Bus boost news

Earlier this year I organised a petition about the 80 and 80a bus services. 

The issue was that in the evenings and on Sundays, the service wasn't very frequent and actually only gave people the option of going to the airport (when some people wanted to go to other bits of Speke like Morrisons)

I went to see Arriva managers about it.  As someone who uses the bus service all the time I know just how annoying the Sunday service has been.

Anyway, the good news is that we now have more frequent evening service (every 20 mins instead of every half hour) both in the evenings and on a Sunday AND the route has been extended so that when the 80 is not running, the 80a will go on to parts of Speke after the airport.  It will finish up at Morrisons.

I hope this will make a difference to those many people who raised this with me.  I used the new service myself the other day and it really did make getting around the Brodie Avenue a lot easier.

Big thanks to those who signed the petition and who raised the issue with me in the first place.

Cressington Community First Panel - apply now!

The Cressington Communiy First panel is now asking organisations and initiatives in the ward to get in touch if they want to apply for funding.

The priorities for funding, and information about the Cressington ward boundaries, are on the website at
http://www.cressingtoncommunityfirst.blogspot.com/

ATM Campaign - big development next week

This Monday, the people from LINK (the organisation involved in providing cash machines) are in Liverpool.

They are meeting representatives from the Council, but they're also doing a tour of bits of Liverpool where there are few or no fee-free ATMs to see if locations can be found to fill the gaps.

Cash machines that charge are a major problem in areas where they are the only source of cash.  If you are already short of money and then have to pay to get hold of the little you have, this is effectively a tax on poverty.

I've been working on this issue for more than a year now and I am very pleased indeed that this progress has finally been made.

(I was pretty persistent with the Council to sort out this meeting once the LINK representatives were in touch with me)

Sadly I won't be able to join them as the election result removed me from the Council.  But if new locations are found I will know that I have played a key role in helping people keep more of their own money.

If I get more news about the outcomes from the visit and meetings, I will post about it here.

Problems with truancy watch?

I was contacted this morning by a mum in South Liverpool who's worried about something that happened to her little boy.

Apparently he was approached, on the way into school, by people working for Truancy Watch.  He wasn't late and the letter sent to his mum has made her angry and worried.

This may of course be a one off mistake.  But it strikes me that approaching children on the way into school in the morning is probably not the best way to spot truants!

Don't get me wrong.  Truancy is a problem and its vital that youngsters don't miss school because of the way one lesson builds on another.

But it also strikes me that there are plenty of places in Liverpool where children bunking off are often found, and the way into school isn't one of them!

I am going to get some questions asked about this but, in order to see if its a one off I thought I would try to see if other parents have had similar experiences.  If you have, please let me know by e mailing me at paulakeaveney@yahoo.co.uk

Election result 2012

This week (May 3rd) saw the mayoral and local elections in Liverpool.

Sadly I lost the election in Cressington by 127 votes.

You still have a Lib Dem Councillor for the area in Richard Oglethorpe and I will still be posting about campaigns and local news here.

Thank you so much to all those who supported me.  I have been really very touched indeed by some of the messages I have received.