Work on Birkenhead North Park and Ride expansion expected to start in 2016
Work on Birkenhead North Park and Ride expansion expected to start in 2016
Birkenhead North Park and Ride (15th October 2015)
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Merseytravel’s (part of the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority) General Purposes Sub-Committee meeting on the 15th October 2015
I’ll start by declaring an interest as I use the car park at Birkenhead North Railway Station regularly.
At a public meeting today of councillors on the Merseytravel’s General Purposes Sub-Committee officers gave an update on projects including an update on what was happening to expand the Park and Ride at Birkenhead North Railway Station.
A Merseytravel officer had the following to say about this, "Birkenhead North, that’s the extended phase for the Park and Ride. Members [councillors] will remember we had some extensive investment in there over a two-year period, around £5.5 million with what was the Park and Ride interchange and the bridge as part of that scheme.
This is the land that we agreed with Wirral that we would take forward for the expansion of the Park and Ride scheme and that scheme will straddle, will commence early next year and will run through probably for about a five or six month period depending on the contractor’s programme when we receive that back."
There are 266 car parking spaces at the Park and Ride at Birkenhead North Railway Station. The work, expected to start next year to expand the Park and Ride will increase this by a further 366 car parking spaces. An increase in car parking spaces will solve the current problem of over parking.
Merseytravel is expected to ask Wirral Council in the near future for a lease of the land for the Park and Ride expansion at Birkenhead North Railway Station to go ahead.
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The video above is of the Birkenhead Constituency Committee meeting held on the 8th October 2015 (public question and answer agenda item). The video should start at the point I asked a question which is at the 36 minutes 17 seconds mark.
Rt Hon Frank Field MP (Chair) and Ken Abraham (solicitor (Wirral Council)) at the meeting of the Birkenhead Constituency Committee on the 8th October 2015
Below is a copy of my question for the Birkenhead Constituency Committee. I submitted it on the 18th September 2015 for its meeting on the 24th September 2015. However the 24th September 2015 meeting was then cancelled and rearranged to the 8th October 2015.
The Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority decided recently to transfer the land by Birkenhead fire station to Wirral Council for a Youth Zone which will be called The Hive.
I also discovered that councillors on Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority were receiving their allowances in full, but the Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority was paying any tax or National Insurance due (an arrangement costing Merseyside council taxpayers an extra £10,820.28p). These amounts for tax were not deducted from the allowances they received but instead were paid by the Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority.
Could the Birkenhead Constituency Committee:
a) give an update on progress on the expected timescales for the Youth Zone called “The Hive”
and
b) explain why some councillors are paying payroll taxes directly out of their allowances, whereas in other cases these taxes are paid not by the politician but by the public? It just seems a basic issue of fairness.
The written answer is below.
Response from CYPD and Merseyside Fire Service:
a) The Hive is due to open in December 2016.
b) Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service (MFRS) have advised that they have given John Brace an explanation of the figures on a number of occasions. If John Brace would like further information he should contact MFRS directly.
However a verbal answer was also given at the meeting which was more detailed. Sadly some of what Jo Burrell said at this point is unclear on the video.
Rt Hon Frank Field MP (Chair) Great, on a) we’ll ask for a report. On b) this is not actually relevant to this Committee because we have no say in it. I’m all in favour of extending our authority but I gather they have written and will continue to take up your points and Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority will answer your issues on that John.
On where are we with the Hive? [Cllr] Jean [Stapleton]’s not here about this, do you know?
Cllr ??? ???: … Chief Exec.
Jo Burrell (Constituency Manager) That’s the information we’ve received. I don’t know exactly where the, this building is up to, it’s something I would probably have to ask …
Rt Hon Frank Field MP (Chair): Yes but I think whatever the target date is it’s on target, and most of the money seems to have been raised, hasn’t it? So I think it’s actually, it’s huge sums, it’s brilliant that people have made contributions so that will actually go ahead. The police, the Fire Authority John are very happy having a conversation with you by correspondence.
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UPDATED: Cabinet to make decision next month on Birkenhead Market lease
UPDATED: Cabinet to decide on Birkenhead Market lease next month
07/10/2015 19:01 Although at the time this was written a decision was expected by Wirral Council’s Cabinet on Birkenhead Market in October 2015, Wirral Council have since this story was written put back a decision on this matter to November 2015. This story was originally published on 8th September 2015, but has been updated on the 7th October.
