A blog about Wirral Council's public meetings, Wirral Council's councillors, Bidston & St. James ward and other public bodies on Merseyside
Why did Merseytravel pay for flights to Tokyo costing £4,357.92?
Invoices exclusively published on this blog show that Merseytravel spent £4,357.92 on British Airways return flights from London (Heathrow) to Tokyo (Narita) travelling out on the 16th May 2016 and returning on the 20th May 2016. One of the three passengers was senior manager David Powell and the costs were charged to the Rolling Stock Programme.
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Will two overlooked covenants for “enjoyment of light” prevent a fire station at Saughall Massie from happening?
Today I read Land Registry title number MS503610 which covers various properties and includes thirteen of the properties owned by Wirral Partnership Homes Limited (who trade as Magenta Living) that are adjacent to the proposed fire station in Saughall Massie.
One of the entries in title MS503610 states the following:
“5. The right to the unimpeded access and enjoyment of light and air to all windows in the buildings now on the Retained Land from or over such part of the Property provided that nothing expressed or implied in this Transfer shall prevent the Transferee from developing the Property.”
This is about the landlord’s right to light.
and
“By Transfers of adjacent or neighbouring land pursuant to Chapter 1 of Part 1 of the Housing Act 1980 or Part V of the Housing Act 1985, the land in this title has the benefit of and is subject to the easements and other rights prescribed by paragraph 2 of Schedule 2 to the Housing Act 1980 or paragraph 2 of Schedule 6 to the Housing Act 1985.”
Continue reading “Will two overlooked covenants for “enjoyment of light” prevent a fire station at Saughall Massie from happening?”
Wirral Council claims no disclosable conflicts of interest over grant of Saughall Massie fire station planning application
Below is the text of a letter I received earlier this month from a David Ball at Wirral Council following a stage 1 complaint I made about the grant of planning permission APP/17/00306 (which was for a fire station in Saughall Massie).
I will point out that there are aspects to the letter I don’t agree with, but in the interests of transparency, the public interest in the matter and the seniority of David Ball I am publishing it below. As it’s two pages, a link break is shown between the two pages.
Continue reading “Wirral Council claims no disclosable conflicts of interest over grant of Saughall Massie fire station planning application”
Wirral Council’s councillors decided on backdated pay rises for 4 councillors costing an extra £34,226 a year!
Wirral Council councillors on Monday evening voted to give four councillors a backdated pay rise costing Wirral Council an extra £34,226 a year.
Councillors from Wirral Council (Councillors Abbey, Foulkes, Rowlands and Jerry Williams) on the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority Transport Committee (formerly called the Merseytravel Committee) will now receive a backdated basic allowance for their work on the Transport Committee annually of £5,675 each.
On top of the basic allowance of £5,675 (backdated to May) three councillors received extra amounts too. Cllr Les Rowlands received an extra £2,660 as Opposition Spokesperson, Cllr Steve Foulkes an extra £4,433 as Lead Member for Finance and Organisational Development and Cllr Ron Abbey an extra £4,433 as Lead Member for Bus.
A report of the Independent Panel on Member’s Allowances stated that prior to May “the allowances paid to the four Wirral Members were paid by the Council and reimbursed by Merseytravel” but went on to explain that after May 2017 Merseytravel would no longer do this and it would become a decision for individual councils.
Despite a legal requirement to publish the total amounts Wirral Council pays to individual councillors as soon as reasonably practicable after the end of a year it appears from this page on Wirral Council’s website that it has not yet done so for the 2016-17 year.
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Council (Wirral Council) 16th October 2017 Agenda item 11C Members Allowance Scheme
Earlier in the same public meeting, councillors heard from UNISON trade union representative Paddy Cleary who supported a Notice of Motion that called for the “immediate end of public sector pay restraint”.
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Will Cllr Phil Davies weaken greenbelt planning policy to help planning permission for Hoylake Golf Resort?
Earlier this month I wrote about the Strategic Regeneration Framework consultation which includes the Hoylake Golf Resort project.
A week tomorrow (2nd October 2017) Wirral Council’s Cabinet meets in Committee Room 1 at Wallasey Town Hall starting at 10.00 am. On the agenda is a report in Cllr Phil Davies’ name to Cabinet that recommends not only is the new Strategic Regeneration Framework agreed as policy but also recommends to Council that the Strategic Regeneration Framework is adopted as a “material planning consideration” and that it’s used in the Core Strategy Local Plan.
So what does this mean? If the Strategic Regeneration Framework (which includes the Hoylake Golf Resort project) is adopted as a planning policy by Wirral Council, then this will be a material consideration in favour of approving any future planning application for the Hoylake Golf Resort that the Planning Committee will decide upon.
At the moment due to the greenbelt nature of the site proposed for the Hoylake Golf Resort, Wirral Council’s planning policies only allow development in “very special circumstances”.
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