Meadowlands update (30 August)

There's been a development in events around the decision of the Council to sell off the bit of land at Sefton Park referred to as the meadows.

When the Labour Cabinet voted to sell this land off for housing, it still had to go through a legal process.  When open land is potentially being lost, it has to be advertised to give people a chance to make objections.

This advert was published and a large number of objections came in.

This means these need to be discussed before anything can happen.

The Council has now said that this discussion will happen at a Cabinet meeting at the end of September (in four weeks time)

Brief details have been published at this link.  Full paperwork isn't up yet but should be published ahead of the meeting (which should be open to the public).

Odd sales calls about council tax

An L19 resident was in touch recently about an odd phone call he received about his Council Tax.

Apparently a company has been cold calling some people telling them that their property is in the wrong council tax band so they might be due a refund.

The company then asks the resident to sign a contract which involves paying a fee and then a percentage of any refund won.  The company's part of the deal is to try to get the refund.

Now there's nothing illegal in any of this, as long as cool off periods are respected etc, but the resident was concerned it might be a scam.

The facts are that anyone who thinks their property might be in the wrong Council Tax band can get it looked at free of charge by the Valuation Agency, the Government body that does the banding (NB the Council does not decide bands)

If you want to get your banding checked, you can contact the agency at   http://www.voa.gov.uk/

The agency also has an office on Church Street in Liverpool.

Where's the art gone?

I've had a few questions about the disappearance of the community artwork opposite St Michaels Church in Garston.

This is/was a series of panels designed to celebrate the life and achievements of Garston born Jack Jones.

The panels were on display on the bit of vacant land opposite the church (by the bridge).  There was a bit of graffiti, and then a couple looked loose.  But all of a sudden they were gone (leaving just the frame).

Anyway, the good news is that they haven't just disappeared.  They are in storage as people were worried about future damage and the need to make sure they were protected.  The group involved in the whole project is going to get together to discuss the best place for the art so Garston people (and others!!) can see it and that it is also safer from vandalism.

I'm not sure how long it'll be before there is any news but I will post it when I have it.  It was good to see that people were genuinely interested.

Bin collection update - Liverpool (20 August)

The Council is now saying that they expect the backlog of bin collections to have been cleared on or by Friday 23rd August.  If your normal day is missed the advice is to still have the bin out on following days.

Bin collection update - Liverpool

It's reported that the industrial action affecting bin collections (work to rule) and other environmental work (which had included a Friday strike) is now over.

It's not clear how long it'll take for things to get back to their normal days.

The Council is asking residents to keep putting bins out until collections get back to normal.

South Liverpool planning

Liverpool's planning committee will be taking decisions on quite a few South Liverpool planning applications later this month (27 August).

These include proposals for the redevelopment of the shopping centre on Gateacre Park Drive, new housing in Speke and changing a shop to a restaurant on Allerton Road.

You can see the details of the meeting (which also includes other items) at this link.

Extra help with fuel bills

Someone contacted me today to say he'd found out about a Government scheme (Warm Home Discount Scheme)  helping with fuel bills over the winter.  It turns out that it's one of those schemes not a lot of people are aware of.  It's aimed at pensioners but also some people on low incomes.

The details are at this link.