Last Friday, Wirral Council added a new item to their Forward Plan (the Forward Plan is a list of upcoming topics that decisions will be made on) called Birkenhead Market – Lease. It’s down for a decision to be made by Wirral Council’s Cabinet in OctoberNovember 2015.
Further details can be found on Wirral Council’s website, but it’s a key decision because of the “significant people impact”.
It will be at least 28 days (which doesn’t include the 4th September 2015 or the date of the Cabinet meeting) so the earliest Cabinet meeting this could be decided at is the one on the 8th October 2015 this could be decided is November 2015.
First the history of the matter. Cabinet in a behind closed doors meeting on 5th December 2002 after a bidding process awarded the bid for market operator for Birkenhead Market to Mr. Lawrence Embra. However the minute text states very little detail.
It’s been a while since I read the Birkenhead Market lease and I’ve no idea which aspect of the lease the upcoming Cabinet decision relates to.UPDATED: 12/9/15 Wirral Council confirm that this is about the rents.
However this is where is starts to get complicated.
There’s a sublease between Birkenhead Market Limited and Birkenhead Market Services Limited for part of the ground floor of the Birkenhead Market Hall.
There’s an underlease between Birkenhead Market Limited and Wirral Borough Council.
Finally (well almost finally) there’s a lease between Birkenhead Market Limited and Wirral Borough Council for the premises at Birkenhead Market, Birkenhead. It’s part of this last document (without schedules and one of the plans) that are below.
The schedules*(see below) detail the history for each market stall followed by plans. The first plan (unfortunately Crown copyright) shows the Birkenhead Market Hall and the surrounding road system (which is similar to this plan on Wirral Council’s website. It shows what the half-width of the Birkenhead Market Service Road is, there are then internal plans of the market and the layout of the toilets.
*The schedules are a table with the following column headings: date, nature of document (such as tenancy agreement, copy assignment, licence to assign/change of user and memorandum of rent review), parties and document numbers. These are for the following market stalls A1, A2, A3, A4, A5, A6, A7, A8, B41 and B56, B42, B43 and B54, B45 and B46, B47/50, B48 and B49, B51, B52, B55, C97/112, C98 and C99, C100, C101, C102 and C107, C103 & C106, C104, C105, C108, C109, C110, C111, CP1/2, CP3, CP4, CP5, CP6, CP7, CP8, CP9, CP10, CP11, CP12, CP13, CP14/15, CP16, CP17, CP18, CP20, CP21, CP22 & CP23 & CP24, CP26, CP27, CP28, CP29, D9, D10/11, D12, D13, D14, D15, D16, D17, D18/19, D20, D21/D22, D23/24, D25, D26/27, D28, D29/30, D31, D32, D33, D34/35, D36, D37/38, D37 & D38, D39, D40, E57/58, E59, E60, E61, E62, E63, E64/65, E66, E67, E68, E69, E70, E71, E72, E73, E74, E75, E76, E77, E78, E79, E80, E81, E83, E84, E85, E86, E87/88, E89, E90, E91, E92, E93, E94, E95, E96, F113, F114 and F115 and F139, F116, F117, F118, F120, F121, F122, F123, F130, F124, F125 and F128, F126, F127, F129, F133, F134 and F135, F136, F137 and F138, F140, F141, F142, F143, F144, F145, F146, F148, F150 and F151, F152 and F153, F154, F155, F156, F157, F158 and F159, F162 and 163, F165, F167, F168, G20, G23, G24, G25, G26, G27, G28 and G29, P4, P5, P6, P7 and P8, P9, P10, P11, P12, P13, P14, P15, P16, P17 and P18, P19, P36, P37 and P38, P39, P40 and P41, P42 and P43, P44 and P45, P46, G30, G31, G32, G33, G34, G35, P1 and P2, P3, P47, P48 and P48 and V2. Now you’ve seen how long this list is you’ll understand why I didn’t scan these pages in too (but it goes some way to explain the significant people impact).
I realise the plans can be hard to read so each plan should be linked to a higher resolution version. The thumbnails of the lease pages seem readable so I have left them as they are. Hopefully more will be known nearer the time as to what specifically this decision is about.
