Crafty Corner official opening

Today was the official opening for Crafty Corner.. an initiative of a group of women in the Cressington area.

It's a former shop which they are turning into a base for art activities, cup cake making/decoration etc.

They also want to use it as a venue for organisations that provide a service to the community to come and run surgeries and answer questions.

The launch was great.. cakes and champagne.. and the Lord Mayor.

Crafty Corner is on Garston Old Road at the end of the parade of shops including the florists and the coffee shop.

It is due to open for business next week.  I am sure it will be a fantastic addition to what's on offer in our area.

You can follow crafty corner on Twitter at  @craftycorner.

Shelter campaign re rogue landlords

The other day I went to visit the Shelter Campaign base in Liverpool.  Shelter had taken over an empty shop in the City Centre for a few days to highlight a campaign on rogue landlords. 

It's a really imaginative way to raise the issues and I was really impressed by what they were doing.

They were asking people to sign a card with a statement or thoughts on the issue, which I did.

The picture shows me adding my card to the others from other councillors etc in Liverpool.

Getting news about South Liverpool

I publish an e mail bulletin roughly once a month with news about Cressington ward and the wider South Liverpool area.

If you don't already get it, but would like to, you can subscribe using this link

New restaurant for Garston Village

The new Indian restaurant in Garston village - the Spice Brasserie - is now open.  It's on the corner just before you go under the bridge.

I had a meal in there the other day and the food was rather good.

I do hope they make a go of it as we need more  things like this in the village.

Police parking (update April 22)

Earlier this month I went, with some residents and someone representing Cllr Flo Clucas, to meet the head of the police academy on Mather Avenue.

There is a parking problem linked to the academy and residents are having problems parking and getting on and off their property.

Anyway, the meeting went well and we are following up several ways of making things easier.

If we can get the double yellow lines removed from the front of the building, which the police don't seem that bothered about, it should ease the problem for people living nearby.

I'll blog again when I have an update but meanwhile if this problem affects you and you haven't already been in touch, please feel free to contact me at paulakeaveney@yahoo.co.uk

Waste plant site update (April 2012)

June this year sees another lot of hearings into the whole issue of the waste site near Cressington Heath.

The City Council designated this site (Stalbridge Dock) as the official sub regional site for Liverpool for a waste plant of some sort.  This was as part of a wider Merseyside Plan. (Anyone who knows the area will know that this designation was in the face of opposition from people who actually lived in the area)

The wider Merseyside Plan, including all the various choices of site, now goes to a hearing with an Inspector from the Planning Inspectorate to check out things.

The hearing starts in mid June but by the looks of it the sessions on individual site choices won't be until the end of the month.

I sent in objections to Stalbridge, as did the land owners ABP, and so I have been asked if I want to speak at the hearing (which obviously I do). I was the only local Councillor or representative to bother to do this.

The hearing organisers have drawn up some questions about the Stalbridge site for the hearing to explore.  These include whether in fact the site is deliverable given the fact that Jack Allen walked away and the land owners are not keen. Obviously if the site is "undeliverable" this throws the choice of Stalbridge into doubt and maybe the City Council will have to think again.

I'll blog again when the exact dates and times are confirmed.  The hearing is in St Helens.

You can't vote if you are not on the roll.

The deadline for getting onto the electoral roll, or for getting a postal vote, for the local and Mayoral elections this May is Wednesday this week.

If you are not on the roll, but want to be, you need to sign a form and get it back to the electoral services section of the Council by 5pm.

You can download an electoral registration form, and a postal voting form, from the Electoral Commission website which you can find here.http://www.aboutmyvote.co.uk/

New planning application - Cressington Heath development

Redrow Homes have put in a planning application for more houses (and some flats) on the Cressington Heath Development.

You can see the details on the Council's planning explorer section here.http://northgate.liverpool.gov.uk/PlanningExplorer17/Generic/StdDetails.aspx?PT=Planning%20Applications%20On-Line&TYPE=PL/PlanningPK.xml&PARAM0=795352&XSLT=/PlanningExplorer17/SiteFiles/Skins/Liverpool_WIP/xslt/PL/PLDetails.xslt&FT=Planning%20Application%20Details&PUBLIC=Y&XMLSIDE=/PlanningExplorer17/SiteFiles/Skins/Liverpool_WIP/Menus/PL.xml&DAURI=PLANNING

The detail of the application is actually in the section called "Related Documents".

