Meeting documents
Area Forum (Birkenhead & Tranmere and Rock Ferry)
Monday, 4th February 2008
Present
Chair
Cllr Jean Stapleton
Ward Councillors
PL Davies, Brian Kenny, M McLaughlin, Mrs CM Meaden
Community Representatives
Peter Exley, Lenny McCormick , Mike Parkinson, Stephanie Reid (Tranmere Alliance)
Lead Officer
David Ball (Head of Housing and Regeneration)
Area Service Co-ordinator
Andrew Brannan
Wirral Primary Care Trust
Tina Long (Director of Strategic Partnerships)
Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Len Richards, Chief Executive,Wirral NHS Trust
Merseyside Police
Sergeant Kevin Jones, Inspector Rachael Wilson
Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service
Ben Ryder
Other Partners
Myrtle Lacey (Age Concern Wirral)
Council Officers
Ian Lowrie (Community Safety Team)
Apologies
Cllr Bill Davies
Index to Minutes
- Minute 1 - Welcome / introduction / apologies
- Minute 2 - Area Co-ordinators Report - Including: Matters Arising from October 2007
- Minute 3 - Sustainable Communities Strategy
- Minute 4 - Wirral’s contribution to capital of culture
- Minute 5 - Public question time
- Minute 6 - Area Forum Partner updates
- Minute 7 - Future meetings/presentations - June 2008, Birkenhead Town Hall
- Minute 8 - Any Other Business
Minute 1 - Welcome / introduction / apologies
Minute Text :
The Chair opened the meeting and informed the forum that the five Councillors from this meeting will arrive later as have had to attend another meeting. She welcomed the forum members, including some new members, and 17 members of the public to the Area Forum meeting in the Rock Ferry Community Centre. She invited forum members to introduce themselves.
Minute 2 - Area Co-ordinators Report - Including: Matters Arising from October 2007
Minute Text :
Area Co-ordinators Report
The Area Co-ordinator informed the forum that the minutes of the last meeting held on 2 October 2007 had been incorporated into the Area Co-ordinator’s report. The matters arising were included on page 10 of the report, including a response to the query on the GP Surgery and Birkenhead Park update, and introduced Adam King who gave an update on this:
Adam informed the forum that he has been the Senior Ranger for the past three years and has now taken over from Martin McCoy as the Manager of Birkenhead Park. The seven year £11m restoration of the park is coming to a conclusion, and has led to vast improvements to the park’s appearance and the number of visitors. The main job left is drainage, but this has had to be left due to the recent wet weather. The park has achieved the Green Flag Award, the National Standard in Parks, for last year and this year. The park has also been the first park on Merseyside to be awarded the Green Heritage Site Award.
There has been an increase in the number of volunteers, and the Friends of Birkenhead Park has a volunteer to co-ordinate the volunteers in the Park, this is the community coming together. We work with community groups, such as bowls groups and community sports forum. Park newsletters are produced to promote the park, and copies were available at the meeting. Various events have taken place in the park, the biggest was the race for life, attracting 7000 visitors. The park pavilion visitors centre has a cafe, information point and gallery that features a different exhibition every three weeks.
An advisory committee has been set up and meets four times a year. The committee has been looking at night time closure / security of the park. Questionnaires re: locking the park at night have been issued and the results of these will be taken to the Culture Committee.
A Community Involvement Project within the park has been awarded lottery funding of £0.5m. This is a five year education / community programme. A piece of land adjacent to the park has been taken over to set up a market garden. We are looking to recruit a Park Adventure Play Officer. We are looking to put on six weeks of activities "Art in the Park" during the year for schools on uses of the park. We have increase school involvement, and last term involved 2000 children from primary schools.
The following questions / issues were raised:
Q. Have the bowling greens been improved?
A. Two gardeners have been improving the aeration / top dressing. We have six greens, one is being rested and the other five are being managed. The grass levels will be lowered by the end of March.
