Comments

I appreciate people taking the time to leave comments on this blog.

1) Comment authors will be required to fill out their name and e-mail address.

This is because while anonymous comments were enabled, this function was being abused by people hiding under a cloak of anonymity.

2) Comments will be manually approved by myself if they contain links.

This is to prevent spamming.

3) I reserve the right to edit or delete comments as I see fit.

4) Comments that troll either John Brace, Leonora Brace or other people associated with this blog will be edited or deleted.

5) Comments will be turned off on posts 21 days after initial publication. This is to prevent large amounts of spam comments on old articles.

6) During the election periods, because of the effect of s.106 of the Representation of the Peoples Act 1983, comments will be manually approved before publication. For the purposes of clarity this is in relation to the election of councillors or anybody standing in an election in the UK.

Broken links may also be edited out of comments. If you wish to contact me about a comment, my contact details are on this page.

31 thoughts on “Comments”

  1. What became of? the old Tulip Foods site purchased by the council, for the purpose of supporting the offshore industry.The council had a vested interest in planning permission going through for the sitting of a pontoon at CL. Being close to the yard was about the only attractive reason for the purchase, as the site was to be cleared and rebuilt. Is it a pat on the back for forward planning or I have done you again fo(u)lks.

    1. I’ve no idea what’ll happen to the old Tulip Foods site. How much did Wirral Council pay for it and do they still own it or did they sell it on?

  2. No wonder the the Devon County Council are throwing the Kitchen Sink at my FOI case because no doubt their 6 PFI schools suffer the same fire hazards.??
    I am appealing the Supreme Court decision to the ECoHR.

    1. Hi, I presume you’re referring to Does fire safety construction flaw at PFI school affect Wirral schools?

      On another forum somebody has referred to this article in the Architect’s Journal.

      Basically the article states the Liverpool School Model is to build a shell, then the internal space can be reconfigured or even removed/replaced if the school is closed and the building is used for something else. I would guess this approach is what then leads to fire safety issues.

      I’ve no idea if the six PFI school in the Devon County Council area are designed this way.

      Only yesterday I was looking through the tribunal cases and spotted your appeal of an ICO decision notice which related to your FOI requests to ICO.

      Certainly if your appeal to the European Court of Human Rights is successful public bodies up and down the country will be disappointed they can no longer class a request (or requests) as vexatious (as defined by your leading case on the subject).

      1. I would envisage there are dozens of PFI schools Nationwide which are are unsafe and unfit for purpose. The 6 PFI schools in Exeter certainly are and Fire Hazards being just one of the many safety issue. Its not just schools,it hospitals,police and fires stations etc.
        The PFI concept is not only a Boondoggle, it is a tool for FRAUD.

        I have little or no confidence in the ECHR because their Registrar is a Tory Gate- Keeper and regularly destroys applications from UK Citizens which reflects well on her records.
        I have a PFI FOIA UT awaiting a hearing date, which both the ICO and Devon County Council claim is vexatious??Watch this space..

        The latest scam by the DCC is to charge tenant repair bill for poor quality construction which has results in leaks,damp etc.

  3. As a recent ‘incomer’ to Wallasey(10 years),i just want to congratulate and thank anyone involved in creating the ‘NEW New Brighton’.I grew up in the Wirral and watched as it deteriorated from it’s Victorian Heyday.
    I am so delighted to see what is now happening.Wirral is an exceptional place to live and it is becoming more so now.Thanks again to all involved!

    1. Yes, New Brighton has changed considerably over the past ten years.

      As it’s “Victorian Heyday” relied on being a stop on the Mersey Ferries route and the open air swimming pool, I don’t think it’ll ever have those large numbers of visitors it had then, but clearly the cinema, restaurants and other attractions (including a rebuilt Floral Pavilion) have increased the numbers of tourists visiting.

      1. I heard a rumour that the Ferry could be reconnected wth New Brighton.Great idea!!I also gave sketches of my ‘touristy’ideas for the fort to a certain councillor,who enthused about them and took copies but then ‘disappeared’. Dare I suggest that a string of lights be put around the lake near the fort? This would so enhance the view in the evenings,not least for the diners in the many new restaurants etc.I’m available- free!!- if the council need ‘imagination input’.:-)

        1. The Mersey Ferries used to stop at New Brighton. However any plans for them to do so in the future would have to be agreed by Merseytravel (who recently tried to axe one of the Wirral ferry terminals). Overseeing Merseytravel will be the new Metro Mayor from May 2017 and I’m sure we’ll hear more between now and the election next May as to what the various candidates promise.

          On the lights front I know there’s been funding for the lighthouse to be re-lit. What I would like to see at New Brighton is a plan to bring the marine lake back into use after Peak Professional and its guarantor Peak Pursuits both went into liquidation.

