Paula Keaveney - Lib Dem Campaigner

Holmefield Road Tesco licensing decision

2012-01-25T14:39:00.000Z

People living in the Holmefield Road/Aigburth Hall Avenue area will know about the new Tesco that is going to open where the Spar used to be on Holmefield Road.

Today the licensing committee was making the decision about the alcohol license - the issues being whether to grant one and whether to make any changes to what Tesco was asking for.

I went along to speak on behalf of some local residents on Aigburth Hall Avenue who were worried that the return of alcohol sales at that location would mean the return of the drink related asb they had endured when Spar was selling drink. Councillor Tina Gould was there to represent some Mossley Hill residents and we were joined by a lady who lives very near the shop.

The committee decided to grant the licence - which means alcohol sales being allowed during the same hours the shop is open (7 am to 10 pm Monday to Sunday). Tesco did make some commitments, among which was a phone number residents could use to get hold of the duty manager straight away if there is trouble. I also asked them if they would put an extra litter bin out.

The information from the meeting, including anonymised copies of the objections sent in, is on the Council website at this link. The minutes, which will include the reason for the decision, should also appear shortly

Speeding traffic petition

2012-01-24T21:28:00.001Z

I blogged earlier about a call for council action on speeding traffic on Booker Avenue and Aigburth Hall Avenue.

To support the call I've started a petition which has already been given out on both roads and some of those nearby.

You can sign the petition on line as well. Its on the website (www.garstonld.org.uk) at this link
http://garstonld.org.uk/en/petition/road-safety-petition

Is your green waste being collected?

2012-01-24T14:40:00.000Z

I bumped into a lady the other day who said that the green waste bins in her street hadn't been emptied the last few times they were meant to. I complained about this to the Council. The bins are due to be emptied again today so I have asked one of the Council's environmental officers to check whether or not they are.

I've written to the residents on that particular street, but it seems that the problem may be a wider one and that the lorries are just not turning up.

I told the Council that this is a wider problem, but ideally to make sure it's dealt with examples are needed.

If your green waste bin hasn't been collected for a few times in a row, can you let me know please? I don't necessarily need names but I do need street names. You can e mail me at paula.keaveney@liverpool.gov.uk.

Dealing with litter from or near takeaways

2012-01-19T11:38:00.000Z

As a ward councillor one of the most common things people raise with me is litter. And one of the most common places where this is a problem is near takeaways (also betting shops and ATM machines in some cases). In Cressington ward the places where this is most obviously a problem are the parades where Mather Avenue and Heath Road meet, the Cenotaph area, and parts of Aigburth Road. (I say most obviously.. but there are others)

Now not everybody chucks their drinks can and takeaway wrapper on the pavement. But enough people do for it to become a problem. And the sad fact is that the more takeaways we have, the more likely this is to happen (even though takeaway food shop owners are not the ones doing the dumping).

The City Council has made it clear that there isn't loads of extra money for street cleansing. Quite the reverse in fact. So if we want our streets to be clean that means we need to use extra approaches (which can range from education, to campaigns, to peer pressure to legal action)

The Government (actually the Labour Government in part) gave Councils the power to do more to keep streets clean. In fact Councils have the power to use something called a street litter control notice to get takeaway outlets (or betting shops or ATM owners if these are the source of the problem) to take responsibility for any litter outside that is obviously linked to their shop.

It's a power that some Councils use. Manchester and Leicester are two examples.

But Liverpool is reluctant to do this.

At full Council last night I tried again (this has been a bit of an ongoing effort on my part) to get the administration to think again. Surely, I thought, if money for street cleansing is tight then we need to be making more effort to look at what else can be done to keep people's street clean.

( I will say now that the Lib Dems did not use this power when in administration. I wish we had. I think we were wrong not to. But this itself makes no difference to whether its right to do it now)

Sadly my proposals weren't supported by the Labour party. I find it hard to understand why as frankly running a few pilot schemes in different parts of the City to do this wouldn't hurt and might actually make a big difference in some of our residential areas.

The motion I proposed is pasted below.

"Take aways and litter – Pride in Our (shopping) Parades and Street Litter control notices by Councillor Paula Keaveney

Council recognizes that litter is frequently caused by the sale of food and drink on the go and that research by the Tidy Britain Group (2011) has identified that nearly 60 percent of the litter on Liverpool streets can be attributed to this cause.

Council recognizes that very often opposition to new take away food outlets is based on a likely increase in litter and that experience of those living near take away outlets bears out the fact that this happens.

Council acknowledges that there are take away operators who take responsibility for their surroundings and who take measures to provide litter bins etc for their customers.

Nevertheless a quick tour around any part of the City near a take away would show that litter is still a problem.

Council believes that a two pronged approach is needed to deal with the problem of litter generated by the sale of food and drink on the go and that it is important to focus on residential neighbourhood areas as well as parts of the City Centre. This approach should encompass both proactive campaigning involving key stakeholders and the use of enforcement powers.

Council is aware that local authorities have the power ( under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 as amended by the Clean Neighbourhoods Act 2005 )to issue street litter control notices to compel take aways and other outlets which can generate litter to remove litter that originates from their premises and is within a certain distance of it. Council believes that there are cases in which the use of this legislation would make a huge difference to the environment of people living or working near take away outlets.

Council is therefore surprised that, despite a working group set up in 2010 to look at this, the authority is not using these powers or publicizing the fact that these powers exist.

Council is aware of other authorities that either use, or highlight, these powers. These include Leicester, Manchester and Chichester.

Council believes that in an environment where money for services such as street cleansing is tight, every possible avenue should be explored to keep our streets clean

Council requests the Cabinet Member for Environment and Climate Change to give consideration for -

A Pride in our (shopping) Parades campaign to be launched in pilot areas around the city to bring together shopkeepers and residents to see what can be done voluntarily to reduce the litter emanating from take away outlets and other retail outlets. These areas should be selected on the recommendation of ward councillors and should be spread around Liverpool fairly.

The administration to begin to use street litter control notices and to consult ward councillors on locations in which this would make a difference to litter control

The publication of these existing legal powers on the City Council’s website so that residents can see what options are open to authorities, should they choose to take them.

School uniform grants petition

2012-01-19T11:15:00.000Z

I've just been alerted to a new e petition on the Government e petition site on school uniform grants. It basically makes the point that local authorities that have been doing this should carry on doing so.

The link is below

http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/23272

Bus progress?

2012-01-17T22:25:00.000Z

I've got a meeting at Arriva on Monday next to follow up on the Better Bus petition re the 80 and 80a services. I'll be meeting managers at the depot at Speke.

Obviously the main reason for the meeting is to try to get improvements on those two services but if you have points about other Arriva buses in South Liverpool let me have them and I will try to push those points too. Personally I am still pursuing the whole issue about the drivers never having any change.

You can either post comments here or e mail me directly at paulakeaveney@yahoo.co.uk

New restaurant for St Mary's Road is a step nearer

2012-01-17T19:11:00.000Z

The building at the bottom of St Mary's Road, that was a restaurant but then closed, is shortly to open again as an Indian restaurant.

The Spice Brasserie is applying for a licence from 12 noon to just after midnight Monday to Sunday.

It'll be great to see that building in use again and for someone like me very keen on Indian food, to have an indian restaurant in the village.

Simon Hughes MP speech on benefits.

2012-01-15T13:51:00.001Z

Simon Hughes MP, deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats nationally, was in Liverpool yesterday (14th Jan). Here's the information about part of his speech to members and supporters (which you may have seen covered in the Times or the Guardian yesterday)

The future tense use is because this was written ahead of the event. It is however an accurate account of what he said.

Speaking at the Annual Dinner of the Liverpool Liberal Democrats on Saturday 14th January Rt Hon. Simon Hughes MP, Member of Parliament for Bermondsey and Old Southwark and Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats will call on the government to bring forward proposals to protect children and families from some of the most damaging consequences of the benefits cap.

Simon Hughes will highlight some of the perverse incentives the cap as currently planned introduces such as increasing the money available in benefits if families break up, and the disproportionate affect it will have on children.

Speaking in Liverpool Simon Hughes will say:

“There are many people in this country and this city who still have difficulty with our decision to form a coalition with the Conservatives. But I am convinced we are doing the right thing.

People in Liverpool remember well having a government that cared little about communities. The response of the Tories to unemployment and social depravation was ‘on your bike’ and the solution of the Labour party was to bankrupt this city.

The very reason why Liberal Democrats are in government is to stop this happening again.

This is why, when government proposals to cut the housing benefit bill risked making families homeless, I and other Liberal Democrat colleagues intervened, and the plans were modified.

This is why today we cannot simply stand by and watch the benefits system become an instrument for breaking up families, breaking up communities or punishing children for the poor decisions of their parents.

Let me be clear. Liberal Democrats have no problem with the policy of making work pay - and we do not believe that the support which the state offers can or should be limitless.

It is not progressive or humane to keep people locked into a benefits trap, unable to work and unable to improve their lives - because they will become poorer if they do so.

And it cannot be fair for people to be able to receive an income from the state much higher for staying out of work than others receive for working.

