Agenda and minutes

Venue: St Chad’s Church Hall, Roslin Road, Irby, Wirral. CH61 3UH

Contact: Bryn Griffiths 0151 691 8117 

Items
No. Item

11.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from councillors Tom Anderson, Phillip Brightmore, Kate Cannon and Geoffrey Watt.

 

12.

Order of Business

Minutes:

The Chair suggested, and it was agreed that item 9 (Any Other Business) be considered before item 5 (Urgent Care Centre Development) as the speaker for item 5 had given notice that she would be late. This would allow discussion on the Local Plan and the Chair requested that David Ball gave an update on the Local Plan and take questions from members of the public.

 

13.

Members' Code of Conduct - Declarations of Interest

Members are asked to consider whether they have any disclosable pecuniary interests and/or any other relevant interest in connection with any item(s) on this agenda and, if so, to declare them and state the nature of the interest.

Minutes:

Members were asked to consider whether they had any disclosable pecuniary interests and/or any other relevant interest in connection with any item(s) on this agenda and, if so, to declare them and state the nature of the interest.

 

Councillor Jeff Green declared a personal interest as a non-executive director of Magenta Living. Councillor Green stated that he had taken advice and as the committee was not a decision-making body felt that it was still appropriate to facilitate discussions on the Local Plan.

Councillor Wendy Clements declared a personal interest as chairman of Greasby Community Association.

 

14.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 451 KB

To approve the accuracy of the minutes of the meeting held on 14 June 2018.

Minutes:

Resolved – That the minutes of the meeting held on 14 June 2018 be approved.

15.

Wirral West Constituency Committee Budget and Spend 2018/19 pdf icon PDF 129 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Consultant in Public Health, Rachael Musgrave gave a presentation based on a Power Point slide show that had been printed off and made available at the meeting (a copy of this presentation is included with these minutes). Rachael went through recommendations for the expenditure for the constituency committee for the year 2018-19. £50,000 core budget for each committee has been reinstated and it was proposed that this sum was spent in the way that was established for this committee in the form of a grants programme.

The second proposal was for the allocation of £25,000 comprised of £12,500 from last year and £12,500 from this years’ expenditure. This would be allocated for Environmental projects with 3 proposals for this: The first being £5000 to fund 5 ‘Environmental Action Days’ in each ward within the constituency. The second was for £15,000 to run the ‘Small Grant, Big Difference’ fund, the details of which are included in the attached presentation. The remaining £5,000 is proposed to be spent on local improvements.

 

The Chair noted the success of the work that has already been done through the ‘Small Grant, Big Difference’ grant scheme and highlighted the importance of residents being able to vote on such schemes.

 

Resolved – that the Wirral West Constituency Committee Budget and Spend report be noted.

 

16.

Any Other Business

To consider any other items of business that the Chair accepts as being urgent.

Minutes:

UPDATE AND QUESTIONS ON THE LOCAL PLAN

 

David Ball, Assistant Director of Major Growth and Housing Delivery gave a brief description of where the Council was regarding the Local Plan. David stated that on 23rd July 2018, Cabinet had considered a report on the Local Plan. This report covered land supply for the future, including employment uses, housing uses and mixed uses. It also included other options around open spaces, densities and the opportunity to cooperate with other local councils. The Cabinet took the decision to formally consult on those development options. The consultation commenced on 3rd September 2018. David has attended 15 public consultation events in the past 2 weeks with approximately 1500 people attending.

The Consultation ends on 26th October 2018 with written representations needing to be submitted ahead of this date. The consultation is based on figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS). The ONS have just released updated (lower) figures which central government will decide on how to interpret before the council can make any amendments to their consultation.

Members will make decisions on a range of options given to them in July 2019 at full Council.

 

The Chair asked for questions from the audience:

 

Jane Chesters, a resident, questioned whether the greenbelt will still be involved in light of the new figures from the ONS. Stated that there were a large number of people within the greenbelt that worked on farms and other industries who’s lives were on hold until a decision is made regarding building on the greenbelt. Felt that as planning approval had been given for Wirral Waters that a large proportion of the housing requirement would be fulfilled there.