  4. The Black Pearl is a marvellous draw for visitors and Wirral residents alike. Wallasey has such a rich history of smuggling and pirates. I remember, as a child, climbing down the ladder to the smugglers tunnels on Wellington Road. Although, H & S laws today would be unlikely to approve that!!
    However, so much could be done to enlighten people about this side of our local history. How many people know that, at one time, enough explosive to blow up Wallasey from Liscard to Seacombe was, I’ve read, stored in a hut behind the Pilot Boat pub! And that the issue was brought up in Parliament, leading to the construction of the magazine.
    WBC are too quick to knock down our historic buildings and replace them with yet more flats. Oh for a council with foresight and enthusiasm for the area they purport to represent!
    Close, demolish and forget seems to be their blinkered objective!

  5. Therse are the comments (lies) of Kelly Rowlands Frank Harrison (labour) greasby frankby & irby ward. Can anybody stand for council now. He’s got a criminal record as long as his arm. He did prison time for punching a policeman. Hits his wife & kids. What the hells going on.
    Firstly how does Kelly know of my criminal record and if she access to it how? As she makes these lies I feel I have to defend myself I have never been convicted of assaulting a police officer. Over 20 years ago I was convicted of assaulting a person who was about to hit me after causing a RTA. Never hit wife and kids. while I support Blogs like yours I find that individuals can write what ever they want and any lie just undermines what ever good your trying to do. If this is the content that you publish then it belongs in the gutter with other media groups. I pity people like Kelly who uses or is being used to make defamatory comments with out any substance

    1. Hi Frank Harrison,

      The comment was made during the election, however wasn’t published until after the election as you were a candidate. Therefore the threshold during the election was I had to believe it was true too before it was published. So I made sure it wasn’t.

      When people stand for election, they volunteer for people saying all sorts of things about their past (whether true or not). Unfortunately there’s very little that can be done about it.

      If there’s a factual inaccuracy with the comment about you then email me and there’s a procedure through which it can be removed. However no liability in law rests with myself as publisher because it’s a comment on a blog and you haven’t yet made a formal complaint.

      As previously stated, if you wish to make a formal complaint about the comment being defamatory there’s a process for that and my contact details are on this site. However, as someone who has also stood as a candidate in elections, I would suggest you just ignore what Kelly wrote as trying to get the comment removed, only draws more attention to what she wrote.

    2. I have written the following response to the person who left the comment you complained about, they have 5 days in which to respond.

      Hi,

      You left the following comment on my blog on the 29th April:

      “Frank Harrison (labour) greasby frankby & irby ward. Can anybody stand for council now. He’s got a criminal record as long as his arm. He did prison time for punching a policeman. Hits his wife & kids. What the hells going on!!!!”

      Somebody claiming to be Frank Harrison (whilst acknowledging some aspects of it are true) has complained about it.

      Below is a copy of the complaint:

      “Therse are the comments (lies) of Kelly Rowlands Frank Harrison (labour) greasby frankby & irby ward. Can anybody stand for council now. He’s got a criminal record as long as his arm. He did prison time for punching a policeman. Hits his wife & kids. What the hells going on.
      Firstly how does Kelly know of my criminal record and if she access to it how? As she makes these lies I feel I have to defend myself I have never been convicted of assaulting a police officer. Over 20 years ago I was convicted of assaulting a person who was about to hit me after causing a RTA. Never hit wife and kids. while I support Blogs like yours I find that individuals can write what ever they want and any lie just undermines what ever good your trying to do. If this is the content that you publish then it belongs in the gutter with other media groups. I pity people like Kelly who uses or is being used to make defamatory comments with out any substance”

      You have five days (deadline of midnight on the 16th May 2016 to respond to this).

      If I do not hear from you by the 16th the comment will be removed.

      Your choices are as follows:

      You can:

      (a) ask for the comment to be removed

      (b) ask for the comment not to be removed (in which case I will need your name and postal address along with permission to pass this to the person who made the complaint).

      More detail is set out in the legislation here http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2013/3028/schedule/made .

      Thanks,


      John Brace
      Editor
      http://johnbrace.com/
      A blog about Wirral Council’s public meetings, Wirral Council’s councillors, Bidston & St. James ward and other public bodies on Merseyside

      1. There has been no response from the email address of the person who left the comment, so I have edited it to the below.

        “Frank Harrison (labour) greasby frankby & irby ward. Can anybody stand for council now. He’s got a criminal record. * What the hells going on!!!!

        * 17/5/16 Following a complaint and no response within 5 days from the person who left this comment parts of this comment where the asterisk is have been removed.”

