And so another calender week at the Ashfield Chad is finally about to draw to a close....a week which, let me tell you, has been a lot more challenging than normal.

With the media world of weekly newspapers transforming from the sleepy environment of weekly publication to the insatiable world of around-the-clock internet news the need to find an ever expanding and constant source of news grows in importance.

And although the new internet age does indeed open up a new world of possibilities, an age which gives reporters at the Ashfield Chad a greater opportunity to develop and enhance their reports of ongoing stories such as the recent flooding coverage, the challenges also grow.

With silly season in full swing, unfortunately the flow of news this week has slowed to the pace of an Australian outback stream; ie virtually dried up.

And as the summer sun finally comes out to play and schools and councils pack up for August a valuable source of news deserts us for the time being.
 

Another traditional area of news is police, fire and ambulance incidents - death, destruction and the bad side of life if you will.

And even this area of news has slowed up as much as a pensioner doing the London Marathon, as people across Ashfield seemingly enjoy a much safer and less incident-packed life - great for society, but maybe not quite so good for the Chad.

So what are we doing to keep your Ashfield Chad a must-read newspaper?
 

Here in the Ashfield newsroom, although the incoming phone-calls are about as constant as a good ITV documentary, we are still bashing the digits on our phone in an attempt to find the news to keep you guys out there happy.

In times such as this good reporters ( such as ourselves, of course ) seek to generate their own news, through features on topical subjects such as the environment, through human interest stories about kind-hearted members of their community or commemorating great events from the district’s proud past.

So although this week’s Chad may not be as full and newsy as you would wish, let me assure you we are certainly doing our very best to provide a bumper rag every single week.

But the Ashfield Chad is of course your paper, written by reporters for the area and for the people of the area...so don’t be afraid to give the newsroom a call if you think you have a story for us.

Our ears and notepads are always at the ready.

If you have a story to help end our drought then call Stephen Thirkill on 01623 464758 or email stephen.thirkill@chad.co.uk

NOTTINGHAMSHIRE County Council this week announced plans to provide schools across Mansfield and Ashfield with new environmentally-friendly boilers as part of their drive to cut carbon emissions in the county.

They hope the green move will cut harmful emissions by 3,000 tonnes a year, roughly the equivalent of 500 average homes - but is this enough?
 

Clearly something has to be done to combat the increasingly worrying effects of climate change and any move to reduce the district’s carbon footprint must be welcomed, but much more has to be done in the fight against global warming.

Britain - both as a nation and as individuals - needs to become much more aware of the environment and the effect their actions has on it.

Individuals can make a massive difference to the nation’s energy consumption and carbon footprint just by introducing a few simple lifestyle changes.

Buying food and products from local sources instead of from hundreds or possibly thousands of miles away helps to reduce carbon emissions through reduced transportation.
 

Turning electrical appliances such as televisions, printers and steroes off when they are not being used or walking to the shops instead of lazily driving the car 500 yards would also be a promising step in the right direction.

Improved recycling in both domestic homes and offices helps to cut the amount of trips recycling lorries make to landfill sites and, in turn, further reduces the carbon footprint on our wonderful nation.

In fact the ways and methods of slashing carbon emissions is almost endless, the options are out there and it is now up to individuals to stop being lazy and put a little thought into the environment.

As a nation we must also put more effort in and could do much worse than follow our continental chums in their outlook on conservation and green energy.

Sweden is currently successfully working towards becoming an oil-free nation by 2020, with the test city of Vaxjo currently producing very positive results.
 

The city now runs on clean and renewable energy thanks to its huge bio-fuel plant.
 
New homes are also being built in the town that require no energy as they are heated through an extensive underground network of hot pipes.

The tiny Norwegian island of Utsira may soon become more famous around the world than for being one of the stars of the BBC’s Shipping Forecast after they recently became one of the leading players in the use of green energy.

The island has taken the decision to be disconnected from Norway’s national energy grid and is now totally reliant on the natural energy offered through the island’s wind turbine system - an initiative that has so far been a great success.

