Meeting documents
Area Forum (New Brighton and Wallasey)
Monday, 9th October 2006
Present
Chair
PJ Hackett
Ward Councillors
WA Duffey, DJ Hunt, A Pritchard, Mrs LA Rennie, Mrs K Wood
Community Representatives
Mark Williams
Business Representative
Martin Revans
Lead Officer
David Green (Director of Technical Services)
Area Service Co-ordinator
Andrew Brannan
Street Scene Manager
Chris Jones
Wirral Primary Care Trust
Dr S Mukherjee
Merseyside Police
Inspector John Hogan, Inspector Peter Kolokotroni
Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service
Tony Mooney
Merseytravel
Marion Atkinson
Council Officers
Christina Bebbington (Community Planning Co-ordinator), Bob Little (Community Safety Team)
Apologies
Rita Fraser (New Brighton Community Partnership), Cllr Ian Lewis, Major Roy Tipping (Faith Representative)
Index to Minutes
- Minute 1 - Welcome and Introductions
- Minute 2 - Area Co-ordinators report
- Minute 3 - Public question time
- Minute 4 - Presentation on Merseytravel 'Adopt a Station Scheme'
- Minute 5 - Presentation on Recycling Service
- Minute 6 - Primary Care Trust Update
- Minute 7 - Community Safety Update - Merseyside Police - Merseyside Fire Service - Community Safety
- Minute 8 - Older Peoples Parliament
- Minute 9 - Date of future meetings / presentations
- Minute 10 - Any other business
Minute 1 - Welcome and Introductions
Minute Text :
The Chair, Councillor P J Hackett, welcomed the Forum members and 44 members of the public to the Area Forum meeting in New Brighton. Members of the Forum introduced themselves and the forum code of conduct was read out.
Minute 2 - Area Co-ordinators report
Minute Text :
The Area Co-ordinator gave an overview of his report, which forum members had received in advance of the meeting, copies had been posted on the Council website at www.wirral.gov.uk/minutes/public/minsareaco-ordsreport and paper copies were provided for members of the public at the meeting. The minutes of the last meeting held on 6 June 2006 had been incorporated in the area co-coordinators’ report, and there was no matters arising or points of accuracy from these.
He also highlighted a further round of Forum funding, application forms are now available and can be obtained by contacting the Community Planning Team on 0151 691 8650. The closing date for applications is 8 November 2006. He also mentioned that there were application forms available for applying as a representative on the Older Peoples Parliament.
Minute Decision :
Resolved that the Area Co-ordinator be thanked for his report.
Minute 3 - Public question time
Minute Text :
The following issues were raised by members of the public:
Anti-social behaviour and youth disorder
There has been an increased amount of youth disorder around the Earlston Road Library during the summer, residents were concerned that better policing, security and lighting should be discussed in order to address some of these issues.
Inspector John Hogan provided an overview of the work of the Police in identifying hot spots, and agreed to raise the concerns of the forum at the next review of the hot spots taking place on 10 October. The identification of hot spots and the infrastructure to support a focused police effort in the hot spot area is subject to the limited allocation of resources. Despite budget constraints within the area, burglary and general crime figures are down. He also reported that five people have been arrested for offences of a racist nature to gravestones.
Councillor Kate Wood, area forum member and police authority member, informed the forum that the Chief Constable has a new scheme to develop a multi-agency task force to tackle anti-social behaviour.
Illegal use of premises
The use of a building in Liscard as a massage parlour had recently received press coverage and police complaints. Why has the Council not taken any action re: the illegal use of the premises? The Chair pointed out that property falls within the Liscard / Seacombe Forum area, and this matter should be made to that forum, taking place on 18 October 2006.
Bus and transport issues
Concerns over the replacement bus service from New Brighton to Arrowe Park were raised, along with waiting times for buses. Marion Atkinson (Merseytravel) agreed to provide the Area Forum with a detailed response to these concerns.
Conditions of roads/Streetscene
There were a number of queries regarding the condition of roads and the response from the call centre to streetscene queries.
Dave Green informed the forum that more staff have been recruited to deal with telephone calls. All of the information required by the call centre is currently held on paper, but this will soon be transferred to a computer based information system, which will hopefully provide staff with the area based information necessary to fully answer enquiries.
A Member of the Public raised concern over call to Streetscene re: bin not being emptied, he was asked by the call centre for his house number and didn’t wish to give this so his call was terminated. Dave Green informed the forum that the staff ask for the number of the house as the Council can reclaim ₤15 from the contractor for every bin that is not emptied.
Minute Decision :
Resolved that:
(i.) Inspector Hogan to raise concerns of forum re: youth disorder around the Earlston Road Library at the next review, to be held on 10 October
(ii.) Merseytravel to provide the Area Co-ordinator with a detailed response to the concerns raised re: bus services
Minute 4 - Presentation on Merseytravel 'Adopt a Station Scheme'
Minute Text :
Marion Atkinson gave a presentation about how local schools and communities are becoming involved with their local stations by cleaning, planting flowers, to promote cleanliness and responsibility. The pilot station was the Old Roan in Sefton, where Merseytravel had experienced problems, and has had a positive effect.
Questions were raised about health and safety aspects of the project and if this work was abdicating responsibility to the general public. Marion Atkinson replied that the children’s involvement was with poster work, and local people were involved in enhancing stations. This has reduced crime and criminal damage.
Marion informed the forum that the vicar of St James Church in New Brighton has shown an interest in becoming involved in such a scheme. It was requested that the forum report on any progress made by the vicar at St James.
