Latest news with #AshfieldIndependents
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
First meeting held at 'unfinished' council base
The first full meeting has been held at Nottinghamshire County Council's new headquarters, despite claims the building is "unfinished". The Conservative-run authority has relocated to Oak House near Hucknall after deciding its historic base at County Hall in West Bridgford was too expensive to maintain. Council leader Sam Smith acknowledged the new facility is still under construction but said it was "absolutely completely safe" to host a meeting. Opposition councillors, however, said it was "clearly not ready" and the meeting was only held as "a political stunt". Ashfield Independents leader Jason Zadrozny said: "It's not safe for people to be here. It's costing extra money to have safety briefings and to ship bottled water in. "This is just a show by the Conservative administration." The council's online calendar shows smaller meetings scheduled for the coming weeks will be held back at County Hall, which will also host the declaration of results for the upcoming local elections. Labour group leader Kate Foale called Oak House a "vanity project" and said the council should consider selling the building. "Conservative councillors have rushed the builders to make half of Oak House semi-usable, so they can experience one meeting here before the elections in May," she said. Smith, however, denied he had insisted Oak House was used just to make a statement. "The building as of right now is available and functional, and it's operational for the council meeting to take place. Why would we not do it if it's available?," he said. The building does not yet have a water supply which is safe to drink, but Smith said it will be in place before staff move in permanently. Services such as the Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub and the council's customer service centre are set to relocate to Oak House in late May. The council said both are currently based in a leased office in Annesley which costs £278,000 a year. An oak tree sapling was "temporarily" planted near the entrance to Oak House to mark its opening, but will later be moved to "a permanent place which will be visible to residents and passers-by". It is not yet known what will happen to County Hall in the long term. During the meeting itself on Thursday, councillors discussed the county council's approach to ongoing plans to reorganise local government. Conservative councillors formally endorsed the "county only" option, which would see smaller district and borough councils scrapped but the current boundary with Nottingham city remaining in place. It was also the final full council meeting for former leader Ben Bradley, who has announced he will not be standing for re-election in May. Follow BBC Nottingham on Facebook, on X, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to eastmidsnews@ or via WhatsApp on 0808 100 2210. Nottinghamshire County Council Last council meeting held at historic County Hall
BBC News
21-03-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Nottinghamshire: First meeting held at 'unfinished' council HQ
The first full meeting has been held at Nottinghamshire County Council's new headquarters, despite claims the building is "unfinished".The Conservative-run authority has relocated to Oak House near Hucknall after deciding its historic base at County Hall in West Bridgford was too expensive to leader Sam Smith acknowledged the new facility is still under construction but said it was "absolutely completely safe" to host a councillors, however, said it was "clearly not ready" and the meeting was only held as "a political stunt". Ashfield Independents leader Jason Zadrozny said: "It's not safe for people to be here. It's costing extra money to have safety briefings and to ship bottled water in."This is just a show by the Conservative administration."The council's online calendar shows smaller meetings scheduled for the coming weeks will be held back at County Hall, which will also host the declaration of results for the upcoming local group leader Kate Foale called Oak House a "vanity project" and said the council should consider selling the building. "Conservative councillors have rushed the builders to make half of Oak House semi-usable, so they can experience one meeting here before the elections in May," she however, denied he had insisted Oak House was used just to make a statement."The building as of right now is available and functional, and it's operational for the council meeting to take place. Why would we not do it if it's available?," he said. The building does not yet have a water supply which is safe to drink, but Smith said it will be in place before staff move in such as the Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub and the council's customer service centre are set to relocate to Oak House in late council said both are currently based in a leased office in Annesley which costs £278,000 a oak tree sapling was "temporarily" planted near the entrance to Oak House to mark its opening, but will later be moved to "a permanent place which will be visible to residents and passers-by".It is not yet known what will happen to County Hall in the long term. During the meeting itself on Thursday, councillors discussed the county council's approach to ongoing plans to reorganise local councillors formally endorsed the "county only" option, which would see smaller district and borough councils scrapped but the current boundary with Nottingham city remaining in was also the final full council meeting for former leader Ben Bradley, who has announced he will not be standing for re-election in May.
