Wirral Council and Magenta Living promise to work together to combat flytipping on Crossways Estate

Wirral Council and Magenta Living promise to work together to combat flytipping on Crossways Estate

Wirral Council and Magenta Living promise to work together to combat flytipping on Crossways Estate

                                       

Councillor George Davies (Cabinet Member for Housing and Community Safety) and Chair of the Birkenhead Constituency Committee 28th July 2016
Councillor George Davies (Cabinet Member for Housing and Community Safety) and Chair of the Birkenhead Constituency Committee 28th July 2016

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Birkenhead Constituency Committee 28th July 2016 The public questions referred to below start at the 20 minute 21 second mark

The author lives around half a mile from the area described below.

As you can read in this blog post (which is mainly photos) from January 2011 flytipping has been a problem at Flaybrick Cemetery and the turning heads at the top of Hoblyn Road, Collin Road and Naylor Road for some time.

In the last few days I was walking with my wife Leonora there (sadly without my camera) and there is a lot of flytipping at the top of Naylor Road by Flaybrick Cemetery.

As the photo in this blog post from a local community organiser shows Magenta Living have “tinned up” many of the properties on the Crossways estate meaning that sadly flytipping in that area can be done unobserved.

At the last Birkenhead Constituency Committee (held near the end of July) I asked what was being done about flytipping and what is planned for the future of the houses in these roads.

The written answers given to both questions are below (although you can also watch me ask them in the video above).


Response from Department for Regeneration and Environment (Wirral Council)

Hoblyn Road, Collin Road and Naylor Road are all done on a street cleansing every 4 weeks schedule. Over the past months we have had several deposits of fly tipping emerging at the very top of these areas.

We have had the councils [sic] Enforcement Team and Kingdom investigating the fly tipping and have had positive feedback.

We are also working with Magenta Living regarding the development of the existing houses with additional street cleansing. We will continue to work alongside Magenta living [sic] when the new development is completed working with housing officers tackling waste and recycling and street cleaning and fly tipping.


(Cllr Steve Foulkes who is a Wirral Council appointed Director of Magenta Living left the room during this question)

Response from Magenta:
The Crossways estate in North Birkenhead comprises of 200 3 bed houses including Hoblyn, Collin and Naylor Road along with 13 properties on Hoylake Road.

Very limited demand began to be experienced and Magenta Living took the decision not to allocate any of the properties on Crossways until a longer term, sustainable solution could be found.

Magenta Living has carried out survey work and been working with residents to identify improvement options. One of the principle issues raised by residents was the unpopular ‘gilbury’ units, ground floor extensions that house the bathroom facilities. Two demonstration properties were made available to residents to view in May 2016, one had the bathroom relocated upstairs and made into a 2 bed house, the other was retained as a 3 bed again with the bathroom upstairs.

Feedback from residents was largely very positive and work has subsequently commenced, on a phased basis in order to ensure demand still exists, improving the empty properties in Hoblyn Road, including the demolition the gilbury units, before the occupied properties are then improved.

Other works identified include;

  • Demolition of some properties towards Flaybrick Memorial Gardens
  • Improved physical security measures
  • Improving the external appearance of properties
  • Exploring the option of a low cost home ownership scheme

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Planning Applications decisions Part 1 of 2

A quick round-up of recent planning application decisions affecting Bidston & St. James ward. The decisions below have been made by planning officers at Wirral Council. Further detail can be found by entering application numbers on Wirral Council’s website (enter these numbers in the Application Quick Search field) .

The first batch are from 28th July 2011 to 17th August 2011.

Application Number: APP/11/00674

Ward: Bidston & St. James ward

Decision Date: 4th August 2011

Case Officer: Mrs S Lacey

Applicant: Mr Haskayne

Agent: CS Planning Enforcement Solutions

Location: Unused Land, ST ANNES PLACE, BIRKENHEAD, CH41 4FQ

Proposal: Change of use of first floor to self-contained two bedroom flat

Application Type: Full Planning Permission

Decision Level: Delegated

Decision: Approve

Application Number: APP/11/00680

Ward: Bidston & St. James ward

Decision Date: 29th July 2011

Case Officer: Miss K Elliot

Applicant:

