OUT and ABOUT

Despite the sometimes wet weather a large gathering attended the Remembrance Ceremony on New Brightons seafront at the War Memorial.The Councilors from four Wallasey Wards attended and then went on to the Royal British Legion to where the parade marched back.

After the service I was surprised to learn from my ward colleague Cllr Sue Taylor that whilst investigating the best way to expend some money thats been made available to improve the highway and its furniture in the ward she had found that to remove a planter,those large flower beds in the streets behind the amusement arcade, would cost £20,000 (each) so thats not the solution for the residents of those streets with their parking problems.

Off Parade

Councillor Leah Fraser (Liscard Ward) Cllr Dennis Knowles (Seacombe) Mrs Ann Lavin from New Brighton team and Cllr Karen Hayes (Liscard) in the dance hall of the Legion.

Monday there was a full Council meeting at the Town Hall and on Tuesday I went onto the Fort with my fellow Cllr Tony Pritchard to a birthday party that we had been invited to.

Fort Perch Rock

When I entered I managed to have a brief word with the Forts owner who confirmed that English Heritage had been in touch with him and I gathered may be going to assist with maintenence work of the old building.

                                Two  Councillors at the Forts bar.

Thursday night was Bonfire Night and I watched a lot of Moretons noisy fire work display  whilst out canvassing with only three weeks to go to the by-election in the area.

Saturday I accompanied the Prospective Parliamentary Candidate Cllr Leah Fraser to St James Church in New Brighton.

A kneeling Councillor Fraser.

The occasion was a coffee morning in aid of the Royal National Lifeboat Institute and it was very well attended. We were lucky to get a seat with a group of ladies who didn’t live too far away and we had a good talk about the surrounding area for an hour or so untill Leah had to head off to another engagement.

THE LAST WEEK

Some weeks ago we lost a councillor who sadly passed away at a young age and this has triggered a by-election. So I was out with a large team canvassing that ward area on Monday evening after having delivered some of my own ward political newspapers.

On Tuesday I was in the Town Hall to determine the distribution of around £48,000 to the people and groups who responded to the Councils ‘You Decide’  initiative where a specified service , improvement  or repair is applied for by the electorate, after all they know what they want in their living space.

Two political wards would,we agreed, split this money between us (and it had to be expended before a time line) which made the meeting more exasperating for me having to argue with a ward ‘colleague’ who was letting prejudices influence decisions instead of residents wishes  but in the end the funds were allocated .All that remains is to see alleygates ,road signs and educational courses materialise .

Wednesday I was back in the Town Hall for a presentation by Peel Holdings who on Merseyside have developement plans,on both sides of the river ,that include 23,000 homes at a total figure £10 Billion, however apart to watch out for some demolition in the area of the water tower on the four Bridges there was little that I wasn’t aware of.

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Thursday was pretty scary,Councillor Leah Fraser being ‘greeted’ by a member of staff at Cambridge road Centre for the adult disabled.We paid the centre a visit to see the Halloween efforts of staff and centre users,and great fun it was.

you coughing sir?

On Friday the public,school children ect, would be conducted through the ‘crypt’ that had coffins , heads that talked ,bubbling cauldrons and more cobwebs than my hallway.

The Centre Managers back

The above picture has the lovely Mel in the background,looking a bit pasty, who helped assemble all the things that any good crypt has to have,from sources as far apart as E Bay to ASDA

Anyone for Bowls

Back in the real world the PPC had to be dragged away from the virtual bowling game,which she picked up very well, and I found out that you can also play tennis and other ball games on this excellent piece of equiptment.

Plenty of snaps were taken and when I had the camera I noticed a smartly dressed little chap siddle into every  picture, so we decided to make it official and here he is in the middle .I printed all the photographs and delivered them on Friday to the crypt keeper Frankie (out of costume) who would pass them around.This is the fourth year that they have held the event which the users enjoy building and public visits brings in some cash for their welfare fund. 

