Peter Kearney

Thank you Mr Mayor and I congratulate Cllr Williams on her maiden speech.

86% of children in Birkenhead are believed to live in poverty;

The difference in life expectancy between a male child born in the West of the Wirral and a male child born in the East of the Wirral is 14.6 years.

These couple of startling statistics highlight the problems we are faced with.

And we must not forget the people who lie behind these statistics:-

• Families trapped in a never ending cycle of poverty
• Individuals starved of their passion and drive to better themselves
• And children growing up in homes without the love and care all humans need

Labour likes to boast about the successes of the last Government in tackling these issues.  Yet, it seems that things are as bad, if not worse, than ever.

If the first chapter of Labour’s legacy is the financial crisis, then the second chapter is Labour’s failure to meaningfully tackle the social problems facing our society.

With the focus on developing a Big Society coupled with the shift towards outcome based working and the Coalition Government’s radical reforms to welfare, this Council is presented with a real opportunity to transform the life chances of the poorest living within this Borough.

I am pleased to see within the Administration’s budget the investment in Sure Start centres, which offer a safe and secure environment for young children to develop, the support for libraries that provide resources to everyone to enhance their education and opportunities, and, in particular, the investment in developing a strategy to tackle child poverty.

By working closely with the community, voluntary and faith based sector, we have the chance to provide inspiration to the hopeless, opportunities to those without and a helping hand to those desperate to get out of the poverty trap.

The administration’s budget is a big step in the right direction. 

I commend the budget to Council.

Thank you.

Today, the Prime Minister David Cameron and Lord Heseltine visited the site of the Wirral Waters development in Birkenhead. Accompanied by the Leader of the Council, Councillor Jeff Green, he toured the site and met with Wirral business leaders to discuss ways of boosting the region’s economy.

In response to the visit, Councillor Jeff Green said:

“I am delighted to have welcomed David Cameron to see for himself what a difference this development will make to Wirral.

“This is the most important regeneration project in Wirral’s history and I am extremely pleased that the Prime Minister and Lord Heseltine recognise the significance of what is being achieved here through strong partnership working between Peel and the Council.

“Wirral Waters is an excellent example of localism in action. The Council worked very hard to bring it to fruition and it was strongly supported by the local community and businesses. I am delighted that the government showed their trust in local decision-making by giving this project the green light. To have the Prime Minister’s endorsement for this development is fantastic news for the people of Wirral. We will now work even harder with Peel to market the site and realise the benefits and opportunities of the scheme.

“I truly believe that Wirral Waters is a once in a lifetime opportunity which will make a dramatic contribution to transforming the area’s economy and the lives of the people of Wirral and the wider city region.”

Cllr Jeff Green, Leader of Wirral Council, and Cllr Lesley Rennie, Wirral’s Cabinet Member for Streetscene and Transport Services, have agreed extra resources to get all collections fully up to date by the beginning of next week.

The advice to the public is:

As of Tuesday, all scheduled collections are back to normal. Residents should leave their appropriate bin (grey or green) out for collection. Anyone who was scheduled to have a collection this week but missed it should leave their bin out for collection as Biffa will be returning to empty missed bins.

Where households have missed green bin collections from last week and are experiencing a build up of ‘green bin’ residual waste, they should leave their green bins (with any side waste) out for collection from first thing Sunday morning (Jan 2) and they will be emptied within 2-3 days.
Residents who are experiencing a build up of recyclables from last or previous weeks should wait until their next scheduled collection, or take it to any one of the 10 car park locations around Wirral that have been opened for additional collections. These facilities will be open until Friday only from 9am-2.30pm at:

- Quarrybank Road car park Birkenhead
- Coronation Park, Greasby
- Woodchurch Leisure Centre
- Seaview Road, Liscard (car park opposite Fairview Avenue)
- Pye Road car park, Heswall
- Woodhead Street car park, New Ferry
- Allport Lane car park, Bromborough
- Leasowe Common car park (where Pasture Road meets Leasowe Road).
- Dee Lane car park, West Kirby.
- Fishers Lane, Pensby (by the community centre).

Please note that from yesterday (Wednesday December 29), residual (green bin) waste is no longer being accepted at these locations. The Council would like to stress that any waste, left out and bagged as side waste, will be taken with green bin collections.

Cllr Jeff Green, Leader, Wirral Council, said: ‘Now that the worst of the weather is behind us, we must bring the bin collections back on track and that means immediate action by the Council and our contractor, Biffa. Leaving bins uncollected for weeks is not acceptable. Cllr. Lesley Rennie and I have been meeting regularly and have put together an action plan to ensure normal service is resumed quickly.

‘Most people have understood that the atrocious weather has disrupted some services. However, people also pay their Council Tax and expect a level of service in return. The extra money, we have agreed today will bring bin collections back on track. Cllr. Lesley Rennie and I are making it our priority to make sure that this happens.’

Further information is available from the Council’s website on www.wirral.gov.uk or from the Call Centre on 606 2004.

Taken from wirral.gov.uk

The sessions are every week from 25th October 2010 until 25th March 2011.

Please note: There will be no play sessions between 20th December 2010 and 3rd January 2011.

On Wednesdays -

The Chase:

3.15pm – 4.45pm

Allport Lane Precinct:

5.15pm – 7.15pm

On Fridays -

King’s Road:

5.15pm – 7.15pm

On Wednesday 3rd November Age Concern are holding an electric blanket testing day in Birkenhead. At the event they will also be offering a 50% off voucher for replacement blankets.

For more information please contact Age Concern on 0151 666 2220.

An information event aimed at the over-50s will take place at Birkenhead library next week.

At the event, a range of organisations will be on hand to give advice and assistance to older residents. The event takes place between 2pm and 5pm on Thursday September 9th 2010.

Library staff will be there to advise about some of the services they offer that might be of interest to people over 50, such as the Home Reader service and Talking Books and other Wirral Council teams are planning to attend including housing and benefits advisors, home energy advisors and representatives from community support and transport teams.

Citizen Advice Bureau staff will also be on hand for free, confidential and independent advice, while there will also be officers from Merseyside Police and Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service to offer tips on home security and safety.

Representatives from Age Concern, Wirral Society for the Blind and Partially Sighted (WSBPS) and Wirral 3Ls – a not-for-profit charity which provides daytime courses and social activities mainly for over 50s – will also be at the event.

It will cost nothing to get in and there will be refreshments provided. For more information, contact Birkenhead Library on 0151 652 6106.

Over the next few weeks the Council will be delivering the garden waste collection calendars, which lists brown bin collection dates for the next two years.

Garden waste collection started in 2004. From then till March this year, 61,471 tonnes of garden waste has been composted and re-used, mainly in agriculture, instead of it going into landfill.

For further information ring Streetscene on 0151 606 2004.

This weekend will see Claremont Farm in Clatterbridge transformed by exhibitors and stalls from the finest specialist food producers in England and North Wales. The festival, now in its fifth years, runs between 10am to 5pm on Sunday and 10am to 4pm on Monday and will undoubtedly attract visitors from across the region.

It’s a real privilege to have such an event running within the ward I represent.

For more information see:

wirralfoodfestival.co.uk or visitwirral.com/food