Agent: WCEC Architects

Location: Netto Food Store, STANLEY ROAD, BIRKENHEAD

Proposal: New ATM pod, new plant enclosure and new refrigeration plant

Application Type: Full Planning Permission

Decision Level: Delegated

Decision: Approve

Application Number: ADV/11/00681

Ward: Bidston & St. James ward

Decision Date: 29th July 2011

Case Officer: Miss K Elliot

Applicant:

Agent: W C E C Architects

Location: Netto Foodstores, STANLEY ROAD, BIRKENHEAD

Proposal: New freestanding, fascia, banner and window signage with Asda branding to be implemented

Application Type: Advertisement Consent

Decision Level: Delegated

Decision: Approve

Application Number: APP/11/00692

Ward: Bidston & St. James ward

Decision Date: 2nd August 2011

Case Officer: Miss S McIlroy

Applicant:

Agent:

Location: 60 HOYLAKE ROAD, BIDSTON, CH41 7BY

Proposal: Change from A1 to A2 (solicitors practice)

Application Type: Full Planning Permission

Decision Level: Delegated

Decision: Approve

Source used: <A HREF=”http://democracy.wirral.gov.uk/mgConvert2PDF.aspx?ID=20250″>Planning Committee (Wirral Council) 6/9/2011 item 11 PLANNING APPLICATIONS DECIDED UNDER DELEGATED
POWERS BETWEEN 28/07/2011 AND 17/08/2011</a>

Liberal Democrat Conference: 19th September 2011 Post Offices

I was listening to Ed Davey MP on Post Offices, some of the changes make sense. No one wants to see any more Post Offices close, but going from a “nationalised industry” to a “mutualised cooperative” is something I’m sure the unions won’t be happy with.

Taking nearby Hoylake Road Post Office as an example, there are three counters and usually two people working there. In addition there’s another person at a different counter that deals with anything you want to buy in the shop. Ed Davey said they’re trying out (through some pilot projects) everything being sold at the Post Office counter (which could cut costs making more Post Offices viable) whilst trialling self-service machines to cut down on queues.

Clearly queues is an issue that has been a greater problem since a several Post Offices in Birkenhead have been closed. Having used the Hoylake Road and Upton Road Post Offices in the last few months I think there’s only been one occasion when I didn’t have to queue.

I also remember the campaigns against Post Offices closures we ran a number of years ago. Paula Southwood campaigned in 2007 against the threatened post office closures in Spital and in Heswall. She put a lot of hard work into campaigning and getting petitions going.

In fact a year ago I tabled a question at the Liverpool conference in a session chaired by Lorely Burt MP about the future of the Post Office network. Hopefully any changes made will result in a better Post Office network and not the closures that happened under the previous Labour government.

I notice the next speaker after Ed Davey is also still taking up the Post Offices theme.

Flytipping – alleyway and shop on corner of Hoylake Road/Challis Street, Bidston

Flytipping – alleyway and shop on corner of Hoylake Road/Challis Street, Bidston

                                 

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Leonora Brace talks about flytipping behind the shops on Hoylake Road, Bidston, Wirral

The video above is of me interviewing my wife Leonora about an issue of concern to local residents that’s been rumbling on for years. Not only is the alleyway behind the shops getting full of rubbish (the gates put there to cut down on it have been vandalised and one is lying at an angle instead of upright) but the area at the bag of the corner shop is becoming a health hazard.

Previously I had written to the owner (a director of Wrexham Signs Ltd) to get it cleared up. However it was sold onto someone in Wallasey who so far I haven’t received a response to. The owner is making money from the sign on the side of the shop and has recently been served with a notice by Wirral Council giving them 21 days to clear it up as it’s a health hazard.

Last Thursday I talked with Bill Norman (the Borough Solicitor) at the Town Hall about the issue regarding a litter control notice being served on the owner and he passed my letter about it onto Rob Beresford who is in charge of this area at the Town Hall. This has been raised previously at an Area Forum and the placement of a litter bin on the corner of Hoylake Road did help with the more casual amounts of throwaway litter.

Residents did talk to us while we were filming and said they saw those dumping it and suggested CCTV either on the site itself or the pub across the road. If the owner doesn’t clear it away within the 21 days, Wirral Council can take action and invoice the owner. It’s just a shame local residents have had their community looking like this for so long!

