The chair opened the meeting and welcomed 2 members of the public to the meeting.

Cllr Blakeley expressed his wish to become the new chair of the area forum. This was seconded by Cllr Lewis and Cllr Mountney. Cllr Blakeley will take over from the next meeting onwards.

• Minutes of last meeting and matters arising

Tracey Smith introduced the area co-coordinators report and asked forum attendees to read this document, if there were any questions or issues to speak to her at the end of the meeting.

Tracey pointed out an item which may be of particular interest, which is the Highways Maintenance Programme. There is a questionnaire for people to fill in if they know of any areas which need immediate action regarding pot holes, damaged pavements or other highway infrastructure problems.

The minutes of the last meeting were agreed as a true reflection of the meeting.

Member of public: There is an issue with people with blue badges parking on the corner of Holt Avenue/Hoylake road in Moreton outside of the Home Bargains on the double yellow lines, this issue is extremely dangerous as traffic entering/exiting Holt Avenue has an obscured view of Hoylake road. The solution is to make part of the road outside Home Bargains hatched and also add 2 new disabled parking bays. Also, in the car park around the corner in Holt Avenue cars can be left for up to 25 hours the maximum should be 5 hours.

Chris Jones: This does sound like it could be a potential issue, thanks for flagging this up to Streetscene. If you wish to share your proposals with Traffic Management an appointment can be made with a Traffic Management Engineer  on 606 2004 to arrange a site visit, also inviting elected members to have a look to see what can be done about the issue.

Member of public: There is also an issue with litter in Moreton Road, Upton. Lots of takeaway rubbish gets thrown late at night by people making their way home particularly from McDonalds, although it is not just them, and also there is a lot of bottles left from youths drinking as the alcohol free zone not far away in Royden Road does not cover my area.  

Chris Jones: There is currently a new audit underway of areas which need regular cleansing, this area will be put forward at the meeting on Monday and this will be investigated.

Pat Higgins: Could they have more litter bins in the area?

Chris Jones: Yes, as part of the Keeping it Local plans the neighbourhood can request extra litter bins, there are a lot more now than their used to be but they do sometimes get taken away as they are damaged or vandalised.

All partners stated that updates on their relevant topics could be found in both the Area coordinators report, and the relevant newsletters on the front desk.

• an engagement programme on proposals for changes to some services at Arrowe Park Hospital and Clatterbridge Hospital

The Hospital Trust is engaging with the public on new plans for delivering services at both the Arrowe Park and Clatterbridge Hospital sites. This is regarding service delivery in the long term over the next 10-15 years.  Currently there are 3 options which we could like the public’s opinion on. The directors have a preferred option which is not set in stone, but your feedback will help to see this from the public’s point of view. The public can be assured that the same level of service will still be provided; however there could be changes to locations for different services to make them more integrated and streamlined. There are 8 questions which can be completed and returned via post or online. The feedback form is attached to the back of the document provided. The deadline is Monday 13^th June, and these results will form recommendations to be taken to the board. Feedback will be brought back to the forum at a future meeting.

Tracey Smith gave a presentation on Neighbourhood Plans. A Neighbourhood Plan is a vision for a community, and Wirral Council are asking residents what they think are key challenges are for residents and communities, where the Council should focus its resources and how it should deliver local services to improve your area. 

A major programme of consultation activity will run throughout the summer, until October 7^th, to make sure we capture as many views as possible. In order to do this, we will engage with local residents and community groups in a number of ways including:

–  Community events

–  Community and resident group meetings

–  One Stop Shops

–  Libraries

–  Leisure Centres

If you know of any community groups which would like to be involved and have not been covered yet please let Tracey know as soon as possible.

Findings of the consultation will be collated and analysed throughout September and will reported back to the forums in October. Development of the local action plans will continue throughout November with a view to publish the Neighbourhood Plans in December 11. 

The Chair with agreement of the area forum members gave permission for Cllr Foulkes to address the forum. Cllr Steve Foulkes attended the meeting to endorse the Neighbourhood Plans and to explain about the challenges the council faces. As recently elected council Leader he would like to introduce himself to the forum and urge the public to come forward and get involved with the Neighbourhood Plans. The council has fewer resources than ever and is facing a huge deficit so we need to spend money wisely on the things that matter most to residents for their area. Cllr Foulkes also expressed his desire to revitalize the area forums and give residents more responsibility to get involved, he will listen to all views, ideas and suggestions. If any residents wish to contact him he is available on stevefoulkes@wirral.gov.uk. 

5^th October 2011,

Moreton - Venue TBC