BBC News
19-02-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
'False promises' as Hucknall misses out on £9m funding
The decision to withdraw £9m of funding from a Nottinghamshire town has drawn an angry reaction from some money for Hucknall was announced in March 2024 by the previous Conservative government but in October, Labour said it was under has now been confirmed the investment will not be forthcoming, with local Labour MP Michelle Welsh claiming the area had been the victim of "false promises" from the ruling Independent group on Ashfield District Council said the move was "an absolute betrayal of Hucknall" and local projects would suffer. 'Plan B' A series of projects across England, Scotland and Wales were earmarked for funding in after a period of consultation, the money has been shelved for all but 10 of the Waters, who represents Hucknall central for Ashfield Independents on the district council, said it was "an unforgivable slap in the face for our residents".He said: "[The money would] revamp the the town centre to make it brighter, safer. "That involves improving the lighting, the signage, the paving, shop front upgrades, boosting business and making Hucknall a much more attractive place to be. "We were going to enhance public spaces, including our market space and the Byron Cinema junction where there's a lot of traffic issues."He added they were now "looking at Plan B" and approaching the East Midlands Combined Authority in the East Midlands "to step up where the government failed". Resident Annabel Clowes, 32, said: "[I am] disappointed because we could do with the money to make Hucknall a better place."We need more soft play areas for children and places for mothers to get together so they don't feel alone."Tony Bucknall, 82, said: "If I won a million pounds I wouldn't leave Hucknall, I'd spend the money on improving Hucknall."It needs better shops, more upmarket shops."I believe in promises and if a promise is made it should be kept and if we had kept the £9m it could also improve Titchfield park and fill a few potholes." Ms Welsh defended the move, saying: "Hucknall has been let down both by the previous Conservative government's false promises and by the Ashfield Independent administration's poorly planned bid. The people of Hucknall deserve better. "No money has been taken away; it was never there to begin with."A Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesperson said: "This government inherited unfunded commitments to these projects, along with many others, but by making difficult choices we have managed to re-prioritise some funding within extremely tight budgets."We have carefully considered the responses to our consultation and chosen projects at an advanced stage that will have the greatest impact on local people and economic growth - this government's number one mission."
BBC News
29-01-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Nottinghamshire County Council tax set to rise by 4.84%
Nottinghamshire County Council is set to increase its share of council tax bills by 4.84% from April, it has been Conservative-run authority said it would increase average bill for all households across the county by £1.43 a documents state the council continues to face a "challenging financial environment" due to inflation and increasing demand for Member for Finance, Richard Jackson, said the authority has tried to balance "services people rely on with the affordability of council tax". "We've taken a view we don't want to tax the maximum we're allowed to. The government is really expecting councils like us to to tax an increase of 5%, we've managed to keep below that," Mr Jackson said."Crucially we've done that whilst maintaining our services."The council said it has also been "adversely affected" by the increase in National Insurance Contributions for employers and a rise in the National Living Wage, announced at the UK budget in council's budget report, published on Wednesday, forecasts a cumulative funding gap of £21.8million over the next four financial position has improved since October, however, at which point it predicted a £76m shortfall over three said managing the deficit will be a "challenge" but he is confident the gap can be closed by improving efficiency rather than cutting of the Ashfield Independents, Jason Zadrozny, said he's "really disappointed" at the tax rise."It's no surprise, because Labour before them and the Conservatives now have always done things the easiest possible way," he said."For them that is dipping their hands in the pockets of residents across Nottinghamshire."Labour group leader Kate Foale raised concerns over the projected budget gap."Even as they raise council tax on local residents, the Tories still come up millions of pounds short after a decade of chronic underfunding of councils by the Conservative government," she tax rise is made up of a 2.84% basic increase and a further 2% to pay for adult social will be discussed at a meeting of the authority's cabinet next week before being submitted to full council for Nottingham City Council announced plans to raise tax by 4.99% on Tuesday.
