Another disappearing act

Glad to see this graffiti at the bottom of Kinmel/Birchwood Close is now a thing of the past.

Well done to the graffiti team for another swift response.

New Traffic Regulation Orders

Wirral Council has issued a slew of traffic regulation orders as follows:

Introduction of waiting restrictions at the junction of Rodney Street and Whetstone Lane (to improve visibility and road safety)
Revocation of waiting restrictions at Belmont (to increase available parking for local businesses)
Modified waiting restrictions in the St. Anne Street area (to improve safety and assist local businesses)

If you need further details of any of these schemes, please get in touch using the contact details on this page.

Activity report for December

Welcome to the first update for the New Year. News below on affordable housing, road safety and a particularly busy streets update.

Shocking revelations on social housing

Our latest ward newsletter is currently being delivered and includes a special focus on social housing. It recently emerged that it would take over 7 years to clear the current waiting list for affordable housing locally. This is completely unacceptable in my view. Many decisions taken by Wirral Council have added to the problems facing those on low incomes needing suitable accommodation. If you are affected I would welcome your input so please get in touch.

“Wirral slammed over road safety”

There has been a great response from the media to my concerns regarding the poor road safety in Wirral, especially for children. As well as appearing on Radio City the issue was also taken up by the Wirral Globe and the Birkenhead News. As a result there is now increasing pressure on local officials to take road safety more seriously and give our children the protection they need.

Streets update

Street issue developments this month include:

• Residents on Hinderton Road have seen a huge improvement after encroaching vegetation was cleared from their alleyway by the owners of the Argyle industrial estate. This was followed by a deep clean of the alleyway by the Council
• There has been an even more striking improvement on Rodney Street where the alleyway running adjacent to Clifton Road is unrecognisable from a few months ago as you can see here.
• The offensive graffiti I reported on Bentinck Street is gone as is the graffiti on the Netto store off Grange Road.
• The longstanding broken light on Conway Drive has now been repaired as has the light on Hampden Road by the junction with Church Road. Day burning lights on Frodsham Street and in the car park on Victoria Road are now fixed.
• The damaged street sign on St Laurence Drive has been replaced while residents on Convent Close also have a new sign.

If there are any outstanding street issues in your area please let me know.

New Street Sign for Convent Close

The photo below shows the new street sign for Convent Close. Hopefully this will put an end to the confusion as to where Convent Close begins and Rectory Close ends.

Media coverage on road safety

Glad to see that the Daily Post and Birkenhead News have picked up what I have been saying about road safety locally.

You can read their coverage at:
http://www.wirralnews.co.uk/wirral-news/local-wirral-news/2009/12/22/wirral-slammed-over-road-safety-data-92534-25444892/

(broken) Lights, camera, action

Glad to see that the Council has acted quickly to fix the day burning light on Frodsham Street.

Also the broken light on Hampden Road just off Church Road has been repaired following my report.

And the damaged street sign on St. Laurence Drive (pictured) is now a thing of the past having been replaced.

Wirral Road Safety, the shocking truth

Final figures for road safety in Wirral including the most recent data for 2008 have now been analysed. They show that vulnerable road users are much more at risk in Wirral when compared with the national average. Indeed, figures for pedestrians are amongst the worst in the whole country

Using the government's own preferred measure encompassing data over the past three years the figures show:

Pedestrians: taking all ages together, Wirral rates are 30% above the UK average. For children, Wirral rates are 80% above the UK average.

Cyclists: the total rate is 15% above the UK average; for child cyclists, the Wirral rate is 48% above the UK average,

You can download the full details at:

http://www.livingstreetswirralchester.org.uk/wirral_casualty_statistics.htm




Surveys undertaken by the Green Party show that residents on Well Lane in Tranmere are very concerned about road safety.