27 Mar 2009

Fountain Street update

Building Control has inspected the broken wall on Fountain Street and say there is no risk to the public. However, thay are seeking to identify the land owner to inform them about the open access to the site and remind them of their responsibilities.

Meantime, environmental health has been notified about the mounting rubbish problem and will hopefully carry out an inspectation soon.

Needless to say I'll be keeping a careful eye on this going forward.

23 Mar 2009

Fountain Street/Whitford Road

I was shocked at the state of the land between Fountain Street and Whitford Road. Thanks to those residents who drew it to my attention when we were conducting our residents' survey yesterday. This site has been earmarked for 56 new dwellings but as nothing is happening it is becoming more and more of an eyesore. Not only that but it is also a danger to local children as part of the wall has collapsed.

I've been on to Building Control and they have promised an inspection this week.

20 Mar 2009

Alleyways/YMCA

Littered alleyways are a persistent complaint when I speak with residents. Our area has over 100 of these, many of which are now gated. Strictly speaking these are on private land so the Council's legal obligations to clean them can be a bit vague. However, there is an understanding that alleyways will be cleaned within one month of receiving a complaint. Therefore, it's very important that any such problem is reported to Streetscene on 606 2004. Even better if you can take some pictures and email to streetscene@wirral.gov.uk. Always ask for a reference number. If the problem persists let me know and I will action it promptly.

Also I've been contacted by a resident on Shaw Street about flytipping in the area close to the YMCA. I'll be checking that out over the weekend and making the appropriate phone calls next week.

12 Mar 2009

Does the left hand.....

....know what the right hand is doing? Streetscene says the tip by Wirral Spares is unadopted and nothing to do with them.

Environmental health says the opposite.

Apparantly this confusion happens all the time.

Anyway, the good news is the eyesore is due for a clean-up on April 1st. Unless of course they are winding me up and taking me for an April fool!

Time will tell.

9 Mar 2009

Tetbury Street/Borough Road update

I had a phone call today from the Council’s cleaning and recycling department regarding the appalling state of the landscaped area where Tetbury Street meets Borough Road. I’m glad to say that following my complaints this area had a special one-off clean on Friday. Apparently, over 1,000 drink cans were removed!

However, I was appalled to learn that cleaning of this area occurs only twice a year under a long term contract signed with a private contractor. I was told that the chances of this changing are close to zero. This is clearly unacceptable.

Public consumption of alcohol is banned in this area. I’ll be raising this with the police to see what can be done to enforce this and stop the problem at source. Hopefully, they can also stop people using the area as a public toilet!

6 Mar 2009

Beech Road/Tetbury Street

Today I have reported the graffiti pictured below on Beech Court/Milton Road as well as the diabolical collection of garbage on the entry from Borough Road to Tetbury Street.

5 Mar 2009

lights and rubbish update

I'm happy to say that the faulty lights I reported on Lowwood Road, Clifton Road, Hollybank Road and Cleveland Street have all been seen to.

However, the rubbish tip that lingers by Wirral Spares on Borough Road is apparently on unadopted land which means the land owner has to be found and notified before this mess can be sorted.

2 Mar 2009

Activity report for February

Here's an update on some of what I have been up to during February.

Thanks to those residents who have reported faulty street lighting. I have been reporting these to Streetscene as and when I become aware of them. Some have already been fixed but others remain outstanding.

In our residents' survey some people say that lights are not bright enough. Well,most of the street lighting was installed some 50 years ago and is pretty, shall we say, old. Modern lighting can give a better effect and has been installed on some busy roads but, as usual, cost is the issue in rolling out better and more efficient street lighting. It seems just to stand still, Wirral street lighting needs around £1m per year but only gets a fraction of this. My worry is that as the recession bites, funding will be further squeezed.

Following the comments on poor quality repairs by residents on Craven Street and Paterson Street I met with Maritime Housing on February 25th for over one hour. The meeting was very constructive and Maritime promised to get back to each of the residents who raised concerns through me. If you are a social housing tenant and have any issues you would like me to raise on your behalf, please let me know.

Litter is of course a constant complaint. I’ve recently spotted or been alerted to particular eyesores on Hilton Close, Borough Road (Glover Street) and Mount Grove Place (Whetstone Lane). I’ve photographed each of these which you can see here and have reported each of them to Streetscene.

Our door-to-door survey of the ward continues and issues relating to crime and anti-social behaviour feature prominently. I will be taking these to the police before the end of March and will report back during March.

Earlier this month I attended the Council meeting where the withdrawal of funding for community services across Wirral was confirmed. The event was a sorry day for local democracy and you can read my full report here.

To add fuel to the fire we now learn that Council tax bills are to rise by 4.4%. Effectively we are being asked to pay more for reduced council services. There will be more on this in the next edition of my ward newsletter which you can expect to receive by the end of April.

1 Mar 2009

more rubbish

Thanks to those residents who have alerted me to litter eyesores. Pictured are Hilton Close, Mount Grove Place (Whetstone Lane) and Borough Road (Glover Street). I'll be sending these to Streetscene in the morning and leeping an eye out for improvements.