And as an island nation surely Britain must make much better use of the limitless supply of wind and sea energy on our doorstep.

Ultimately the battle to fight global warming is down to educating the individual, but together we can all work in harmony to protect our world for generations to come.

It is up to you to make that difference...so the next time you pick up the car keys to go for a pint of milk, dont. Pick up your shoes instead and help reduce your personal carbon footprint.

Together we can make a big difference.

ACROSS Ashfield the insatiable need for new housing to help slash high property prices and get first-time buyers on the property ladder continues to increase.

The importance of building new homes is clear but the debate about how this shall be achieved is perhaps not so clear and the battle between green-belt conservation and relentless house building drags on.

As with any row or debate, the middle ground of a compromise agreement is often the best way of solving the problem.

And this week Ashfield District Council announced plans which will surely satisfy all sides of the argument - by promising to create hundreds of new homes across the district by developing ageing and unused land into top quality apartments.

I firmly believe that regenerating brownfield land is a clear step in the right direction, and a step which will bring a huge benefit to Ashfield.

Brownfield building will both “beautify” Ashfield by reducing the amount of unsightly eyesore areas and disused and crumbling businesses and increase the choice and availability of homes for those struggling desperately to buy their first home.
 

It will also hopefully help to safeguard our prescious countryside and areas of natural beauty, which far too often and wrongly pay the price for the nation’s hunger for more homes.

Indeed brownfield regeneration is also likely to have a positive impact on people’s perception of the district - scores of derelict properties do nothing but make people view Ashfield as a poor place stuck in a never ending hangover from the collapse of the mining industry.

Replace the ruined and unloved buildings with luxury properties and on the surface things suddenly don’t look quite so bad, as the image of decay transforms into a vista of success and a thriving and desirable area.

Well done Ashfield District Council, I, for one, hope you are successful in your quest to bring new homes to the area without wrecking the district’s cherished environment.

AT 7.25am on 1st July 1916 thousands upon thousands of brave British and Allied soldiers waited in their trenches contemplating the daunting task ahead of them.

The heroic members of the British Expeditionary Force were just moments away from their own personal D-Day, and quite possibly moments away from the end of their young lives, as they prepared to finally go ”over the top” and launch the long-awaited Somme Offensive.
 

Many people, even to this day, argue the loyal troops were moments away from being led like lambs to the slaughter, and moments from being led to a futile and needless death by a team of remote and uncaring generals.

Facing the massed ranks was an unimaginably bleak and hostile situation, a scene of death and devastation and the nerve-wracking prospect of being torn to shreds by a lethal barrage of German machine gun fire or flying shrapnel at any moment.

All around them the skies above were littered with hundreds of thousands of shells and mortars, which had been crashing down without mercy on the German front line for seven days and seven nights solid as the full might of the British Army attempted to wipe out the enemy defenders for the impending assault.

The noise and terror levels were simply immense as the bombardment churned up the once beautiful French countryside with an unparralled fury, leaving huge 30 ft deep craters, an inferno of fireballs and piles of mangled and rotting corpses where a once scenic setting had stood.

The task facing the 750,000 strong infantry was to smash through the powerfully defended and heavily armed German front line, second line and push on to the enemy reserve lines over a 25,000 yard front - in short they faced a mammoth task that was quite simply impossible.
 

As the count slowly ticked down ever closer to Zero Hour and the start of the offensive the tension grew and grew, the troops could now only wait and hope that the unprecedented bombardment had wiped out the German defensive system.

At 7.30am their moment came, and to loud shrilled whistles wave after wave of troops left the safety of their trench system to enter the living hell of No Mans Land.

The result was truly horrific as thousands of soldiers, heavily burdened with excessive equipment, made their slow progress through the interlocking fire zone of superbly defended terrain towards the massed rank of German defenders.

Far from being wiped out the German troops had simply leapt from the safety of their deep underground shelters to man their defences and mercilessly rip the on-coming soldiers to pieces with a devastating barrage of machine gun fire.