Birkenhead Market lease cover page Birkenhead Market Limited Wirral Borough Council page 1 of 2 thumbnail
MTUA accuse politicians of ‘U-turn’ on Mersey Tunnel tolls promises
MTUA accuse politicians of ‘U-turn’ on Mersey Tunnel tolls promises
For those not from Merseyside and reading this in far-flung lands, I had better first explain what the Mersey Tunnels are. Anyone local to Merseyside reading this can skip the next paragraph.
Liverpool is separated from the peninsula of the Wirral by the River Mersey and beneath the River Mersey are two road tunnels and a railway tunnel (the railway tunnel that opened in 1886 is not the focus of this article). One road tunnel connects Liverpool to the town of Birkenhead (called the Queensway Tunnel) and the other with the town of Wallasey (called the Kingsway Tunnel). The Birkenhead Tunnel opened in 1934 and the Wallasey Tunnel in 1971. Both road tunnels are tolled with the current cash toll for cars being £1.70 (different rates apply for those who pay by Fast Tag or different sizes of vehicles).
The issue of the tunnel tolls has been a long running political issue locally and each year the tunnel tolls are set by local politicians. For years the local transport body called Merseytravel (which was then eighteen councillors from the various parts of Merseyside) decided on the Mersey Tunnel tolls. As the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority (LCRCA) was created in April 2014, it meant that this year the tolls decision was made by the LCRCA (on a recommendation from the Merseytravel Committee).
The LCRCA comprises the elected leaders of each Council on Merseyside, the elected Mayor of Liverpool, the Chair of the Local Enterprise Partnership and the Leader of Halton. The Chair of the Local Enterprise Partnership (as detailed in the LCRCA’s constitution) doesn’t have a vote when the Mersey Tunnel tolls are set and the Leader of Halton abstained in the vote this year because Halton’s not part of Merseyside.
Earlier this year, in the lead up to the 2015 General Election (to elect MPs) and 2015 local elections (to elect local councillors) politicians from both the Labour and Conservative parties made soothing noises to the public about the issue of tunnel tolls.
Once the running costs of the tunnels and debt repayments are paid out of the money received through tolls, there is now a surplus of around £16 million. The generally accepted position is that legislation, in this case the Mersey Tunnels Act 2004 means that any surplus tolls are only spent on transport projects that are in the Local Transport Plan.
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Liverpool City Region Combined Authority meeting of the 13th February 2015 which should start at agenda item 7 (2015/16 Mersey Tunnel Tolls which starts at 1h 3m 4s)
However returning to February 2015 (see video of that meeting above which should start at the right point) politicians on the LCRCA agreed to a freeze in toll charges.
Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson speaking on a motion on the Mersey Tunnels at a meeting of the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority 13th February 2015
The Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson, seconded by the Chair of the LCRCA Cllr Phil Davies moved the following motion (agreed at February’s meeting of the LCRCA as you can read in the minutes):
The Combined Authority (CA) calls on:
The Chair of the CA to set up a task group to consider options open to the CA to reduce costs of tunnel tolls and its impact on infrastructure and transportation;
The Head of Paid Service of the CA to produce a report for discussion to inform the setting of tunnel tolls for 2016/17;
The CA to press for a review of the Mersey Tunnel Act in any on-going devolution negotiations.
John McGoldrick, secretary for the Mersey Tunnel Users Association (MTUA) stated,
"Assuming that the politicians meant what they said earlier this year, then it looks as if they have done a u-turn and the users of the Tunnels are to be sold down the river. Instead of stopping the profit taking and reducing tolls, it seems that the City Region’s aim is to use the tolls profits on economic development or infrastructure "across the city region". The people who voted in the May elections have been duped over what Labour’s tolls policy was.
The Conservative party also made promises about reducing or abolishing tolls. It is not yet clear what the Government is going to do and whether they will honour what the Chancellor and others said before the May elections. We urge all drivers and businesses to raise this issue with their MP and local councillors."
Each of the constituent councils in the LCRCA are Labour controlled and those that make these decisions on this matter on the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority are all Labour politicians.
It remains to be seen what the Conservative government’s response will be to the request for greater flexibility on what surplus tunnel tolls can be spent on.