But changes to our welfare system are complex and difficult - which is why parliament must get them right. They deal directly with the day to day lives of disabled, poor and vulnerable people, people who need help just to survive. Any changes must be done with the greatest care and not driven with how they play in populist headlines. This is why the government needs to do further work to prevent harmful consequences of the benefits cap if the changes are to be accepted by Parliament.

As it currently stands the benefits cap will break up families, as it will provide a financial incentive to be apart. Under the plans as they stand a couple with four children will see their benefits limited to £500 but if the parents live separately they will be able to claim up to £1000. How will that support families?

If imposed without any mitigation, larger families will be forced to move not just down the street to a smaller property in a cheaper part of town, but across the country to places already suffering high rates of worklessness. Will this help people back into work?

The Children’s Society tell us that 70,000 adults will be affected by the cap and 210,000 children - with 80,000 of them being made homeless. The effect on large families of the present plans means that it will be today’s children who will disproportionately bear the burden of this policy. Is this really how we want to treat now the adults of the next generation?

The government and parliament must find another way.

The legislation as it stands does not require a hard and fast rule. The new system allows for the government to propose exceptions in order to stop many potentially damaging consequences of this policy.

Today I call on the government to make clear, at the latest before the Welfare Reform Bill comes back to the House of Commons, what it intends to do to prevent the planned benefits changes from breaking up families and damaging the lives of literally hundreds of thousands of children.

For families in Bermondsey and Bootle, Bradford and Bristol - and rural Berwick, Brecon and the Scottish Borders too - there must be a better way.”

Cressington ward e bulletins

2012-01-11T12:01:00.000Z

My colleague Richard and I do e mail bulletins with bits of local news and information in them which we send out every month.

It is mainly about stuff in Cressington ward but we do include other material too as obviously people don't suddenly lose interest in things once they get to a local authority ward boundary.

If you want to subscribe to these, there's a form here.http://garstonld.us1.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=39ec59cd41a5d13e15b9fe6a7&id=1e667198e9

City Council Consultation Panel

2012-01-11T11:55:00.001Z

The City Council is setting up a panel of people it can consult about various services.

I am told the first consultation will be about how it communicates!

If you are interested in taking part, there is a link to a form at this address
http://www.snapsurveys.com/swh/surveylogin.asp?k=132136008203

Garston Waste site consultation

2012-01-07T18:49:00.000Z

A reminder that there is still time to go on line and comment on the decision to designate Stalbridge Dock as the official "sub regional" waste site for Liverpool. The deadline is 20th January and you can comment on line at this link

http://www.wasteplanningmerseyside.gov.uk/site.do?id=720

Council's library proposals - special meeting

2012-01-06T19:14:00.001Z

Update: This meeting is confirmed now and you should be able to find the agenda material on the committees section of the Council website.

There's likely to be a "select committee" to look at what the Council wants to do re libraries in Liverpool. This follows the Cabinet meeting this morning which agreed the plans (including potential closure of Woolton and other libraries and changes to opening hours)

The Liberal Democrats have "called in" the plans. A "call in" is basically a device which asks the administration to think again. It means there has to be a meeting so that a different group of Councillors can look at the plans and make points. The meeting can then agree with what the Cabinet wants to do or suggest changes. At the end of the day though the decision is with the Cabinet so the Cabinet can just say, "we are sticking with what we said".

The Liberal Democrats have called this in for a number of reasons. We are worried about the closure plans. Frankly we don't think that there is evidence of real attempts to save the threatened libraries and some of the data about useage demonstrates that these are used more than some that are being kept.

We are also worried about opening hours. The suggestion at most libraries involves changing opening hours. We understand that this may be needed. However what's proposed means that if you have a job you are being squeezed into having to go along on a Saturday. What's wrong with some opening times that take in evenings? People with jobs are not all rich and may depend on libraries for books, reading space and internet access.

There was a consultation on the future of libraries a while ago. I took part and made several points about Garston and Allerton libraries, which I know well. As part of this process, Woolton campaigners collected an impressive petition. For some reason this was reported to the Cabinet as a petition about one of the threatened libraries and Woolton wasn't even mentioned! So much for transparency.

Speeding traffic on Booker and Aigburth Hall

2012-01-06T13:29:00.000Z

We've had quite a few complaints about traffic on Aigburth Hall Avenue and on Booker Avenue. Quite a few things have already been tried to deal with this but the problem persists and it can be like taking your life in your hands to get across the road sometimes.

Along with colleagues from Church ward and Mossley Hill, Richard and I have written a motion for the City Council. It may not get discussed but if it doesnt it still has to get replied to and hopefully acted on.

Here's the text. The actual agenda doesn't get published until Tuesday next week.

Motion by Cllrs Paula Keaveney, Richard Oglethorpe, Richard Kemp, Erica Kemp, Tina Gould, Tom Morrison

Council notes the ongoing problems caused by speeding traffic on Booker Avenue and Aigburth Hall Avenue. Pedestrians, many of them elderly, report difficulties in crossing the road and families with children attending the local primary school are often worried at the risks the children are taking.

The speed of the traffic is often unaffected by signs near the school.

Actions to deal with the problem have already been taken, including checking the phasing of the nearby traffic lights and a site visit including police and Council representatives

However residents report that difficulties remain and in fact have increased.

Council therefore requests for the Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Transport consider installing a speed monitoring device to remind motorists of the speed at which they are going. Council also calls on the Cabinet Member for other measures to be considered including the installation of a zebra crossing where appropriate.

Garston Old Road off licence update (Jan 2012)

2012-01-05T17:01:00.000Z

I blogged earlier about how I would be going to the magistrates court on 17th January to represent the community at a hearing about a possible off licence.

The Council had said no to the application (for the corner of Garston Old Road and Stormont Road) but there is a right of appeal and so when that happened the whole thing got passed to the magistrates.

There has been a rather sad development. The gentleman making the application has passed away. This means there is no appeal and so no off licence. (There could only be an off licence in future if someone else started the appliction process from scratch)

Obviously this is a rather unfortunate way for a development to happen, but I expect people will want to be kept informed so I have written to neighbours today to let them know the latest.

Tescos on Holmefield Road - licensing update

2012-01-05T16:55:00.000Z

We've got the date now for the licensing committee that'll decide on the licence for the planned Tescos on Holmefield Road .

The date is 25th January at 10 am. The paperwork isn't available on-line yet but when it is you should be able to find it here.http://councillors.liverpool.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=876&MId=12452&Ver=4

Anyone who has sent in an objection or representation by the deadline should get a letter or e mail from the Council about the hearing.

I put in an objection to the alcohol sales based on evidence of problems caused on Aigburth Hall Avenue and nearby by alcohol sales at the location previously, so I will be at the committee to represent people.

Of course the Tesco management may well have specific ideas about how they can prevent problems and the licensing committee is an opportunity for them to explain this and for there to be conditions if necessary. Sometimes applications get turned down, sometimes they get approved but sometimes they get approved with changes.

Licensing meetings like this are regulated by quite a bit of law, in fact it can feel very legal, so not everybody can or wants to come and make their point. If you have comments you want to pass on for me to mention however, please feel free to e mail me at paula.keaveney@liverpool.gov.uk.

Getting the flytipping cleared

2012-01-05T14:43:00.000Z

This is one of several pictures of flytipping and litter along the side of the railway line. I checked out some sites the other day including across from Hartington Road and Chapel Place. Anyway Network Rail is responsible for this particular patch so I've asked for it to be cleared.

Lighting up the station footpath.

2012-01-05T12:26:00.000Z

Some time ago I, and colleagues, started a petition about the two footpaths that run to Cressington Station. They were dark and overgrown and one was particularly difficult to walk on.

We found some money to get some tarmac laid, which helped a bit, but the problems of light remained.

Anyway, the petition, and some lobbying led to Network Rail agreeing to deal with the lighting problem on the path that runs from Eastern Drive to the Station (they cut back some growth as well).

The lights are now in and they're working to get an electricity supply to them.

Big thanks to people who signed the petition. Also credit needs to go to former Lib Dem Councillor Peter Millea who helped make some of the contacts with Network Rail.

I've written to people in the areas where we carried out the petition to update them. Obviously there are still issues to do with the other footpath but its good to see some action on the first one.

(picture kindly provided by Network Rail)

Council's library proposals

2012-01-04T22:01:00.000Z

Just published, ahead of a meeting on Friday morning, is the Liverpool City Council's cabinet proposals for the future of the libraries in the City.

Woolton library is under threat of closure if an organisation to take it over can't be found.

The proposed changes at other South Liverpool libraries are less drastic - Garston for example would open five days a week although for shorter hours.

Given the short period between the publication on line and the actual cabinet meeting, I wonder how many people will notice this decision coming up.

I also wonder why the suggested opening hours actually limit quite severely the ability of people with jobs to use the libraries.

Anyway, like many councillors I'll be asking constituents what they think about the proposals as they affect the libraries they use.

There is a link to the cabinet papers, which includes the library report here.http://councillors.liverpool.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=1201&MId=11968 You need to scroll down a little and then click on another link.

