Spot the difference

After months of prodding I'm delighted that the awful conditions in the alleyway between Rodney Street and Clifton Road have finally been addressed.

Streets update

Been out and about today checking on a few outstanding items.

Glad to say that the offensive graffiti I reported on Bentinck Street is gone as is the graffiti on the Netto store downtown.

Also the longstanding broken light on Conway Drive has been repaired.

Latest Activity Report

Welcome to my activity report for the month of November.

Our latest ward newsletter is currently being delivered. If you haven’t received a copy yet you can download a pdf version here.

The big news this month has been the release of the government’s report into the planned closure of libraries across Wirral. This whole saga has made a laughing stock of Wirral and the report doesn’t mince its words. It says the Council’s plans would have been in breach of its statutory duties and “would disadvantage relatively deprived communities” This is a shocking verdict on a Labour-led Council which is supposed to be supporting the less well off in our community.

The full report is available at http://www.culture.gov.uk/images/publications/wirral_local_inquiry.doc .

There is a 6-page Summary (pages i to vi) at the start.

I continue to champion improvements to road safety. The latest figures revealed this month show that child pedestrians locally are 80% more likely to be killed or seriously injured on our roads than the national average. This prompted me to write to the Wirral Globe which published this letter in its latest edition.

Street issue developments this month include:

• Broken street lights on Willmer Road have finally been fixed
• The damaged street sign (pictured) on Birchwood Avenue has now been repaired.

  

• I complained about the state of the alleyway between Elmswood Road and Harrowby Road. This has now been cleaned and should get a clean on the first Tuesday of each month.
• The Council is unable to repair the broken lights on the Quarrybank site by the YMCA. However, the good news is that the site has been acquired by Venture Housing and is to be refurbished with work due to start in the Spring.

Finally, if you or anyone you know missed out on our door-to-door survey you can complete an on-line version here.

Report on Library Closures

The Libraries Inquiry Report by Sue Charteris was published on Monday, and is available at
http://www.culture.gov.uk/images/publications/wirral_local_inquiry.doc .

The Report is 98 pages long, but there is a 6-page Executive Summary (pages i to vi) at the start.

As reported extensively in the local media, the report is a clear rejection of the Labour-led Council's attempted closure of libraries across Wirral.

Letter to the Wirral Globe

An edited version of this letter has just been published in the Wirral Globe:

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I was shocked by the comments attributed to Conservative Councillor Leah Fraser in your recent front page report "Wirral wardens to target pavement parkers". She seems to be unaware that parking on the pavement is illegal and shows scant regard for Wirral's appalling record on pedestrian safety.

Pavement parking is endemic across Wirral. Pedestrians, especially the disabled and those pushing prams, are routinely inconvenienced and put at risk by vehicles blocking their path. This is one of the reasons why Wirral is such a dangerous place to be a pedestrian. Figures recently compiled by Living Streets show that pedestrains in Wirral are 30% more likely to be killed or seriously injured than the national average. For children, the corresponding figure is a shocking 80%.

According to the Chief Examiner of the Institute of Advanced Motorists "parking on the pavement is generally illegal, unless there are signs etc. to permit it". In theory, if not in practise, this view is shared by Merseyside police who say "it is an offence for a person to park their vehicle on a pavement and they would normally get a parking ticket."

The latest proposals from Wirral Council to introduce enforcement on just half a dozen extra roads are an extremely modest step in the right direction. Moreover, on none of the roads earmarked could any responsible driver consider it acceptable to park on the pavement.

Wirral needs to shift from prioritising motor vehicles to giving proper respect to pedestrians. Until this happens, our children will contine to run unacceptable risks. This, rather than cheap point scoring, should be the real priority for Leah Fraser.

Latest newsline now available

The latest ward newsletter is now being delivered. You can download a pdf version here.

Activity Report for October

Welcome to my activity report for the month of October. It’s been another busy month. Details below of developments in housing, education, road safety and the usual round-up of street issues.

For quite some time I have highlighted the delays to housing renewal around our area. Frustrated by the lack of progress on new housing for Fountain Street/Whitford Road I got in touch with the media. My thanks to the Birkenhead News who carried the story on October 14^th. Within days, workers were on site to give the area a deep clean. The following week we learned that the government has found £1 million to kick start the renewal programme. The full report can be read here.

This is great news for residents who have put up with so much since half their street was demolished some three years ago. Work on the new housing is now due to start before the end of this year. Hopefully Wirral Council will learn some lessons from this sorry affair. In my view, demolition has to be a last resort. In future the Council needs to think twice before ripping the heart out of our communities.

There has been much reporting lately about the Council’s controversial plans for school acadamies. Much less attention has been paid to the “consolidation” of primary school places in Birkenhead. Predictably, following an inadequate consultation exercise the Council seems intent on building a brand new primary school by Birkenhead Park. This would replace the existing schools at Cathcart Street, Cole Street and St. Laurence’s. This, however, ignores what seems the far more sensible option of expanding Cathcart Street. If you are affected by school reorganisation at either primary or secondary level I would be very interested in your views.

We learned this week that the Council is proposing to introduce 20mph limits around all schools. While this is welcome it goes nowhere near far enough in addressing the shocking casualty figures in Wirral which I have highlighted previously. In response, the Green Party is supporting moves to set up a pedestrian’s forum for Wirral. You can aid this process by taking just a couple of minutes to complete this survey.

And finally a round-up of street-by-street developments:

• The owners of the Argyle industrial estate have now agreed to remove vegetation blocking the adjacent alleyway behind Hinderton Road.
• Following persistent complaints, we finally succeeded in having bulky waste (pictured) blocking the alleyway between Rodney Street and Clifton Road removed.
• Residents in Convent Close and Rectory Close have been promised new street signs which should put an end to confusion for postal workers, taxi drivers and other visitors.
• Offensive graffiti on Elmswood Road has now been removed.
• Thanks to all those residents in the Bentinck Street area who completed our resident’s survey on October 25^th. I have reported several instances of graffiti on Bentinck Street and the broken street light on Conway Drive.
• I was impressed with the rapid response from the Council’s pest control unit in dealing with a rat infestation in Birkenhead. To report a problem call 606 2020.
• I alerted the Council to the delay in restoring road markings along Derby Road. Thankfully this produced a prompt response and the markings have now been restored. This should put an end to the unnecessary congestion around St. Catherine’s Hospital.
• On my request Streetscene carried out an inspection of the alleyway between Baytree Road and Rosedale Road. Fly-tipped rubbish has now been removed.