The following questions / issue were raised:

1.  Ken Harrison – has a survey been done on potholes?

Chris Jones- Inspectors have carried out visual inspections on all main routes and are devising an action plan on how to catch up following recent severe weather conditions and to prioritise future work. There was a resource available for repairing potholes and the contractor will deal with repairs as soon as possible. Please report potholes to the Streetscene call centre on 0151 606 2004.

2.  Councillor Knowles – was there an increase in the number of falls due to the Council’s decision not to grit pavements?

Jo Goodfellow – there was an increase in the number of falls, but it cannot be confirmed that this was due to gritting. Jo agreed to request information on where the trips / falls took place and report back to the forum.

Mark Camborne added that elected members had asked for a review of how this affected the Council Service, and he invited Jo Goodfellow and Shymal Mukerjee to be part of the review. The Council had never gritted pavements, pedestrian areas are treated, but there was a shortage of rock salt and the Council followed instructions issued by Central Government.

3.  Tony Forder – people used to clear pavements outside their houses, but this has stopped due myth that they could be sued if someone fell on area that they had cleared, and this should be publicised more.

Mark Camborne – agreed that there should be more publicity in this area and confirmed that this would be considered as part of the review.

4.  Dave Hale – Community payback could be used to clear pathways.

Chris Jones – confirmed that Community payback were involved and did a great job, they cleared areas around health centres and communal activity areas.

Mark Camborne confirmed that Community payback were included in the plans and would be covered within the review.

5.  Carole Thomas – Sefton Council has a bye-law whereby residents clear the pathway outside their house, does Wirral Council have such a bye-law?

Mark Camborne – no and it would be very difficult to bring in such a bye-law.

6.  Dave Hanlon – why isn’t sand used?

Mark Camborne – the council has a responsibility to maintain primary and secondary roads, and has been using a mixture of sand / salt and grit due to the shortage of rock salt.

7.  Diane Ledder – potholes in Leominster Road had been filled but this has lifted. Has the pothole at the Floral Pavilion been repaired?

Chris Jones – the road surface temperature was too cold causing repairs to fail. Asphalt plants stopped supplying materials because of this. Chris agreed to discuss pothole repairs at the end of the meeting.

8.  Stan Thompson – what is happening re: vehicle activated road sign at Mariners Park?

Chair – last October the pedestrian refuge was agreed and residents were consulted. There were complaints re: proposed move of the bus stop on the church side and an objection has been made to the amended proposals. A panel made up of a Councillor from each party will look at the plan and comments received prior to deciding on action to be taken. Residents will be kept informed on this.

9.  Carole Thomas – Is Edinburgh Road going to become a one-way Street? If so could Kemlyn Road become an access only street?

Chris Jones – agreed to look into this and report back.

10.Scott Gould – raised issue of lack or representation from young people on the forum. The young people could be invited to speak at the area forums.

Chair – this issue has been discussed previously. Wirral holds a Youth Parliament Conference each year, and is very active re: youth on local politics – the Youth Council meets a few times a year. She agreed to arrange for young people to be invited to future meetings

Area Co-ordinator – Youth forums meet every quarter and there are links between these and the area forums.

Councillor Karen Hayes – young people have chaired some of our meetings.

11.Father Leon Ostaszewski asked about the latest position re: Pagoda Bandstand?

Diane Ledder confirmed that a letter re: this had been sent to Father Leon and agreed to discuss this at the end of the meeting.

12.Dave Hanlon – what is the situation re: expenditure on the parks?

Chair – the amounts listed below are to be put to each park and a survey will be carried out with young people to find out what they want in the area. The survey will be completed in the next few weeks and will then be reported to Cabinet.

o  Central Park £60,000

o  Tower Gardens £60,000

o  Harrison Park £30,000

o  Town Meadow Lane (replacing Lingham Park) £40,000

13.Dave Hanlon – the MUGA in Central Park should be moved, as it is in the wrong place.

Diane Ledder – the seat should be moved to face into the park, but there were no proposals to move the MUGA as it was sited following a massive consultation with users of the park.

The Chair agreed to raise this issue with Roger Calvert.

Minute Decision:

Resolved that: -

(i)  Jo Goodfellow to report back on where trips / falls occurred during the recent severe weather conditions

(ii)  Mark Camborne to invite Jo Goodfellow and Shymal Mukerjee to the review of policies during severe weather conditions

(iii)  Chris Jones to look into proposals for one way system in Edinburgh Road and possibility of making Kemlyn Road access only

(iv)  Michelle Gray to invite young people to future forum meetings

(v)  Councillor Leah Fraser to raise issue of position of seating and MUGA in Central Park with Roger Calvert