Blue Badge scheme changes

2011-12-31T19:04:00.000Z

There are changes coming in tomorrow (1st Jan) to the Blue Badge Scheme for disabled drivers. Its a national change (England and Scotland) . The main idea is to try to stamp out fraud (there is considerable fraud at the moment which causes problems for disabled and non disabled people)

There is a story about the changes on the BBC news website here.

The Government has said that Councils can charge up to £10 for a Blue Badge (if the application is successful). Liverpool City Council has decided to charge £10. The badge is valid for three years at a time.

Applicants in Liverpool will also have to make their application on-line rather than on paper. Staff at One Stop Shops will be able to help people who don't have access to the internet at home or elsewhere.

Update on Cressington Heath traffic calming

2011-12-31T18:26:00.000Z

Several residents on Cressington Heath have spoken to Richard and I over the last months about whether or not there'll be traffic calming on the estate.

We've looked into this and the short answer is yes.

Basically the estate is in different phases so the traffic calming will go in at different times but there is definitely some planned. It'll be paid for by the developers.

I do have more detailed briefing material so if you would like me to forward that on to you , please email me at paula.keaveney@liverpool.gov.uk

More pictures of our Tree Planting

2011-12-31T12:26:00.002Z

The Garston and District Historical Society has put some pictures of the Garston Park Tree Planting on the society's Flickr site.

Here is a link to the Flickr stream showing the planting day

BBC cuts consultation

2011-12-28T19:25:00.002Z

The consultation on the BBC proposals closed last week. I sent in comments. This (below) is what I said:

"I write to give my views as part of this consultation. I am leader of the Liberal Democrats on Liverpool City Council but am also a current lecturer in higher education and a former employee of BBC local radio.

The main station I listen to is BBC Radio Merseyside although I am familiar with some others.

To start with a point of principle, I am surprised that the BBC is asking for cuts from local radio. Local radio is a tiny part of the corporation's overall spend and must be one of the most, if not the most, cost effective form of communication the BBC has. It must also be one of the only parts in which participation by the community is not just allowed, it is encouraged. This ranges from local vicars taking active production roles in faith programmes to angling experts contributing on a regular basis. Certainly in my time in local radio there was a signicant "volunteer" element which must surely be valued.

To move on to BBC Radio Merseyside, I would be against any reduction in locally derived/produced broadcasting (by locally I mean about and on Merseyside). It is easy to argue that under your proposals elements such as news and current affairs will be protected. But the voice of a locality does not just consist in news. It is the complete range of topics rooted in an area that makes sure a station has its "local voice". It is also the case that non news broadcasters frequently uncover things which become news. Remove these other broadcasters and you remove another source of local intelligence.

BBC Radio Merseyside is very much valued and loved in Liverpool and beyond. I know this from talking to my constituents on a daily basis as do other members of the Lib Dem Group in Liverpool. Not only would reductions here mean the population of this area losing out, it would send a signal about the value of local broadcasting that I don't believe the BBC wants to send."

Xmas tree recycling in Liverpool.

2011-12-27T14:01:00.000Z

There are several drop off points for real Xmas trees so they can be "recycled". These run from 4 January and include Garston Park (also described as Long Lane Rec).

The list of sites is available here

Social Liberal Forum letter in Guardian

2011-12-24T18:43:00.002Z

Along with others from the Social Liberal Forum council I signed a letter to the Guardian earlier this week. Glad to see it got published. You can read it here

80 and 80a bus petition

2011-12-24T12:37:00.001Z

We've kicked off a petition for a better bus service on the 80 and 80 a route. During the day on weekdays its actually pretty good but once the evening comes and on Sundays its back to half hourly with only one of the routes being covered. This effectively means you've had it if you want to go, for example, from Brodie Avenue to Morrisons at Speke.

Hard copies of the petition are making their way around the area but you can sign on line at this link

Local news e mail bulletin

2011-12-21T13:43:00.005Z

I've been doing an e mail bulletin of local news (mainly Cressington ward but some other stuff from South Liverpool too) for a while now.

If you don't already get this but would like to you can sign up by clicking on this link

New coffee shop on Garston Old Road

2011-12-19T07:12:00.000Z

I blogged earlier about a planning application for a coffee shop at 77 Garston Old Road (where the sweet shop used to be)

This has been approved now.

You can see (brief) details including planned opening hours etc at this link http://northgate.liverpool.gov.uk/PlanningExplorer17/Generic/StdDetails.aspx?PT=Planning%20Applications%20On-Line&TYPE=PL/PlanningPK.xml&PARAM0=799754&XSLT=/PlanningExplorer17/SiteFiles/Skins/Liverpool_M3/xslt/PL/PLDetails.xslt&FT=Planning%20Application%20Details&PUBLIC=Y&XMLSIDE=&DAURI=PLANNING

BBC Radio Merseyside cuts consultation

2011-12-19T06:59:00.000Z

It's the deadline on Wednesday (21st) for any comments as part of the BBC Trust's "consultation" on plans for how it is going to allocate savings across the BBC.

The suggestion at the moment has BBC local radio, which includes Radio Merseyside, taking a significant percentage share of those savings.

Given the relatively tiny share that local radio actually takes of the BBCs overall budget, this seems extremely unfair (I am sure we can all think of other things that could go!)

Anyway, the link to the consultation is http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/consult/local_radio.shtml

Cllr Flo Clucas and I tabled a Council motion on this subject some time ago asking the Council to put the link to the consulation on the Liverpool City Council website. After a reminder (!) the link finally went on last week.

Takeaway on Greenhill road (update December 2011)

2011-12-15T13:42:00.000Z

I've blogged previously about the application(s) to turn the Greengrocers at 306 Greenhill Road into a takeaway (this is on the corner with Melbreck Road).

Richard (my Lib Dem colleague) and I opposed this as, like many of the local residents, we worried about litter, traffic, noise, parking and so on.

Anyway, we have now heard that the objections have had an effect and the second application is being turned down.

We have already written to local people to make sure that they are aware of this.

Thanks to everyone who was in touch with comments etc.

ATM Campaign update (December 2011)

2011-12-15T13:38:00.000Z

The work I have been doing to highlight "cash deserts" has had some publicity this week. The problem is that in some parts of Liverpool, and some parts of the country, there are virtually no ATMs (cash machines) that will let you take money out without a fee. When you think that the average fee is £1 75 you can soon see that for people on low incomes that amounts to a tax on poverty.

Earlier in the year I did some work with the Liverpool Echo and their analysis showed that the problem is more pronounced in parts of North Liverpool than elsewhere (although situations can change and a bank pulling out of an area, as happened on Mersey Road, can create a cash desert quite suddenly).

Anyway, some time ago I recorded an interview for the BBC programme, Rip Off Britain , which is on BBC One. This was aired this week, with a preview on the One Show on Monday. There is a link to the BBC I Player here.http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b018jc67#synopsis

The Council did agree to look at whether its One Stop Shops would be suitable locations for fee free ATMs (as they are often buildings with high footfall and in places where there are a lot of people either living or working nearby). I am following this up. Interestingly, a representative from one of the machine companies is now very keen to talk to the Council about finding some more locations in areas of shortage, like Anfield, so I am sorting this out too.

Freedom Ceremony for Edge Hill University

2011-12-15T13:11:00.000Z

Last night was the ceremony for Edge Hill University's admission to the Freedom Roll of Association (the equivalent for organisations of the Freedom of the City)

I spoke at the ceremony as opposition leader.

This is a picture of part of the ceremony.

Application for cafe/restaurant - 668 Aigburth Road

2011-12-10T18:07:00.001Z

An application's just come in so that there can be a cafe or restaurant at 668 Aigburth Road.

This is the old dry cleaners on the stretch of shops between Fletcher and Bennison.

By the looks of things the Council hasn't sent any letters to neighbours about this yet. I have been in touch with the agents acting for the people who own the building and although no one has been found to run it yet, they are keen to get permission so it can be a restaurant (they are thinking more of this than of a cafe.. and actually there is one just a few doors along). They haven't applied for permission for a takeaway so this would be a question of food cooked and eaten on the premises.

You can find some very basic details, and a contact number, on the Planning Explorer website at this link

http://northgate.liverpool.gov.uk/PlanningExplorer17/Generic/StdDetails.aspx?PT=Planning%20Applications%20On-Line&TYPE=PL/PlanningPK.xml&PARAM0=804392&XSLT=/PlanningExplorer17/SiteFiles/Skins/Liverpool_M3/xslt/PL/PLDetails.xslt&FT=Planning%20Application%20Details&PUBLIC=N&XMLSIDE=/PlanningExplorer17/SiteFiles/Skins/Liverpool_M3/Menus/PL.xml&DAURI=PLANNING

Tree planting on Garston Park

2011-12-08T13:33:00.001Z

A good, but a bit wet and windy, session today with the Friends of Garston Park and youngsters from Gilmour junior school.

We were planting trees (some very small others larger) on Garston Park near the Leisure Centre.

You can find out more about the Friends of Garston Park at http://www.fogp.blogspot.com/

Santa Dash

2011-12-04T21:30:00.000Z

Lib Dem colleagues Cllr Erica Kemp and Cllr Graham Hulme took part in the Liverpool Santa Dash today.

This is Erica in her Santa gear.

