Latest news with #MilanRadulovic
BBC News
6 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Families 'disheartened' at proposed Broxtowe grave rules
Campaigners have said they are upset at a council's response to their bid to get more freedom for tributes on graves in Broxtowe.A group of families has been lobbying Broxtowe Borough Council since October, when it said it would restrict remembrance items on plots in cemeteries it Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) said the objections led to the change of the rules being suspended by the authority for a campaigners said their trust had been broken by the council ahead of its cabinet meeting to discuss future cemetery rules on Tuesday - as council papers showed new collaborative rules for tributes have been rejected as some are "not acceptable". The initial dispute led the council's leader, Milan Radulovic, to call for a 12-month suspension on the ruling in October was to create a collaborative working group between impacted families and the council – to find a "common sense" then, updated, collaborative rules have been developed and these proposals were finalised in March include those with existing grave plots – purchased before August 2023 - with existing decorations and memorial gardens remaining as they are, in line with health and safety rules. Safety risks They also said hazardous items would have to be removed – even from graves bought prior to August the collaborative rules were approved, they would also allow grave plots purchased after August 2023 to have tribute items within two and a half feet (76cm) from the front edge of the headstone documents from the council's bereavement service released ahead of next week's cabinet meeting show a rejection of the rules, citing some are "not acceptable".Officers said: "The council has inadvertently weakened its own position by granting a 12-month extension for the removal of decorative items and memorial trinkets despite clear, ongoing well-documented health, safety and accessibility risks associated with them." Bereaved families in a joint statement called on cabinet members to reject it."We are disappointed with how things have been handled, but remain firm on our stance and will continue to push for council support on the original compromises and proposals agreed."It's been extremely disheartening to have our trust broken by [the bereavement service]."We have all suffered so much emotional and mental distress since October, we are just ready for closure on all of this." A council spokesperson said: "A number of departments have been involved in producing the report, not one individual officer."We understand our Democratic Services Team have spoken with one of the families and advised them how our cabinet system works."The report makes recommendations which will be debated at the meeting before a decision is taken. "They are also free to lobby their local councillor with their views on the matter to inform their decision-making process if they wish."
BBC News
06-03-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Three options to reshape Nottinghamshire councils
Plans to radically reshape Nottinghamshire councils have taken a major step government announced in December it wants to reorganise local authorities in an attempt to streamline services, and councils have been tasked with coming up with from all nine current Nottinghamshire councils met on Wednesday and were shown three possible options by three options involve the current two-tiered system used in the county being scrapped, and the area being divided into two "unitary" authorities - meaning they take charge of all council services within their boundaries. Option one: A north and south Nottinghamshire This would involve Bassetlaw, Mansfield, Ashfield, and Newark and Sherwood combining to create a unitary authority in the north - one leader has dubbed this "Sherwood Forest council".Nottingham City, Broxtowe, Gedling and Rushcliffe would then merge in the south - establishing a so-called "Greater Nottingham council".One leader told the BBC there is a "clear advantage" to this would likely be unpopular with some people in the boroughs surrounding the city, however, thousands of whom have signed petitions against such a leaders have previously argued the council's tight boundaries contribute to their financial problems because about 80% of its properties fall under council tax bands A or B - so this option would likely help them. Option two: Nottingham, Broxtowe and Rushcliffe combine Under this scenario, Nottingham city would join with the current boroughs of Broxtowe and Rushcliffe to create one unitary authority, with the other districts and boroughs combining to create a looks much like option one, except with Gedling Borough in the northern council rather than the Borough Council leader Milan Radulovic, however, told the BBC he objects to any merger with the city."The only way it seems the city can get out of their problems is by taking over cash-rich authorities like Broxtowe in the locality, and that will be very, very hostilely met by people," he said. Option three: A unitary Nottingham and Nottinghamshire This would keep the current boundary between the city and the county in place but would do away with the two-tiered system in the is the preferred option of the Conservative leader of Nottinghamshire County Council, Sam Smith, who argues that services in current county areas could suffer if they were to join with the would, however, mean the population of the city council - currently around 320,000 - would remain below the government's aim of 500,000, so it would do nothing to help with the city's low council tax Council leader Neghat Khan has so far refused to say explicitly which option she prefers. What next? It is important to note that these proposals are not binding, so nothing from the above is set in of the current councils is set to debate them and endorse a preferred option in the coming a joint statement, a spokesperson for the leaders said they were "absolutely determined to work together", but some were already disagreeing with one another both publicly and in statement adds that they have been given "an incredibly tight timescale" to pull together plans, and they don't have enough data "to make a fully informed decision on a single option".It was also accepted during Wednesday's meeting that some councils "may still wish to continue to explore additional proposals".In other words, someone isn't happy with what is on the table so deadline for interim plans to be submitted to government is 21 March, with full proposals then due to be sent by 28 new structure is set to be implemented in 2027 or 2028.
