Meeting documents
Area Forum (Liscard and Seacombe)
Wednesday, 2nd November 2005
Present
Chair
D Hawkins
Ward Councillor
AER Jones, C M Jones, DT Knowles, G Leech, JJ Salter
Community Representatives
Margaret Allen (Seacombe Community Representative), John Drew (Seacombe LCP), Diane Ledder , Fr. Leon Ostaszewski
Lead Officer
Mark Camborne (Health & Safety & Resilience Operations Manager)
Area Service Co-ordinator
Tracey Smith
Birkenhead & Wallasey PCT
Dr Shymal Mukherjee, Medical Director, Birkenhead and Wallasey PCT, J South (Director Primary Care and Modernization)
Merseyside Police
Sergeant P Farrar, Inspector John Hogan
Council Officers
David Griffith (Senior Inspector, Education & Cultural Services Dept), Chris Jones (Area Streetscene Manager), Carol Sharratt (Community Planning Assistant)
Apologies
Carole Thomas (Liscard Community Representative)
Index to Minutes
- Minute 1 - Welcome and introductions
- Minute 2 - Area co-ordinators report
- Minute 3 - Public question time
- Minute 4 - Presentation: Working together for Wirral's Children and Young People - Children Services Development Team
- Minute 5 - Presentation: Wirral Healthy Communities as a part of Healthlinks works for the community - Marilyn Maddock, Senior Community Health Worker
- Minute 6 - Primary Care Trust update
- Minute 7 - Any other business
- Minute 8 - Dates of future meetings
Minute 1 - Welcome and introductions
Minute Text :
Councillor Hawkins informed the forum that he will be chairing the meeting for Councillor Jones, and welcomed 7 members of the public to the meeting.
Chair introduced Mark Cambourne, the new lead officer for the forum (replacing David Green), and informed the forum that agenda item 5 will be moved and this presentation will be given before item 4.
Minute 2 - Area co-ordinators report
Minute Text :
The Area Co-ordinator talked through the sections of her report, copies of which were available on the evening.
The forum has allocated most of its funding, and cheques have been sent out to the successful applicants, and will carry forward the remainder to the next financial year.
Thanks to everyone who attended the special meeting of the forum held on 10 October 2005, re: the phone mast and the notes from this will be included in the next report.
Minute 3 - Public question time
Minute Text :
Helen Richards (Wallasey Resident)
i. - What is the situation re: the bollards that prevent traffic driving along Trafalgar Avenue?
ii. - There is also a problem with a van parking in the area, for the last 11 months, which is jepordising the playspace.
i. Chris Jones (Area Streetscene Manager) - There is a scheme planned for this road that should resolve these concerns. I will look at the plans for the scheme and respond directly on this.
ii. Inspector Hogan - If you can provide me with details of the the vehicle after the meeting I will look into this.
The Chair also agreed to discuss this issue in more detail at the end of the meeting.
Father Ostaszewski - Raised concern over the duplication of the work being done by the North Wirral Crime Prevention Panel and the new Neighbourhood Action Groups (NAGs) and would like some clarification on this, and asked if the information from the NAGs could be passed to officers of the Crime Prevention Panel.
Inspector Hogan - NAGs, formed as part of a Home Office Initiative, are not crime prevention panels. They are made up of Police Officer, Local Councillors, Local Community, Fire Prevention Officer and others. They deal with problems within the community and how these can be resolved. There are eight groups, one in each neighbourhood, they meet every six weeks and all representatives can attend if they are interested.
Dianne Ledder raised the following on behalf of Carole Thomas:
What will happen to the memorial listing those who were killed in World War One that is in the corridor of wards 6/7 at Victoia Central Hospital with their closure, and requested that the forum take this matter up.
The Chair informed the forum that he had an assurance from the PCT that the memorial will be relocated in the new part of the hospital. John South confirmed this.
John Drew thanked the Councillors and Officers re: their involvement over Manor Trust, without which lots of people whould have been let down. The Chair thanked John for this.
Minute Decision :
Resolved that:
i. Chris Jones to report back directly to Helen Richards re: Trafalgar Avenue.
ii. Inspector Hogan to investigate vehicle parked in Trafalgar Avenue area.
