SANDIACRE CRASH

Police were called to a crash after a car collided with parked cars and ended up on its roof. The incident took place on Derby Road in Sandiacre on Sunday, March 28th. Police said the driver of the brand new 70-plate Mini Cooper S was not there when they arrived. Police directed traffic at the scene until they were able to get the car off the road. A spokesperson said: "A brand new 70-plate Mini Cooper S crashes into parked cars and flips it on its roof. The driver didn’t hang around to give an account he then reported it as stolen. No one was injured during the incident.

LONG EATON ART CLUB

Long Eaton Art Club, March 2021

A Message from Long Eaton Art Club

As we see the first signs of spring the desire to pick up the paint brush must be stirring all over the county. But with our clubs and exhibitions still closed how do we show each other our work. Well you can use your own front window. In the Derby and down our street in Long Eaton, we have been displaying our pictures of daffodils, and nationally there has been the ‘Great Big Art Exhibition’ idea of showing your art work in your front window or porch. Sky Arts have been doing the Portrait Artist of the Week again and promoting the idea exhibiting your work in your windows as well as online. So don’t be despondent, get painting and drawing and show the world your work and be ready for when the art clubs are back. 

Daffodils, along with snowdrops and crocus’s can provide inspiration for us all. Clare Devlin from Derry Girls was the first subject in the latest series of Portrait Artist of the Week.

Cliff Dowler

POLL CARDS SIGNAL ELECTION COUNTDOWN

More than 86,000 poll cards in total will be hand-delivered across Erewash between 26th March and 8th April to residents who are on the voting register. Delivery of the poll cards is the first key stage in the countdown to the local elections on Thursday 6th May, when voters in the borough will elect nine councillors to represent the Erewash area on Derbyshire County Council. They will also vote for the election of a Derbyshire Police and Crime Commissioner. The poll card gives electors their voter number and details of their polling station - or it will confirm details for those residents who have requested a postal vote. Residents who want to check that they are registered to vote in Erewash can ask via an online form at www.erewash.gov.uk - click on ‘The Council’ and ‘Elections’ to find the form that will be responded to within one working day.

This year’s elections will be held in covid-secure polling stations with a range of safety measures in place. The easiest way for people to cast their vote is to have a postal vote, with new applications needing to be made by the deadline of 5pm on Tuesday 20th April Anyone who needs to apply should email electreg@erewash.gov.uk  or call 0115 907 1190.

 In Little Eaton, electors will also vote on their village’s Neighbourhood Plan while in the parish wards of Borrowash East and Borrowash West voters will also be given ballot papers for Parish Council elections.

NEW HOMES YOUR VIEWS NEEDED

A second round of public consultation on Erewash Borough Council’s proposed sites for new housing over the next two decades looks set to get the go-ahead. An Extraordinary meeting of the council has been called for Thursday 25th March, when councillors will be asked to vote on a further exercise to get underway to ask the public for their views. A report going to the meeting shows that following last year’s 12-week consultation (extended to July 2020), the council has made some changes to its original preferred options for sites to meet the borough’s housing needs. The original proposals included building new homes on the Green Belt at four local sites – west of Acorn Way in Oakwood; adjacent to Cotmanhay Wood, Ilkeston; a site south-east of Kirk Hallam; and land north of Lock Lane, Sawley. However, it is recommended that Lock Lane is dropped from a new revised list of options for housing growth, with the council’s report saying no solutions have been found to development issues caused by the busy low level freight rail crossing near the site. Councillors will be advised that another proposed Green Belt site would replace Lock Lane in the next round of consultation – a site on the borough’s boundary with Derby City north of Spondon alongside Spondon Wood.

The report also outlines further proposed changes to the earlier preferred sites:

·         An extension to the original development at Kirk Hallam, due to a now reduced area of housing capacity on four fields north of Cotmanhay and west of Cotmanhay Wood. The owner of land east of the Wood, which was also included in the original consultation, has said they do not wish to develop their land for housing.

·         It says extension of the site south west of Kirk Hallam would sit alongside land within the proposed Kirk Hallam Relief Road and help with the go-ahead of that road.

The brownfield Stanton Regeneration Site will remain as a proposal for a 1,000 home community south of Lows Lane. This follows the sale of half of the former Ironworks site to the north of Lows Lane for employment development. Councillor Michael Powell, Erewash Borough Council’s Lead Member for Regeneration and Planning, says: “The reality is that we have to meet the housing needs for the residents of our borough, initially over the next five years, and then the next, nearly two decades. This process is vital in meeting the targets the government has set and we thank everyone for giving us their views so far. We have listened to comments, reviewed them in detail and made changes as we move forward. A second round of consultation, if agreed, would be so important to ensure that we can start to see much-needed house building in our borough.”

A report to the Extraordinary meeting says it is hoped a second consultation would lead to a full proposed Core Strategy by September this year and that initial house building would begin, at the earliest, by 2022/23. All relevant documents, full details of the sites and an on-line form to submit views can be found at www.erewash.gov.uk/localplan  Printed copies can also be requested by calling 0115 907 2244. Responses can be submitted by email to planningpolicy@erewash.gov.uk or by post to: Planning Policy, Long Eaton Town Hall, Derby Road, Long Eaton NG10 1HU. The virtual Extraordinary meeting of the council is on Thursday 25 March at 6pm. Residents can view the meeting at https://youtu.be/aNaxWVy5fOs

COUNCILLORS ASSIST SILVER PRIZE BAND

 

EBC Councillor’s Kewal Singh Athwal, Chris Corbett and Michael Powell have jointly decided to assist Long Eaton Silver Prize Band with a Grant donation of £250 from the EBC Member’s Grant Scheme. Long Eaton Silver Prize Band have entertained local residents in Erewash with their music for many years but like most organisations their performances have been curtailed by the current pandemic over the last year. Sharon Stansfield, Chairperson of LESPB Said;

“Thank you so much for this £250 grant, it will give both bands a real boost when we are able to get back together. We really do hope that we soon will be able to perform in and around the borough of Erewash and entertain our audiences with new music. The Band also actively encourages members from all aspects of the community irrespective of ability, age or position to take part in the enjoyment that is making music and with this in mind in 2002 a training band was established, which encourages all members to learn brass instruments. This group now has approximately 40 members and free tuition and equipment is provided to all”

Cllr’s Kewal Singh Athwal, Chris Corbett and Michael Powell Said; “We are delighted that we could assist this long established local band with a £250 grant to purchase new music to entertain our local residents. When the current situation allows, with the general public, we also look forward to hearing their music to lift all our spirits”