Councillors' surgery times to change

A quick note to say that the Cressington Councillors' surgeries will change their day and time from April. They are moving to a Saturday morning at 10 am (but staying at the same place - the library). The one on the 4th Monday of March at 6 30will still take place. It's only in April that the times and dates shift.

Jack Allen leaflet misleads Garston public

People in Garston can't fail to be aware of the leaflet produced on behalf of Jack Allen holdings promoting their new plans for a waste facility at the docks. After the withdrawal of the original plans last year, the company has drawn up new proposals and a charm offensive has begun with three consultation leaflets (last week) and a leaflet.

However the Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority (which is the body responsible for disposing of the waste that you or I put in our purple bins - and which people in other Merseyside boroughs put in theirs) has complained that the information being provided by Jack Allen is quite simply misleading.

Anyone reading the leaflet would think that there was an arrangement for the purple bin lorries to pop along to this new site, leaving the waste there to be treated.

This is an extract from the MWDA letter:

"Throughout the leaflet it is implied that this proposed Jack Allen waste facility will process Liverpool's purple bin waste. The organisation with statutory responsibility for the disposal of household waste collected by District Councils on Merseyside is Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority.

Therefore Jack Allen Holdings Ltd would need to have a contract with the Waste Disposal Authority to treat and dispose of household waste. Jack Allen Holdings Limited DO NOT have a contract with Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority.

Jack Allen Holdings are NOT part of the Authority's current procurement for new waste services and facilities........."


The letter goes on to talk about other statements made as part of the leaflet. It is more than two pages long so I won't copy it all on to here. I am however more than happy to make copies and put them in the post if anyone wants to see the full text. The letter is not marked private and confidential. If you want a copy, please let me have your addresess. I imagine you won't want to post your name and address on the blog (you can if you like) so you may prefer to use my council e mail which is paula.keaveney@liverpool.gov.uk

Party conference in Harrogate

I hadn't intended to speak in the higher education debate at Harrogate as I rather expected others would say the sort of things I wanted to. But listening to Linda Jack's points on women not being called to speak, and the reply that this was partly because not enough women put in speakers' cards in the first place, I thought I had better do my bit. So I bunged in a card and got called towards the end of the debate.

Its a weird thing waiting to be called. If you are not moving the motion or amendment (and so guaranteed your slot) you really can't tell whether your name will come up or not. So you can spend an hour getting nervous for no reason (this has happened to me in the past)

I was glad I spoke in this one though. I was able to use some of my own experiences (working in higher education) and talk about the very real financial pressures most, if not all, students are under.

Jack Allen tries again

Jack Allen holdings, the company with the proposals for the huge waste facility in Garston, is trying again. The original plans were withdrawn towards the end of last year. the company say this was to look again at the scheme - butht he thousands of objections must have been relevant. Now they have a new scheme which, despite some changes, would still cause a major problem for people living near the site (Dock Road) and for those near the roads that will form the lorry route. Jack Allen (or rather their PR consultants) have organised some exhibitions. The residents group I am working with have prepared some leaflets. If you want to go along to the exhibitions they are

Today - at the village hall on Banks Road till 8pm
Friday - at the Innkeepers Lodge which is the hotel next to the Kingsman (Toby Carvery) on Aigburth Road - 12 till 8
Saturday - at the Reading Rooms on Wellington Street in Garston Village - 9 till 5.

The website set up by the residents has been updated and is now at
www.southliverpoolresidents.org.uk

Fair Trade

It's Fair Trade fortnight at the moment. Yesterday I went to the Town Hall for an event to celebrate and promote Fair Trade work. Hopefully there'll be some good pictures of the children from some of our Fair Trade schools. Liverpool got Fair Trade City status in 2004 - I was the lead councillor on it at the time - but there is still loads more we can do to encourage this ethical purchasing. Encouragingly and increasing number of shops stock Fair Trade goods and actually pricewise they can be a good bargain.

Counterfeit cigarettes

A while ago I blogged about counterfeit cigarettes and tobacco. An anonymous poster commented about the prevalance of this in some particular pubs (without naming them). Given how dangerous this stuff is, I would like to get the trading standards unit to look into this, but to do so I would need the names of the pubs. I realise the anonymous poster won't want his or her name used, but I'd be grateful if you felt able to give me the details via my council e mail which is paula.keaveney@liverpool.gov.uk

Conference comes back to the City

Today's Daily Post is reporting the Lib Dem decision to hold next year's autumn federal (national) party conference in Liverpool. The autumn conference is the biggie in terms of length and number of delegates. This follows us holding the Spring conference in Liverpool last year.