Garston waste plant site - update (December 2011)

2011-12-04T08:22:00.000Z

Richard Oglethorpe and I had a meeting with Associated British Ports a few days ago to discuss the land at Stalbridge Dock.

This is the site that Jack Allen Holdings wanted to build a waste plant on, but then decided not to (see earlier posts on this)

We wanted to see if there was anything else planned for that land (and also if we could persuade them to choose something other than a waste plant)

The history of this site and the rows about it is long so forgive me if I don't recap everything here. We have written to people living near the site with a fuller update (although if you have questions please don't hesitate to e mail me at paula@garstonld.org.uk)

Mr Jervis from Associated British Ports told us that they are not currently pursuing any other waste firm for that particular site and are happy for it to be empty for a while. They haven't had any other approaches either.

He also said that ABP has concerns about the Council's decision to designate the land as the official sub regional waste site for Liverpool. (We were rather surprised to hear this!)

There is now a short period for consultation on the "soundness" of the Waste DPD Plan (the scheme that includes this designation) . (E mail me if you haven't seen this and want the link to the "consultation".)

ABP are not attached to the idea of a waste plant there. The company's criterion for leasing the land is that whoever wants to use it must be in a "port related business".Obviously this could be something else although some of the "something elses" would clearly also generate traffic.

I'll post again shortly about the follow up actions Richard and I are taking.

Tree planting on Garston Park.

2011-12-02T08:32:00.000Z

The Friends of Garston Park are going to be out planting trees on Garston Park next week.

With support from the Mersey Forest, the session on 8th December will see shrubs and trees being planted by volunteers.

Anyone who wants to turn up and help is very welcome. The group starts at 10 30 near the sports pitches on the park. If you have a spade do bring it along!

This planting is the first of two sessions to introduce more trees onto the park and it follows the wildflower planting day of which more later!

Holmefield Road licence application

2011-12-02T08:28:00.000Z

The old Spar shop on Holmefield Road is being taken over by Tesco. The company will be putting in some planning applications (to do with changing the entrance etc)

It has also however put in an application to sell alcohol from 7 am to 10 pm Monday to Sunday.

When the previous shop was open, people living nearby often reported problems linked to alcohol sales here.

I understand that Tesco has written to some local people about their general plans but usually what happens with these licensing applications is that all that a sign goes up which most people don't see.

Anyway, Richard Oglethorpe and I have written to some of the streets nearest the shop to let people know what's going on and to explain how they can comment.

If you want to comment on the licensing application, the Council has designed a handy form which is on the website here.http://liverpool.gov.uk/Business/licences-and-permits/entertainment-and-alcohol-licences/representations/

You will need to scroll down the page a bit to find the form.

Art project -reminder

2011-11-23T19:42:00.000Z

Don't forget the first meeting for the Garston Park art project. It's 6pm tomorrow (24th) at the leisure centre. You don't have to be good at art - all you need is ideas.

Friends of Garston Park - loads happening

2011-11-18T20:13:00.000Z

Just back from a meeting of the Friends of Garston Park. It was our last actual meeting before Christmas but we have loads of activities between now and then so perhaps it's just as well.

Tomorrow, as well as the regular morning litter pick we've got wildflower planting as part of the creation of two wildflower meadows on the park.

Next week (24th November) we've got the kick off meeting for our art project - 6pm at the Leisure Centre. We'll be commissioning some community artists so you don't actually have to be a dab hand with a brush to take part.

And on 8th December at 10 30 we'll be planting the first of our extra trees.

If you want to join in any of this and want more information, do drop me an e mail at paula@garstonld.org.uk

Down Syndrome Liverpool

2011-11-16T20:20:00.000Z

While out knocking on doors this evening I came across a lady who is involved in a charity called Down Syndrome Liverpool.

I hadn't heard of this group before but from what she said they do really good work.

Anyway, when I got home I looked them up and they certainly seem very active

Here is the link to their website.

Garston Park Art project - update

2011-11-12T18:32:00.000Z

If you want to join in the Garston Park Art project, do come along to our first meeting on 24th November at 6pm at the Leisure Centre (off Long Lane)

We are looking for people who want to get involved in generating ideas and generally helping with our project to create a mural around the outside of the sports pitches on the park.

These walls look a bit "prison like" so we want to paint some of them and do some planting to soften the lines of the others.

You don't need to be an artist to take part.. simply someone interested in having a say and helping make a difference in the park.

And if you want to get involved in other Friends of Garston Park activities, do come along to our next meeting which is 18th November at 6 30 at the Long Lane Church.

Garston Park Church info

2011-11-12T15:12:00.001Z

Garston Park Church is starting a lunch club from this Monday. Information is available on 0151 427 2574.

The Church has also got its Chrismas fair next weekend (19th)

Friends of Garston Park - next meeting and tree planting

2011-11-05T18:58:00.000Z

The Friends of Garston Park have their next general meeting on Friday 18th November at 6 30pm at Long Lane Church. Do come along if you want to get involved.

The Saturday is our normal litter picking day but we may be out there planting new trees instead.

Garston Old Road off licence application - update

2011-11-05T18:00:00.000Z

We had good news a while ago when the licensing committee of Liverpool City Council turned down the application to sell alcohol from the building on the corner of Garston Old Road and Stormont Road. Arguments included the fact that the building was opposite Clarendon College ( a school and nursery) and that this could add to anti social behaviour on Garston Park.

The bad news, if you are opposed to alcohol sales here, is that the applicants have appealed. There'll be a hearing in the magistrates court to decide whether or not the licensing committee made the right decision. I've written to residents to let them know and the Council will write to people who had official objections in by the deadline.

I'll be giving evidence in the magistrates court as part of this but we don't have the date yet. I'll update when I can.

Takeaway on Greenhill road -update

2011-11-05T17:56:00.000Z

A few weeks ago a planning application for a takeaway on Greenhill Road (by the corner with Melbreck) was turned down. Local people were pleased because there'd been all sorts of worries about smells, litter, traffic etc.

I've now heard that another application has come in for the same site. It's still an application for a takeaway from the same person although the opening hours are a bit different and there are different arrangements for the fumes and the front of the shop.

I've had a look at the application and to be honest it presents the same problems as the earlier one so I have objected.

I'm not sure how widely the official letters will go about this but I have written to people living nearby to let them know.

The deadline for comments is later in November. You can find basic details on the City Council's website here

Animal rescue in Garston

2011-11-05T17:48:00.000Z

While out door knocking today in South Liverpool I called on a house in Garston where the owner runs an animal rescue sanctuary.

She takes in dogs, cats, puppies, kittens and others that have been abandonned.

I am not sure I could live in a house so completely full of animals but this lady's commitment was so impressive. She ploughs all her earnings back into the charity and works so hard to look after, and rehome, the animals.

Some of the ones I saw today were rather ill - the dog with cancer was particularly sad. But others were just waiting for a home.

I asked about her motivation and it seems she started off years ago by rescuing a few abandonned cats in town.

She is the only thing between some of these poor animals and being out down.

It's great meeting someone like that and I learned a lot about cat care from her ( I also may have agreed to adopt a kitten when the litter she has there are over their illness and I'll have to think about how my existing two cats will cope with that)

Her organisation is Garston Animal Rescue. It's a registered charity and can be contacted at PO Box 233, Liverpool, L69 7LF.

I don't think they have a website. If I find they do I will add a link.

Greenhill Road off licence update - committee decision 1 November

2011-11-01T12:14:00.000Z

I've just got back from the licensing committee discussing whether or not to allow alcohol sales at 206 Greenhill Road (that's the shop on the corner with Caithness Road).

Despite considerable objections from residents (including letters and a petition) the committee decided that the shop WILL be able to sell alcohol.

We know some people will be disappointed at this as residents have been pointing out all the potential problems. It's clear also that you don't have very far to go in that area to buy alcohol already!

I spoke as did other Councillors and we made all the points local people had asked us to (and some extra). However we weren't able to persuade the committee to agree with us.

There was one small concesssion, which is that the starting time for selling beer, wines and spirits etc would be 8 am rather than the suggested 6am.

The shopkeepers did also volunteer to put an extra litter bin out, so I am following that up.

When the minutes of the meeting are published I will put a link to them on the blog.

Coffee shop planning application

2011-10-31T12:24:00.000Z

An application's come in for a coffee shop on Garston Old Road at number 77 (on a small parade of shops)

You can see the details on the Council's website here

Event at CREATE

2011-10-29T18:57:00.000+01:00

CREATE, the organisation that recycles and reconditions used white goods like freezers is having an "indoor car boot sale" next Saturday - 5th November.

You can find out more about CREATE here

Nursery Opening

2011-10-23T16:40:00.000+01:00

I was thrilled to be asked to do the official opening of the new nursery attached to Clarendon College today. Clarendon college is a Montessori school on Garston Old Road and the nursery is just round the corner in Whitehedge Road. I last saw the building back in the summer when there was lots to do, so it was nice to see the progress. It really looked lovely today with all the bright coloured toys and the cots for babies.

Interested in Garston - keep this date free

2011-10-22T20:08:00.000+01:00

The Friends of Garston Park are working to create a Garston skyline mural which will not only celebrate some of our buildings, it will help make the walls round the sports pitches in the park look less like prison walls!

