The Chair, Councillor Tony Smith, opened the meeting and welcomed forum members and 40 members of the public to the Area Forum meeting in Overchurch.  He welcomed Daryl Parker, who was observing the meeting on behalf of young people, and Andy Brannan new Area Service Co-ordinator.  He thanked Jean Robinson and the Overchurch Residents’ Association for the use of the venue and was pleased to see an excellent turnout with representation from all forum areas. 

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor John George and Inspector Kate Cunningham.  The Chair invited Forum members to introduce themselves.

The minutes of the Area Forum meeting of 11 June 2008 were incorporated into the Area Forum Co-ordinator’s report. 

Matters arising.

The Area Forum Co-ordinator’s report included updates on matters arising from the previous meeting - Taxis using shops at Greasby Road; improvements to the car park entrance to Arrowe Park Hospital, road safety issues on Hillbark Road, the introduction of a local safety scheme on Thingwall Road, Irby; bin collections in Orrets Meadow Road and Caldwell Drive, Woodchurch, and boy racers and other vehicles parking by the school.

In response to a question on Recycling, Councillor Gardiner reported that a new, all plastic disposal plant is being built on Deeside.  There have been talks about the possibility of taking all waste to this new facility, but it is still early days and it has not been built yet. 

Jo Burrell referred to a statement in the minutes that Woodchurch has not got a community centre.  She wished to clarify that Woodchurch has a Community Centre and a Leisure Centre.

Minute decision: Resolved: That the minutes of the Area Forum meeting of 11 June 2008 be received.

Andy Brannan, Area Forum Co-ordinator, presented his report.  Section One contained the minutes from the last meeting, Section Two included Local Updates, and Section Three gave information on funding.

Wirral has been named as a pilot area for Participatory Budgeting [PB].  The pilot provides a new and innovative way of allocating community initiatives funding.  So far, three area forums have been involved in the new initiative and, depending on the success of the pilot, it is likely that the initiative will be extended to this and to other areas.

The Area Forum Co-ordinator drew attention to the Highway Structural Maintenance Programme 2009/2010.  Limited resources are available for footway reconstruction and carriageway resurfacing schemes.  The Area Forum is invited to identify roads and pavements in Greasby, Frankby, Irby, Upton and Woodchurch that are in need of repair or reconstruction.  Projects submitted will be prioritised depending on need and budget availability. 

Minute decision: Resolved:  To thank the Area Forum Co-ordinator for his report.

Wirral Council has allocated £250,000 new money to be spent on extra council services in Wirral’s eleven area forums through a new project called ‘You Decide’.  To give everyone a chance to take part, a Borough-wide survey was conducted in September asking residents about the additional Council services they would most like to spend the money on.  The survey identified four key areas --

• New trees or street lighting
• Additional litter bins or graffiti removal
• Alley gates or home security features
• Activities for young people e.g. sports or training schemes

Each area forum has been given an allocation £20,000 of new money to spend on extra council services.  The priorities identified for this Area Forum are -

  1)  Additional litter bins,
  2)  More activities for young people, particularly around Sports
  3)  Community safety.

People have asked for the Respect bus to visit this more frequently.  Suggestions from members of the public on the ‘hot spots’ they would like the Respect bus to visit, and on the siting of additional litter bins, and should be passed on to the Area Forum Co-ordinator.

Merseyside Police:    A written report on Upton and Prenton had been incorporated into the Area Co-ordinator’s report.  Inspector Brian Griffiths reported that since the report had been written, the Police boundaries across Merseyside have been changed.  Upton Police Station is now responsible for policing the geographical areas of Greasby and Frankby.

A substantial amount of work has been carried out on young people and alcohol.  Unfortunately a small minority of young people can give the majority of young people a bad name with alcohol and with anti social behaviour.  In this area forum, twelve young people are currently subject to Acceptable Behaviour Contracts and six young people are subject to ASBOs.  Police Officers and PCSO staff have been actively involved in creating diversionary activities for young people to divert them away from anti social activities.  One young person has been given a Volunteer of the Year award.

Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service. Copies of a written report were circulated at the meeting.  Sarah Patterson commented on aspects of the report under the headings –

Smoke detectors.    Fire Officers had visited almost 6,000 homes in Wirral in the last quarter to complete Home Fire Safety checks and provide free smoke detectors where necessary. .

