The Chair, Councillor Jerry Williams, welcomed forum and 14 members of the public to the public forum meeting. 

Councillor Jerry Williams also apologised for his comments published in the last minutes contained on page 4 in which he stated he was unhappy with Inspector Andy Wise, it was not personal and he has now realised he had other issues to deal with – his main issue was in fact the non attendance of the Inspector – apology was accepted by Inspector Andy Wise.

NHS WIRRAL page 4 – Action for Cathy Doran re: privatising Nurses and Phlebotomists – these services are NHS run and are not being privatised. 

There were no other matters arising and the minutes from the previous meeting were agreed as a true record.

Merseyside Police – Inspector Andy Wise – explained have been working on statistical information and there has been a reduction in total crime from last year and went over extensive report available in papers provided.  He also mentioned that the Community Support Officers and the Local Authority Officers have been posting leaflets in relation to door and window safety and would like to thank everybody to to part.

Community Safety – Jim Thompson – Crime has fallen on Wirral by 10% although crime is expected to up on the up, because of the warm weather but they are nuisances crime rather than serious crime.  Jim Thompson urges forum members and the public to report anything that happens and it will be dealt with.  He also stated that Wirral is one of the safest places in the Country and we need everybody’s help to keep it that way and report things as they happen.

Public Member – had trouble in the park behind where we live with a lot of drunken kids and we did phone the Police a lot last year.  Local Community Police have gone in the park now 3 times per week and I would just like to thank everybody involved to address this issue we had. 

Inspector Andy Wise – we have Key Individual Network Meetings which are advertised in supermarkets, shops and libraries etc – these are public meetings chaired by the Police.  Informed the forum that everybody is welcome and can let the Police know what we should be prioritising when we are not dealing with emergencies.  Explained that youths must be listened to as wel as they are the next generation and we cannot push them away. 

Ray Johnson – I thought you were going to get rid of KINS meetings?

Inspector Andy Wise – yes we are.  We are going to have priority meetings instead. 

Ray Johnson – I think they are a good idea and it is a bad idea to get rid of them.  If I spoke to you in confidence then no one else in the area would know about the problem but with these meetings other residents are aware of what is going on.

Inspector Andy Wise – the meeting is publicised so everyone will know anyway and everything is prioritised and that is publicised as well.

Jim Thompson – there are a number of ways to can make them points – have extensive neighbourhood watch meetings and updates on Councils community patrol on the website. 

Q (Public Member) – why is KINS meetings being cancelled?

Inspector Andy Wise – we are not getting the best picture of what people really want us to focus on and the attendance is bad.

Q (Public Member) – PCSO (Police Community Support Officer) – will you be able to maintain excellent standards?

Inspector Andy Wise – it is not cuts as such, it is a freeze on recruitment and numbers of PCSO’s will stay the same.

Q (Public Member) – what about  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

Q (Public Member) – Traffic lighting around Clatterbridge roundabout – how is this getting on?

Streetscene Manager – Phil Miner – the groundwork has been done the only thing outstanding is the electrical side.

Q (Public Member) – is there a CCTV camera there?

Phil Miner – yes and it is owned by the Council, this is for traffic flow monitoring.

Ray Johnson – the School road sign in Higher Bebington is upside down – I did e-mail you about it.

Phil Miner – the priority is to get the main route sorted and then we will go back and do that.

Q (Public Member) – where you meet Willaston before Neston, the road sign disappears in the hedge and it is facing the wrong way.

Phil Miner – I will look into it.

Public Question time (contined):

Q (Public Member) – I was approached by a number of people in Brackenwood saying there has been a ‘no ball games’ sign put up on grass land – why has this been put up and can it come down?

Councillor Jerry Williams – we need Wirral Partnership Homes to be here.  We have thousands of complaints of kids playing football in roads etc and it can be distressing for the people who live in the area were the football is being played. We do try and encourage them to play in parks.

Public Member – the closest park is a significant distance away.  The sign has been put up in open space which is designed for them to play in.

Councillor Jerry Williams – I will have to get someone from Wirral Partnership Homes to look into this and report back to the next meeting in October.

Phil Miner – if the sign was put up by WPH then we have no power to take it down.

Public Member – there are more people who don’t want the sign than do.  One person is a foster carer and now the young children cannot go and play on the front.

Councillor Sheila Clarke – Wirral has the most no ball games signs – the message seems to be we do not want children here!!  The ethos is children should be allowed to play in a safe area. 

Councillor Walter Smith – the problem with ball games is I can understand parents point of view but also the other residents suffer with balls landing in their gardens or banging on their walls and hitting windows.  We understand children need to be active but not to play in the middle of the road.

Public Member – lots of people played football when I was young but too many people have cars now – it is not safe.

Councillor Jerry Williams – we have had 300 complaints in just one road.

Public Member (from original question) – I am not actually talking about a road, I am talking about a small field.

Councillor Jerry Williams – can I suggest that someone from Wirral  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

You Decide Funding

Ø  Introduction to You Decide/Winter Resilience Funding

Ø  Q&A Session

Ø  Resident participation & Involvement in allocating this money

Ø  End of session & feedback

Ø  What next?

Ø  Winter Resilience & Integrated Transport Block Funding/Road Safety

Tom Sault gave an introduction to you decide and how the voting will work for tonight.  Checked everybody had the correct paperwork and then went through the presentation. 

Q (Public Member) – do you actually take notice though?

Ray Johnson – yes – ‘You Decide’ is a fantastic opportunity.

Tom Sault – we will take the information from tonight’s meeting and revert back to you at the next area forum in October.

Ø  Tuesday 19^th October – venue to be confirmed

The Chair thanked everyone for attending and closed the meeting at 9pm. 

He also announced that the next area forum will be on:

Tuesday 19th October 2010, venue to be confirmed.