Q. Why is there fencing by the rocks?
A. Temporary chestnut fencing was put there by the contractors, to protect areas to allow plants to be established.
Q. Is the iron fencing around the lakes temporary or permanent?
A. This is permanent and is a similar, but slightly higher, to the original Victorian style railings. The rails are quite plain and have all been painted dark green to blend in.
Q. Can the inner gate on the ring road be opened during the bowling season?
A. This was locked, at the request of the bowlers, to prevent people from cutting across the greens. Will discuss this with the bowls forum.
Q. Why did the plans for the pavilion change from the original, as disappointed that it is not as accessible as it was supposed to be (e.g. the corridor to the meeting rooms is too narrow)?
A. The Swiss Bridge is an original structure, but all paths are wheelchair / pushchair friendly and have had an inspection recently. Will discuss this in more detail at the end of the meeting.
The Area Co-ordinator also informed the forum that he would be to deal with any questions or issues from the report and he can be contacted on 0151 691 8391 / andrewbrannan@wirral.gov.uk.
Matters Arising
David Ball updated the forum on the following:
Grange Road Shopping Centre - there had been delays to the car park project, but it is hoped that this will be started in the near future and will look at addressing the condition of road surfaces.
Peel Holdings waterfront / town centre development - the latest development on the masterplan for developing the waterfront will help with how this will link in with the town centre development. Consultations will take place to look at aspects of proposals for the town centre.
David agreed to report back further on these at the next meeting.
Minute Decision :
Resolved that:
(i) the Area Co-ordinator be thanked for his report
(ii) Adam King to discuss issue of locked gate on inner ring road with the bowls forum
(iii) David Ball to report back to the June 2008 area forum on developments re: Grange Road Shopping Centre and Peel Holdings waterfront / town centre plans.
Minute 3 - Sustainable Communities Strategy
Minute Text :
The Chair introduced Jane Morgan, Performance Management Officer, who gave a presentation on the Sustainable Communities Strategy (SCS) and Local Area Agreements (LAAs).
Jane informed the forum that it is a statutory requirement to have an SCS which sets a strategic, long-term vision for the area. The Council, in consultation with it's partners, sets a framework for an action plan, with the LAA as the delivery plan. The aim of this is to enhance quality of life of local communities through actions aimed at improving economic, social and environmental well-being.
The SCS tells Wirral’s ‘story’ (people and places); highlights the differences between areas, the big problems and solutions; determines vision and what do we need to do achieve the long-term vision for Wirral. Wirral's long-term vision: A more prosperous and equal Wirral, enabling all communities and people to thrive and achieve their full potential.
Wirral’s ‘story’ / big problems:
- it is a borough of stark contrasts (25 areas are within the 3% most deprived but 7 areas are within 10% most affluent
- it has the worst health inequality in the North West
- has an underperforming economy and an ageing population
- has a significant inequalities including educational attainment; crime and worklessness.
How do we solve the problems?
- focus on right people and places
- shared local action (work in partnership, involve all agencies including the third sector and direct resources to where most needed)
- shared principles (community cohesion, sustainability and equality & diversity)
The Strategy belongs to and allows everyone to connect to the ‘big picture’. You can be involved by letting us know what people and places you think we need to focus on. A consultation document will be available, within the next few weeks, at www.wirral.gov.uk. If you would like more information on this or have this is a different format please telephone 0151 691 8030.
The Chair thanked Jane for her presentation and the following questions / issues were raised:
Q. What happens if departments don't listen to what people say, as people affected often don't get a say? / Groups work hard and want to improve facilities for local people, so need to ensure that they are involved in plans.
A. All departments have been involved in identifying the priorities within the LAA and have bought into this. The SCS is only a paper document, so we are going out to forums to try and make a difference where it matters and address any gaps and want your comments.
