Ilkeston and Long Eaton. Whilst denying Ilkeston a say in whether they should have a Town Council, on the grounds of cost, their own Parish Councils have been let rip. It even transpires that Tory Councillors have done paid work for Parishes. It's about time they came clean and discussed the matter honestly and openly.

Nearly a third of a million pounds a year may be chicken feed to the Conservatives but it's a significant sum which could have been used to bring jobs to the Borough. We demand to know whether transparency and probity has been maintained and whether we have had value for money. If anybody can shed light on this can of worms please let us know.

COUNCILLOR HOWARD GRIFFITHS: EREWASH CAMPAIGN CONFERENCE

COUNCILLOR HOWARD GRIFFITHS: EREWASH CAMPAIGN CONFERENCE: "  Chris Williamson M.P. for Derby North gave the key note speech at Erewash Labour's Campaign Conference at Bennerley Enterp..."

EREWASH CAMPAIGN CONFERENCE




Chris Williamson M.P. for Derby North gave the key note speech at Erewash Labour's Campaign Conference at Bennerley Enterprise Centre, Ilkeston. 

CHRIS WILLIAMSON M.P. AND HOWARD GRIFFITHS



The Conference was Chaired by Frank Phillips and I gave an introductory speech out lining Erewash past history and some of the challenges that lie ahead.



Chris Williamson spoke of how the cuts will hit Councils badly in the areas most dependent on Government Grant. Area based grants aimed at the worst off areas will be scrapped. The freedom promised to local Government, by the Coalition, will be freedom to make cuts. The Government appear to be trying to by pass local government and rely on the 3rd sector to make up the gap. Many workers will go from low pay to no pay under the Coalition Government so called "Big Society". He went on to say that providing homes would be a big challenge and that Council's should claim back their role by again providing mortgages for people to get the housing market moving again. He went on to say "The sell out by the Lib-Dems has left Labour as the only progressive force in British politics and we need to reap up the centre-left vote to be able to defeat the Tories".

LORD YOUNG ON HIS BIKE

Another one bites the dust. Lord Young falls on his sword; following his gaffe which belittled the effect of the recession by saying people "have never had it so good". Cameron was quick to distance himself from Young's comments. So you now know how Cameron sticks by his friends. He doesn't even give a backward glance. His lack of loyalty will continue growing enemies on his own side.

The honeymoon is finished and even tougher times lie ahead for Cameron. Lord Young has powerful friends among the Grandees in the Tory Party and a Thatcher crony to boot. Will he open his mouth in the future and get his own back? I think he will.

AND FURTHERMORE

The Erewash Labour Group seemed to have touched a raw nerve with their investigation into money siphoned off from the Borough Council under the label "concurrent functions". Ockbrook and Borrowash Parish Council have put up an unsigned notice attacking the Erewash Labour Party about a motion put by the Erewash Labour Group. Apart from the selective aspect of the notice, the anonymous nature of it shows the apparent cowardice of the perpetrator or perpetrators. It claims to have influenced the progress of the proposal, the full text of which is on the Erewash Council's web site. How the author/s has influenced the Erewash Council's decision is not clear. If anybody can shed light on how the vote was influenced, I for one would be delighted to hear!

PARISH CAPERS

At a recent Erewash Council meeting the Tory "Leader" ran away from a debate on the money given by the Borough to Parish Councils. To cries of "chicken" by Labour Councillors Cllr Chris Corbett used, not for the first time, a procedural motion to avoid proper debate on this important issue. I told him "you can run but you can't hide". The issue will not go away so easily and we intend to run them to earth. Some Parish Councils receive an extraordinary amount of money just to fund a Parish Clerk mostly paid for by the Borough for which there is no accountability or transparency.

What is more disturbing is that more than half of the Tory Group are Parish Councillors. Is that why they don't want proper accountability?

NEXT SURGERY

COUNCILLOR'S SURGERY

Howard & Margaret Griffiths and Keri Andrews will be holding their next Councillor's Surgery on 7th December at 6.30 p.m. until 8.00 p.m. at Long Eaton Town Hall.

COUNCILLOR HOWARD GRIFFITHS: LIB-DEMS SELL STUDENTS FOR POWER

COUNCILLOR HOWARD GRIFFITHS: LIB-DEMS SELL STUDENTS FOR POWER: "The Guardian has revealed that Clegg and Co planned two months before the General Election to sell students down the river. Having 'pledged'..."

LIB-DEMS SELL STUDENTS FOR POWER

The Guardian has revealed that Clegg and Co planned two months before the General Election to sell students down the river. Having "pledged" to abolish top up fees they were already planning to sell out for a share of power after the Election. Not just student voters but also helpers that worked hard for the Lib-Dems during the Election have been utterly mislead and betrayed.

EREWASH ERRORS

When I look back over Erewash history it grieves me to recollect the missed opportunities. At one point when the Conservatives held sway they were offered the Hermits Wood at Dale Abbey for a "peppercorn" they turned it down because of running costs. It would have made a top class nature reserve owned by the public for ever. About the same time they had the offer of the Cat & Fiddle Windmill plus Cottage, I think the figure talked of was 20k.  Imagine that as a Nature Study Centre and visitor attraction. Guess what? They turned it down because of running costs. 