A resident pointed out that the railway embankments are particularly dirty. Marion informed the forum that embankments are the responsibility of Network Rail. A local resident suggested that the Probation Service might be able to provide help clearing the embankments, using local offenders.
A local resident proposed that the scheme be applauded for its innovation and efforts.
Minute Decision :
Resolved that:
(i) Marion Atkinson be thanked for her presentation
(ii) That the Area Co-ordinator contact the Vicar at St James and report back re: progress made on the Adopt a Station Scheme
Minute 5 - Presentation on Recycling Service
Minute Text :
Ben Parker (Recycling Officer) briefed the forum on new recycling system being introduced and gave an overview of Wirral’s recycling targets.
Between March and October 2007 new bins will be provided in the forum area. There will be three bins per household:
- Brown for garden waste (for all households with gardens)
- Grey for paper and packaging (including cardboard, glass, tins, foil and plastic)
- Green for general household rubbish collection.
There will be smaller bins available for smaller properties and the green and grey bins will be collected on alternate weeks, as the amount of general refuse will be substantially reduced.
The Chair thanked Ben and asked if there were any questions on this.
Q – Why can’t tetra pack cartons be recycled?
A – The cartons are made up of three different materials, making this product difficult to recycle.
Q – Where can batteries be recycled?
A – There is a battery bank at the Clatterbridge recycling centre.
Q – Will cut price composters be made available to residents?
A – This project is being considered, and further information will be published on this.
Q – Will there be problems with fortnightly collections in the hot weather?
A – this can be a problem, but it is a case of how the waste is disposed of. Booklets will be sent out giving tips on how to accommodate these problems. Under the new contract collections will be made on Bank Holidays, with the exception of Christmas Day and Boxing Day and the collection dates will be amended to ensure all bins are emptied.
Q – Will there be a fine for people who do not recycle?
A – Enforcement action will be a future option, if it proves necessary to avoid obstructions and contamination of recyclable goods.
Dave Green finished the discussion by informing the forum that Wirral had the second worse record on recycling, with only 12% of rubbish being recycled, and it was hoped to improve this to 40% by 2010.
Minute Decision :
Resolved that Ben Parker be thanked for his presentation.
Minute 6 - Primary Care Trust Update
Minute Text :
Dr Mukherjee informed the forum that as from 1st October 2006 the new Primary Care Trust (PCT) for Wirral came into force.
Patient forums will be taking place soon and Dr Mukherjee encouraged residents to attend the forums, as they are a good vehicle for bringing health issues to the relevant PCT staff.
The Chair thanked Iain and asked if there were any questions / issues on this.
Minute Decision :
Resolved that Dr Mukherjee be thanked for his update
Minute 7 - Community Safety Update - Merseyside Police - Merseyside Fire Service - Community Safety
Minute Text :
Community Safety
Bob Little (Information Officer, Community Safety Team) reported on Anti-Social Behaviour, crime and disorder trends across the Wirral, use of the mobile police station and community patrol. A questionnaire on perception of crime is currently underway, this can be obtained on-line at www.wirral.gov.uk/.
Police
Inspector John Hogan (Merseyside Police) gave an overview of recent activity within in the Gorse area, including a number of arrests being made between 15th and 23rd September with ₤80 penalty notices for Anti-Social Behaviour, leading to a decrease of such activity in the area. In the Egerton and Hope Street areas 16 people were identified as causing trouble. A positive identification was made and action taken against offenders responsible for carrying out racial abuse and causing damage to gravestones in Rake Lane Cemetery.
A discussion has taken place with local traders, such as Costcutters, leading to a commitment to install CCTV. Positive action will be taken where it is found that adults are buying alcohol for children.
The alleygating scheme is to be further rolled out to help reduce crime and burglary within the area.
A recent incident at the Quarry was successfully halted when it was found that 150 youths were congregating in the Seabank Road area, for an outdoor party. Four officers were dispatched to disperse the crowd, and Officers are looking at how such incidents can be averted in the future. One of the challenges to overcome is that young people can communicate ad gather very quickly, via the use of mobile phones.
Graffiti across the area is being tackled by working in schools to identify personal ‘tags’ that young people use.
Fire Service
Tony Mooney (Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service) gave an overview of current work, including building up relationships with community groups and introducing the facilitation of Duke of Edinburgh awards.
200 home fire safety checks have been carried out over the last few months and there has been a reduction in the number of small fires as a result of this work. The number of deliberate fires and fires resulting from Anti-Social Behaviour are also down. A review of targets has revealed that joint agency and community work has had an impact in these areas.
A question was raised about the updated legislation on the storing of fireworks, and Tony Mooney agreed to provide information for the forum about this.
The chair thanked Bob Little, Inspector Hogan, Inspector Kolokotroni, and Tony Mooney for their updates.
Minute Decision :
Resolved that:
(i) Bob Little, Inspector Hogan, Inspector Kolokotroni, and Tony Mooney be thanked for their updates
(ii) Tony Mooney to provide information for the forum on the updated legislation re: storing of fireworks
Minute 8 - Older Peoples Parliament
Minute Text :
This item was covered by the Area Co-ordinator under Item 2 of the minutes.
Minute 9 - Date of future meetings / presentations
Minute Text :
The next meeting will be held on 27 February 2007 at a venue to be confirmed.
Minute 10 - Any other business
Minute Text :
The feedback to the forum members was that the Library was a good venue for holding the meeting.
There was no further business and the Chair thanked everyone for attending and closed the meeting at 8.45pm
(Minutes Published: 4 January 2007)