Q. Under the Social Services Review of direct payments hours have been cut drastically and can have an affect on people receiving this (i.e. they may no longer be able to afford to work, so would end up back on benefits and not contributing / paying income tax). Will issues such as this be acknowledged?
A. The Strategy will review what has been done to date and information, based on real evidence of key issues, will be shared. We are in an environment of decreasing resources.
Q. The shortfall was given back, so why is there still a mental attitude of decreasing resources?
A. (David Ball) Central Government have set guidelines on LAA service provision and we now have a much wider partnership to deliver services. Often there are more priorities than resources to carry them out and we can't do everything we want to do, so we need to choose key priorities and target these. Nationally the government has had issues with finances, and local authorities have been required to make savings. We are trying to get better together and use resources more effectively. We are making progress in that direction, but some of the decisions won't please everyone. There are still situations where national and local authorities don't sit well together, and we are trying to address these. We are consulting on this to allow you to feed into the process on setting priorities.
Q. Is the Council considering the "Ground for a Pound" scheme where old government buildings that are to be demolished are sold to community groups, trusts, charities etc.?
A. (David Ball) - The Council have researched this along with a range of other ideas about using local assets to actually get further investments and regenerate areas. The Council is working on these concepts to get maximum value on assets. A lot of work is going on (e.g. through Tranmere Together) but much of this is very new and needs more detailed work before we can move forward. Further updates will be made on this at future forums.
Q. What is happening re: Byrne Avenue Regeneration?
A. (David Ball) - There are a number of issues re: the former baths, in terms of Council ownership, and we are in touch with the members of the trust to try and sort out issues and move forward on this.
Q. How can the public influence the plan when they are not mentioned as partners in the plan / are there mechanisms in place to ensure that plans, such as Together, are not in conflict with the local area plans?
A. Local area plans are under review and the consultation process will include looking at how local plans feed into the LAA. A list of the partners, including the voluntary and community sector, can be provided to show how we are engaging and working to avoid duplication when addressing issues.
Myrtle Lacey added that all local community groups have the opportunity to join the voluntary and community sectors network. There are 400 groups in the network and representatives from each sector can be elected to the network panel and have a direct seat on Local Strategic Board, Local Area Agreement Programme Board and associated development groups. If you would like further information on this please contact me.
Minute Decision :
Resolved that Jane Morgan be thanked for her presentation.
Minute 4 - Wirral’s contribution to capital of culture
Minute Text :
The Chair introduced Emma Degg, Head of Tourism and Marketing, who gave a presentation on Wirral's contribution to capital of culture.
Emma advised the forum on Wirral 08 - culture for all, a borough-wide campaign aiming to encourage residents to have pride in Wirral, generate publicity for and raise Wirral's profile, link to Capital of Culture 08, and support cultural initiatives from local communities. The Council is not the font for all creative knowledge for the area and want to encourage local communities to get more involved, help generate publicity and raise Wirral's profile.
Wirral’s main events include:
- Wirral BookFest (7-12 April)
- Kites Across the Mersey at New Brighton Dips (7-8 June)
- Wirral Show, including an X factor competition for young people (12-13 July)
- Tall Ships, including a parade of sail (21 July)
- Wirral Food & Drink Festival (30-31 August)
- World Fire Fighter Games (end August)
- International Guitar Festival of Great Britain (7-23 November).
Links to Capital of Culture include:
- various schools taking part in pan-Merseyside projects including a performance of ‘Adiemus’ in Liverpool Cathedral,
- Pacific Road hosting prestigious ‘Into The Big Hill’ – one of the ‘top 8’ 08 premieres. Wirral is the only borough outside Liverpool hosting this premiere
- providing extra publicity through 08 Yearbook, website and quarterly guides
- go Superlambanana opportunities, with Wirral having its own Superlambanana.
