Latest Activity Report

Welcome to the latest monthly update for residents with email. I’d like to take the opportunity to wish each of you a Happy New Year and all the best for 2011.

It’s been a tough few weeks given the weather combined with the holiday season. I know many residents were left unhappy by the piles of rubbish that built up lately. Bin collections are now back to normal and any back log should be cleared by the end of this week. If you continue to experience difficulties into next week, please let me know and I’ll be happy to chase it.

I also had several calls regarding the lack of gritting on certain roads over Christmas. I complained about the lack of attention to both Westbourne Road and Clifton Road. It really isn’t good enough that important routes such as these were left untreated.

Road Safety: going backwards

Many of you will be aware of our campaigns to improve road safety. Unfortunately, based on the latest evidence, there is still much to be done. Final statistics for 2009 show a further deterioration in local casualty rates. For children the picture is especially bleak. Child pedestrians in Wirral are now twice as likely to be killed or seriously injured compared with other parts of the country.

12 months ago, in response to our campaign, Wirral Council promised a step change in road safety. Since the new Tory-led Council came in last May nothing has changed while government cuts are undermining existing road safety measures.

However, these figures raise serious questions nut just for Wirral Council but also Merseyside police. Merseyside now has the second worst record on pedestrian safety in the entire country. This would appear to raise serious questions about how our police force treats road safety. Over the coming weeks we will be asking those questions and looking for serious answers.

Streets update

Every week I keep an eye on the latest planning applications. Two caught my eye lately and may be of interest to you if you live near Church Road or Hampden Road. Full details are on my website.

Fly-tipping never seems to go away. The latest incidents concern Westbourne Road. As in many other cases we not only report the fly-tipping itself but also request that specific households be spoken to about their responsibilities in managing household waste. Meanwhile, the graffiti I reported on Westbourne Road has now been cleared as has the waste dumped on Beech Road..

Broken street lights have been reported on Park Grove (Whetstone Lane) and on Elm Grove. One of the lights reported recently on Bentinck Street has been fixed but another remains outstanding and has been reported again.

Anti-social behaviour issues in Rectory Close have been reported to the police while persistent violation of the parking regulations on Rodney Street have been referred to traffic management.

As ever, if there are outstanding issues of concern to you, please let me know.