Garston waste plant plans update

The application from Jack Allen Holdings for planning permission to build a waste plant at Garston Docks is now valid (all the paperwork is in). That means the plan will have to be discussed at the City Council planning committee later this year. First there is a chance for people to send in objections. The three Lib Dem Councilors for Cressington will, as before, be fighting this application. We believe that this site is completely wrong for this idea. What's more when there was a neutral investigation of a whole load of potential sites across Merseyside, this one scored below zero for its suitability for waste.

Official consultation letters are going out at the moment to people living near the site. Because of the volume of letters, these won't all arrive on the same day.

The Cressington Lib Dem Councillors are also writing to residents. Pasted below is a copy of the letter we have sent.

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Dear Resident

We are writing, as your elected councillors, to let you know that sadly
Jack Allen Holdings have resubmitted their application to build a waste
disposal facility at Garston Dock.

As you may be aware, a previous application was withdrawn following a
huge number of objections. As your councillors we objected and
campaigned against the scheme. Thousands of you also objected and the
company were forced to think again.

Now they have resubmitted an amended plan.

As your Councillors we still believe this is wrong. Liverpool does need
waste facilities but these should not be next to people's houses and off
already busy roads. Garston is regenerating and we believe this plan
may halt some of that well needed regeneration.

Once again we are asking you to send in objections to the plans. Formal
letters will be going out but even if you do not receive a letter, you
are entitled to object. The reference number for the plan is 09F/1012
which you need to quote in any letter. The address to write to is
Planning Department, Millennium House, Liverpool City Council, Victoria Street, Liverpool,

The City Council is obliged by law to operate a system to consider this
application. As part of that preliminary information is available on
the Council's website (www.liverpool.gov.uk) in the Planning Explorer
Section. Type the reference number into the search boxes.

Please feel free to contact us on this, or any other issue.

We can be contacted by letter, e mail or phone.

Cllr Richard Oglethorpe - richard.oglethorpe@liverpool.gov.uk
Cllr Peter Millea - peter.millea@liverpool.gov.uk
Cllr Paula Keaveney - paula.keaveney@liverpool.gov.uk

Office phone numbers - 0151 225 2354 or 0151 225 2353 (messages can be left if we are not there)



You may also like to know that our regular surgeries are now on a
Saturday morning at 10 am at Garston Library and One Stop Shop on Bowden
Road. These are on the 1st, 2nd and 4th Saturday of the month (except
August)

Yours




Richard Oglethorpe Peter Millea Paula Keaveney

Lib Dem Councillors - Cressington Ward

Question on police money

After the AGM bit of the Council meeting on Tuesday we were into the usual meeting which includes Question Time - either questions to exec members (which I am banned from because I am one) or questions to the councillors representing organisations like the Police Authority or Merseytravel. For the third time I asked about the money spent on policing the Labour Cabinets meeting in Liverpool. I simply don't believe Merseyside taxpayers and the Merseyside Police Authority should be picking up the bill for this rather obvious PR stunt. The answer to my question this week was to the effect that the Government has been asked twice to pay up and hasn't replied to the letters. I suspect it'll be ages before we get a decent reply. A couple of years ago it turned out that there were some Liverpool MPs who had let a good 15 months go by without replying to letters that were directly about their area of responsibility.

A bit of a week of it!

This must have been one of the most hectic weeks I've had. We're in that period at work when all the student work has to be marked, double marked and the marks recorded (looming deadline on Wednesday). I've had everything from projects on the Masters Degrees, to undergraduate dissertations to essays and logbooks. But this has also been a week of loads of politics and meetings. I've had a group meeting, the Council AGM, I've been on the vetting panel for would be Lib Dem candidates (with more of that to come) and I've got the Liverpool Commission tonight. Oh and we had an end of term celebration with the students with a mock awards ceremony on Wednesday that I had to organise. May be next year I can try to arrange so that I don't have high pressure politics and work events in the same few days.

Garston Park reminder

A quick reminder that there's an initial meeting to talk about starting a Friends of Garston Park group this coming Tuesday (26th) at 7pm at the Garston Leisure Centre. If you want to know more please drop me an e mail at my council e mail address - paula.keaveney@liverpool.gov.uk

New Lord Mayor

Cllr Mike Storey was sworn in (if that's the word) as the new Lord Mayor of Liverpool last night. He decided to have the installation (maybe that's the word) dinner on Saturday so we will be able to celebrate properly then.

Cllr Hazel Williams is the new Deputy Lord Mayor. Great to see another woman in the role!

Garston waste plans update

Not a lot extra to say. Jack Allen did put their plans in to the planning offices. The application was invalid (I understand there was a key piece of paper missing). Nothing will happen now until they make sure the application is at least valid. I cant help thinking that an organisation that can't provide the right paperwork is probably not the best to run something as technical as a waste plant.

Liverpool Commission

It's the last meeting of the Liverpool Commission this Friday. It'll be a different sort of meeting as, instead of hearing evidence and asking questions, we will be looking at some of the evidence that's come in and discussing the writing of the report. We hope the report, with its recommendations, will be out around late June and certainly in time for the Full Council meeting in July. Friday's meeting is in private unlike the others - but I can still raise any issues then that relate to the topics we've been covering. The comments function is still off on this blog at the moment (see earlier post) but you can e mail me at my council e mail which is paula.keaveney@liverpool.gov.uk. Information about the Commission is on the City Council's website - www.liverpool.gov.uk - in the section about councillors, meetings and agendas.