The community can become more involved and receive free PR for events. For more details on this pleas apply for a resource pack (a free ‘How To’ pack with information on funding, health & safety, publicity etc.) Small grants are also available to voluntary and community groups, 33 Community Grants have been given to local initiatives which celebrate and enhance Wirral’s culture and uniqueness. These have included comedy workshops in Birkenhead, Wirral-wide photography project,
craft event for carers, amateur opera in Rock Ferry and an exhibition in Birkenhead Park.
Other cultural highlights include:
- Art/Exhibitions, Williamson Art Gallery & Museum hosts series of fascinating displays
- Theatre, Pacific Road offers everything from American wrestling to Basil Brush and there are great line-ups at the Gladstone Theatre & Little Theatre too!
- Music, including Into the Cool jazz festival, Folk on the Coast, brass bands and choral concerts
- Sports, Aikido Festival, Festival of Golf, Wilson Trophy, World Firefighter Games, Merseyside Rugby Sevens.
- Film, Wirral Schools Film Festival with special guest Lord David Putnam. Wirral's International Film festival is proposed for later in the year.
Please get involved / encourage other to get involved by:
- organising an event or activity celebrating Wirral’s culture or heritage during 2008
- sign up to receive our monthly eBulletin, support local events and encourage other people and organisations to join in too!
- badge your event with the Culture for All logo
- tell us what you’re doing so we can publicise your events and activities.
A guide is available containing all events and is available at all local libraries. A further copy will be published in July, if you know of any events that could be included in this please contact Clare Naylor - 0151 691 8255 / clarenaylor@wirral.gov.uk.
The Chair thanked Emma for her presentation and the following question / issues were raised:
Q. Is Bidston Hill / Observatory being publicised?
A. Yes, we are working with the capital of culture on a heritage open day.
Q. Why don't we have one of our ships at Woodside instead of a U Boat?
A. We recognise that this is a sensitive subject, however the £3.5m visitors centre was provided by Merseytravel, following on from the success of the Spaceport. Any tourist attraction is a good thing.
Q. Why was the tourist information centre at Woodside closed, as feel that this stops / discourages visitors to the borough?
A. The tourist information centre was not being used, but we are in discussion with Merseytravel to include information in the new visitor attraction. There will also be information points for visitors at the Pyramids and across the Merseytravel network within the next few weeks. We are also planning to place information at the Liverpool and Chester tourist information centres.
Q. Is there any money available for people who wish to run an event?
A. There is no money in the kitty, but if you contact us we will look at the project and may be able to help you with it.
Q. Carers can be as young as six, and want to be offered facilities for them to relax and be looked after rather than being taught arts and crafts.
A. The project came through WIRED from carers who wanted to be involved in the capital of culture.
A member of the public added that the carers group at the Lauries runs a very successful book club. Councillor McLaughlin added that such activities are offered as well, not instead of, relaxation classes.
Q. How much of the income that comes into the Spaceport goes to Wirral / Merseytravel?
A. All of the income goes to Merseytravel, but it does bring people to Wirral.
David Ball added that it also supports the school's observatory.
Minute Decision :
Resolved that Emma Degg be thanked for her presentation.
Minute 5 - Public question time
Minute Text :
Q. The Albany Bowling Club on Well Lane is the oldest in Wirral. Outline planning permission for the area surrounding the club was approved, but the club was not notified of this. Wish to be kept informed of what is happening re: this?
A. David Ball - please pass me your contact details at the end of the meeting and I will respond to you directly. Peter Exley asked to receive an update on this.
Q. The South End Social Bowling Club has now closed, so there is no green available - would like to know who the owners of this are and what is happening to it?
A. David Ball - please pass me your contact details at the end of the meeting and I will respond to you directly. Peter Exley asked to receive an update on this.
Minute Decision :
Resolved that:
(i) David Ball to look into and pass on information on the Albany Bowling Club and the South End Bowling Club.
