John Brace | A blog about Wirral Council, Wirral Council's councillors & officers

Arriva 410 Bus: From “Ferry Across the Mersey” to “Folsom Prison Blues”

So, having a rare day out with the wife we returned from Liverpool on the Mersey Ferry (she likes the ferry whereas my taste in music isn’t Gerry and the Pacemakers “Ferry Across the Mersey” as loud as possible). We get an Arriva 410 bus from Woodside planning to change on Conway Street on the … Continue reading “Arriva 410 Bus: From “Ferry Across the Mersey” to “Folsom Prison Blues””

The bus goes through the bus station, lets some passengers off, past the new Asda and carries on down South Claughton Road. There must have been at least about twenty passengers on it.

A noise as loud as a firework going off a few feet away happens, and one of the windows on the left side of the bus goes from transparent to opaque with lines running from the point of impact. How it actually managed to hold itself together is anyone’s guess. In a surreal twist the one passenger sitting next to it carries on listening to his music through a Walkman oblivious to his lucky escape.

The bus driver stops the bus at the next stop near Cole Street, informs everyone that they’ll have to get off and get on another 410 that’ll be sent. He invites anyone who smokes to get off and have a cigarette (and looks visibly shaken up himself). As we get off the bus and walk past you can see the glass window is completely buckled and warped. It was clearly something that hit the window with a massive force.

There were many ideas from the bus about what happened, one said a kid through a stone (unlikely when you consider the damage), another said someone fired something at the bus. Certainly the guy sitting next to the window, when he realised what was going on was out of the bus like a shot and not seen by anyone on the replacement bus.

I was looking out of the wrong window at the time and didn’t see anything, but heard a very loud bang similar to a firework or a gun shot. The police didn’t turn up before the replacement bus arrived and decided to investigate things at the bus depot instead. You’d think they’d take a possible firearms discharge more seriously… but it’s certainly strange when Arriva can arrive on the scene quicker than Merseyside Police.

We got off on Conway Street by the entrance to Birkenhead Park, the bus driver came round, stopped the bus and pushed out the glass with a rolled up newspaper. Certainly the thing had rattled him, but I expect he got the rest of the day off. It was one of the massive windows you get to look out of…

Wirral Globe letter – Cllr Steve Foulkes criticised

After my wife referred to something in this week’s Wirral Globe I happened to notice this letter on the letters page this week.

It reminded me of the question I put to Cllr Steve Foulkes on this topic a few weeks ago (my questions and his answers are in a Youtube video below). The advice given by Bill Norman was also reported here.

It seems this is a story that just won’t go away… although I’m sure some people would prefer it to stay out of the news.

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P.S. As there is at least one councillor who stated in an email to me last year that Cllr Steve Foulkes is a member of the Liberal Democrat Party, I’d like to set the public record straight now and point out he’s a member of the Labour Party, in case anybody out there reading this has also got it wrong! Oh and in case the same councillor is reading this I’m not called Hugo or Martin either, my name is John…

Scrutiny Programme Board 4th January 2012 Part 1, Declarations of Interest, Minutes

Present

Councillors
Cllr Andrew Hodson (Chair)
Cllr Simon Mountney (Vice-Chair)
Cllr Patricia Glasman (Spokesperson)
Cllr Ann Bridson (Spokesperson)
Cllr Ron Abbey
Cllr Chris Blakeley
Cllr Pat Hackett
Cllr Adam Sykes
Cllr Jerry Williams

Officers
Mark Delap, Committee Clerk
Surjit Tour, Head of Legal and Member Services
Another Wirral Council officer

Two members of the public.

The Chair, Cllr Andrew Hodson said good evening to everyone and commented on the fact that Cllr Bridson was looking better since he’d last seen her, but was not looking 100%.

Cllr Ron Abbey said there’d been no improvement in the Chair.

The Chair, Cllr Andrew Hodson said it had been three weeks since he’d seen Cllr Bridson and she looked a lot better. He asked those present to turn their mobile phones off. Cllr Hodson then asked councillors if they had any declarations of interest to make.

1. Declarations of Interest

Cllr Patricia Glasman asked for advice on a declaration of interest.

Cllr Tony Smith arrives late and apologised for being late.

Cllr Patricia Glasman says that it is about her role as Chair of the Health and Wellbeing Overview and Scrutiny Committee and the work of the Health and Wellbeing Board.

Surjit Tour replied that it was up to Cllr Glasman if she wished to declare an interest.

2. Minutes

The Chair, Cllr Andrew Hodson asked if members of the Committee were happy with the minutes [of the meeting held on the 8th September 2011]

Cllr Bridson said on page three, the top item there was a summary of complaints made against councillors that had led to a vibrant discussion. She said she had asked for costs to be presented, this had been agreed and noted.

Surjit Tour said he was happy to give to councillors this information as soon as possible.

Cllr Bridson said it was important the public knew how much they were spending when making inappropriate complaints.

Cllr Blakeley said it had been referred to the Standards Committee.

Surjit Tour said he would check it and apologised.

Cllr Chris Blakeley said it had gone to the last Standards Committee meeting, however some final costs had yet to be decided.

The Chair, Cllr Hodson said he wanted it minuted.

Tower Road Bridge, Tower Road, Birkenhead (part of Four Bridges) Closure Update 24th August 2012

Update 27th December 2012 The work on Tower Road Bridge has finished and the Four Bridges have been open to traffic since the 17th December 2012.

Tower Road Bridge (part of the Four Bridges) will be closed for maintenance on the A deck as Colas will be undertaking repairs on behalf of Wirral Council from Monday 9th January 2012. Repairs will take four to six weeks (depending on weather). The road will be closed between the bridge’s junction with Dock Road and the Twelve Quays Ferry Terminal Access. There will be a diversion in place with traffic diverted via Tower Road, Rendel Street, Corporation Road, Duke Street, Dock Road and vice versa. All diversion routes will be signed. Footpaths will stay open.

Update 24th August 2012: Maintenance for the next 16 weeks on the A and C bridges will result in diversions. Only one bridge will be closed at a time and diversions will be in place for traffic. Both A and C bridges remain open to pedestrians at all times. The work to replace steel and painting. For further information read Wirral Council’s press release.

The following bus routes using the Tower Road Bridge will be diverted between Wednesday 22nd August 2012 and Winter 2012: 409, 807 to Bromborough, 811 to Broughton, 817 to Deeside/Broughton, 807 to Moreton Cross, 811 to Moreton/Leasowe and 817 to Arrowe Park Hospital. For more information on the diversions check Merseytravel’s website.

A Bridge Tower Road Dock Road Junction (click image for larger version)