The first planning meeting, where we hope volunteers will come along to share ideas, will be on 24th November. More details will follow but if you want to be involved (as an ideas person , or an artist, or photographer or anything really) please keep this evening free.

ATM Campaign update

2011-10-22T20:05:00.000+01:00

We've managed to get some national attention for our ATM Campaign. This is the campaign highlighting the lack of fee free cash machines. If you are very short of money, every time you have to pay a fee to get your money is like an extra tax on poverty. And given the lack of machines that don't charge, this is becoming less and less unavoidable.

Anyway, after quite a bit of work trying to highlight this, the BBC TV's "Rip Off Britain"programme is going to give it some exposure. I recorded an interview with them earlier this week. More interestingly however they did some vox pop interviews in Anfield and not only discovered a real lack of machines there, but also were told that some charging machines change what they charge according to what day it is. The programme makers were told that on match days the fee rises! I hadn't heard of this before so will be doing some research on it.

Meanwhile the City Council did say it would consider putting some fee free machines in its buildings. Since this was agreed I have heard nothing so the task for this week is to chase this up.

Cenotaph Community Clean up

2011-10-18T13:50:00.000+01:00

The community clean up in the Cenotaph area of Garston is this Sunday (23rd) at 3pm. We are meeting at Long Lane Church (unless you spot us already out there litter picking). Our aim is to tidy up the area a bit.

This is part of a general project to improve this spot. Watch out for the arrival of soil and plants for the planters and painting of the railings and benches to smarten things up a bit.

Community Clean up

2011-10-14T12:13:00.000+01:00

I'm helping organise a community clean up of the Garston Cenotaph area (the bit around the cenotaph near the shops and row of houses and just around the corner).

This is building on some work I did earlier, getting some reps together to see what could be done to help brighten up and tidy up. The planters on Long Lane are part of this work.

Anyway, I'm working my way round with flyers to let shops and residents know more about how to join in. I'll post details shortly but if you want to get more involved, do please drop me an e mail at paula.keaveney@liverpool.gov.uk

New project for Garston Park

2011-10-08T11:55:00.000+01:00

The Friends of Garston Park are looking for budding artists to help with a project to make part of the park look better.

The idea is to improve the wall round the sports pitch so that it doesnt' look quite so "prison like".

As well as some planting nearby, the Friends are looking for people to help paint some of the panels.

They now need to hear from anyone wanting to get involved. I've posted the details below. If you are interested, the person to get in touch with is Gwen (details towards the end)

The Great Art Project

FOGP is working on a project to camouflage the screens around the outdoor pitches at the Leisure Centre. Some sides of the pitches will have shrubs planted around them, but the sides facing the car park will be painted.

The idea has 2 parts: (1) to paint a Garston skyline on boards along the top of the screens and (2) below and around it will be boards representing how people express health and well-being in Garston. School children and other young people will do (2).

The skyline

This work will be done by community groups in the area. Small groups will work with community artists, starting with taking digital photos and working up to designing the final skyline. You don’t have to have a digital camera to take part.

You do have to commit to a number of sessions for the work. There will be a preliminary meeting in November and work will start in January 2012, for completion in May.

If you are interested and have ideas about what should be included in the skyline, please contact Gwen White, gwen.white@wmail.freeserve.co.uk . If you give your email or telephone details, you will be sent the date of the preliminary meeting.

See this film

2011-10-03T12:05:00.000+01:00

As a huge fan of the Smiley novels of John Le Carre, and the original Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy TV adaptation, I was worried I would be disappointed by the new film. Not a bit of it. It is absolutely brilliant and the flashbacks give more character to some of the figures involved. If you haven't seen it yet make sure you do. It must surely win every award goind.

Dovedale Children's Centre Campaign

2011-10-03T11:37:00.000+01:00

This weekend's been marked by several messages from people at the Church and Mossley Hill Children's Centre (I call it Dovedale!)

The Council is consulting on whether or not to close this centre (and others)

Some of the messages about how the centre helps parents and children are so touching and they really underline the good work done there.

The centre has set up a campaign website which I promised to tell people about.

You can find it at this link http://www.savemossleyhillcc.org/

Garston waste plant update

2011-10-02T07:03:00.000+01:00

I reported earlier that Jack Allen Holdings have decided not to build a waste plant on Stalbridge Dock by the Cressington Heath housing development.

However the Council is still looking to designate that piece of land as the official "sub regional" waste site for Liverpool (there are others being designated in other parts of Merseyside)

There was a consultation on this earlier this year in which I took part as did others from the Garston area, but the final report has to go through each relevant Council.

The bad news is that Stalbridge remains the identified site in a report going to the City Council's Cabinet this coming Friday.

I'll be speaking to residents about what we need to do next.

Door knocking in South Liverpool

2011-10-02T06:58:00.000+01:00

This weather is great for some Lib Dem doorknocking. This is part of the team out yesterday (rubbish photo which manages to cut people out of the shot entirely) is by me!

Cenotaph area - can we improve this?

2011-10-02T06:57:00.000+01:00

I got a small group together recently to see what we could all jointly do to improve the small area by the Cenotaph in Garston. We've got a row of shops and some houses as well as a bench and some bus stops. It's by a busy road and very visible. But it's one of those places that seems to suffer from more litter and mess than most and this picture shows a typical morning site outside the shops.

So we've got together some people from the Council, Enterprise Liverpool, the Long Lane Church and others to see if there is something we can do to make some changes. We're talking to shop keepers and residents.

The empty planters on the central reservation on Long Lane are the first visible sign of progress (plants to come!!)

I'm also working on funding applications for other things and we have a commitment to get the bench and barriers repainted to look brighter.

Thanks to the residents from that immediate area who've already been in touch. Do e mail me if you want to know about meetings or have any ideas. paula.keaveney@liverpool.gov.uk is my e mail.

Greenhill Road takeaway update

2011-09-30T18:35:00.000+01:00

An update on the planning application for a takeaway on the corner of Greenhill Road and Melbreck Road, L18. (grocers shop - no 306)

Richard and I sent in objections to this planning application as did a number of local residents (we had to alert some of them to the application as the council official letter hadn't reached that far)

We have just had it confirmed today that the application is being turned down. The planners must have been convinced by the arguments about traffic, parking, litter and so on.

We have written to people in the area to let them know.

It is possible that the applicant will appeal against the decision. If this is the case we will let people know.

(NB: Not to be confused with the application for an off license at number 206 further along the road!)

Garston Old Road off licence update

2011-09-30T18:31:00.000+01:00

As promised an update.

I went to licensing committee today to argue against the application for an off licence, as part of a convenience store, at 184 Garston Old Road (corner of Stormont) and opposite the park.

There were also some residents there and the lady who runs Clarendon College (the lovely little Montessori school)

The good news is the application was turned down completely.

The applicants may well appeal but if this happens we will let people know.

Garston Reading Room - 150th anniversary event

2011-09-24T11:21:00.001+01:00

Next weekend (1 October) the Reading Room at Garston is hosting an event to celebrate its 150th anniversary.

Built as a venue for lectures and reading, the Reading Room became well known as the venue for the preliminary hearing in the trial of Florence Maybrick. She was accused of poisoning her husband Janes in 1889.

The building will be open for visitors on Saturday 1 October from 10 to 4. The event includes an exhibition, a craft sale and a victorian tea room selling refreshments (not sure if at Victorian prices!)

It costs 50p to get in (although accompanied children will get in free)

The Garston Reading Room is at the corner of Wellington Street and Chapel Road

Garston Old Road off licence application

2011-09-17T08:29:00.001+01:00

I blogged a while ago about the application for an off licence on Garston Old Road at the corner of Stormont and by the park.

The licensing committee will be deciding on this at a meeting at the end of September

I'll be going along to argue against this.

If you want any information, please e mail me at paula.keaveney@liverpool.gov.uk

Jack Allen update

2011-09-17T08:27:00.000+01:00

The Jack Allen/waste plant saga has taken another turn.

The story has been covered in the Liverpool Post and Echo and on Radio Merseyside as well as in e bulletins from me and from the South Liverpool Residents Group.

But for those who haven't yet seen it this is what's happened.

Jack Allen is going away!

The reason it is pulling out of the plan to build at Stalbridge Dock we are told is because of a failure to get the contracts it needed to run the plant. After all there is no point building something if you then can't use it and Jack Allen are a commercial company which can only do things if they are going to make a profit.

Several people I have spoken to about the economics of all of this are saying that there may now be too many actual or potential waste treatment facilities/options in our area and that other companies would find a similar problem.

So on the face of it - good news.

It's only "one cheer" for Garston though as the Council decision to "designate" that land as the "sub regional" waste site for Liverpool still remains. It's not entirely finished as there was a consultation and the results still have to go to a Council meeting but we are very close indeed to that designation being done and dusted.

What that potentially means is that any other waste company coming along in the future would be directed to Stalbridge Dock.

Garston residents believe that given that the decision to designate this land was based heavily on the Jack Allen situtation, now that the JA situation has changed we should try to get the designation removed.

So efforts have started to do this.