Minute 6 - Area Forum Partner updates
Minute Text :
Police
Rachael Wilson informed the forum that she is the Acting Inspector for this area, covering for Inspector Mick Blease, who will be back on 18 February. Rachael talked through the update on page 30 of the Area Co-ordinators report, including:
- there has been an increase in high visibility policing in the town centre
- there has been a decrease in street drinkers in the town centre
- Bedford Road Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) - there has been an increase in cameras
- Leighton Road / Rodney Street ASB - a local action group has been set up, it meets monthly and all are welcome to attend.
The Chair thanked Rachael Wilson for her update and congratulated the team.
Jim Cadwallader thanked the Police for supporting the joint programme with young people and Mike Parkinson thanked them for the follow up he received when he recently reported a crime.
Rachael informed the forum that Citizen Focus is a new initiative under which a selection of victims are called to see how their case is being dealt with and give feedback.
Community Safety
Ian Lowrie informed the forum that he now has responsibility for race / hate / diversity crimes and thanked Rachael Wilson and Mick Blease for working with him on this.
Questionnaires to find out what your concerns are re: crime reduction on the Wirral are available at the meeting, please let us have your views by completing and handing back the questionnaire at the end of the meeting.
Ian talked through the update on page 26 of the Area Co-ordinators report, including:
- Respect Wirral, a week long event tackling ASB.
- Respect Bus, tackling ASB in the area and providing support for problematic families, working closely with counselling services. This was included as part of a visit by the Home Secretary last month.
- Working with Registered Social Landlords tackling problem neighbours.
- Stealth vehicles, there have been recent successes in Wallasey where perpetrators have been sprayed with smartwater and tracked to their home address when trying to break in / steal from cars.
- CCTV cameras in hotspot areas, there have been good results on the Woodchurch Estate.
- Remote alarms, neighbourhood inspectors can issue alarms to people to try and prevent them becoming repeat victims.
- Smartwater property marking schools programme, this is coming to the end and has been rolled out to most of the schools. All school property is marked and torches can detect this equipment.
The Chair thanked Ian for his update.
Fire & Rescue
Ben Ryder talked through the update on page 28 of the Area Co-ordinators report, including:
- Working with schools, fire liaison officers have been working with schools to try and drive down ASB against fire fighters.
- Fire Fit Kids, an initiative where fire fighters go to schools to give fitness advice.
- The implementation of the Hazardous Materials Incident Response Pump at Bromborough Fire Station took place on 1 February 2008, following fire fighters going to Washington to receive specialist training, and we are now leaders in dealing with hazardous waste.
- We have one of the best search and rescue teams in Europe.
Ben informed the forum that will bring front line crews to future meetings.
The Chair thanked Ben for his update and the following were raised:
Jim Cadwallader welcomed the fitness initiatives and invited Ben to try out Japanese Drums. Ben thanked Jim for the invite.
Councillor Meaden welcomed the fire safety initiative, three years ago she received a fire check at her home and has received a further visit to make sure everything is still ok. Ben confirmed that when alarms are fitted the information is recorded on a database which is monitored and re-visits are depending on risk of fire. Batteries cannot be taken out of new smoke alarms and last about 10 years. If anyone has any problems with their smoke alarms please contact the Fire service and we will fix these.
Councillor McLaughlin added that Wirral's Fire Service is an example of good practice. Ben confirmed that front line crews will go out and engage with groups of people to discuss issues affecting them and aim prevent incidents.
Q. If you live in a rented flat who is responsible for carrying out home fire safety checks, the Fire Service or the landlord?
A. Ben confirmed that everyone is entitled to a free safety check from the Fire Service and that an appointment can be made by calling the freephone number 0800 731 5958.
Q. Who is responsible for the removal of hazardous waste, as an engineer from a private company left a dangerous piece from a microwave following a maintenance repair? And are the Fire Service working with such companies to stop this?
A. Suggest that you ring the fire crews who may be able to advise on the best course of action, but the responsibility for this lies with the private contractor.
