Yew Tree Play Area

The damaged matting in OctoberRegular followers of this blog will know that Ian, Leah and I have regularly reported on damage and misuse to the play area  and football area at Yew Tree. Recent complaints and damage have led to involvement from Merseyside Police.

The police have paid particular attention to anti social behaviour in the area. From this I am pleased to report that over the last few months police have challenged a number of youths around the area confiscating several containers of alcohol. Since this the park appears to have been a lot quieter, although one man was recently arrested for discharging an air rifle in the area.

Enquiries are also continuing with local schools using CCTV footage to try and identify those responsible for the  damage to the park late last year.

Well done to the police for their targeted action and thanks to all the residents who got in touch.

We do listen all year round and do get things done all year round!

Action, not words, on fuel poverty

With great timing, Moreton’s MP of 18 years, Angela Eagle, has written to people in this community saying the Winter Fuel Payment is at risk from the likes of me and Leah Fraser.  It isn’t, as Leah explains here.

Tomorrow, I am attending a meeting of the Fuel Poverty Forum.  Fuel Poverty is ‘officially’ when a household spends more than £10 of every £100 income on fuel for their home, such as gas and electricity.  I will report back tomorrow.

Many homes in Leasowe and Moreton are paying even more. The number of people in fuel poverty has gone up: one family in four is now affected by rising bills.  And, last winter, there were around 36,700 deaths thought to be caused by fuel poverty.

Local campaigner Steve Smith, Leah Fraser and I have been contacted by many pensioners in our community during the recent cold snap. In one case, an 86-year-old had not had any hot water for more than a year!

I have contacted the ‘Warmer Wirral’ team to see what can be done to help people in Leasowe and Moreton struggling with fuel bills.

Now, they have arranged for ‘energy assessors’ to visit people in Leasowe and Moreton to offer them energy efficiency advice, and to see what grants are available for insulation and heating improvements. This will take place in June but, remember, don’t let strangers into your home without an appointment!

Meanwhile, Conservatives nationally have announced plans to help people who use the Post Office Card Account to cut their bills.  Leah explains: “Many people who use the Post Office don’t have a bank account. They can’t then get the discounts on gas or electricity bills offered to people who pay by direct debit.

“Under new Conservative plans, I’m pleased to say that the Post Office Card Account will be changed. It’s not right that some of the people who have the least are forced to pay the highest fuel bills.”

Note: I am a little concerned that the new ‘New’ Labour candidate (replacing Lorraine Krimou, who replaced Iris Coates) is promoting the letter from Ms Eagle and the claims within it.  I hope that isn’t the standard of the campaign we are going to see in Leasowe and Moreton East.

Goodbye Lorraine, hello Ann…

(THE PICTURE WHICH SHOWED LORRAINE WITH GORDON AND SARAH BROWN AND ANGELA EAGLE HAS BEEN REMOVED AT THE REQUEST OF ONE OF THOSE MENTIONED)

It seems that the New Labour candidate for Leasowe and Moreton East, Lorraine Krimou (pictured here with the Great Clunking Fist, second from left), has withdrawn.  Her website is (was) here.

Lorraine was most recently in the news here which suggests the local Labour Party is, well…split.  The news blog Hamilton Squared has more here.

In Lorraine’s place, Labour has parachuted in Ann McArdle who is hoping for ‘fifth time lucky’.  Ann is, of course, Angela Eagle’s agent but has also stood for Council in Wallasey Village in 2008; New Brighton in 2007;  New Brighton in 2006 and Wallasey Village in 2004.  Ann lives in Wallasey Village (off Green Lane) and has, I understand, recently broken her arm after slipping on the ice.  I wish her a speedy recovery.