Sadly as I have mentioned elsewhere the Centres future is not assured and that evening ,again, in the Town Hall, I attended a presentation by Social Services on the direction that they are heading and it seems that the 10 man ruling Cabinet of Council will be making a decision shortly on the centres future.

Not a perfect week but a good one that I had to go and put my foot into,or feet in this case. On Saturday delivering my ward newspaper in Stratton Close I slid around a bush and stepped into a newly laid concrete forecourt.I profferd my humblest apologies to the builder.

CAMBRIDGE ROAD DAY CENTRE & Sure Start.

As I’m on the Advisory Body for this centre for disabled adults I called in with a bit of an answer for a ’service’ user (as attendees are termed) on ‘Personalisation’ which will when it gets up and running include the allocation of money to a service user to buy into the services that they want,respite time, holidays,education ect.

This was last Friday with many activities taking place including virtual Ten Pin Bowling 

Bowling anyone ?

Jason watching a female bowl a ball at this Japanese made wall mounted game. Not only fun but exercise for the wheelchair bound who have to give a mighty swing with their bowling arm to send the ball down the alley.

They also have a computer suite and although not every service user is capable of learning how to operate them there is a group of users who hold the ECDL (European Computer Driving Licence ) and currently are doing paid work for a Council department.

The main players and myself.

The sad news is that the centre is under threat of closure under the Asset Review and at the end of the month the payment of the fee for access to the world-wide web,£ 120 a month, is being stopped by the Social Services Department.

On the photograph I’m stood between  Paul Minney and Carl Leathers service users on the centre management team and on the right are Frankie Collins and Bel Hadfi the centre’s Council managers all of who I have promised that I will be writing to the Council over their problems.

This evening I went to a meeting of the New Brighton Children’s Centre ,Advisory Board held in the main centre in Mount Pleasant Road this time. Plenty of ground was covered in a couple of hours. Also an exciting time for staff with a bill going through Parliament giving  a sense of permanence to the ‘Sure Start’ brand because with a change of Government,despite evidence to the contrary,  some think the incomers will want to alter anything that has no permanence in a Parliamentary instrument. Plenty of colds evident in the gathering including mine,but always good meetings.

OLDERSHAW SCHOOL

Oldershaw School isn’t in my ‘political ward’ but many residents who I represent have children who attend it.On the 9th I was invited to the opening of the new block that houses the Business and Enterprise College.

The New Block

I went on a grand tour with a group being shown around by a member of the lower sixth,who hopes to be among the applicants for head boy,next year.The equipment was  ahead of the pen nib and ink regime and part of a deal with Apple, no you at the back not the orchid the computer company  !!.

My political chair,me,the deputy mayor and his good lady

The potential head boy also explained how the sport’s field had had drainage work done another reason to want your child to attend this excellent school that has seen pupil numbers going from 600 to 8oo and this year has been judged as Wirrals ‘most improved’ school.

I met the Deputy Mayor again today as he opened the Wallasey Amateur Photographic Societies Exhibition in Earlton Library and presented the prizes.

THE EXHIBITION

I took the above photograph with my trusted digital camera,hiding from the Cecil Beatons who were looking at the exhibits,but I was spotted by the chap who had won “Photographer of the Year” and I was surprised to learn that the majority of photographs were the product of digital cameras,with some ‘photoshop’ tinkering I imagine.

Aintree

Yesterday I attended an ECO showcase in the Earl of Derby suite at the racecourse.It was  about energy,efficiency & sustainable developement in the building and construction sectors that my interest lay.

Leaving with a couple of 'take aways'

I sat in on a seminar on Resource Efficiency in Construction which was standing room only.Tough times making a rethink on building site waste,maybe. Examples of new unused material or the same damaged from the elements and going to landfill had those attending the presentation scribbling away..

Going around the exhibitors I came across a Bromborough “Virtual” company through whose website  surplus material or waste on a building site can be advertised or searched for. The site manager  can add surplus materials to the website using his mobile on his rounds as well as a computer. As  the company  “Builder Scrap”  says “save the environment,save costs”.