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Arriva and the tale of the new bus stop at which Arriva buses won’t stop (for 5 months!) – Hoylake Road/Compton Road, Bidston

As regular readers of the Bidston & St. James Focus know, Merseytravel recently responded to a campaign we ran (on behalf of local residents of Beechwood) for extra bus stops on Hoylake Road near the Wirral Tennis & Sports Centre.

The one on the North side of Hoylake Road (opposite Compton Road) is fine and buses are stopping at it. Both stops now have timetables in too.

At the end of June I met with a representative of Merseytravel and Wirral Council on site. There was some concern about the effect of parking and traffic from Compton Road. However since a road of houses off Compton Road was demolished to make a park for Bidston Rise there’s been much less traffic coming into and out of Compton Road (which is short and only has houses one side). Both Merseytravel and Wirral Council agreed there would be no road safety issues as long as the bus stop didn’t obscure a drive on Hoylake or affect sight lines. At this point (a few yards from a set of traffic lights the traffic would be moving slowly anyway).

The bus would be fine stopping on the double yellow lines here and the no loading sign wouldn’t apply to a bus.

However a local resident recently stopped me in the street and told me that Arriva buses were not stopping at the Hoylake Road/Compton Road stop on the South side of Hoylake Road.

Originally Merseytravel had planned to put this stop further along Hoylake Road, but the resident outside whose house it’d be objected on grounds of parking and privacy. So instead it was sited nearer to the double yellow lines/no loading at Compton Road/Hoylake Road.

The resident said she had tried to get off Arriva buses at this stop, but they wouldn’t let her on/off, with the driver insisting it wasn’t a stop. However other operators such as Avon that use this route were stopping here. This sounded odd to me, so I wrote to Arriva.

Back in July all operators on the route (including Arriva) were written to about the proposed pair of new bus stops. This is what the Managing Director of Arriva wrote on the 16th July 2010 (before the bus stop was put in):-

Should existing bus stops be moved, Mr. Finnie would be more than happy to continue using these to aid access to the Tesco store for our customers. However, this would have to be fully risk assessed to ensure that these stops could be used safely

Bear in mind the existing bus stops weren’t moved, but new ones were added! A risk assessment was done by Wirral Council.

Arriva wrote to me again in a letter dated 23rd February 2011. In this they quote “The manager of Birkenhead depot has investigated and advised the following. Our drivers have been instructed not to serve this stop until we have carried out a full safety assessment on it. We apologise for any inconvenience this may be causing, but it is essential for the safety of our passengers, our drivers and other road users that this is completed before it is used. The stop will then be served once we have registered this additional stop with the Local Authority as we are required to do so.”

So, to summarise Arriva won’t stop their buses at a new bus stop which has been in place for 5 months. It’s already been risk assessed by Wirral Council and Merseytravel and been found to be a suitable site for a bus stop. The timetable insert (provided by Merseytravel) gives people the impression the Arriva services stop here. Today I took some photos of the stop and recorded a video to try and explain to Arriva (and the public) why they aren’t stopping here!

Hopefully Arriva will have some common sense in the near future and/or carry out their “full safety assessment”. I’ll be writing to Simon Finnie, the General Manager at Birkenhead (and back to Steven Hill) and taking him up on the offer of a site visit and Merseytravel if they wish to come.

Compton Road/Hoylake Road bus stop timetable

Compton Road/Hoylake Road bus stop timetable

Compton Road/Hoylake Road bus stop timetable

I did make a one minute video of myself at the bus stop explaining the above, but the traffic seems to have drowned me out! When out this morning, I did bump into the resident who seemed pleased that someone was taking an interest in the problem. However she was walking someone to school and couldn’t chat long.

When I clear up the audio (or dub over it) I’ll post it on this blog. On a point of local history, when I was a teenager the secondary school used to play hockey on the astroturf pitches at Wirral Tennis & Sports Centre in the Winter and Spring term. As the school day finished at the Wirral Tennis & Sports Centre we were expected to make our own way back home as the school minibus only took a few back to the school gates (the school minibus took twelve, but about a hundred boys in my year did sports here each week arriving in a coach). In 1994-1996 I could have done with these extra bus stops (especially in the cold Winter!) as it would’ve saved me a few minutes walk after the slog up the steep hill with sports gear from the sports centre.

However, the main reason behind these stops is to help Beechwood residents who visit Tesco by bus to shop. These extra stops save about 3 minutes walk along Hoylake Road (which with heavy bags of shopping can be tiring for the elderly or disabled).