 

The Chair reiterated that any decisions on the matter were the responsibility of the full Council.

 

In response to Jane Chesters, David Ball explained that the previous figures for new dwellings expected to be built per annum were 803 and looking at the new figures released by the ONS the new figures would be 488 dwellings per annum. The governments’ current national target is 300,000 new homes per annum by the mid 2020’s with the new figures suggesting that this target would not be met on the lower figures as nationally this would only add up to approximately 214,000. David stated that the council has asked the government how they intend to use those figures. These figures are “Household Projections” and to work out the overall housing needs there are other factors involved in the calculations such as household formation, affordability calculations as well as population trends among others. The council is waiting to see how the government wants to proceed before the council can decide on these figures. It is likely to be sometime in December to see how the government will interpret these numbers and therefore what numbers can go into our local plan. David stated that Peel have given a range of housing numbers for Wirral Waters but the evidence to support these figures is still  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16.

17.

Urgent Care Centre Development pdf icon PDF 661 KB

Minutes:

Jacqui Evans, Assistant Director, Integrated Commissioning Programme gave a presentation (attached to these minutes) on changes to urgent care on the Wirral with the development of a new Urgent Care Centre at Arrowe Park Hospital. The public are to be consulted on 2 options that differ on opening times with one option being a 24 hour service and the other a 12 hour service.

Jacqui highlighted that the current offer cannot be maintained with an urgent treatment centre due to the costs. She stated that they would begin analysing all feedback from 12th December 2018 and would provide a final recommendation by February 2019 with plans to implement those recommendations by December 2019.

 

The chair opened questions to the public.

 

Phil Simpson, resident, stated that terms such as “transformation” and “sustainability” generally lead to budget/staff cuts. He recommended to the public that they join local health groups.

Mr Simpson asked if Jacqui Evans could categorically assure him that current walk in centres will not close.

He claimed that he had never seen a ‘lay-person’ at a CCG meeting.

Mr Simpson also raised the issue of pharmacies charge a patient’s GP £28 when they give medical advice to the patient.

 

A resident stated that current staff levels were wrong and asked where the staff will come from for the new urgent care centre.

 

Peter Owen, resident, stated his interest in what was happening at the moment with urgent care. It was mentioned in the presentation that 50% of those attending A&E were there for relatively trivial matters and being able to reduce this by half would make a huge difference.

Mr Owens also mentioned the 111 service and how it appeared to operate like a triage, using level 3 support to pass patients on to the relevant care giver.

 

Jacqui Evans stated that the 111 service was a national development and that the NHS was taking into account the learning of the past 2 years. Under the current 111 offer people were fed up of waiting on the phone and there was a pattern of them going straight to A&E rather than waiting to be put through to the correct person. She stated that she couldn’t make absolute claims on costs etc but that the figures were being developed. Under the new system you would be immediately referred to the relevant department rather than having to wait for a call back.

 

Jacqui Evans stated the communications was an issue for pharmacies giving medical advice. People go straight to A&E because they know they will be treated. Not enough people are aware that they can go to a pharmacy for advice and that it is a matter of signposting people to the relevant treatment. Approximately 20% of people at A&E could have been treated at a pharmacy. A large proportion of patients could have been treated locally by a GP or nurse and the message received from patients was that they struggled to get access to their  ...  view the full minutes text for item 17.

18.

Community Question Time

Minutes:

Keren O’Rourke, a resident, stated that David Ball had been invited to talk about the planned golf course and asked if he could be invited back to the next meeting to do so.

 

The Chair responded by confirming that David Ball would be invited back.

 

Keren O’Rourke stated that the council did a consultation on the greenbelt methodology review that concluded last December. This does not appear to have been published and would like to know when the public can expect to see the results of this review.

 

The Chair noted that David Ball had left the building so an answer could not be given at this time.

 

Keren O’Rourke then stated that the government are now going to be holding another consultation on the methodology regarding housing targets and she would like to know if the council are going to respond to those.

