More on skatepark meeting -18th April

I went to a meeting last week with a very impressive group of young people who want to create a skatepark in Garston.

Skatepark is probably the wrong word as we are talking about something BMX riders could use as well.

They've found a potential location, in the grounds of the Urban Village Hall on Banks Road.

They know that there's a long way to go, and that includes talking to local residents and answering questions. They need to be able to reassure people about noise and about how it could all be managed.

So there's a meeting to get people's views this Monday - 18th - at 7pm at the village hall.

The young people have produced a video which includes shots of skateboarding, but also interviews with people like police officers talking about how  a skatepark would benefit the area in a crime prevention way.

Anyway, its a really interesting project.  Do go along if you can and want to know more. (I know the young people are keen to get local people there - they are out delivering leaflets as I write!)

The key contact is Brendan Burton who is a local youth worker.  He is at brendanb@mya.org.uk

Liverpool Cricket club - update

The Licensing Committee meets next week to decide whether or not to let Liverpool Cricket Club have what amounts to a year round license for events using a marquee. Local people are worried about a string of noisy night time events.

Peter Millea and I have sent in objections as has Mossley Hill Cllr Ron Gould.

There is a bit of coverage of the issue on the Post and Echo website today.  You can link across to it here

Information about the committee, including the agenda for this particular meeting, is available here

Skateboard park for Garston?

Local youth workers and others are inviting Garston people to turn up to a meeting later this month to discuss a possible skate park (which could also be used for other activities) in Garston.  There's a potential site under the bridge.

The meeting is on Monday 18th April at the Village Hall on Banks Road at 7pm.

I don't have many details myself about this, although I have promised to tell people about the meeting.

(I'll be getting  a bit more of a briefing later this week)

If you want to know more, Brendon Burton, local youth worker, is the person to ask.

He is at  burtonb@mya.org.uk

Allotment statistics - nearly 1,000 waiting?

A Garston resident got in touch with me recently about whether there could be some more allotment sites in South Liverpool.

I've been doing a bit of research about the number of plots that exist in Liverpool and what the law actually says.

I found a bit of old statute, which seemed to say that an authority had to provide a site if a certain number of people asked for it (getting it checked)

However I also wanted to know the current state of play in Liverpool when it came to demand and waiting lists.

I asked a question about the stats at Full Council and got an "impossible to say" answer. I found that hard to believe so asked again ahead of the Environment Committee tonight.

Because the data is held by individual allotment societies it's hard to be absolutely precise, but the answer I got tonight was that "using a pro rata calculation a waitin glist of between 840 and 960 is suggested".

Seems an awful lot.  Perhaps there are ways of bringing some of the unused small bits of land into use this way.

Rotters Community Composting and waste collections in Garston

Just back from the City Council's Environment and Climate Change Committee.  I had a question in about Rotters, the project on Dutch Farm in Garston.

One of the things I wanted to know was the knock on effect of the loss of funding on some of Rotters' work.

The organisation has been doing some green waste collection on behalf of the Council in the Garston area.

I discovered tonight that about 500 of the properties that have been covered by Rotters will in future be covered by the Council.  I was told this change was due to happen around 12th April and that  there would be communication with residents about this (not least of all because there may be a need to deliver some green bins).

So if you live in a part of Garston currently covered by Rotters, you may hear something very soon.  Please let me know if your Rotters collection stops but nothing takes its place as I'll be happy to chase up.

In the longer term, Rotters is a great organisation and I'm keen to see it thrive and grow, particularly given the great ideas around the South Liverpool Food Alliance.  I'll blog again about this in what I hope is the not too distant future.

Is the hospital actually dangerous?

I've got a question in to the Regeneration Committee (this Thursday) about the new hospital/health centre in Garston.

It's to do with the outside, which appears to be doing  a good job of reflecting sunlight directly back into drivers' eyes.

A poll (admittedly unscientific as it involved me raising the hospital with taxi drivers as we went past) has shown that some drivers believe there'll be accidents.

I did raise this back in the darker months, but at the time the reflecting effect wasn't as obvious as it is now.

Pasted below is the question

"The South Liverpool (Garston) health centre on Woolton Road is a new build replacing the former Sir Alfred Jones memorial hospital.




Now that the exterior of the new build is fully visible, it appears there is a potential road safety problem which needs to be investigated.



A large part of the exterior is covered in shiny and reflecting material which, when the sun is bright, is prone to reflections of bright light. This has already been noticed and remarked on by pedestrians and motorists and there is a fear that the reflection may cause road accidents, particularly involving cars travelling down hill towards Garston village.



Can we please have a site visit and investigation into whether this is in fact dangerous and if so, what measures can be taken to avoid possible road accidents?"

Unsafe gas in Garston ? - Question for Environment Committee

I've got a question in to the Council's environment committee later this week (Wednesday 30th) about a release of gas from a plant run by Veolia in Garston under the bridge.

It happened last week and the gas was obvious to people living along St Mary's/Aigburth Road.

It sounds like Veolia did the right thing when it happened, by shutting things down.  But I am worried that there may not be a process for warning local people when there are incidents like this.

It was a local resident who passed on the information and who obtained some informatioin from Veolia

The text of my question is below

"On Thursday 24th March there was a release of vapour from the Veolia (solvent recovery) plant based under the bridge in Garston. Fumes were seen quite some way away, including off Aigburth Road.


According to local residents Veolia has said the following:



1. A vessel in their plant over pressurised



2. The safety valve ('bursting disc') on this vessel operated as required and opened to release pressure



3. The fumes released were a combination of steam and 'mostly' ethanol



4. They informed the Environment Agency (EA), the police and the fire brigade



5. The EA visited and were satisfied that the company had taken the proper action



I am not sure that Veolia have any contingency plans for informing local residents when there is a problem and when they should perhaps close windows.



What can Liverpool City Council do to make sure that there is a proper process for protecting residents in Garston, particularly those very near the location?"