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Flowerbeds on White Lion Square in Ilkeston in 2018. Image from Google.

Erewash flower displays pruned

Calls to “go out with a bang” and spend all of a Derbyshire council’s money reinstating £190,000 flower displays before it is abolished have been pruned. At an Erewash Borough Council meeting last week (Thursday, July 23rd), Reform UK had urged the Labour authority to reinstate flowerbeds to pre-Covid conditions. The meeting heard that councillors are regularly lobbied about the condition of local parks and verges due to rewilding and wildflower cultivation versus historic award-winning flower arrangements. There are said […]

28 July 2026 11

Borough Wide

Borough Council rejects wholesale free parking, increasing from the current chargeless Saturdays

A Derbyshire council has rejected calls for wholesale free parking across the borough, increasing from the current chargeless Saturdays. At an Erewash Borough Council meeting last week (Thursday, July 23rd), the Labour-run authority rejected calls from the opposition Reform UK and Conservative groups for widened free parking. The meeting heard that while parking is free on Saturdays, a quarter of motorists are still paying to park, with Labour saying “we don’t want your money”. Councillor Dan Price (Ref) had brought […]

28 July 2026 14

Pictured Is Reform Uk Derbyshire County Councillor And Council Leader Alan Graves, Taken By LDR Jon Cooper

Borough Wide

Derbyshire leader joins call for PM to allow councils to decide on housing illegal immigrants

Derbyshire County Council’s Leader has backed a call from Reform UK’s Home Affairs spokesperson to the new Labour Prime Minister Andy Burnham for councils and communities to be granted the power to decide to stop housing illegal immigrants in their own areas. Reform UK County Council Leader, Cllr Alan Graves, has co-signed Reform UK’s Home Affairs spokesperson Zia Yusuf’s letter to Andy Burnham with 23 other council leaders in light of the new Prime Minister’s desire to move centralised power […]

28 July 2026 14

Borough Wide

SUMMER KIDZ: First young campers set to experience charity’s forever home in Ockbrook

Over The Wall Camp is set to welcome its first campers at its new forever home in Ockbrook. Hundreds of children with serious illnesses and disabilities are set for a summer of adventure, laughter and unforgettable memories at the charity’s new base at Ockbrook. From the end of July 2026, children and young people aged eight to 17, alongside their siblings and families, will enjoy week-long and weekend residential camps at the newly transformed former Ockbrook School site. Chief executive […]

28 July 2026 12

Borough Wide

New Erewash M1 junction plans under consideration

Plans to improve congestion issues off the M1 – including a potential new junction in a bid to alleviate residents’ “misery” – are to be assessed by officials. At an Erewash Borough Council meeting last week (July 23rd) cross-party approval saw both the Labour administration and Conservative opposition back plans aimed at improving congestion through Sandiacre, Stanton by Dale and Long Eaton. The council agreed to spend up to £80,000 commissioning an economic appraisal of the options to improve access […]

27 July 2026 55

Gnome Island in Nottingham Road, Ilkeston. From Eddie Bisknell.

Borough Wide

Plans for large gnome statue on Ilkeston traffic island take a diminutive step forward

Plans to install a large gnome statue on a “culturally significant” ornament-adorned roundabout in a Derbyshire town have taken a step forward. In the midst of a near five-hour Erewash Borough Council meeting filled with debates about free parking, rewilding, a new M1 junction and asylum seeker accommodation, sat a discussion about Ilkeston’s beloved ‘Gnome Island’. The Nottingham Road, Park Drive and Morrisons junction is marked by a roundabout home to a number of gnomes, an impromptu community quirk which […]

27 July 2026 25

Borough Wide

Cricket, gymnastics and football get borough council boost

A much-loved local cricket club that was founded during the reign of Queen Victoria is poised to mark its 150th anniversary by installing the very latest in hi-tech grass – thanks to help from Erewash Borough Council. The “hybrid” wickets have been hailed as groundbreaking after being pioneered at Lord’s and the Oval. They feature natural turf with tiny amounts of unique polyethylene yarn stitched in to make the surface more durable. Sandiacre Town Cricket Club is to harness the […]

27 July 2026 18

Borough Wide

SUMMER KIDZ: From schools to farms – 80,000 trees take root across Derbyshire

Tens of thousands of new trees have been planted across Derbyshire as Derbyshire’s Heartwood Community Forest successfully completes its second planting season. Derbyshire’s Heartwood Community Forest aims to increase tree cover across eastern, north-eastern and southern Derbyshire and Derby, connecting landscapes, people and wildlife. Tree planting brings a wide range of benefits, from improving biodiversity to supporting farming, enhancing landscapes, and creating new green spaces for communities. Through this government-funded scheme, landowners, farmers, schools and community groups can access fully […]

27 July 2026 19

Renault Avantimes lined up (Credit: Conrad Longmore)

Borough Wide

French invasion as car fans have Avantime of their lives

Erewash has seen an invasion of quirky old French cars that were last made decades ago in one of its twin towns across the Channel. Proud drivers of ageing Renault Avantimes flocked to Long Eaton on Saturday 25th July, where they were joined by owners of ultra rare sporty Matras. The pilgrimage took place because the town is twinned with Romorantin-Lanthenay in the Loire. It is where the Matra factory, which also made the luxury Renault model, used to stand. […]

27 July 2026 22

Borough Wide

Erewash flower displays pruned

Borough Council rejects wholesale free parking, increasing from the current chargeless Saturdays

Derbyshire leader joins call for PM to allow councils to decide on housing illegal immigrants

SUMMER KIDZ: First young campers set to experience charity’s forever home in Ockbrook

New Erewash M1 junction plans under consideration

Plans for large gnome statue on Ilkeston traffic island take a diminutive step forward

Cricket, gymnastics and football get borough council boost

SUMMER KIDZ: From schools to farms – 80,000 trees take root across Derbyshire

French invasion as car fans have Avantime of their lives

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