 

Keren then asked the question she had submitted in writing:

"On the Council’s Hoylake Golf Resort web page, in the common questions section, the Council are asked about what other options for the golf resort site have been considered (including the option of a wetland resort)

The Council web site states that no other scheme “measures against the golf resort in terms of positive impact” and that the golf resort provides “the best return for Wirral across a number of indicators”.

This has also been repeated by both Councillors and Officers at public meetings.

A Freedom of Information request has now revealed that the Council have never undertaken any studies looking at any other options for the golf resort site and, it would seem, never measured any other options against any indicators.

Please would you explain how the Council can be certain that the Golf Resort is the best option for the site and can you explain why you will not consider funding a feasibility study for a wildfowl and wetland resort for the site, even though such an alternative proposal would have the support of many more people?"

The Chair asked that this question be noted and passed to someone that can answer it. The Clerk confirmed that it has been sent to David Ball who will provide a written response.

 

A resident asked if there could be some input on Heron Road road safety issues.

 

A resident stated he had received a letter in May 2018 from David Rees, Road Safety Manager, stating that Heron Road does not meet the criteria for a fixed road safety camera based on its’ comparatively good road safety record. The resident stated that the residents of Heron Road do not agree with this assessment and that there had been further accidents in the residential area, speeds of 60mph in a 30mph limit and felt that there were no other roads on the Wirral with such high speeds within a 30mph road. He asked the council to make a recommendation to the police for a fixed camera.

 

19.

Road Safety Update

Minutes:

David Rees, Road Safety Manager, gave an update on the situation on Heron Road. He stated that there have been 7 collisions recorded over the past 5 years; this is the statutory information that local authorities use to decide on placement of traffic cameras. All 7 collisions were within the rural 40mph section of Heron Road. The government estimated that there were approximately 17 unrecorded collisions for every recorded one.

There was an evidence based 437 crashes reported last year where people were hurt. This indicated that there was a weight of evidence that other roads were a higher priority than Heron Road.

David stated that ‘No Entry’ signs were going to be installed, starting on the week commencing 15th October 2018. He has looked into the maintenance of the road, including the tarmac and the road noise. He stated there is no budget to resurface the road currently but that there is a work plan for all roads within the Wirral. The road surface will continue to be monitored and when it has deteriorated to the level that action is required, David’s team will be recommending a road surface treatment. There are some markers/posts that need replacing, they were originally put in as part of a safety scheme, David has been in contact with colleagues to organise this.

David felt that self-illuminating speed signs would be worthwhile in the rural 40mph section of the road but that he would require £10-12k to install them and does not have this money currently but is looking into ways of funding this.

In the longer term the road needs a more major scheme.

David stated that he has lived on a road with similar issues of speeding and understands the frustration of the residents. It’s not possible to have police on the road at all times, he’s discussed installing a fixed camera with Merseyside Police and the road does not meet the criteria to be approved. David suggested that residents could help the situation by joining Community Speed Watch.

 

Councillor Andrew Gardner stated that Heron Road is the biggest issue in his area. He stated that the ongoing issue was the high number of accidents that would be considered of ‘low seriousness’ by the police. He continued that there is so much likelihood of a low-level accident that it is only a matter of time before someone is seriously hurt or killed. He stated that the illuminated 30mph sign does not work and asked if this can be fixed.

 

David Rees confirmed that the illuminated sign would be repaired.

 

The Chair suggested that the council should have another go at tackling the issues on Heron Road and that David’s team could look at creative ways of finding funding and ways to move these issues forward.

 

A resident stated that for people who live just off Heron Road such as those on Acres Road; the illuminated 30mph sign had been a useful safety feature as it would alert them of approaching,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 19.

20.

Update from Community Representative

Minutes:

The Chair announced that there would be a service at St John the Baptists Church in Meols on Friday 9th November 2018 at midday for a World War One remembrance.

The Chair announced that AGE UK were running a door knocking event on Tuesday 16th October 2018 to visit residents feeling lonely or excluded.