Drenched - again

I've been out delivering every day for the last four days. And each time I have got to the destination and started - only for the heavens to open. Clearly I am jinxed.

Garfourth Close alleygate agreed

The Traffic and Highways Representation Committee agreed yesterday that alleygates could be put on the alley that runs from Garfourth Close to Woolton Road. That will end a long running saga of problems there. I remember residents talking about this as far back as 2005. (comments still off - see earlier post)

Grants for Young People in Liverpool

This is a message from LCVS about grants for young people in Liverpool. The deadline is quite soon.

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The David Lewis Association has a small amount of funding available to help disadvantaged, individual young people aged 14 – 25 in Liverpool to have a life changing experience.



Grants from £500 to £5,000 (perhaps more in exceptional circumstances) are available for disadvantaged young people, nominated by a local voluntary or community organisation (VCO), who must



Show exceptional potential or be embarking on a personal challenge
Live in Liverpool
Demonstrate the need for financial assistance
Grants may also be given to help with medical bills or adaptations where

The treatment undertaken will enable the young person to take a more active role in the life of the community or enable them to take up a personal challenge
The adaptation will enable the young person to fulfil their potential
How to apply

The David Lewis Association is looking for nominations from local voluntary and community sector groups, youth organisations etc. The initial nomination form is available from the LCVS Grants Team who can be contacted on 227 5177, via email - grants@lcvs.org.uk or via the LCVS web site – www.lcvs.org.uk .

The closing date for nominations is Friday, 29th May. The Governors of the David Lewis Association will shortlist a number of applicants who will be asked to complete a Stage 2 application form. The Grants Team at LCVS will then assess these Stage 2 applications and a decision will be made in June at a meeting of the David Lewis Association trustees.

Garfourth Close alleygate

Tomorrow's Traffic and Highways Committee will be taking a decision about the plans for an alleygate on the alley that runs from Garfourth Close to Woolton Road. There have been calls for this for some time now and it took a while to get the evidence. It is not universally wanted however and there has been an objection. That's why the committee is meeting. My colleague Peter Millea usually chairs this meeting but he has asked someone else to take the chair so that he can represent our Cressington constituents. I have student assessments that morning so I can't be there. Will blog again when we have the decision. (comments still off - see earlier post)

Waste plan development

Last time I blogged about this we were waiting to hear whether Jack Allen (the company wanting to put a waste disposal facility at the docks in Garston) were going to re submit their plans or not. Well the bad news is they are. The PR company representing JA have sent out a press release so there may be some initial coverage in tomorrow's Daily Post or Echo.

Obviously until the plans are in and registered and we have had a chance to see them we won't know what, if anything, has changed since the exhibitions. But its hard to think of any change that would make this proposal welcome on this site. Put quite simply its right next to a load of houses and just off a road which is already busy.

The Lib Dem Councillors for Cressington will be continuing to oppose this scheme. It's also worth local people knowing that there is a residents' group website (called South Liverpool Residents) which you can register with to get involved in the local campaign.

Comments are temporarily off on this blog (see post below for why) but if you need to contact me re this please e mail me on my council e mail which is
paula.keaveney@liverpool.gov.uk

Abusive Comments

I have suddenly had a stream of abusive comments posted on the blog. Obviously I moderate comments so they haven't appeared, but I have to say it is really unpleasant to have to read through them (and you do have to do sort out what each one is saying). Some were actually threats against me (stupidly I deleted them straight away). I suspect this is a one off, and may be even something automated because they all came in a short period of time by the looks of things. But I am going to knock off the comment feature for a few days. If you need to get in touch with me in the meanwhile please use my council e mail address which is paula.keaveney@liverpool.gov.uk

Friends of Garston Park meeting

Some time ago I blogged about the possibility of setting up a Friends Group for Garston Park. I did some letter writing and e mailing and now have a list of people who are interested.

I'm coming back to the subject now because we've got a first meeting fixed and I want to make sure as many potentially interested people as possible know about it.

The date is 26th May (a Tuesday) at 7pm at the Garston Leisure Centre. It would help if I knew how many people are coming so if you haven't already been in touch but do want to come, please drop me an e mail to my council address which is
paula.keaveney@liverpool.gov.uk. If you can't come to this meeting, but would be interested in getting involved, please also drop me an e mail.

Valley Community Theatre event

Last week (and I can't believe it is actually that long ago) the PR students at Edge Hill University organised an event at the Valley Community Theatre. For the uninitiated this is an organisation in Netherley. It works with young people "at risk", it is home to a thriving youth theatre and it plays host to touring companies which means that people in that part of Liverpool can see theatre without having to journey into town. The students had two PR briefs - one to raise the profile of the youth theatre and one to look at getting more organisations interested in venue hire. Actually its not all finished yet but last week's event was part of the youth theatre brief. The students managed to get a celebrity compere and a senior councillor (I don't mean me) plus speeches from young people. There was a showcase of work and a chance to network. I am mentioning this now as some of the photographs have arrived in my in box and this is an excuse to publish one and to say how proud I am of the students.