NHS Trust
Len Richards informed the forum that directors of the trust will be attending all forums to find out what is important to you, get views on what patients want and think of the services provided, and give updates on what we are doing. The foundation trust is now about seven months old and has over 5,000 public members and 5,000 staff members. Governors have been elected form these members and we engage with them when planning our services, there are three governors for this forum area.
Information on how to become a member and what we are doing was available at the meeting, along with an update on page 32 of the Area Co-ordinators report.
The rate of MRSA is small and reducing due to the work around cleanliness practices, and we are aiming to get this down to zero. There are no incidences of this at Clatterbridge or at the Women's unit at Arrowe Park site.
Waiting lists from GPs to specialists is much improved and we are working on all targets and hope to make further progress over the rest of this year. We also provide specialist services e.g. urology cancer, macular type problems and will continue to develop these.
The Chair thanked Len Richards for this update and following questions / issues were raised:
Q. Are there any governors at this meeting?
A. Yes, Hugh Langford and Gaynor Hilliard.
Q. What research is the university doing on celiac disease?
A. The teaching accreditation is for teaching rather than research. We have a lot of junior doctors, as part of the Liverpool medical school, and will teach them how to spot this.
Q. I have been diagnosed with aspergers syndrome and am slightly autistic. When being treated at Arrowe Park staff have discussed me, within my hearing, describing me as difficult to communicate with. Staff need to be informed that this is not the case. Merseycare have an aspergers group, but wont offer me any support as live on Wirral.
A. Tina Long - apologised for service provided whilst at Arrowe Park, we need to make sure that our staff are aware of and take an holistic approach, and have a whole programme in the hospital aimed at tackling this. We are also aware that there are a number of specialist services not available on Wirral and are working on this.
Councillor Meaden congratulated the hospital on its baby care service.
Q. Why are patients kept waiting 3+ hours to see a specialist, or a student?
A. This is an issue that we are going to look at next year, we are focussing on the whole patient experience and are being assisted on this by the new governors.
Primary Care Trust
Tina Long informed the forum that the trust has two roles, to provide health services and to make sure that have the services needed in place. We have been developing a commissioning strategy for the next five years and identifying priorities for additional services to invest in and develop, on top of core services. The priorities over the next five years are to:
- improve health inequalities
- provide minor services more locally
- improve access to mental health and specialist services
- develop services for older people
- reduce the scale of alcohol misuse and alcohol related conditions
- work with the Council to improve our services for children and young people
- modernise community based services
We want to work with people and community groups to see if you agree with our priorities. Leaflets are available, events are taking place and focus groups have been arranged to enable everyone to get involved, ask for more information and feed in your views.
The Chair thanked Tina Long for her update and the following questions / issues were raised:
Q. What is being done about the smoking ban, as people still smoke outside the hospital doors? A. Len Richards, the no smoking policy covers the hospital and grounds and the security are trying to police / enforce this.
Councillor Meaden added that the enforcement works at Clatterbridge but not at Arrowe Park.
Q. People also smoke in the doorways of public houses, is this illegal?
A. It is against the law to smoke in doorways as it is considered to be an enclosed place. Environmental Health are aware of this problem and are trying to address it.
Minute Decision :
Resolved that Inspector Rachael Wilson, Ian Lowrie, Ben Ryder, Len Richards and Tina Long be thanked for their updates.
Minute 7 - Future meetings/presentations - June 2008, Birkenhead Town Hall
Minute Text :
The next meeting will be held on 3 June 2008 at Birkenhead Town Hall, no presentations have been set for the meeting.
Minute 8 - Any Other Business
Minute Text :
A member of the public mentioned that, at the last meeting, there was no recognition that members of the public attended and felt that this was not a good message.
The Chair informed the forum that the minutes of all of the forum meetings includes details of public attendance and that 21 members of the public attended the last meeting and this was noted on page 4 of the Area Co-ordinators report.
The Chair thanked everyone for attending and closed the meeting at 9.15pm.
(Minutes Published: 22 February 2008)