  6. It would appear that there a a large number of PFI I projects Nationwide which are unsafe and unfit for purposes and whenever I make a FOIA request for data on these PFI projects , I get kicked into the Vexatious long grass

    1. That’s the problem of being know as Alan “Mr Vexatious” Dransfield isn’t it? 😉

      Personally I think there is too much secrecy about PFI. But then when you investigate it it’s like peeling back the layers of an onion and it gets worse and worse. However more is being said about PFI and I think there is pressure coming from a lot of quarters for a wider public debate in both the media and political spheres about how you pay for and manage increasing PFI budgets in a time of austerity.

      Even if they don’t roll out the vexatious excuse, for PFI they can just claim commercial interests.

  7. I don/t mind the Mr Vexatious title but I do mind the vexatious legacy which has gagged Joe Public and blocked millions of people using the FOIA 2000.

    My original FOIA request was for a copy of the Technical Document to a Public Pedestrian Bridgein Exeter which was later released to a another 3rd party FOIA requester which proves the DCC and ICO are treating me as vexatious not my request.
    The technical document proves without a shadow of doubt the Bridge had not been provisioned with any Lightning Protection which confirmed my allegations the bridge was unsafe and unfit for purpose. Therefore , my FOIA request PASSED the public interest test with flying colours. Graham Smith the ICO Deputy(retired) was the author of the ICO decision in my case claimed my FOIA was not in the Public Interest.
    It should also be noted it was not the DCC who appealed the FTT non vexatious ,it was the ICO.
    We MUST remove the vexatious TAG on the GIA/3037/2011 Dransfield Decision because if we dont, the FOIA is DEAD

    1. I think it all depends on the culture at the public body you make the FOI request to as to how often they will be able to label it as vexatious. Some places are open and respond to FOI requests within the spirit of the legislation, others just look for reasons to turn a request down.

      Your request (involving a bridge) sounds like it met the definition of a request under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (see definition of environmental information).

      I think the ICO would’ve been looking for a test case to define what is or isn’t classed as vexatious.

  8. 110% correct John.The ICO and CG in particular have been looking for a legal way to circumvent the FOIA and they chose Dransfield but they chose the wrong bloke.
    The Dransfield Vex deciison was designed by crooks to protect crooks

  9. I used to work for Miserytravel ,,, you don’t know half the stuff that goes on!

    1. No I don’t know half the stuff that goes on (partly because they hate bad publicity), but then a whole blog could be dedicated just to Merseytravel!

      So as you’re a former employee and anonymous why not expand on that comment?

  10. John
    I was debarred from being a Macknezie Friend to Norman Scarth today via a video link at an UT video Hearing.
    The Judge pulled the plug on me and norman after less than 10 mins of or hearing
    What arrogant bastards we are dealing with

    1. I’ve never heard of people being McKenzie Friends via video link (but then I’ve never hear of a UT video hearing).

      Considering having a public hearing is a basic human rights matter, how come the hearing couldn’t be held at a court with the parties in person?

      I’ve received a letter from the Tribunal about two FTT cases I’m involved in relating to my McKenzie Friend.

      Basically the letter warns that the McKenzie Friend won’t be able to speak at the hearing.

      I think there should be proper guidelines/guidance on the McKenzie Friends issue that apply to all Tribunal matters (just as there is for court cases).

      Are UT hearings classed as a court of record, therefore the guidance for McKenzie Friends for court cases applies?

  11. John
    It was a FTT rehearing involving Norman Scarth’s and The Judge Callendar Smith pulled the plug on the hearing.
    Whether or not Mackenzie Friends are debarred form the FTT / UT ,I know not

    1. Hi Alan,

      I have a McKenzie Friend in a FTT hearing (scheduled to be heard next month).

      I blogged last month about a letter I received from the Tribunal about the McKenzie Friend issue here which may be of interest to you.

      The relevant sentence in that letter is , “I note that (name of McKenzie Friend) will be attending, although she will not be allowed to speak during the hearing she will be able to advise you, take notes etc.”

  12. With regard to the “public consultation over changes to green bin collection and food waste collection” – as a Wirral resident, to whom do I write to express my views as part of the consultation and by when must representations be submitted?

    1. Try Kevin MacCallum
      Senior Manager: Communications & Marketing
      telephone: (0151) 691 8388
      email: kevinmaccallum@wirral.gov.uk

      However AFAIK the public consultation hasn’t started yet because the call in was only decided the day before yesterday. (The public consultation is still at the planning stage because the call in of the Cabinet decision has only just been decided) and the plan is for it to run 6 weeks from start to finish.

      No specific start and end date for the public consultation has been given to me (other than the length of 6 weeks).

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