However the MTUA is also against the spending of tunnel tolls on transport projects. John McGoldrick of the MTUA added "Obviously the MTUA aim is no tolls, but as a minimum we want a stop to the use of tolls for non Tunnels purposes."
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EDITORIAL: Jeremy Corbyn, opposition, Saughall Massie fire station and “land swaps”
EDITORIAL: Jeremy Corbyn, opposition, Saughall Massie fire station and “land swaps”
Cllr Lesley Rennie speaking at a public meeting of Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority 29th January 2015 on a consultation on closure of Upton and West Kirby fire stations and a new fire station at Saughall Massie
A councillor on Wirral Council once suggested to me I write an editorial. It was a good suggestion, but generally I like to steer clear about giving a party political opinion.
Over the weekend, Jeremy Corbyn was elected Leader of the Labour Party and Tom Watson Deputy Leader (Wirral’s own Angela Eagle missed out on becoming Deputy Leader).
Within hours of Jeremy Corbyn‘s election as Leader, I received a press release (nothing too unusual about that) from a PR company with quotes from DeVere Group (who describe themselves as “one of the world’s largest independent advisors of specialist global financial solutions to international, local mass affluent, and high-net-worth clients").
It seems that Jeremy Corbyn becoming Leader of the Labour Party has to put it mildly rattled those who work on behalf of the rich. There were a series of hyperbolic quotes which if I included here would be taking sides on a party political matter and alienate any of my readers that lean towards the left (although some of the quotes are so full of hyperbole that they’re funny).
However, it brings me to an important point about opposition. One of the quotes describes him as “Leader of Her Majesty’s Opposition” . Opposition really matters in politics.
Moving from national politics to more local matters, on Tuesday evening (I’m writing this on Sunday but it will be published on Monday) Wirral Council’s Regeneration and Environment Policy and Performance Committee will discuss Cllr Chris Blakeley’s notice of motion about whether the greenbelt land owned by Wirral Council in Saughall Massie should be blocked from being gifted, sold or leased to Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority for a new fire station. The public meeting starts at 6.00 pm in Committee Room 1 at Wallasey Town Hall.
The issue was reported extensively on this blog and the local newspapers over the last few years, however it an example why opposition in politics is important because there are about a thousand people who signed a petition against it going ahead.
On Thursday afternoon, a meeting of Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority’s Policy and Resources Committee will decide whether to transfer the land by Birkenhead Fire Station to Wirral Council for a Youth Zone. The land is worth an estimated £250,000, but is predicted to be transferred to Wirral Council “at nominal consideration” .
In other words Wirral Council will probably get it just for the costs of the legal costs involved in the sale and not at the market price. So how are the two issues connected?
Back on the 30th June 2015 when the issue was being decided by the Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority, Cllr Lesley Rennie asked for an explanation about a series of emails from its former Deputy Chief Executive Kieran Timmins that had been released in response to a FOI request.
The Chief Fire Officer Dan Stephens just answered that he didn’t know anything about it, Kieran Timmins (the author of the email stayed silent) followed by comments from at least one Labour councillor alleging that Cllr Rennie was making things up.
Below is an email from Kieran Timmins suggesting that a “land swap” happens. It suggests Wirral Council gets the land it wants next to Birkenhead Fire Station in exchange for the land in Greasby (this is before Greasby was ruled out and replaced with Saughall Massie).
I have no idea what Wirral Council’s response was to this suggestion!?
I might also point out that Colin Schofield is the PFI Project Manager at Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service and it’s never been made crystal clear whether the new Saughall Massie fire station will be part of the PFI fire stations or owned outright by Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority. DCLG (Department of Communities and Local Government) only partially answered my FOI request as to what Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority was spending the £4.4 million of grant money on.
Timmins, Kieran
From: Timmins, Kieran Sent: 12 December 2013 09:58 To: ‘Armstrong, David’ Cc: Royle, Jeanette E.; Schofield, Colin Subject: RE: Request for Sites
Thanks David, much appreciated. Hope you are ok?
Not sure if Tony can pick this up but it strikes me as making sense if (presuming a Wirral owned site is identified in Greasby) that a land swap for the youth zone in Birkenhead might be a sensible approach for tidying up ownership etc…….. what do you think?
Take care
Kieran
Kieran Timmins
Deputy Chief Executive
Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority
Fire Service HQ
Bridle Road
Bootle
L30 4YD