I left to go a meeting of the Pension Fund investment group in Cunard Buildings and managed to contribute to the final presentation of the session by an external fund manager.

RUBBISH

We here in England all know what a problem the disposing of household waste has become with so much in the past going to landfill and that not being viable anymore because of the penalties levied by our other masters in Europe .Councils have devised schemes to sort garbage so that some recycling can be done, but people will go to great lengths to dump waste,for one reason or another in alley ways and  isolated spots but transportation ?

"I dont believe it!!"

The manager of the local Community Centre found two full wheelie bins on the pavement outside the centre last week and on looking closer spotted the Rochdale Council badge,Rochdale is about 50 miles away !. Anyone with any ideas of how this came to happen should contact ‘Ripleys I dont Believe It column’. I have requested that the bins be removed on the manager’s behalf..

MY MAIN STREET

At lunch time I popped into this coffee,wine,beer Bistro ‘who said’ “so what’s new?” this is the first time i’ve been in the joint, because this was opening day for “The Olive Tree” in Victoria Road, New Brighton.

mine host ,Elaina

This business replaces one that closed recently with a much larger public area, longer opening hours and Sunday Lunch been served. It’s great that a new venture has meant that another empty shop front has been avoided, and I wish them well.

ROUND UP

At a Pensions Committee meeting we were asked to approve a loan or gift certain documents currently in the basement of Cunard Building in Liverpool.We agreed to ‘gift’ these to The Merseyside Maritime Museum with some going to Wirral schools and the Williamson art gallery in Birkenhead. A tour of the basement area is interesting in that you can still follow the route that baggage destined for the liners moored at the Pierhead took, from entry at the rear of the building from the Adelphi Hotel, sorted to first and second and steerage to exit at the front of the building. A sign with “Customs” remained and an area held piles of papers relating to the luggage when I toured,but in secure strong rooms correspondence in relation to the fitting out of the Queen Mary and ships drawings were kept.

We held a meeting of the committee of Area Forum members to look at the bids for the ‘You Decide’ initiative which has about £40.000 for use as residents request but unfortunately the information was presented in a way that the panel couldnt accept .I had to report this delay to a community group who had submitted bids, but its hoped to be able to have another meeting soon with complete information made available to the panel so that they can decide the disbursement of taxpayers monies.

I gave a three hour interview to a Fellow of the Cold War Studies Centre of the London School of Economics and Political Science.

LSE FELLOW & ME

Dr Onslow has been working on a project for a number of years and my period of soldiering and areas of service are of interest to the study as part of a group of  160 former combatants.Preperation brought back many forgotten memories of people,places, and incidents.

The Labour/Liberal run council has reversed its decision to close 11 libraries and build “super hubs”  of one stop shop type complexes . No one not in power has seen the Government report on the proposed closures so the reason for the U Turn can only be guess work but it looks increasingly like a word from Westminster did the trick.

EARLSTON LIBRARY

This decision still leaves the Council with a gaping black hole in its finances and on past performance their solution will be to close some thing else which is fine but will the public have a say in their choice,not on past form. The library in the above photograph is a ‘central’ library that would have been lost in phase two of the councils plan and was neglected for years so much so that the upstairs reference section had water coming through the roof, now repairs are underway did the 56.000 names on the library petition have a hand in this?.

SURE START

Who said “theres a couple of mugs”? “Behind You” no you clot it’s not a UFO it’s a children’s party so it’s a balloon,I know I know there are no children in the picture because this is Roundhead England and we where not allowed to photograph them.

A rose between two......The PPC and Councillor Knowles and myself.

This was the second,successful, event organised in the Walled Garden in Central Park,Liscard on Thursday by the four children’s Centres in the area.Families were encouraged to bring along healthy picnics and enjoy a range of activities.New Brighton’s team had a tent assembling (and dismantling) area where the tots had great fun in hiding,and crying when they  couldn’t get out of the tent.There was singing and face painting  and much more  for all to enjoy at a very well attended event.

PS

That postman,who I have been told was Chinese, has been sacked…messing with the Royal Mail in the past he would have been shot!!