Cllr Stuart Kelly announced he had been elected as the new chair of the forum at the pre-meeting, he then thanked Cllr Pat Williams for her services to the forum as former chair of the meeting.  He then welcomed forum members and 32 members of the public to the meeting. 

Matters arising: Area Co-ordinator reported back:

Car park surfaces at Arrowe Park Hospital:   Car parks have been reviewed and appear in fairly good condition.  

Ownership of sandwich bar, Prenton Hall Road: a response from Environmental Health Department and Asset Management Department on page 14 of report

The minutes from the previous meeting were agreed as a true and accurate record

Apologies were received from Cllr Steve Foulkes who had been expecting to attend the meeting however had been delayed at a meeting in Birmingham.

Tracey Smith gave an update on the development of Neighbourhood Plans – “a vision for your community”, a major programme of consultation throughout all Wirral communities, asking people to describe their vision for their own neighbourhood, what it should look like, what its best features are and, given the chance, what they would change.

Over the next few months each area forum will develop a neighbourhood plan which will:

• Reflect the real challenges for the area based on engagement and consultation with local communities
• Identify local priorities and set the vision for the community
• Influence the way the Council invests resources and delivers services,  and determine the future distribution of forum funding,

The Community Engagement Team will engage with local residents and community groups in a number of ways: Community Events, Community and residents group meetings, One Stop Shops, Libraries, Leisure Centres

  Timescales July to September –Consultation;

  October - collate and feed back the findings;

  December - local plans in place.

Funding Available for Forums: - Empty Shops Fund £17,500, Funds for You £15,500, Public Health Fund £4,577, Community Energy Efficiency Fund (£110,000 across Wirral)

Advertisement for all the funding will run from 1^st July to 9^th September 2011

Other funding available - You Decide £20,000 for additional council services and Improving Road Safety & Promoting Active Travel and Health £20,000

How YOU can get involved - Let us know of any community events and meetings we can attend, Register your interest, email: engage@wirral.gov.uk, tel: 0151 691 8391 or website: wwww.wirral.gov.uk/area forums

A discussion ensued around the election of community representatives and Cllr Kelly assured the forum that the whole process of becoming a community representative would be an open and transparent one.

Tracey Smith was then asked to clarify the Participatory Budget process.

Closure of Snowden Road Tranmere Hall Resident’s Association

Andrew Taylor – in a sense this issue has been settled.  This issue concerns Snowden Road – Traffic lights on other roads would mean permanent closure of Snowden Road.  Councillors would not meet with us or site officials and they did not want to ask us our opinion.  They knew better that we would not be consulted until the objection period.  There is an open residents meeting on 25 July at Tranmere and it looks like it is going to be a satisfactory conclusion but we should not have had to do that. 

Cllr Kelly – Senior officers will take that back with them and look to be more proactive. 

Cllr Ann Bridson thanked Andrew for clarification to audience and explained that the new traffic system is actually well received due to four accidents in the past.

Woodchurch Road

A general discussion ensued regarding Woodchurch Road

Richard Neil raised general concerns around the Woodchurch Road area that need to be addressed including parking and traffic wardens

Cllr Williams – expressed it was quite disappointing no other members of the public attended. ‘Grot spots’ were identified but these are not the Council’s responsibility.  There will be assessment for improvement. 

Cllr Bridson – suggested hanging baskets for the area in the hope that shop keepers would water them 

Olive Beckett –Mountwood Conservation Area felt the area had lovely buildings but there was a need to “soften” the area

Cllr Kelly – the whole issue fits into neighbourhood planning.  We need to come with plans and solutions. 

Cllr Doughty.  More engagement needs to be done

Patrick Toosey – Oxton Society has been trying for 8 years to engage with the businesses in Oxton Village, each committee member looks after 7 businesses each

Cllr Williams – Patrick has worked tirelessly on this.  I would like to congratulate him on what he has achieved

Cllr Doughty – it needs an all party approach.

Parking problems on Rosemount

Mr. Fletcher – Re: Avon buses.  The number 90 is having trouble getting down Rosemount. Suggestion would be to make one side a no waiting zone to allow public service vehicles through.

Response from Technical Services: Currently priority is given to resolving parking problems where a personal injury accident is likely and /or there is significant congestion caused by parked vehicles. This location has no recorded accidents within the last three years. Also to date this area has not been raised as an issue by Merseytravel bus service’s section.

20mph signs on the Mount Estate:

June Foster – submitted a letter to Highways Department requesting 20mph signs on the estate a boy was knocked down on the Mount Estate

Response from Technical Services; After a recent appraisal Pennine Road and Chiltern Road do not currently meet the Council’s criteria for the provision of traffic calming measures however would be considered in the future should additional funding become available

A discussion ensued around the provision of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service – Craig Whitfield – highlighted news contained on pg 16 of the papers. 

Leonora Brace: Tyres are left by the observatory and constantly set on fire

Response: This needs to be reported to the Anti-Social Behaviour Team

Merseyside Police – Sgt Pete Grant – advised about a ‘Have your say’ meeting.  The problem in Prenton Dell has now been resolved. 

Allan Dollery – the ‘Have your say’ meetings are ideal for tenants.  Crime has reduced and things do improve. 

Community Safety – Steve Preston – highlighted information contained in papers on page 15.

Alan Dollery –How do we report persistent offenders of dog fouling?

Steve Preston – if you see someone who is persistently doing it you can report to us or can contact the Council Kennels and have an advisory visit.

Wirral University Teaching Hospital Trust - Gary Doherty – went over report contained on page 20 of the papers.

Member of the public – what is the issue re: vascular services moving to Chester I go regularly to hospital would I have to ring Chester?

Gary Doherty – No, it will be triaged and could be transferred to Chester.

Cllr Bridson – Paul and I were at the overview and scrutiny meetings and we were there over an hour and we were assured that there would be a very small number of cases moved to Chester. 

Member of the public– that is not true as Mr. Blair who is head vascular surgeon will be moved to Chester

Cllr Bridson – it is not just the surgeons, it is the specialist nursing care.

Member of the public – I am a member of the trust and that is not true.

Gary Doherty –  We have a similar situation with children’s hospitals across Merseyside, patients can move between Alder Hey and Arrowe Park and it is proved to save lives. 

Member of the public – Consultants voted no confidence in their Chief Executive.

Cllr Stuart Kelly – we will see what the outcome is?

Public member – when are governor elections coming up?

Gary Doherty – June next year

Minute decision:

Partners to be thanked for providing updates on their services

• Tuesday 18^th October 2011

The next meeting will be in Tuesday 18^th October, venue to be confirmed. The Chair thanked everyone for their attendance and closed the meeting.