Minute 4 - Presentation: Working together for Wirral's Children and Young People - Children Services Development Team
Minute Text :
David Griffith, Children’s Service Development Manager, Education & Cultural Services gave a presentation on the proposed changes in the way services for children will be organised in Wirral. There is ongoing consultation with groups, organisations, and young people. He would look at proposals, particularly as they would affect Forum areas, and would be happy to answer any questions about any aspect of the consultation over the next 2 months.
‘Every Child Matters’ is the Government document set up following the death of Victoria Climbié. The Childrens Act 2004 instructed all services to work together to deliver the following five key outcomes for children in Wirral:
- Being Healthy
- Staying Safe
- Enjoy and Achieve
- Make a Positive Contribution
- Achieve Economic Wellbeing
There is also concern in social care circles that many children don’t achieve their potential and that better support is necessary between agencies that work with children. 80% of children will have no contact with social services, but there are a minority for whom that won’t be the case. This could be for a variety of reasons, such as disability or parents have difficulty in looking after them. The Education & Cultural Services and Children’s Services within Social Services are to be combined to form a Children & Young People Department. David reported that the Children and Young People’s Plan would be available by the end of this month. It would work in partnership with universal services, such as teachers and GP’s and targeted/specialised services such as Youth Offending workers, Paediatricians, etc. The Plan would be to form multi-disciplinary Children’s Services Teams of 11 areas in 4 districts. The services for children and for older people are being split.
The development team want to know what people think of the proposals, and there is a comments form at the back of the consultation paper, which is also available online. It is important that people should be aware and provide feedback.
The following questions were raised:
Q. Joyce Woosley - How will this work for children who go to secondary schools outside the area where they live?
A. – We are proposing that children should belong to the area where they live, for continuity purposes. If it was agreed that it would be beneficial to move a child then a formal transfer could be arranged.
Q. Councillor Knowles - How will you deal with hard to reach families and those who refuse to accept help (there are a lot of elderly people who refuse help)?
A. - Hopefully by being more local we will be able to build up the confidence of local parents and communities and they may be more likely to contact us. But until we reach the point of child protection concerns then the the children are the parents responsibility. If the Authority considers a child may be harmed then it can intervene more precisely.
Councillor Knowles commented that he is aware of a lot of elderly people who refuse help. David responded that having more localised service teams may also encourage older people to contact these services.
The Chair thanked David for his informative presentation.
Minute 5 - Presentation: Wirral Healthy Communities as a part of Healthlinks works for the community - Marilyn Maddock, Senior Community Health Worker
Minute Text :
The Chair welcomed Marilyn Maddock, a Senior Community Health Worker from Wirral Healthy Communities who gave a presentation about the work they are doing locally.
Originally the Healthy Communities project was funded through the National Lottery and was the local healthy living centre.
It has now moved on and has been mainstreamed into the Primary Care Trusts, working from Healthlinks, a first for Wirral. The project can now operate Wirral wide and not just in pre-identified areas. The team of five Community Health workers will go out into the community, to where people have expressed a need for health promoting activities. The activities can take place in community venues, in the workplace or within NHS establishments.
Over 35 activities are available, and community and voluntary groups have taken on a lot of these. The aim is to encourage lifestyle change by taking part in activities, encouraging people to be responsible and promoting prevention is better than cure. Lifestyle is related to a lot of chronic diseases. We are trying to pass skills onto people e.g. expert patient programme – learning how to self-manage – national initiative, food education, staff training. The project trains people to go into the community and teach healthy eating. Any groups that would like help or a copy of the next activity list (which is updated monthly) should get in touch.
The Chair thanked Marilyn for her presentation.
The following questions and points were raised:
Member of the public – have had personal experience through a family member of the expert patient initiative and thought it was excellent.
Q. Councillor Knowles - Are you based in Birkenhead, and do you deal with occupational illnesses in the workplace?
A. Yes, we have just moved into the old PALS office. Our organisation is reponsible for health promotion (exercise, smoke cessation etc).
Q. Chair - Do you target work groups or do they come to you?
A. It works both ways, lots of people know about us and contact us, and we also go out into the community promoting our work.