Harold Newgass Drive

Plans to name a road after Garston hero Harold Newgass are now all sorted.  In about six months time we should have a ceremony to mark the naming of Harold Newgass Drive.

I'll blog again when I have all the details but this is great news and a result of an initiative originally suggested by a local man and pursued by myself and colleagues in Council.

Crafty Corner - opening soon

I blogged earlier about a group of parents in Cressington who'd got together to set up in their own premises.

Well Crafty Corner, their initiative on Garston Old Road has an official opening ceremony later this month.

Its at the end of a parade of shops (hence corner) and its going to include art and pottery (hence crafty).

The whole thing sounds great and I'm really looking forward to seeing it get going

Friends of the Earth campaign on Bees

Friends of the Earth are starting a campaign about bees.  There has been a fall off in the bee population and given we need bees to pollinate plants (including food!) this is a potential problem

Anyway, the link to the first bit of the campaign is here

http://www.elabs10.com/functions/message_view.html?mid=1629689&mlid=186054&siteid=2010002677&uid=60292e25dc

Garston Park art project - taking shape.

Last night I joined members of Friends of Garston Park and the Garston family history group to work on the project to produce art for the outside of the sports pitches on the park. 

We spent time working on the Garston skyline aspect of the art.  We've been picking particular buildings, past and present, that we think should be represented on the mural.  We now have a set of photographs and some thoughts about the different sizes and the order they need to come in. The next step is to start the actual painting.

There'll also be painted boards representing what various groups do.  The Family History Group plan seems very well advanced. 

There are two other workshops each week as well as work going on in a local school.  It'll be great when all the art is put together later this year.

If you want more information about the project, or want to join in, please let me know so I can pass your details on to one of the organisers.

Cressington mums group

Earlier this week I visited what will be the new location for an enterprising group of parents in Cressington ward.

The group of mothers are turning an empty shop premised on Garston Old Road into a location for pottery, art and other activities.  They want to become a bit of a hub so that parents can drop in and make friends, take part in things and get advice.

The whole thing sounds fantastic and the location (just along from the coffee shop and florists) is a great place to be.

They are planning several things, including an opening ceremony and some hanging basket making.  I am really impressed with the drive and enthusiasm involved.  I'll blog again when I have more news so watch this space!

Liberal Democrat Mayoral Manifesto

Richard Kemp, the Liberal Democrat Candidate for Elected Mayor of Liverpool, has published his manifesto as part of the campaign.

The election for mayor takes place on the same day as the local elections - May 3rd.

Here is a link to Richard's manifesto which you will also find on http://www.kemp4mayor.org.uk/.









Hosted by blogger.com and published by A Makinson promoting R Kemp(liberal democrat) at 509 Smithdown Road, L15 5AE

ATM Campaign update (April 2012)

I've blogged before about the campaign to end "cash deserts"in Liverpool.  These are areas in which there are no ATMs (cash machines) apart from ones that charge.  This in effect means you are taxed on getting your own money and in deprived areas its a real tax on poverty.

Anyway, as a result of the campaign, the people from Link (who provide a lot of the machines) are coming up in May to look at areas of shortage and to see if any decent locations can be found.

The statistics show that most of these areas are in North Liverpool, but I expect there are other bits of the City with problems too. It's important to be aware of all of these before the visit.

If there is an area you know about that could do with some attention, please let me know.

Garston Park art project - workshops this week (start 2 April)

The Garston Park art project workshops continue this week with activities at White Oak Lodge, Garston Park Church and the Garston Urban Village Hall.

The project involves groups and individuals helping generate ideas and artwork for boards which will be hung around the walls of the sports pitches on the park.

If you want to know more, or your group wants to get involved, do come along to one of the sessions.

On Monday evening the artists are at White Oak Lodge.  Wednesday sees activities at Garston Park Church and Thursday involves work at the Garston Urban Village Hall.  The workshops start at 6pm

You don't need to be a skilled artist as we have community artists there to help.