Of course, New Labour, when I stood for Leasowe in 2007, made a great fuss about me living ‘miles away’ in New Brighton.  Presumably, Wallasey Village is more acceptable, albeit rather ‘leafy’ according to Cllr. Adrian Moans Jones in Seacombe…

To lose one candidate (Iris) is unfortunate; to lose tw0 is, well, careless…

‘Affordable’ Tunnel Toll cut blocked

Today was one of those days when you think politics can sometimes be a load of ‘pants’.  Along with my colleague, Cllr. Chris Blakeley, I attended a meeting of Merseytravel to set the budget for the year and the tolls for the two tunnels.

Protesting against the tolls with Leah Fraser

In a move that had been described as ‘affordable’ by Merseytravel’s Director of Resources as ‘affordable, we proposed cutting the tolls by 10p.  Guess what?  Labour councillors voted against. 

In so many other ways, Merseytravel is an efficient, well-run organisation that is responsive to the needs of the region, yet, on this issue, they seem blind to the impact of the tolls on Wirral.

A report by a firm of consultants appointed by Merseytravel had been used by supporters of the tolls as predicting apocalypse if the tolls were scrapped.  Yeah right.  They conveniently forgot to mention that the same report also revealed how Wirral has the lowest workplace earnings in Merseyside. 

So, there you have it.  Some of the lowest paid people in the region were denied a 10p cut in their toll by Labour councillors.  Up the workers!

Leasowe Station ‘Park and Fine’

One of the weekly newspapers has reported on people using Leasowe ‘Park & Ride’ being fined for parking over lines which, to the naked eye, are hardly visible.  Back in 2008, I met with the General Manager of Merseyrail Electrics at the station, with my colleague Cllr. Chris Blakeley.

I asked for the meeting initially because the car park was prone to flooding, making many of the bays unusable.  The markings had also become worn and hard to see.  Merseyrail, to their credit, did improve the drainage but the lines remained difficult to see, particularly in the dark.

The marking of bays was scheduled to be completed before Christmas after the drainage works but snow and ice has delayed things.  Merseyrail has assured me that it is now top priority and will be done as soon as the weather allows! Until then, I have suggested the parking wardens seek only to deal with problems caused by people who park on double yellows or who block access.

My colleague, Steve Smith, who lives near to the station, has been contacted by some of his neighbours on some of the other issues at the car park and we will report back on this shortly.  I know Leah Fraser also spoke to a resident of Reeds Lane on this as well.

Containers on Hoylake Road

Tonight along with my colleague Ian Lewis and residents from Burnley Road, I attended a planning meeting about the unauthorised siting of storage containers adjacent to homes in Burnley Road. Regular readers of this blog will know this has been an ongoing problem with the owner of the land since 2008.

Tonight one of the residents and Ian raised the issue of the lack of planning permission for the containers and how the owner had shown blatant disregard and openly flouted the planning procedures.

I am happy to report that the planning committe overwhelmingly supported the residents views and will now serve an enforcement notice for the removal of the containers, along with looking into what other material is stored there too.

Well done to the Burnley Road residents who have organised and conducted themselves very well during this dispute and have now got the result they deserve.

Urgent Appeal

Following on from Ian’s post trying to find a donor of Chinese origin to try help Jenny Wilkinson fight Leukemia. As someone who has had the privilege and honour of being selected as a match to donate bone marrow in 2004. I would urge everybody to ask their friends from the chinese community to please take the blood tests to try and help Jenny.

I have been involved with Anthony Nolan Trust Since 1996 and they are always on the look out for donors of all ages and from all ethnicities. Visit their website and have a look at what they do and if we all try we may be able to make a difference for Jenny and many many others.

www.anthonynolan.org.uk

Urgent appeal

A Wirral woman who faces a race against time to find a matching bone marrow donor is appealing to the chinese community to help provide the lifesaving transplant she needs to beat leukaemia.

Jenny Wilkinson, 44, of Wallasey, was diagnosed with leukaemia in May 2009. After three unsuccessful courses of chemotherapy, she is now taking part in trials of a new drug, which it is hoped will put her in remission. However she was forced to abandon the trial after it left her desperately ill.