I'll post again when I can on this but if you want to make sure you are being informed directly I can add you to my e mail bulletin list Just e mail me at paula.keaveney@liverpool.gov.uk with the e mail address you want me to use. If you want me to pass this on to the South Liverpool Residents Campaign Group please also let me know.

Planning applications - Cressington Heath development

2011-09-17T08:14:00.000+01:00

I had an e mail the other day about whether developers are being allowed to change their plans for the rest of the Cressington Heath/Cressington Grange development. (Actually some people were keen on there being some changes). A couple of planning applications have come in from developers which go some way to answering the question. Firstly there is one about the bit that's along Dock Road and Garston Way

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_M3/xslt/PL/PLDetails.xslt&FT=Planning%20Application%20Details&PUBLIC=Y&XMLSIDE=/PlanningExplorer17/SiteFiles/Skins/Liverpool_M3/Menus/PL.xml&DAURI=PLANNING

And the other one is about the bit to the South of Lowestoft Drive

http://northgate.liverpool.gov.uk/PlanningExplorer17/Generic/StdDetails.aspx?PT=Planning%20Applications%20On-Line&TYPE=PL/PlanningPK.xml&PARAM0=795032&XSLT=/PlanningExplorer17/SiteFiles/Skins/Liverpool_M3/xslt/PL/PLDetails.xslt&FT=Planning%20Application%20Details&PUBLIC=Y&XMLSIDE=/PlanningExplorer17/SiteFiles/Skins/Liverpool_M3/Menus/PL.xml&DAURI=PLANNING

LMH Open Day - 6th September

2011-09-05T15:04:00.000+01:00

A reminder to LMH tenants in the Stamfordham Drive area that there's an open day tomorrow (6th) at the Bridge Chapel Centre. LMH tell me they'll be putting their bathroom and kitchen packages on show and providing information on the external work that'll be going on.

The event is a drop in one from 12 to 6 and tenants from the affected roads should have had invitations. The roads include Ramsey, Lascelles, Hylton, Hardinge, Caldwell, Blomfield, Verney Crescent (and Crescent South), Stamfordham, Mostyn Avenue and Brocklebank Lane

Fair Access to Care survey - deadline extended

2011-09-03T18:08:00.000+01:00

The Council has been writing to people about its proposals on eligibility for care. Part of this involves a questionniare to get the views of people who receive a service (and others like carers and family members). I was contacted by a Garston lady earlier this week concerned that she hadn't received a questionnaire and that she might miss the deadline to give in any views.

It turns out that the letters went out without the questionniares (I am told this is so that people could request them in the right format for them and so that people who didnt want to take part weren't bothered . Personally not sure that makes a lot of sense as you can always say that its available in different formats etc, but there you go)

Anyway the news from Social Care is that they have pushed back the deadline for returning these to 30th September so if you are one of those who does want to get a questionnaire and fill it in there is still time.

So if you are one of those with a letter and no questionnaire, and you do want to give your views, you can request a form and still get it back before deadline.

The e mail of the team dealing with this is

adultservicesconsultation@liverpool.gov.uk

Funds available - Speke

2011-09-03T18:01:00.002+01:00

I have just come across this from LCVS which is relevant to any organisations doing work that benefits people in Speke. NB: the deadline is quite tight.

Speke Connecting Communities Fund

A small pot of funding is available to help community and voluntary organisations, which benefit people in Speke. Maximum amount of funding per application £1,000.

For application form and applicant criteria please contact Eileen Deakin on 0151 233 2319 or email eileen.deakin@liverpool.gov.uk.

Applications must be returned by 12noon on 16 September 2011. Letters confirming funding will be sent out to successful applicants 23 September 2011.

Honouring a Garston Hero,

2011-08-30T14:19:00.000+01:00

I've recently come across the story of Lt Newgass, someone who saved a lot of lives by defusing a mine in Garston during the war.

A local man is keen to see Lt Newgass' bravery commemorated someone - perhaps with a plaque at the library or on another local landmark.

I've put my name to a motion about this for the next Liverpool City Council meeting (along with colleagues Tina Gould, Lynnie Williams and Richard Oglethorpe). The local man , Stuart Daniels, who told us about this is hopefully going to take part in an interview on Radio Merseyside to give more deetails.

The story, I am told, is this. Back in November 1940 a parachute mine landed on Garston gasworks. It didn't go off straight away but people feared it might detonate at any time so 6,000 people who lived nearby had to be evacuated. It wasn't even clear exactly where the mine had lodged, so pumps and fans were used. It was when the air inside the tank wasn't considered explosive that some could actually go in.

Lt Newgass, a veteran of the previous war, was a member of the bomb disposal unit. Using oxygen apparatus, he went into the tank. He spent time over two days defusing the mine. It was particularly difficult work as the oxygen tended only to last for thirty minutes at a time and the fuse was hard to reach so the mine had to be turned. Imagine the pressure of worrying about the oxygen and the bomb while having to do quite a bit of heavy lifting!

If the mine had gone off, not jus the gas works but the neighbouring properties would have been completely destroyed. Lt Newgass was awarded the George Cross for his bravery. Other brave men also worked to save lives at the Gas works that night and any marking of Lt Newgass' heroism would also be marking theirs.

I do hope some way can be found of recognising this further.

Take away planning application - Greenhill Road

2011-08-18T21:58:00.000+01:00

A planning application has come in to change one of the shops on Greenhill Road to a "hot food take away".

By the looks of things on the City Council website, letters haven't gone to anyone living nearby yet.

However you can see the basic details on the website here.http://northgate.liverpool.gov.uk/PlanningExplorer17/Generic/StdDetails.aspx?PT=Planning%20Applications%20On-Line&TYPE=PL/PlanningPK.xml&PARAM0=788813&XSLT=/PlanningExplorer17/SiteFiles/Skins/Liverpool_M3/xslt/PL/PLDetails.xslt&FT=Planning%20Application%20Details&PUBLIC=Y&XMLSIDE=/PlanningExplorer17/SiteFiles/Skins/Liverpool_M3/Menus/PL.xml&DAURI=PLANNING

A bit more information is in the section called related documents.

Last time there was a planning application for a takeaway in this area (although not at this particular site) there was quite a lot of worry about litter and traffic. The takeaway got permission but there were some conditions, including a litter bin. Richard and I are interested to hear people's views on this so please feel free to e mail us at paula.keaveney@liverpool.gov.uk or richard.oglethorpe@liverpool.gov.uk

Social Liberal Forum at Lib Dem Conference

2011-08-18T20:42:00.000+01:00

The conference directory, with all the fringe meetings etc in it, doesn't seem to have been published for party conference yet but looking through the list of what's planned by the Social Liberal Forum, or what the Forum is involved in, it looks like there are going to be some great debates.

The fringe on phone hacking on the Sunday is not only topical but has some great speakers - Alan Rusbridger of the Guardian and Hugh Grant are just two of them.

It's good also to see that Will Hutton is down to speak at another meeting. He was so informative and interesting (also challenging and rather scary) at the SLF conference. I know that people there wanted to hear more from him so its great we've managed to sort that.

A Level success for Liverpool young people

2011-08-18T20:23:00.000+01:00

Great news today that the A level passes for young people at Liverpool schools mean that the City's results are above the national average for the first time.

I don't really like league tables, but given they seem to exist everywhere its good to see we are moving up this one!

Garston Park Church community garden project

2011-08-18T20:15:00.000+01:00

A group of young people will be getting together next week to work on turning a piece of ground behind Garston Park Church (formerly Island Road Church) into a community garden . They've got assistance from B and Q and have already done some work to prepare the ground.

Brendan, a local youth worker on the Grassendale detatched youth project, says that work should be going on from Tuesday to Friday next week (23rd to 26th) from 12 till 5 every day. And if you want to pop along and lend a hand, or show some support, you'd be very welcome (even more welcome if you bring along a garden fork or spade to get stuck in)

I'll try to post more information to update on the project

Boost for ATM Campaign

2011-08-08T14:45:00.000+01:00

Great news today. The Liverpool Echo has run a great story about our campaign for more fee free ATMs (cash machines)

This is the link to the story.

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news//tm_headline=echo-investigation-scandal-of-cashpoint-charges-which-hit-liverpool-s-poor&method=full&objectid=29196248&siteid=100252-name_page.html

(There are several pages to it)

Liverpool Pride

2011-08-08T10:36:00.000+01:00

Liverpool Lib Dems took part in Liverpool Pride on Saturday. This is Paul setting up the stall shortly before it all started.

Off Licence application - Garston Old Road

2011-07-30T19:48:00.001+01:00

An application's come in to the City Council for an off licence at 180/184 Garston Old Road. That's the building on the corner with Stormont. Actually if you live near there you may have noticed the blue sign on the wall with some of the details.

Anyway, people who want to comment have until 14th August.

The application is for off sales from 7 am to 10 pm Monday to Sunday.

Licensing is a legal process so decisions have to be made on licensing grounds. If you want to comment on this, and have never done a licensing comment before, the easiest thing to do is to use the form on the Council's website. You may need to scroll down a bit.