Loaded with ammunition, weapons, supplies and rations, the slow-paced troops were sitting ducks and were easily picked off by the lethal gunners.

Few troops were able to get anywhere near the German front line, indeed many heroic men were simply blown and shot to pieces just yards from their trench.

Those lucky enough to dodge the hailstrom of bullets and shrapnel and get into or close to the enemy line were left isolated in the chaos to witness the slaughter of their close friends and comrades.

They were left alone in nearby shell-holes, nursing horrific mental and physical wounds and severley hampered by a lack of communication systems, reinforcements and ammunition.

They were ultimately hunted down like rats on the battlefield by teams of German ”moping up units” or left to struggle back to the safety of British trenches.

The BEF lost a staggering 57,470 casualties, including 19,240 soldiers killed in the first day of the doomed offensive alone.

Of course, this was and forever will be the worst day in the history of the British Army, it also remains one of the most controversial.

There were a few isolated success, where a small handful of battalions managed to achieve their objectives, but it certainly wasn’t worth the slaughter for the pityful gain of a no more than a few miles of land.

So was this a case of innocent soldiers being desperately let down by their incompetent generals as is the common view or a necessary part of the evils of war?

Did the offensive help release pressure on the French forces, whose army was close to breaking point at the nearby Verdun fortress, as had been intended and help British commanders improve tactics, training and techniques for future successful operations?

Or was the Somme struggle just the latest in a long line of futile and pointless attacks, which served no other purpose than to torment, torture and kill the innocent ”Tommy.”?

Whether you fall on the side of the generals or the critics is a matter of personal view, it is a debate that has divided public opinion for years.

But one thing certain to unite opinion is that the soliders fought bravely, they battled without flinching, without a lose of courage or faith and out of a determination to honourably serve their comrades, their King and their country.

Whatever your views, it is undeniable that the average soldier was subjected to unimaginable horrors and living conditions which are unknown to modern society - and a horror that thankfully no-one living today will ever have to face.

So the next time you sit down in a quiet state of contemplation, please spare a thought for the lost generation of both Allied and German men and boys who sadly gave up their life after being caught in humanity’s greatest ever disaster.

RESIDENTS across Mansfield and Ashfield are once again being forced to count the costs after the torrential weekend rains wrecked their possessions and caused havoc on the roads.

And for many people across the area the demoralising battle with rising flood waters and the subsequent mopping up effort is an all too frequent event.
 

An event that seems to get worse and worse on a yearly basis as the futile efforts of homeowners to protect their possessions is so cruely defeated by the raw power of nature.

For others atttempting to negotiate their way home on the flood-ravished roads the ordeal became a living nightmare, trapped in a steel cage with no food or company other than an insanely happy DJ, who frustrates you more and more as the time ticks on and home becomes no nearer.

Perhaps if you live close to a river such an incident is to be expected....almost accepted as one of the hazards of living so close to an area of scenic beauty.

But those people living on a normal residential street in Kirkby, Huthwaite or Pleasley should not have to put up with having their homes wrecked and possessions ruined by constant flooding.

Although the level of rain over the weekend was indeed unprecedented and severe, it is high time the authorities take some responsibility and serious action to reduce flooding risks in the future.

Why should an innocent pensioner have their kitchen or front room destroyed just because the authorities cannot ensure Mansfield and Ashfield has the necessary level of drainage sytems and flood protection safeguards?

The Environment Agency, Highways Agency, Severn Trent as well as Ashfield District Council, Mansfield District Council and Nottinghamshire County Council now need to work together, they need to come up with viable options and measures to cut flooding...in short they need to stand up and be counted.

Flooding is causing misery for thousands of people across the district on a far too often basis and it cannot be allowed to continue, the time has now come for money to be splashed rather than puddles to help beat the rain.

CHAT with any elderly person or relative about living in modern day Britain and at some point they will no doubt mutter ”people weren’t as selfish in my day.”

