Q. There are different partners at the forum tonight but not many young people. What is being done to encourage younger people to get involved with the forums and in their community?

A. Various – There are Youth Forums and Youth Parliament which engages specifically with young people. It is one of the aims of this area forum to have a representative from the Youth Forums but this has not happened yet.

As part of the Neighbourhood Plan consultation a number of focus groups were held with primary and secondary schools to get the views of younger people and officers from the Community Engagement Team will be liaising with the same schools to make sure the information is feedback to them.

Q. Who is responsible for ‘grot spot’ areas such as the old Victoria Hotel site, which not only are an eye sore but attract anti social behaviour?

A. Jim Lester - Most are in private ownership which makes it difficult to tackle some of the issules. Work is on going with the ownership of these sites and building regulation powers can have some effect.

A. Chris Jones – There are certain powers under the Highways Act and any issues should be fed back to Streetscene for investigation. Chris will liaise with the resident on the site of the old Victoria Road Hotel to see if there is anything that can be done.

Q. I recently received a letter from the Community Engagement Team advising that letters promoting the forums will only be sent out to interested people via email in future. How will people who don’t have email know about the forum?

A. Lucy Beed – We are trying to make sending out invites to the forum more efficient which means were possible we would like to email information. However if there is anyone who doesn’t have email we will still ensure that they receive written information. We also put details of the forums in information points such as GP surgeries, council buildings and dentists etc so we try to publicise them as much as possible. 

Q. What is happening with the Tidal Pool project that was funded through the Seaside Coastal Funding and the empty units by the Marine Lake at the Neptune Development?

A. Jim Lester – The Tidal Pool project is on the agenda for the 2^nd February Cabinet meeting as there are concerns over the health and safety aspect of the project.

Q. Can the empty units be on the agenda for the next area forum?

A. Cllr Sue Taylor – The company planning to originally run the gym at Neptune pulled out leaving units empty. There were then plans to have a childrens splash area. However the current situation is that a different company has expressed interest in opening a gym and health suite so until talks develop further we will have to wait to see what progress can be given.

Q. Dave Hanlon – Sports clubs were consulted with regarding the PACSPE consultation but they haven’t heard everything as to what is happening?

A. Jim Lester – The Council made the decision to scrap PACSPE and not to outsource the service. When this happened everything changed so we are planning to go and speak to all the sports groups to keep them updated with what is happening with the service.

Q. Have there been any thoughts on installing a round about at the bottom of Bayswater Road?

A. Cllrs Leslie Rennie and Kate Wood – It has been explored and money was allocated to install a round about. However when initial work took place, utility cables were discovered under the road. This dramatically increased the cost of the work. Discussions are still taking place to see if the additional funding can be obtained.

Q. We are having problems living by the Tavern nightclub. Every weekend we have to put up with anti social behaviour on our doorstep. The owner has just put in an application to extend the drinking hours. I am currently organising a petition to oppose it but how can we stop this?

A. Mike Barratt- you are doing the right thing in raising a petition. You can also contact the licensing department in the council to advise that you would like to make sure the petition is presented to the relevant committee.

Q. We work for Voluntary Community Action Wirral and have left some leaflets for anyone interested in the work we do or how we can help. If anyone wants to contact us our details our on the leaflets.