How many...

….community facilities could we retain if Wirral took the same action as Liverpool which is introducing wide-ranging measures to slash town hall wages and pay-offs. Details are in this article in the Liverpool Echo.

This is the kind of action Wirral should have taken long before it even dreamt of shutting libraries and sports facilities.

Activity report for January

Thanks to everyone who filled out my resident’s survey during the past few weeks. The feedback has been fantastic and I’ve already had almost 300 responses. As you can imagine a wide range of issues were raised which I have been following up as follows:

• Residents on Craven Street and Paterson Street are unhappy with the repair service provided by Maritime Housing (Regenda). I have written to Regenda outlining these concerns and did receive a prompt response. They have offered to meet up and I am working on suitable times and dates and hope to get residents involved in this. However, I am concerned that Regenda is more keen to tell me about planned improvements to properties rather than addressing concerns about repairs which is the major complaint among residents.
  
• On Park Road East, several residents are concerned about the accumulation of rubbish in neighbouring properties. This can be tackled by Environmental Health who will arrange an inspection if you call them on 691 8370. They can, if appropriate, serve a 21 day notice on the offending property owner and if there is no improvement in this time they will send in contractors to clean up and charge the property holder.
  
• I was alerted to foul smelling drains on Hinderton Road. I have written to United Utilities and eventually received a response saying an inspection would be carried out. However, UU has been rather vague about when this will happen so I will keep chasing them.
  
• Residents on Green Lane and Argyle Street South raised the difficulty in parking outside their properties. I have spoken with traffic management and you will not be surprised that this is a fairly sticky issue. Simply put, the council will not fund residents parking schemes. Therefore they have to be self-funding and the guidelines state that the cost per vehicle would be in the region of £75 with a minimum size of 300 residents. Effectively the council has washed its hands of this problem which is especially galling given the failure to tackle the problem at source by providing better and more affordable public transport.
  
• Unsurprisingly, there have been quite a few comments re crime and anti-social behaviour. I am making a list of these including the problems adjacent to Hilton Close, at the rear of Baytree Road and towards the bottom of Argyle Street South. No doubt this list will grow as we survey other areas and in due course I will be taking these to the police and reporting back to you.
  
• This weekend’s survey of the streets between Mersey and Victoria Parks saw a lot of complaints about dog muck and the reason wasn’t hard to spot! I’ll be making enquiries about this in the coming days.
  

Of course the major events of recent weeks have focused on Labour’s devastating cuts in local services and facilities with Pacific Road and Grange Road West included in the firing line. This will be covered in my door-to-door newsletter which will be delivered during February. In the meantime, you can read the official Green Party response to the cuts which includes constructive measures on cutting costs without cutting basic services.

At last, United Utilities responds

I’ve finally heard back from United Utilities about the stinking drains on Hinderton Road. An inspection will be carried out soon. Hopefully they will do more than just inspect…

Maritime Housing Part II

Glad to say that Maritime has responded promptly to my enquiries on behalf of residents in Craven Street and Paterson Street. They have offered to arrange a meeting and I’ll be following that up. Maritime is part of the Regenda group and if you have any comments arising from dealings with them or one of their subsidiaries I’d love to hear from you.

Some people...

...aren't vey tidy. In fact some parts of our area are an absolute disgrace. which is a common theme on our resident's survey. If a neighbouring property to you is causing concern this can be tackled by Environmental Health. They will arrange an inspection if you call them on 691 8370. They can, if appropriate, serve a 21 day notice on the offending property owner and if there is no improvement in this time they will send in contractors to clean up and charge the property holder.

Let me know if this doesn't work and I will chase it for you.

Labour's shameful legacy confirmed

The future now looks bleak for Pacific Road and Grange Road West. Last night’s Council meeting confirmed that both will lose Council funding along with a multitude of other local facilities. This article in the Wirral Globe provides a good summary. This is a devastating blow for many in our community and will clearly hit the poorest hardest. It certainly marks a shameful legacy for a Labour led authority.

Needless to say I and my Green Party colleagues are appalled. However, unlike the Tories, we have come up with a constructive response to this crisis which you can read here.

Sums it up nicely

A friend passed this cartoon to me which neatly illustrates the impact of the proposed cuts in services. I don't know who penned this. If you do, let me know so I can acknowledge it appropriately. You can click on the image to enlarge it.