Crackdown launched after teens spark concern in Burton Joyce village centre

Police have stepped up action in Burton Joyce after residents raised the alarm about a rise in anti-social behaviour around the village centre and the Co‑op car park.

Gedling’s neighbourhood officers — working with the area’s Police Inspector — have now rolled out a dedicated plan aimed at prevention, engagement and keeping the community safe.

What’s happening on the ground

• More targeted patrols at key spots and peak times
• A full review of reports to pinpoint hotspots and recurring issues
• Risk assessments so residents’ concerns directly shape the response
• Early intervention with young people to steer behaviour in a positive direction
• Parents contacted when needed to tackle problems early
• Partnership work with youth services, Gedling Borough Council and local organisations to offer better activities and address root causes
• Escalation where required, including warning letters and Acceptable Behaviour Contracts

Neighbourhood officers will continue monitoring the situation closely. Councillors say there’s no sign of serious criminality, but the aim is to stop issues escalating and reassure residents.

Police are now encouraging local youngsters to make use of Burton Joyce’s open spaces — including Chestnut Grove park, Poplars Sports Field, The Grove and the Old School Community Garden — instead of gathering outside shops where it can cause concern for locals and businesses.

They are also reminding people in the village that privately owned e‑scooters remain illegal to use on public roads, pavements or cycle lanes in the UK. They’re only allowed on private land with permission.

Thief who stole child’s birthday presents from car in Netherfield is jailed

A woman who stole a young girl’s birthday presents after targeting two parked cars in Netherfield has been jailed for 46 weeks.

Amy Bird was caught on CCTV breaking into vehicles in Cross Street and Manvers Street during the early hours of June 11.

One victim reported that cash, a spare car key and a pair of sunglasses had been stolen from their vehicle.

But in a particularly upsetting theft, another car owner discovered the next morning that birthday presents intended for her daughter had vanished. Among the missing items were a dance mat and Barbie toys.

Police identified Bird after reviewing CCTV footage from the area and arrested the 39-year-old shortly afterwards.

Bird, who has no fixed address, later admitted two counts of theft from a motor vehicle.

She also pleaded guilty to a separate shoplifting offence after stealing laundry products and butter from the Co-op in Mansfield Road on May 30.

Appearing before Nottingham Magistrates’ Court on July 4, Bird was sentenced to a total of 46 weeks behind bars.

Inspector Steven King, Gedling’s local area commander, welcomed the sentence.

He said: “We know vehicle crime has been a concern for residents in the Netherfield area, so this jail sentence is very welcome.

“We saw an increase in reports of this nature earlier in the year and this was an important arrest.

“Bird was identified from CCTV footage by officers from another neighbourhood team so I’m grateful their knowledge has led to this outcome in court.

“Additional patrols in the area, alongside educating residents about how to avoid becoming a victim of vehicle crime, will continue.”

Police said tackling vehicle crime remains a priority in the area following a rise in reports earlier this year.

50% Sold Milestone at Cameron Homes’ Mapperley Meadows in Desirable Nottingham Suburb 

Buying fever has hit Mapperley Meadows, with Cameron Homes confirming that half of the new £29m development is now sold.

The scheme, tucked just off Mapperley Plains in one of Nottingham’s most sought‑after suburbs, features 57 traditional three‑, four‑ and five‑bedroom homes priced between £450k and £740k.

The location is a major draw — residents can stroll to Gedling Country Park’s 580 acres of green space, Woodthorpe Grange Park and the shops and cafés along Mapperley High Street.

Sales Director Sarah Sargeant said the milestone comes as construction gathers pace: “We’re thrilled to hit 50% sold. Buyers can now walk through our new three‑bedroom view home, plus the larger plots currently taking shape.”

The homes boast high EPC ratings, Smart Hive thermostats, EV chargers and solar panels. Kitchens come with Bosch or Electrolux appliances, while bathrooms feature Ideal Standard fittings and Porcelanosa tiles. Every property is independently snagged and covered by a 10‑year NHBC Buildmark policy.

Mapperley Meadows also includes a large public open space to boost biodiversity, and sits next door to the popular Planters Brookfields garden centre. Nottingham station is five miles away, with East Midlands Airport under 20 miles.

No halt in shake-up plans to Notts councils which is ‘days away’ from a decision

A last-ditch attempt to halt the re-shaping of Nottinghamshire councils has been struck down and called ‘absolute madness’.

Nottinghamshire’s nine local authorities have been due for a re-shaping for more than a year, which should involve its multiple councils being scaled down to just two.

The government announced its Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) plans back in December 2024 to re-shape England’s two-tier council structure that split council responsibilities between lower-tier district councils responsible for smaller-scale services and upper-tier county councils that handle major services. Nottingham City Council already exists as a unitary authority.