The Chair thanked Marilyn for her presentation.
Minute 6 - Primary Care Trust update
Minute Text :
Dr Mukherjee informed the forum that Jane Harvey had been unable to attend the meeting due to personal reasons, and requested that the presentation be postponed to the next meeting. He agreed to provide written confirmation on the re-housing of the memorial to the 1st World War.
He then asked if anyone had any questions or concerns re: health care, which he agreed to feed back.
Joyce Woosley - At the new walk in centre at VCH the wheelchair access from the Doctors to the X-ray section is difficult. There is a double door, which is not automatic, causing difficulty for those pushing people in wheelchairs. The other door is also not accessible, as it is on different levels. This is unacceptable for a new building.
Dr Mukherjee - I wil pass this concern on and hopefully it will be corrected.
John Drew - Raised concerns over staffing at the walk in centre - it is a major concern that there is no doctor available and patients are sent to Arrowe Park.
Dr Mukherjee - It is a national policy that shouldn't have a doctor at walk in centres and that these be nurse led. if a medical input is needed then the patient is sent to Accident and Emergency. It is planned to develop nurse expertise, including training nurse practitioners to send for x-rays - and this should be done by February 2006.
Minute Decision :
Resolved that:
i. the PCT presentation be presented at the next forum meeting.
ii. Dr Mukherjee to report access problem at walk in centre.
Minute 7 - Any other business
Minute Text :
The Area Co-ordinator and Councillor Adrian Jones gave an update on Liscard Hall. There is not much to report on this, but there are three serious parties interested - 2 commercial and one educational. We are certain that one of these will take this over, and our preference would be for education. This will be subject to a substantial part of the ground floor being made available for community use, especially in the evenings.
Father Ostaszewski raised the following:
i. Bidston Triangle Rail Link - possibility of the retoration of the railway line between Wallasey and Bidston, including travel to Arrowe Park and New Brighton to West Kirby.
ii. Improvement of road surface: Belvidere Road - Rolleston Avenue, particularly as there is a sinking gas main causing a trench.
iii. Footpaths at Ailsa Road, Seaview Avenue, Conninsby Drive and Mosely Avenue should be kept open as these are well used by pedestrians.
iv. Greenery that obscures road signs needs to be dealt with.
v. It is important to reduce traffic on the M53.
i. Councillor Knowles - Phase I of the Local Transport Plan is now drawing to a close and Phase II covers period from now to 2011. The biggest priority is the Merseytram. Under the 2004 Act it was set out that surplus revenue from the Mersey Tunnel Tolls has to be used for local transport plans. These have includeded improvements to Conway Park Station, Birkenhead Bus Station and the Spaceport. Another major priority for 2006 is the electrification to the Bidston and Wrexham line, and the Bidston Triangle could be included in the plan with the electrifiaction.
ii. & iii. The Area Co-ordinator agreed to look into these issues and report back at the next meeting. David Hale informed the forum, in relation to closure of passages in Moseley Avenue, that 96% of people agree to the closure of the passage and have signed a petition on both sides of the cut. Tracey Smith responded that David Green has met with David Hale to discuss the closure of the cut and has agreed to put an informal notice to advise residents of the proposal and that another meeting was arranged for 10th November 2005. David Hale is submitting the petition to select committee on 28 November 2005, so will have it in 14 days prior to this. The Chair thanked Tracey Smith and David Hale for their information.
iv. Chris Jones (Area Streetscene Manager) - having overgrown trees is an offence under the Highways Act and we can request that the owners cut these back or can serve a notice, carry out the work and charge them for this if neccesary. If you let me know of specific localities I will write to those responsible.
v. Councillor Knowles - The houses in Norwood Road will be eligible for noise reduction improvements.
John Drew - I have a letter from Angela Eagle stating that there is a possibility that 24 houses will receive full compensation and others will receive varying degrees of compensation. There are 300 properties affected, along the whole stretch of roads backing onto the tunnel. There are also issues over privacy. Many of the houses that are double glazed were done so years ago and this is not sufficient to solve the noise problem as it stands now.