They then built the Long Eaton Town Hall for about two and a half million pounds and they would have spent another £250,000 on a nuclear bunker underneath if they could have secured the grant from Thatcher's Government. I kid you not! These Erewash Tory folk appear seriously misguided.

DAWNING ON DERBYSHIRE

2000 job cuts say Derbyshire County Council. That's going to be 2000 very angry people. Add to that others that live in Derbyshire but work in local government in surrounding areas including big Cities like Manchester, Sheffield, Nottingham and Leicester. Plus those working in Derby City itself but living in DCC's area. That's knocking a big hole in the local economy which will impact badly on local businesses.

Slightly ironically most Councils have some financial reserves left over from a string of good revenue support grants from the last Labour Government. However the Con-Dems want a big hit now to be able to ease off nearer the next General Election. They are telling Councils if they have a nil Council Tax rise they will get roughly 20% of the cut in grant given back.

Councils that are up for election next May such as Erewash may try to hide the effects of cuts to limit damage at the Polls. They have crowed in the past about setting a balanced budget. That was with a Government that supported local services. Now creek and paddle come to mind.

It wont be long before people can get their own back on the Liberal and Tories at the Polls and when they count their losses after May there will be a cathartic moment for the Con-Dems. They are in for a very rough ride.

WELL FANCY THAT!

Well fancy that. One of the businessmen who signed the open letter to back George Osborne's crazy cuts is Chairman of engineering firm ARUP Mr Phillip Dilley. However his Companies chief operating officer John Turzynski said something quite different to his employees in an e-mail. According to "Private Eye" the e-mail to employees stated "the UK is only slowly recovering from the effects of the recession... Private sector projects are not yet replacing public sector reductions... The trends show a continuing decline across many parts of the business, which is set to continue." The original letter to the Torygraph and signed by Dilley said Osbornes cuts "will improve business and consumer confidence... The private sector should be more that capable of generating additional jobs to replace those lost in the public sector."

TIMS COFFEE MORNING



LIZ BLACKMAN AND HOST TIM MOLONEY

Following the very successful Borrowash Branch fund raiser at The Bay of Bengal Restaurant the week previously, Tim Moloney held a very well frequented Coffee Morning at his residence at "Keepers Cottage".

The weather was superb and among the many guests was Liz Blackman. 

Kath Trueman wrested the money from our palms and Pam Phillips catered and waited whilst Tim played host. A great time was had by all.



VERNON COAKER M.P.

Cllr Frank Phillips, Vernon Coaker M.P. and
Cllr Howard Griffiths at Sandiacre Memorial Hall

Erewash saw the visit of Vernon Coaker M.P. to Sandiacre Memorial Hall on Bonfire night. With a background of fireworks exploding including one that sounded like the gasworks going off, Vernon discussed the National political scene with Erewash Labour Party Members. Mr Coaker expressed the view that Labour should be proud of its achievements in Office. New Schools and Hospitals, lower waiting lists for operations, introducing the minimum wage and much more. He commented that "We should remember the days under the previous Conservative Government where kids were taught in Schools surrounded by buckets to catch the rainwater and when people died whilst on long hospital waiting lists." He went on to add, "We must also remember that after an historically low period of Government borrowing we acted to avert recession turning into depression. We acted to minimise the Banking crisis and to keep people in jobs. We all know of people who have lost their job or fear losing their job. This is the real human cost of Government cuts. Labour would not have cut so quickly and so deep. These cuts are driven by ideology not economics and will put at risk the recovery engineered by Gordon Brown."

Vernon was then heartily thanked by the meeting for giving up his time to talk to Erewash Labour Party.

EREWASH FOR SALE

Tory Erewash Borough Council are in for a rude awakening. Erewash stand to lose more than £1,200,000 in Grants next year unless the Government backs down. The amount of money given to the Council by Government is set to be dramatically reduced and In order to keep a balanced budget next year Erewash may be faced with the prospect of shutting down more Leisure facilities, stripping more Council assets, and sacking more staff. So it's more of the same policies which means less and less services for the public. The other avenue is to put up charges which are already high due to previous hikes. For instance they have already doubled car parking charges in under 8 years. Not bad for a Council that said it wanted to abolish them!

"A GOVERNMENT OF MILLIONAIRES FOR MILLIONAIRES"

So said Erewash Labour Leader Howard Griffiths when he described the CON/DEM Coalition at a recent Erewash Borough Council meeting.
Their latest plans to force up Social Housing rents and VAT will hit low earners hardest and increase the working poor.
The ending of secure tenancies for new tenants will destabilise hard working families and cause unnecessary worry to people when they are threatened with eviction.
"Ripping off tenants to placate the money markets is not my idea of fairness and together with the hike in VAT to 20% pensioners and people on fixed incomes will be hit worst of all. So much for "We are all in it together" a phrase much used by the Con-Dem Government." said Councillor Howard Griffiths. "What we have is not a Coalition Government, it's a Demolition Government.

He added, "the Con-Dems callous cuts will push us back into recession, increase unemployment and crush small businesses. Erewash will be harder hit than most areas because locally the Conservative controlled Council has sat on its hands and done virtually nothing to create local jobs.