After recovering, she now is taking the drug again, and if, as is hoped, the drug succeeds in putting her in remission, she will then need a bone marrow transplant.

However Jenny says the chances of her finding a donor are complicated by the fact that she is of chinese origin – and has not been able to find a match yet.

Jenny’s parents – her mother died just a week ago – are both Chinese, and Jenny has been told that her best chance of a donor lies with someone of Chinese origin.

However, national donor registers are chronically short of potential donors from ethnic groups, and urgently need to recruit more volunteer donors from all ethnic backgrounds, including chinese.

Said Jenny: ‘I was shocked to find out that, due to my background, the odds of finding a suitable donor are much worse than if I was a Caucasian patient.  Most matches are found from within the same ethnic community as the patient.

‘This is the chance for someone to make a profound difference to someone’s life. I’m trying hard to stay positive but I need to find a match as soon as possible,’ she added.

There is only a short window of time that Jenny could receive a bone marrow transplant, and patients only have a chance at one transplant too, so the best match possible is vital.

Now Jenny is appealing to everyone – particularly the chinese and ethnic minority communty – to join the national bone marrow register.

Jenny feels that some people may be put off my outdated perceptions of what a bone marrow transplant entails. Thanks to advances in medicine, donating bone marrow is now much easier, and, for most people pain, free.

Jenny is calling on people to register for bone marrow donation by calling the Anthony Nolan Trust on 0303 303 0303, or going to the Wirral Leukaemia Awareness Day event in the aerobics studio at West Kirby Concourse on Saturday February 6 from 9.30am-4pm where they will be able to take a simple test to see whether they are suitable. Anyone aged between 18 and 50 and in general good health would make a potential donor.

Three nights on the knocker

Steve Smith - living here!

For the last three nights, we’ve been calling on voters in Leasowe and Moreton. First, thanks to the 21 people who have turned up to help (and to Alex Jones for whipping them into shape! lol). 

It was bitterly cold and I forgot my gloves for two of the nights, unlike our candidate Steve Smith who was suitably dressed…

Steve lives in the ward, is a school governor here, used to work at Vauxhalls, used to run a local pub, is a governor at Eastway, is a volunteer youth worker and, as a result, is very well known.  There isn’t a night when he doesn’t meet people he knows on first name terms.  It’s also the first time he has stood – he hasn’t been chasing a seat on the council all around the town. 

When I stood for election in Leasowe and Moreton, New Labour made a big fuss about the fact I lived in New Brighton.  At least at the election on May 6th, both the Conservative and New Labour candidate (Lorraine Krimou) will live in the place they seek to represent. 

Thanks to all the residents who opened their doors.  Steve, Leah Fraser and I will be dealing with the issues over the next few days.

Security Alert

Tonight whilst out canvassing I was made aware of a disturbing break in to a house in the area. A family had their car stolen from outside their house on Friday evening after somebody walked through the unlocked front door and took the house and car keys from the hallway.

This is alarming news although as it appears it may have been targeted for the vehicle.

I would urge everyone to be aware of this kind of crime and always keep your front door locked and b e aware of any strange or unusal  cars in your area.

Stay alert and stay safe.

If you see anything suspicious call Merseyside Police on 0151 709 6010.

Moreton Day Service

Earlier today I attended a meeting of the Advisory Group for the Moreton Day Service, based on Pasture Road.  The Service does a fantastic job of helping vulnerable adults learn new skills, make friends and, as well, giving a break to carers and parents.

It was interesting to hear the feedback from the users of the service, in particular how much they enjoyed the Christmas event and carol service.

There was also discussion about the ongoing impact of the Strategic Asset Review and the closure of the Oakenholt Centre nearby. 

Finally, if you are looking for a night out on Friday, the service has an  event that will raise money for Help for Heroes.  The venue is the Cammell Lairds Social Club, starting at 7.30pm until 11pm.  Tickets are £5.50 and can be bought on the door and includes disco, buffet, Irish Bingo and Spin the Wheel.