Chair requested that such issues be dealt with at the next meeting, as Merseytravel will be giving a presentation at the meeting. If anyone has any questions or issues please forward these to the Area Co-ordinator, Tracey Smith, who will forward these to Neil Scales from Merseytravel to allow him time to provide more detailed responses to these. Tracey Smith asked if Neil Scales should be asked to turn ip to answer questions rather than giving a presentation. This was agreed.
Chris Jones (Area Streetscene Manager) - referred to section six of the area co-ordinators report, Streetscene update and pointed out Structural Maintenance programme. He requested that members of the forum and the public put forward suggestion for roads that need to be repaired. A form was sent out to all forum members, its should be returned to Tracey Smith by 23rd November 2005. David Hale requested a form and Chris Jones said he would give one to him after the meeting.
Member of the public - stated that she had heard there were plans to redo the promenade if this were true then she had concerns about Wilson Road as the park was in a state.
Cllr John Salter responded that he would speak to the lady after the meeting and update her on the progress of pride in our promenades.
Mark Camborne (Lead Officer for East Wallasey) - gave an update on the phone mast at Manor Church. A petition has been forwarded to Orange and URC general Synod as requested. A sub-group is being set up to look at protocols on the Authorities view towards telephone masts in general and Councillor Adrian Jones will be part of the working group.
Councillor Jones - stated that he asked for the issue of the phone mast at Manor Church to be put to Education and Cultural Services Select Committee, these are the details that he has sent to the Chair of the select committee:
“Given public concern following the installation, under ‘ecclesiastical exemption’, of a cell-phone transmitter within the tower of a grade two listed church building, thereby avoiding consideration by the Council’s Planning Committee, Select Committee calls on Council to formally adopt the consultation standards for public bodies advocated by the Audit Commission in respect of the installation of all such transmitters. Select Committee is mindful of the Council’s duty of care to school children and other potentially vulnerable groups and notes the Crosby general medical practitioners’ statement relative to transmitters close to schools. Council is asked to write formally to all cell phone companies, and to church synods and other bodies administering ecclesiastical exemptions, indicating that Council:
1. expects Audit Commission standards of consultation to be met;
2. deprecates the avoidance through legal minimalism of desirable standards of consultation,
3. warns cell-phone companies that the avoidance of meaningful consultation will attract great local opposition, and
4. expects to be directly and fully informed, at Chief Officer level, of any proposals to install transmitters irrespective of ‘ecclesiastical exemption.”
The Audit Commission’s proffered advice on consultation is:
“Consultation has been defined as a process of dialogue that leads to a decision. This is a valuable working definition. The notion of consultation being a dialogue implies an ongoing exchange of views and information, rather than a one-off event. Dialogue also implies two or more parties listening to and taking account of one another’s views.”
To avoid doubt this is not intended to oppose the installation of cell-phone transmitters. The issue concerns only their location and Council’s duty of care. It should be noted that although this statement refers directly to a duty of care to children of school age, being discrete to this Select Committee., it is likely that other Select Committees may subsequently need to be consulted as the ‘at risk’ population includes the elderly, and because ‘ecclesiastical exemption’ permits transmitters to be placed immediately in residential areas, next to hospitals, near residential homes for the elderly, and so on and so forth, where all groups of the population who may be at risk will be present..
Councillor Jones said the fundamental issue in all of this is that people should be consulted properly.
Minute Decision :
Resolved that:
i. Area Co-ordinator to investigate issues re: road surfaces and footpaths and to report back on these at the next meeting.
ii. Chris Jones to write to those reposnsible for overhanging greenery obscuring road signs.
iii. Area Co-ordinator to forward questions / issues raised to Merseytravel proior to the next meeting, and write to Merseytravel requesting that Neil Scales attend the next meeting to answer qestions/ deal with issues.
Minute 8 - Dates of future meetings
Minute Text :
The next meeting is to be held on Wednesday 8th February 2005 at 7.00pm, Committee Room 1, Town hall, Wallasey, presentations will given on:
- Local Neighbourhood Wardens
- Merseytravel
The Chair thanked everyone for attending the meeting, especially those people who attended for the first time, and closed the meeting at 8.25 pm.
(Minutes Published: 29 November 2005)