A successful campaign in schools in early summer and close links during the holiday period had seen a 65% decrease in reported anti-social behaviour.

The successful Bonfire Strategy introduced in 2007 will be repeated this year.  Presentations on bonfire safety have been given at a number of secondary schools.  A Bonfire Poster Campaign is being organised in schools with the aim of educating and informing the children of the dangers of fireworks.  The children involved will have an opportunity to win an IPod.

Sarah Patterson thanked the Area Forum for the funding the Fire Service has received from the CIF initiative. 

Wirral PCT:  An update on Wirral Primary Care Trust had been included in the Area Forum Coordinator’s report [pages 26/27]. 

Wirral University Teaching Hospital. The Area Co-ordinator’s report contained an update on Wirral University Teaching Hospital [pages 27/29.

Pat Higginson reported that the Trust is consulting local people on its Draft Public Health Strategy.  Although the main focus is on hospital care, the Trust is committed to doing all it can to promote good health, for the staff, as well as the patients in hospital and their carers.  The Trust has introduced many measures to encourage people not to smoke on hospital sites.

The number of Public Governors continues to grow, and it would be particularly useful for more young people to become Public Governors.  Application forms were available at the meeting

Community News: John Smith drew attention to the report on page 33 of the Area Co-ordinator’s report.  He invited contributions to the next edition of Greasby Messenger by the closing date of 15 November.  Bulb planning in the centre of Greasby will take place on Saturday, 18 October from 9.30 am.  Offers of help would be welcome and donations of bulbs can be  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

The Chair reported that questions have been submitted in writing on the topics –

·  Dog fouling along the shops on Ford road, Upton. Is there a chance of receiving additional dog fouling bins.

·  There should be safety railings along the shops on Ford Road from Owens Health and Fitness Centre in Upton Village , and the need for people to walk on the road

·  Dog fouling in Woodlands Park, off Warwick Road.

·  Vehicles parking on the kerb in Warwick Road and causing problems for residents, particularly at times when children are being dropped off and collected from school

The Chair advised that the questions will be passed on to the relevant Council Officers and feedback will be given at the next Area Forum meeting.

Questions raised at the meeting –

Q  The double yellow lines outside the school need to be repainted. Which school?

A  Cllr Tom Anderson undertook to address the issue.

Q  Parking on the corner and the need for speed cameras in the area. Is this the same school?

A  [Inspector Griffiths]:  Tickets are issued. 

  [Cllr Quinn]  I would advise members of the public to request that an Enforcement Officer visits the area at school opening and closing times.  Problems encountered at other times should be brought to the attention of Streetscene.  Someone can go and give fixed penalty notices to people that park there.

Q  Are there anymore plans for erect more Dog fouling signs:

A  (Cllr Gardner:  Dog fouling signs are available to deter the problem, and if you phone Street Scene the dog wardens will go to the area and address the issue, and hopefully people will put the signs up.

  We are getting some signs to put on the litter bins, so people are aware if you pick up you can put in any litter bin in Wirral.  To raise awareness of that.  A lot of new initiatives are going through and hopefully will be in place by the end of the month).

Q  This building is appalling, acoustically.  You [forum members] might be able to hear, but all of us [in the audience] are finding it very difficult to hear and understand what is being said.

Q  How much information does the public have on the Health front?  It is very rare we get mentioned in Irby.  Other areas deserve a mention as well.  Most of the Community Representatives on the forum talk about Greasby.

Q  Roads, highways.  The council are asking for people to tell us what roads should be repaired but isn’t that the job of the council to find out themselves what roads they should fix.There are a large number of roads that need to be resurfaced and signs made clearer, and foliage cut back, so you can see where you are going,

A  [Cllr Quinn]  I agree we should not have to wait for you to tell us what to do about Streetscene.  The ‘You Decide’ money is about you asking for extra  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

Wednesday 11 February, 2009 (venue to be confirmed).

Minute decision: Resolved:      That the next meeting is held on 11 February 2009 at a venue to be confirmed.

The Chair apologised for the poor acoustics and gave an assurance that efforts would be made to improve the situation at future meetings.

The Chair thanked everyone for their attendance and closed the meeting.