A few options have been put forward to the government that could essentially involve two new unitary authorities being created for Nottinghamshire, which all involve some form of Nottingham city expansion as one unitary and another unitary covering the remaining parts of the county.

The government’s LGR plan has been criticised since it was announced, with Broxtowe council’s leader, Milan Radulovic (Brox Alliance), consistently calling for a “service-based review” on shake-up plans and previous delays to councils agreeing with each other over options in 2025.

Despite a government decision on LGR in the county due “next week”, Independent councillors on Nottinghamshire County Council submitted a motion to call for a pause to the whole process in the authority’s full council meeting on Thursday (July 9).

Councillor Teresa Cullen’s (Brox Alliance) motion mentioned Norfolk County Council’s leadership halting its work with LGR, where the authority has submitted a judicial review over the plans, and stated the government has made LGR decisions on councils outside of the original 500,000-population target for new unitaries.

It called on the authority to ‘believe’ the government did not make a “significant needs based case” and write to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to ask the government to “halt” its LGR plans until a needs-based assessment for the shake-up was done.

The County Council formally submitted its option for a Nottingham, Broxtowe and Gedling merger – with another unitary for the rest of the county – back in 2025.

Announcing her motion, Cllr Cullen told the meeting: “We are now days away from hearing our fate. We are not here to simply implement government policy, we’re here to represent the people of Nottinghamshire.”

She called LGR “a fundamental restructuring of local government that will affect services, staff, communities and local identity for decades to come”, adding: “Councils were [initially] told new unitary authorities should generally serve populations of around 500,000 people or more, whether we agree with that or not, that was the criteria, the criteria we put our proposals against.”

Cllr Cullen made reference to recent news in neighbouring Derbyshire, where council officials have warned the savings previously forecast from LGR in their county have effectively disappeared.

Backing up the motion, Cllr John Wilmott (Ash Ind) said he had “never seen a decision [LGR] so disliked by the people we represent”.

The whole LGR process was called “rushed” by Cllr Johno Lee, with Conservative opposition leader, Cllr Sam Smith, later referencing the Reform group’s 2025 local election leaflets previously standing against LGR.

Cllr Liz Clunie (Lab) criticised the motion, questioning the amount of time and money wasted if the process was to be paused now and said council departments have already been incorporating LGR into their work to ensure a “smooth transition”.

She said: “There will be costs over the next few years but surely there must be savings in the long term as multiple layers of local government are removed and our residents deal with a single authority for all their services.”

The grounds for the Independents’ motion was called “absolute madness” by Cllr Mike Robertson (Ref), who said the government were already clear in their initial LGR announcement that “some flexibility” would be allowed for population numbers under new unitaries if “justification” was given.

Council leader, Mick Barton (Ref) said “doing nothing was never an option”.

He continued: “Both [Broxtowe and Ashfield] could have put an alternative proposal forward, but neither did.

“We knew from day one [Broxtowe] buried [its] heads in the sand and hoped it would go away, just like the Conservatives. [Reform] got elected and we dealt with it within six months of being elected.”

This claim was refuted by Cllr Cullen later in the meeting, referencing Broxtowe Borough Council’s LGR resident survey which had around 12,500 responses – the “largest return” in Broxtowe’s history.

Cllr Barton agreed that representatives across different parties “didn’t agree” with how the government has dealt with LGR but said writing to them to halt the process “will do nothing”.

According to Cllr Helen Faccio (Lab), more than 100,000 Leicestershire residents were estimated to have contacted the wrong council in their area for service support because they were confused over which authority was responsible for a service, calling the two-tier system “complicated, confusing, clunky”.

The motion was struck down with 38 votes against and 18 votes for.

By Lauren Monaghan (Local Democracy Reporter)

In brief...

👉 Beat Surgery: The PCSO for Woodborough is holding a Beat Surgery at Woodborough Village Hall, next to Woodborough Primary School. This will be held on Tuesday, July 21 from 18:30 until 19:30. This is an opportunity to directly discuss any concerns or local issues with your Neighbourhood Policing Team and to find out what they are doing to tackle the problems in your area. If you are interesting in coming but cannot make this session, please email isabella.gabrielli@notts.police.uk

👉 Roadworks that start today: Road closure - Carlton Hill, Road closure - Ash Close, Burton Joyce, Roadworks – Longue Drive, Calverton, Roadworks - Main Street, Calverton, Roadworks - Mill Lane, Lambley, Roadworks - Neville Road, Calverton, Roadworks - Sheepwalk Lane, Ravenshead, Roadworks - Spindle View, Calverton, Roadworks - St Helens Grove, Burton Joyce, Roadworks - Tithe Lane, Calverton, Roadworks - Wordsworth Road, Arnold