A blog about Wirral Council, Wirral Council's councillors & officers
A blog about Wirral Council's public meetings, Wirral Council's councillors, Bidston & St. James ward and other public bodies on Merseyside
I noticed the Birkenhead News and Wirral Globe story about the death of Darren Brewster (aged 17) from a knife attack last Thursday in Corporation Road. The photo next to the article shows the block of WPH flats between Jamesbrook Close and the junction with Beaufort Road/Patten Street/Price Street. Police have arrested and charged a … Continue reading “Local news: Teenager stabbed to death in Wirral Partnership Homes flat (Corporation Road)”
I noticed the Birkenhead News and Wirral Globe story about the death of Darren Brewster (aged 17) from a knife attack last Thursday in Corporation Road.
The photo next to the article shows the block of WPH flats between Jamesbrook Close and the junction with Beaufort Road/Patten Street/Price Street.
Police have arrested and charged a 17-year old with murder, who appeared at Wirral Magistrate’s Court on Saturday.
There was a plan to deal with sunny weather in West Kirby and Hoylake. They wanted people to come and behave and to keep antisocial behaviour down. The Have Your Say meeting only were attracting one or two, but now got a lot more. The Hoylake and West Kirby meeting had been merged, they were now held in the evening and they had got rid of the paperwork replacing it with a presentation. He asked if any members of the public had questions?
A member of the public asked how Hilbre Island was being handled? Inspector Blease said they had two quad bikes and a Land Rover, however there was no ranger. They were going on the land and it had been ok. It was a fantastic piece of heritage. Cllr Ellis said it hadn’t been manned for one or two years. Cllr Ellis joked they should brick up the Mersey Tunnel to reduce crime.
The Inspector said they would be getting British Transport Police officers on the trains. Leonora Brace said she was glad about this following an incident on a train on her birthday. Inspector Blease said there was CCTV on the trains of a high quality.
A member of the public asked if the police were able to go to groups using foul language in public places? The police said they could but it wasn’t a criminal offence to be abusive to the police. He said if it was done in a member of the public’s sight or hearing they could do something about it. He joked and said he was used to abuse from his wife.
Looking back over the last half-year or so since this blog started, what were the stories and pages on this blog that have captured the public’s attention and brought them to this blog?
There was the story about the 2011 Census, which many people had questions about ranging from why was there no question 17 (it was a question asking if you understand, speak, read or write Welsh).
The About John Brace” page was popular and attracted a number of comments. It’ll be updated soon.
Merseytravel’s response on Mersey Tunnel’s issues also aroused interest.
The pages about protest outside Birkenhead County Court regarding Council Tax and the Save our Forests campaign were read just a bit more than stories about the Chinese New Year celebrations in Liverpool, HMS Campbeltown, ID Cards being scrapped or the Labour Chair of Merseytravel using his casting vote to increase Mersey Tunnel tolls.
More local issues also aroused interest such as the Lib Dem plan to invest £1.8 million in Cathcart Street primary school as a result of the closure of Cole Street primary school and the relocation of the Children’s Centre across the road to Cathcart Street Primary School, how much councillors are paid (which was used by some parties during the election to show how some councillors were getting £50,000+/year), Arriva not stopping its buses at the new bus stop near Tesco, the Lib Dem Mayor at Tam O’Shanter Urban Farm, Flaybrick cemetery flytipping and the Corsair in Bidston Village being demolished.
Over the Winter the issue of gritting and bin collections was on resident’s minds. The street level crime website and minimum price proposals for alcohol were also topics the public were interested in.
In total there have been 5,557 views of pages on this website and it has been read keenly by certain councillors and others. Yet who knows what the public will be wanting from its elected representatives in the next 12 months?
Whilst out today with my wife, I spotted Cllr Harry Smith on Worcester Road and sure enough when I returned home there was a Labour leaflet delivered.
It seems both the Lib Dems and Labour agree that the nearly £2 million spent on Cathcart Street Primary School is a good idea. The very spot Cllr Smith and former Cllr Cocker are standing in in a photo on the leaflet was where we were told by a caretaker that photos couldn’t be taken! I have also listened to the concerns of John Cocker and the headteacher which they have aired at a number of public meetings when the future of the school was under threat.
It was however not Labour’s decision to make. It was Liberal Democrat and Conservative councillors that decided to close Cole Street Primary School, save Cathcart Street Primary School and invest money into Cathcart Street Primary School (in fact they will be making a decision on the contractor on Thursday).
Onto the second story in the leaflet, as Cllr Smith knows it was Liberal Democrats that campaigned for road safety measures on Fender Way. We were the ones who handed in a petition over over a hundred residents. We lobbied the local councillors, showed them photos and kicked up such a fuss we were told (after Cllr Smith complained to Cllr Roberts) never to bring a petition to an Area Forum ever again!
His claim that he "made sure resources were allocated from local Area Forum funding" is a strange one to make. The decisions over the local Area Forum funding allocation for road safety for this financial year were made by Wirral Council’s Cabinet (comprised of Conservative and Lib Dem councillors). We have an email from Wirral Council stating that no decisions are made by the Area Forum panel in respect of this. Wirral Council may have it wrong, so we will look into the matter and report back in a later more detailed post.
Cllr Harry Smith then takes credit for "more than £250,000" allocated to road repairs on Wirral. Going by a press release about pothole repair, the figure is £625,931 and judging by the large difference in the amounts, Cllr Harry Smith seems to be referring (despite writing "the recent cold spell" to not last Winter, but the Winter before when a Liberal Democrat Cabinet member for Streetscene and Transport Cllr Jean Quinn decided to put extra money towards potholes.
Cllr Smith then goes on to mention the Liberal Democrat Party. He states "Are you aware that the Liberal Democrat Party has long been in favour of votes for prisoners?"
Jeremy Brown, Lib Dem MP for Taunton and spokesperson for the party said in the House of Commons, "It was said that my party favours votes for prisoners, but that was not in our manifesto and the Leader of my party has made it explicit that he does not favour them."
In February MPs voted 234 to 22 against giving prisoners the vote. I will write an article further on this. However if you wish to view the debate in the House of Commons on this issue it can be viewed on the BBC’s website.
The Wirral Globe has good news for the local police (and local community) they’ve found a cannabis farm above the North Star pub on Laird Street.
Perhaps this is why Inspector McGregor didn’t make it to the Oxton/Prenton Area Forum if he was involved with this raid? Although someone else present did say he was on leave. Certainly those present at the Bidston & St. James/Claughton Area Forum last month were puzzled by the absence of any police (especially as it was held at the St. James Centre just across the road from the police station!)
The North Star pub is about 600m from the Laird Street Police Station and 200m from the Custody Suite, which makes you wonder how dozy (or brazen) the local cannabis dealers must be to try and deal in drugs this so close to the police (in fact so close to the custody suite the police could’ve walked them there and saved the petrol!)
Certainly residents in the area have been complaining to me about crime since November of last year, so I’m pleased that the police are taking action on alleged local drug dealers. The article mentions it was in response to community intelligence. Drug dealing is associated with an increase in burglaries, car crime and other forms of antisocial behaviour.
What was commented on at the last Area Forum was how pleased the residents in sheltered accommodation near the Community Mobile Police Station downtown were as they felt safer now to walk the streets after previous problems with antisocial behaviour.