Just how true this rather sweeping statement is remains open for debate....but unfortunately one thing seems certain - Britain is rapidly developing into a selfish society.

So often nowadays tiny community groups and charity organisations are left to fight for their future, devoid of much-needed funds and volunteers by a society seemingly ignorant or uncaring of their very existence.
 

And, in my eyes, this is a crying shame.

Without the kind-hearted locals who run Tenants and Residents’ Associations or the individuals who tirelessly devote endless hours of their spare time to youth and sporting clubs across the district, Ashfield would be a much poorer place to work, rest and play in.

Imagine a society where young boys were unable to sample the pleasures of playing competitive football, rugby or cricket, a village without a youth club for youngsters to socialise and thrive in or a street or beauty spot allowed to go to ruin because people simply didn’t have the funds or couldn’t be bothered to do something about it.

And if you can imagine this rather bleak and unpleasant image, im sure you would all agree that it’s not a community you would enjoy living in.

So surely it is now high time residents across the area began to take a greater pride in Ashfield and the streets they live in, it is time they begin to put something back into their community and work towards providing a better environment for everyone who calls Ashfield home.
 

Ask any unsung volunteer why they donate their leisure time to community projects and they will tell you of the excitement, pleasure and sense of pride instilled in them from doing their little bit for their area.

They will tell you of their delight at being able to make that little difference to where they live and of the immense satisfaction they feel in securing vital funding opportunites to help their community thrive.
 

So go on...next time you think about how your area is declining don’t just moan, do something about it. Pop down to your local youth club, sports team or community group and see what you can do for them.

You might give yourself a pleasant suprise.

You can never keep the NHS out of the news.

Whatever happens in British life, whether it's David Beckham getting a new haircut, another Government minister putting their foot in it again or the latest controversy and madness in the Big Brother house, the debate over the virtues, values and effectiveness of public and private healthcare will always rage.

And in Ashfield the heated argument over whether the cash-strapped NHS is more effective than the money-rich world of private medical care is well and truly underway following the tragic death of Sutton woman Susan Mann.

Mrs Mann sadly died from a lack of oxygen to her brain after a routine hysterectomy operation at the privately owned The Park Hospital in Arnold went tragically wrong.

An inquest ruled her death was preventable and treatable if she had received better treatment.

And following the verdict Susan’s devastated family have called for urgent changes governing private healthcare to ensure surgeons are on hand in the immediate hours after an operation to cope with any unexpected complications.

Unfortunately, it is hard to say whether Susan would indeed have received better post-operative care had she been treated under the NHS or whether the death was simply a tragic case of a personal mis-judgement by an under pressure surgeon.

But one thing is for certain, NHS staff - no matter how much abuse they receive or stress and pressure they are placed under - are always on hand to give the best possible patient care around the clock.

They are not carrying out other operations at another hospital as they seek to boost their personal coffers with another bumper fee.

For many years the NHS has received prolonged abuse and criticism from patients, critics and certain politicians claiming the health service is on its deathbed.

But this could not be further from the truth and it is now surely time for the public to get behind their doctors, nurses and hospital staff and realise just what a good job they do - despite the gruelling working conditions and emotional stresses they deal with on a daily basis as well as a severly stretched budget.

It is far better to live in a country such as Britain with FREE healthcare for all no matter how poor an individual is, a country where people can just walk into the nearest hospital or doctor’s surgery for vital medical treatment at no charge.

It is far better than the market-driven system favoured in North America, where citizens have to stump up huge insurance premiums to access treatment and a system where the poorest members of society are forced to go without healthcare because they are simply too poor.

Of course, everybody would love to live in some utopian world where public healthcare is instant, where a patient could receive their operation in a matter of weeks rather than months and where waiting times in A&E are a matter of minutes rather than hours.

But unfortunately healthcare is not like buying a can of beans from a Tesco Express, it is not instant, it is not easy...it has millions of ”customers” a week, and not just a handful of shoppers.

Patients need to be just that....patient.