Although it is possible to forward pre-notified questions to the

Constituency Manager, questions will also be answered on the night via the

Chair.

Elected Members and members of the public in attendance raised the following questions, comments and requests.

Number 1

A member of the public requested that additional parking space be provided in Oakfield Road, Bromborough.  Residents who lived on that road had lots of vehicles and the parking of them was causing issues.  Neighbours were falling out as a result.  Buses had difficulty in getting by the parked vehicles.  This was also considered a health and safety issue because emergency vehicles could not get past.  The Committee was advised that additional parking space had been provided in other areas e.g. Bromborough Pool at a cost of £28,000 for a vast area and Oakfield Road was only half the size of that area.

The Group Leader (Road Safety) informed that he would look with the Task and Finish Group at the possibility of providing the requested additional parking.  However, similar requests had been received from elsewhere in the Constituency area and he had the details of them on file.

A Member informed that the green in Oakfield Road belonged to Magenta Living.  The Group Leader (Road Safety) informed that he would look into this and ascertain which was adopted highway and which was not adopted highway.

Number 2

A member of the public informed of a persistent offender who regularly drove a vehicle on the pavement in Eastham.  She asked if an Officer could make a site visit in an attempt to witness this.

The Group Leader (Road Safety) informed that he would discuss this with the member of the public after the meeting and take the details.

Number 3

A member of the public enquired about the makeup of the Committee that had made decisions in respect of the grants awarded from the Wirral South Health and Wellbeing Fund.

The Constituency Manager informed that an open invitation had been issued to all Members of this Committee and eight or nine Members had been able to attend the meeting where recommendations to allocate the funding had been made.

Number 4

A member of the public was concerned about having to walk children to St Peter’s C of E Primary School and back, along the lower part of Thurstaston Road where there were sandstone walls.  Whilst doing this she had been clipped by car wing mirrors because motorists drove onto the pavement.  She asked how motorists could be prevented from doing this.

The Group Leader (Road Safety) informed that the Council was constrained by the sandstone walls which were not in its ownership.  The Council could look at the possibilities of making this road one way but if this was to be done the speed of traffic on the road may then increase.  He agreed to look into it and take some details from the member of the public.

The Constituency Manager agreed to arrange a site visit with all interested parties including representatives from the School.

Number 5

A member of the public informed that in Bromborough where he lived there were two massive grass verges in the centre of The Avenue.  There was no where to park so motorists parked on the kerb.

The Group Leader (Road Safety) informed that the carriageway was the place for vehicles to drive on and it was not acceptable to drive on kerbs and grass verges.  It was costly to widen roads.  Motorists should not damage the infrastructure and should not drive on pavements.

The member of the public informed that if motorists did not park on the kerb they could get their vehicles damaged as the road was very narrow.

Number 6

A member of the public requested the contact details of the newly co-opted community representatives.  (Minute No. 29 refers.)

The Constituency Manager informed that he would discuss this request with the Co-opted Members but they could be contacted through him. 

Number 7

A member of the public asked if arrangements were being put in hand in retail parks to encourage people not already on the Electoral Roll to register.

Number 8

A member of the public noted that a Cultural Strategy was being put together for Wirral.  She was very interested in this and enquired if the Committee was represented on the group that had been tasked with this work. 

It was noted that the Head of Regeneration and Planning was a member as was Alison McGovern MP.

A Member informed that the Cultural Strategy was an absolute priority and was in its early stages of development.  He agreed to take the member of the public’s details and pass them on to the Head of Regeneration and Planning.

Number 9

A member of the public asked how the new Individual Electoral Registration would affect him.

The Constituency Manager informed that the vast majority of people would receive a letter informing them that they were registered and the member of the public would probably one of them.

The member of the public was concerned that the Senior Electoral Officer had been allowed to leave the meeting because it meant that the opportunity to question him had been lost.  He informed that for those who did not receive copies of the free press, there were free Newspapers available in Co-op Stores and some Tesco Stores.

The Constituency Manager informed that as well as information about IER being in free newspapers the publicity campaign would also involve face to face contact by knocking on doors in some areas.

Number 10

A member of the public was aware that the Government had provided funding of £360,000 to help repair potholes caused by severe weather last winter.  He enquired whether this funding would be allocated via the Constituency Committees.

The Group Leader (Road Safety) informed that the Government funding would be used on priorities that had been identified by Highways Inspectors.  Members of the public were invited to raise issues via Streetscene.

The member of the public asked if the Committee could not take the responsibility for allocating the funding.

The Constituency Manager informed that the funding for road repairs had not been devolved to the Committee this year and that the roads were scored to determine the priority for receiving attention.

The member of the public informed that this was a perfect opportunity for the Constituency Committees to take responsibility for spending this funding.

It was noted that the Council had adopted a prioritised system for road repairs but Elected Members could push to get potholes repaired as well.  It was their job to identify issues like this.

Some Members agreed that the funding should have been devolved to the Constituency Committees.  Others reminded the meeting that it was new money and it was not known whether a similar Government grant would be provided in future years.  The funding would go into the Integrated Transport Block programme budget and the Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport would decide which roads were resurfaced. 

Number 11

A member of the Public informed that Heswall Hall Community Trust wanted to thank the Committee for the grant it had provided from the Health and Wellbeing Fund.