Broomhill or Beaut-Hill?

Can a district centre have too many hairdressers, nail bars, beauticians and pampering places? Another three seem to have opened in the last month and we've lost yet another food shop 'On a Roll', which made a valiant attempt to operate a deli in Broomhill but now seems to have closed. OK, it's good to have the shops open, but....

Broomhill elects a new councillor

At last week's local council elections Paul Scriven, Lib Dem, lost his seat to Jayne Dunn, Labour. Paul was our councillor for several years and over that time had built close links with the local community groups. During his time as Leader of the council he made significant inroads on the problems of night-time noise in Broomhill by introducing  a new Licensing policy that recognised problems of 'saturation' of certain types of licensed premises in some areas of the city. He also encouraging Licensing and Planning officers to coordinate their activities more effectively, particularly with respect to enforcement of trading hours restrictions. So we extend our thanks to Paul for his work on our behalf and our best wishes for the future. To Jayne, a warm welcome to her new role; we are looking forward to getting to know her and working with her to further the interests of the community.

Broomhill air quality symposium gives us lots to think about...

The Air Pollution symposium organised by Broomhill Forum on 21st April was a thought-provoking event that highlighted traffic as the most likely cause of poor air quality in our area. A most interesting presentation from Dr Margaret Bell of Newcastle University showed how the emissions from cars and trucks depend on the traffic flow but also how they are driven; all of us can take action to reduce emissions if we drive more smoothly, avoid too much braking and acceleration, and switch the engine off when we are stationary rather than leaving the engine idling. Or, of course, get out of our cars altogether. Prof Ben Hamilton Baillie gave a fascinating presentation on 'shared space', a new concept about how cars and pedestrians can share public space rather than segregating cars and people. Other speakers from the council, the bus companies, NHS public health etc gave different perspectives on the air pollution problem, its impacts, and how it can be tackled. The conference held group discussions to come up with potential solutions for the situation in Broomhill, both in the short and the medium term. The Forum will produce a report on the conference and will coordinate the response.