I'll be sending in comments as a local councillor so if you would prefer to send things to me that is fine. My e mail is paula.keaveney@liverpool.gov.uk

Another Fun Day on the Park

2011-07-30T18:36:00.001+01:00

There's a Fun Day at Garston Park this Tuesday (2nd). Its from 12 till 4 and the organisers say there are plenty of activities for both children and adults.

Fingers crossed for sunshine!

Polling station review

2011-07-30T18:34:00.000+01:00

Liverpool City Council is reviewing the polling stations it uses for elections. Councils are supposed to do this on a regular basis and it's a good chance to check whether there is feedback on accessibility etc.

This May just gone we had some changes to the polling stations in Cressington. They didn't move but some of the people who usually went to one, went to another instead. This was because in the past far too many people had to go to the Guide Hut on Ambergate Road (in 2010 there were people who couldn't get in to vote and it was quite tense)

It's important that polling stations are right - that they have disabled access, are large enough, are light enough etc.

If you've got any comments about the ones in Cressington, or if you live elsewhere about the ones elsewhere, do send them to me at paula.keaveney@liverpool.gov.uk or directly to the Electoral Services Unit at the Council (Dale Street, L2 2DH). The deadline is 19th August.

Movement on Bankfield House site

2011-07-15T15:32:00.000+01:00

I blogged a while ago about plans for housing on the bit of land on the corner of Brunswick Street and Banks Road where Bankfield House used to be.

There's been quite a bit of concern about this site with dumping and graffiti and it has been making the area look run down at times.

Anyway, the good news is that the plans have moved forward and they are on the agenda for the City Council's planning committee later this month (July).

Here is the link. You need to scroll down a bit to find the relevant section.

Dearling with derelict pubs - council motion for 20 July

2011-07-14T08:08:00.000+01:00

As opposition leader I get a slot for a motion at Liverpool City Council meetings. I decided to go on derelict pubs as these buildings are really blighting some of our communities. The meeting is on 20th July. I've pased the text of the motion below:

Liverpool Derelict Public Houses by Councillor Paula Keaveney

Council recognises that public houses serve as significant community hubs in many areas of the city, often in impressive buildings, and have developed roles beyond simply being places for the consumption of alcohol.

Council recognises that the closure of Public Houses has left many neighbourhoods across Liverpool not only with fewer community hubs but also with empty and derelict buildings that add to the general degeneration of an area.

Council notes that in many cases, Public House Buildings are part of the historic fabric of a district and can cause feelings of strong local loyalty and identification.

Council notes that recent figures (from CAMRA- 2008) for national pub closures show nearly 40 pubs per week closing. This is an increase on a survey in 2004 which showed the rate of closures as eight a week. More recent research (by CR Consulting) has highlighted closures between 2007 and 2010 with 45 closures in Liverpool Riverside constituency and 27 in Liverpool Wavertree. The reasons for closures are many and can be complex. The results however are the same.

Council notes that there are examples of empty and/or derelict pub buildings in most wards across the City, for example Kitty Macs in Garston and the Newsham Park on Lower Breck Road/West Derby Road.

Council notes that work was undertaken to try to deal with this problem both in 2002 and in 2007. As part of this work, through the Regeneration Portfolio, enforcement/intervention action was taken in some cases.

However the number and rate of pub closures has increased.

Council believes that a strategy is needed across the City which

· identifies key empty Public House Buildings

· where these buildings are not too damaged to be of use, ascertains what could be done, with partners and the private sector, to either bring them back into use as a Public House or other trading outlet or find other uses to help the community

· enforces conditions on owners who are neglecting their buildings

· works with organisations such as CAMRA and the All Party Beer Group to lobby for government measures which would make the protection and re use of Public House Buildings easier.

Council therefore calls on the Cabinet Members for Regeneration and Transport, Environment and Climate Change, Neighbourhoods and Employment, Enterprise and Skills to produce a report identifying the full extent of the problem within Liverpool and working with partners including in the business sector to draw up a strategy to re invigorate some of our crumbling pub buildings.

Some theatre in the park

2011-07-13T18:34:00.000+01:00

A plug for these Shakespeare performances coming up later this month. Venues include Reynolds Park in Woolton and Sudley House. Sounds like a great way to spend an evening.

http://www.liverpoolnetworktheatre.org.uk/

Weedspraying - still not happening is it

2011-07-11T21:22:00.000+01:00

Hmm. We were told extra effort was going into weedspraying. It's now nearly the middle of July and yet there are still waist and shoulder high weeds all over the place. These two pictures are in the same tiny part of L16.

Doorknocking

2011-07-11T21:18:00.002+01:00

A good evening's doorknocking tonight. Here's part of the team getting ready to start.

The week just gone

2011-07-10T12:51:00.000+01:00

I've had a real mix of things to do this week. Actually I'm very lucky to have such a combination of job and politics that gives such a variety.

Along with quite a few doorstep conversations with constituents, some meetings on local issues (some of which I'll blog about separately) and a load of writing and research, I shared a bill with Ken Dodd.

Tuesday was the Freedom Roll ceremony for the Liverpool Post and Echo. As opposition leader I am asked to speak at these and it was a great pleasure (although speaking last you always find you are having to rely on your wits as most of the factual information has already been used up by the others). Ken Dodd wasn't originally scheduled to speak at this but he agreed to be added in at the last moment. The ceremony was in the atrium of the newspapers' building (they are usually in the Town Hall). It's the first time I've seen an event done there but it's clearly a good space to use.

Yesterday following a street surgery in Cressington I popped over to Woolton to help colleagues deliver a last minute leaflet. It seems that a local bus service won't be running next week (Merseytravel's new company not being able to start straight away) and the Councillors wanted to make sure that people along the route knew not to be standing at a bus stop in vain. The services in Woolton affected are the 173 and 174 although there are other South Liverpool routes with similar problems. http://www.merseytravel.gov.uk/ should have the details.

Last night was a regional Lib Dem dinner with Chris Huhne MP (energy and climate change secretary of state) as the speaker. He was very good about the Green Deal but also about the whole issue of media ethics and the News International investigation. He pointed out that, unlike Labour and the Tories, the Lib Dems had not been "canoodling" with Rupert Murdoch.

And this morning I was out with Gill from the Cricket Club working on a local parking problem (details in my earlier blog)

Trying to solve parking problems

2011-07-10T12:30:00.000+01:00

I've been out this morning with the charming Gill from Liverpool Cricket Club trying to solve some parking problems in our area.

The cricket club plays host to car boot sales on a Sunday. It has a free car park for visitors to the sales. However these Sundays are also marked by quite a lot of indiscriminate parking in some of the residential streets near the club and quite a few complaints from residents who can't get into and out of their own drive.

It's not an easy one to solve but we thought we'd do some work to draw visitors' attention to the free car par and try to persuade them to park in a way that doesn't cause problems for residents.

We jointly wrote a leaflet which this morning Gill and I put under windscreen wipers as we walked round the neighbouring streets. We chatted to some people and it was clear that some didn't even know there was a car park they could be using (this might be an issue around signage and publicity).

Obviously if people are parking in an illegal way then more forceful action needs to be taken but we decided to use persuasion at first.

We're hoping to do a repeat performance in a couple of weeks time so it'll be interesting to see if there are fewer cars.

Dog owners events in South Liverpool

2011-06-30T10:04:00.001+01:00

Free dog health checks and microchipping are on offer at an event in Garston, and others across the City.

The Garston event, which runs from 10 to 4 on Sunday 10th takes place at the Sports Centre on Long Lane, L19. You can take your dog along and talk to experts from the PDSA and other charities.

Microchipping a dog means that if it gets lost there is a greater chance of you being reunited with it!

Other dog owner roadshows are taking place in July. There's one on the 9th at the Wavertree Sports Park and one on the 17th in Sefton Park for example.

If you can't transport your dog yourself, there is a service called Pets to Vets that can do it. There's a small charge and the service has to be booked by phoning 07941259754.

Social Liberal Forum commentary

2011-06-30T09:52:00.002+01:00

Thanks to Mary Reid of the Social Liberal Forum we have a list of blogs about our recent conference, including the interviews with Chris, Evan and Vince.

The link to the list is here

http://socialliberal.net/2011/06/20/blogging-about-the-slf-conference/

Garston Fun Day

2011-06-28T11:30:00.001+01:00

Saturday was another great Garston Fun Day (although the weather wasn't quite as good as last year)

The organisers, mainly the local churches, did a fantastic job and there were plenty of stalls with things to do for both children and us older lot.

I spent quite a bit of time on the Friends of Garston Park stall. Our tombola and our bird box making was very popular. The picture here shows a crowd round the stall while Mark (one of our committee members) helped a visitor make a bird box. (You can't actually see Mark. He is too hard at work!)

Weed spraying update

2011-06-23T09:37:00.001+01:00

For some weeks now, my Lib Dem colleagues and I have been raising the extent of weeds across the City and the lack of weed spraying. I have found weeds in some parts of the City that are literally shoulder high and foot high is not at all unusual.

