Although it is possible to forward pre-notified questions to the Constituency Manager, questions will also be answered on the night via the Chair.

The Constituency Manager indicated that as part of the agreed improvement to the Constituency meeting, all questions would now be asked and collated at the beginning of the Q&A session. Collated questions were to be answered consecutively in sequence.

Committee Members and members of the public in attendance at the meeting raised the following questions, issues, concerns and requests.

Question 1

A member of the public asked the following questions:

(a)  They had recently attended a  meeting with local Police Officers and PCSO’s and had heard that already PCSO’s had been given notification of redundancy with effect from September 2015. He asked for clarification on the situation.

(b)  In relation the introduction of a CCTV system in Heswall, what were the timescales for implementation and would the system be monitored by Merseyside Police?

(c)  Heswall businesses had raised concerns regarding litter, especially after the weekend and especially near to licenced premises. Could the current arrangement with street cleaners be reviewed to incorporate Saturday/Sunday where businesses were seeing an increase in litter?

(d)  Litter bin in Telegraph Road opposite Heswall Library, request for more bins

Question 2

A Member of the public commented that they felt that the new arrangements for the Committee was much better and stressed the importance of the attendance of Community Representatives to the meetings.

Question 3

A member of the public asked the following questions:

(a)  In relation to recent incidents of Arson in Bebington Village, were there any planned operations by Merseyside Police to ensure there were no further incidents. 

(b)  Had previously raised a problem with a sink hole at the junction of Cross Lane/Heath Road, utilities work had been undertaken and already it was showing stress cracks, concerned that the sink hole could re-appear.

Question 4

A member of the public asked the following questions:

(a)  What was the process followed for the election of Community Representatives?

(b)  Could the Council help with the on-going issues of parking around South Wirral Schools.

Answer

(1a)  Inspector Meredith indicated that no PCSO’s had been issued with redundancy notices, the future of the PCSO’s would be unknown until the Spending Review was published.

(1b)  The Constituency Manager indicated that he had attended a meeting and agreed to chase up the issues raised and respond in writing and copy in the relevant Ward Councillors. In relation to monitoring, the Assistant Chief Executive indicated that general CCTV cameras were not monitored by the Council unless they were on the public highway and that cameras monitored by Liverpool HQ were not done so consistently. Merseyside Police did have access to the systems and images could be used for evidence. 

(1c)  Councillor K Hodson indicated that she had raised this issue with the Cabinet Member-Environmental Protection and would contact her again for a response.

  The Constituency Manager indicated that he had spoken to the Waste and Environment Department and had received clarification that there should be a weekend presence from Biffa, therefore he would chase this up. In response, a member of the public indicated that the street cleaners do attend but it was usually Sunday afternoon which was too late as smashed bottles etc. from the Nightclub would be left lying on the street from Friday and Saturday night. The Constituency Manager agreed to chase this up as there should be a presence on a Saturday.

  A Member commented that if it was the licenced premises where the litter was coming from, the premises could be called in for a review and condition could be opposed upon the licence to ensure that no bottles were taken from the premises upon leaving.

  It was suggested that the Committee consider for the area to become a alcohol-free zone.

(1d)  The Constituency Manager suggested that this could be reviewed with Members.

(3a)  Inspector Meredith indicated that Officers had been working undercover and with the Covert Unit to tackle this issue and also improvements had been made to the CCTV system.

(3b)  A Member indicated that this issue is of major concern and suggested that this be escalated to Director Level to look at this as an urgent matter.

  The Chair suggested that a site visit be requested so members and officers could meet to look at the site and source a resolution.

(4a)  The Constituency Manager indicated that this had been done at a previous meeting and advertising had been undertaken via the Council’s website and he had tried to contact those contacts the he was aware of within the community. He further indicated that unfortunately he had been unable to appoint a youth representative and urged the public to let people know that there is a vacancy.

(4b)  A Member indicated that this was a big issue for a lot of schools and although enforcement such as the presence of the Camera cars alleviates the problem in the short term, people just return once they had gone. He suggested that the schools be asked to help get the message across in relation to this issue and indicated that he would write to Headteachers and also request the camera car to be deployed in the area.

  A Member indicated that all schools in Bebington were experiencing problems with parking and that he had received a number of complaints from residents. He suggested parking restrictions could be introduced to alleviate this on-going issue. 

Following on from comments received from Members and members of the public, the Chair suggested and it was agreed that officers from the Highways Department be requested to attend the next meeting to give a presentation on the issue of school parking and possible enforcement measures.