For some people this may not be a big issue. But the volume of complaints individual councillors have received shows that it is bigger than you might expect. Some complaints are around the fact that weeds make it difficult for some with limited mobility, or for people pushing a shopping trolley or a pram (try going too near a thick patch of growth and see what happeens to a small wheel). Other people's complaints have been more about appearance. People are proud of their City and don't like to see it looking bad (I have had remarks for example about feeling the need to apologise to visitors)

Anyway, research showed the programme this year had a start date of 1 July (although that didn't mean starting everywhere on the same date) and would be a single spray

We felt that wasn't enough and put some pressure on to, at the very least, get the start date moved forward. People had remarked that parts of the City looked like a jungle

Opposition members don't make the decisions. That is what the administration does. However we can attempt to persuade which is what we did this time, with a series of motions to committees and so on.

Anyway, the good news is that the weed spraying programme has had its start date pulled foward to mid June (now in other words). So we were successful.

The bad news is that because it is a six week programme and the people doing the spraying have to move from one area to another, depending on where the starting place is there will still be some parts of the City that don't get their weeds sprayed until the end of July .

At last night's environment committee we heard a lot about how the programme had started and the fact that there were quad bikes, but nothing about which particular areas the staff were doing first. I am firing off a question about that this morning and will post if/when I get an answer as what most residents are actually asking is not when the programme kicks off in general but when they will get their area done.

Social Liberal Forum Conference

2011-06-19T12:23:00.000+01:00

Yesterday was our first Social Liberal Forum Conference. In a few short months we went from worrying about whether there would actually be enough people to attend, to having standing space only!

(You can find out more about the SLF at http://www.socialliberal.net/)

Some great speakers (Will Hutton in particular was excellent - he struggled to get there and then spoke without any notes). It was good also to be able to hear from, and question, Vince Cable, Chris Huhne and Simon Hughes.

We made a point of not just inviting Lib Dem speakers and I personally was particularly interested to hear from Neal Lawson from Compass and from Halina Ward, an expert on the concept of sustainable development.

David Hall Matthews (chair of SLF) made the point that a few years ago the organisation was a smallish group and today there are around 1,500 members and more on a mailing list. I loved the point about the fact that we are now big enough to hold an event which runs itself without the Chair doing all the work!

As well as chairing one of the sessions, I made a point of lobbying Vince Cable re a Liverpool issue and spoke to Chris Huhne about another. (I took part in a bloggers interview with Chris Huhne which I'll write about separately)

Obviously there's going to be loads of follow up needed within the party as well as outside it but really very well done indeed to the team who did the legwork.

I took this picture (below) to demonstrate how significant the event became

Doorknocking again

2011-06-14T18:40:00.000+01:00

Hmm. A rather unflattering photo of part of the team starting a doorknocking session in L25.

20 mph roads

2011-06-14T18:31:00.000+01:00

Liverpool City Council is going to consult about which residential streets could become 20mph roads. This could see quite a few extra places getting the slower speed limit. The change could make quite a difference to people's safety. If you are hit by a car at 20mph you are likely to live. If the speed is 40 you are likely to die.

Councils up and down the country are now able to do this a lot faster and with more ease than they could previously. While some places (Portsmouth is the example that is quoted most often) have already made this sort of change, there used to be loads of red tape. Last week though Norman Baker, who is one of the Lib Dems in government, announced some changes which meant that a lot of that red tape, and some of the expense, disappeared.

What he said was, ‘if councils and local communities want to put in place 20 mph schemes on residential roads or use common-sense measures such as variable speed limits outside schools, then they should be able to do so without spending time and money satisfying unnecessary Whitehall diktats.’

The key changes in the process are:

Many of the current restrictions and obstacles to rolling out 20mph zones are being removed so that residential roads can be implemented with cheaper and less signs.

Importantly councils will no longer require approval from Government to introduce 20 mph zones.

Which brings me to the issue at hand. Liverpool hasn't been explicit yet about how it will consult and how it will make the decisions, but I am keen to get some information in to help people in roads that know they would support the change.

So, if you live in a road where you think this would be a good idea, please drop me an e mail to paula.keaveney@liverpool.gov.uk. Obviously I need to know your name and contact details and the road you are talking about .

In Cressington some of you will already have had notes from me about this but there's no reason to wait if you want to get in touch.

New planters

2011-06-12T21:18:00.000+01:00

This is one of the planters placed in part of our area this month. These were paid for out of the neighbourhood fund, a small pot of money that ward councillors decide how to spend. The money was committed before May and it's great to see the flowers here now. These were one of the items decided on by myself, Richard Oglethorpe and Peter Millea (who sadly is not a Councillor any more) I popped into the shop on Garston Old Road the other day and the shopkeeper told me that people were really made up at the difference it made to have flowers there. (He also promised to water the plants although after this weekend's weather that won't be needed for a while!)

These two have their birthday this week.

2011-06-12T21:12:00.000+01:00

They are nine but they seem to think they are still kittens!

The week just gone

2011-06-12T21:04:00.000+01:00

This has been a week of balancing my work at Edge Hill with being a Councillor. At this point in the academic year there are all sorts of deadlines to do with marking and degree classifications so the week started off with me having to meet one of them. It's always a big relief when that is done as the students won't get their marks or their degrees if we don't get things sorted in time. Luckily for me I've got some great students and some of the marks are very impressive indeed.

That done however, I had some important Cressington ward and Lib Dem things to do. I've blogged about the Fairness Commission already which met on Wednesday. As soon as there is more to say about evidence collecting and other opportunities, I'll post it.

This week saw three important meetings for Cressington (meetings with officers not committee meetings). At the first Richard Oglethorpe and I were looking at the maps the Council had drawn up of all the plots of land the Council thought could be used for housing. Some of these were bizarre and simply either wouldn't work or would involve getting rid of some nice bits of open space that are valued by local people. Others look doable if there is local support (and we asked for some consultation).

We then discussed, in a separate meeting, the future of Garston Library and Garston Leisure Centre. The Council has been consulting about the future of Libraries and we were worried about what might come out of that for our area. There won't be any clear recommendations or decisions for a while but I think we managed to highlight the importance of Garston Library and we understand that the useage figures etc prove that it's a valueable resource.

I did a street surgery in the middle of the week, and another on Saturday morning. These are a good way of talking to people and spotting issues. Got rained on both times though.

Friday was Shadow Cabinet. We meet at 8 am (which means I have to be there quite a bit earlier) to do some thinking about the next fortnight's activities on the Council. It was good to see that Tina Gould's motion on electronic cigarettes had some press coverage and that there's interest in Barbara Mace's work on local history.

Saturday saw good news in the press for one of my colleagues - Richard Kemp - who got a CBE. I had been tipped off about this but had to keep it quiet till it was announced.

Saturday for me also saw me doing the Councillors' surgery at the Library and then kicking off a petition on a particular local issue (which I'll blog about separately rather than cover in a throw away line)

And today.. well I've been catching up on my work for Edge Hill University, catching up on casework letters and e mails and attempting some research for this week's events and meetings.

Oh, we also had a not very helpful meeting about the plans for Stalbridge Dock. The deadline for anyone wanting to send in a comment on the Merseyside wide plan is 20th June. One of my previous posts has the link to the website.

Alleydumping

2011-06-08T17:15:00.000+01:00

I realise it can look a bit odd going round photographing dumping and litter, but here's a picture of some dumping I noticed in Cressington ward yesterday. I've reported it for clearance and the Council say it should be gone by the 15th ( suspect it will have grown by then)

Fairness Commission

2011-06-08T17:12:00.001+01:00

Update:

Here's the link to the Islington report mentioned below.

http://www.islington.gov.uk/council/councilfairness/:

Went to the second meeting of the Fairness Commission today. As luck would have it today was also the publication date for the report of the Islington Fairness Commission, and one of the members of that came up to share some of his experiences and advice.

I'll post a link to the Islington report when I can.

What I found really good about the Islington work is that the report's recommendations were easy to understand and were actually directed to somebody or to a particular organisation. These included Islington Council itself, the local chamber of commerce, the Mayor of London etc. That meant that it wasn't a lot of platitudes but some thought out suggestions about practical things that could be done to make Islington fairer.

Obviously a lot depends on whether the recommendations get acted on, but I got the sense that those involved didn't see the report as the end of their work, merely a stepping stone to getting some action.

The first two meetings of the Liverpool Fairness Commission have been scene setting rather than evidence gathering but we seem to be about to move into more evidence gathering mode.

I'll post some links to the Liverpool material when I can.

Doorknocking again

2011-06-06T21:25:00.000+01:00

Another good evening's doorknocking in South Liverpool. This is some of the team we had out working for the Liverpool Lib Dems tonight.

Social Liberal Forum Conference

2011-06-04T14:24:00.000+01:00

Our first ever conference takes place this month (in a fortnight in fact). Called Liberty, Equality and the State we are aiming to look at policy and do some thinking about some pretty fundamental issues.

It is a Lib Dem led conference and it does include Simon Hughes, Vince Cable and Chris Huhne but we also have speakers from other parties and none.

The event takes place down in London (although we hope in future to have satellite events for people who can't travel quite so far).

I agreed to chair a session. In fact I am doing the kick off plenary which features Simon Hughes, Will Hutton, Neal Lawson and James Graham. Its a sort of scene setting/agenda setting bit which should lead in well to the workshops.

Quite a few of the tickets have already gone, but if you want to find out more about the conference, the SLF website is here