Why parking is not safe

Jun 27 2007 by Kevin Core, Birkenhead News

REGARDING the article about Leasowe station, I had a new car and took comfort in knowing the station was covered by CCTV cameras so I felt my car would be secure.

I got back that evening to find my car had been broken into.

Both airbags had been removed, causing £2,000 worth of damage. They got in by peeling the metal from around the keyhole and disconnecting the alarms, so the door also needed replacing.

I parked under the CCTV cameras ensuring that the direction it was pointing was covering my vehicle and, guess what, I contacted the transport police immediately after reporting it to the ticket office and have never heard anything since - so I assume they didn’t find anything either.

I think a sign should be put up at the entrance to the car park stating that there have been a number of thefts despite the CCTV cameras and park at your own risk.

I do still park there, as I once parked on the road in front of the houses on Reeds Lane (opposite Squibbs), and I my side window was cracked and the paintwork scratched.

I hesitate every time I get off the train and hope that my car is still in the same condition as I left it.

JACQUELINE WEBB,

WIRRALŠ

Pedestrians must show us respect

IN response to Mr Clark’s letter about cyclists, I note that he fails to mention in his condemnation of cyclists in general that there is a clearly marked cycle path running the entire length of the promenade from Seacombe to Leasowe.

I ride that path regularly and it is becoming increasingly difficult to deal with the number of pedestrians who wander along it, oblivious to the obstruction they cause, and who then abuse any cyclist who commits the apparently grave sin of trying to get past.

I agree riding on the pavement is both selfish and dangerous but so is walking without looking where you are going.

I ride a bicycle a lot and the number of pedestrians I encounter who cross a road without looking is frightening.

I also walk, both in town and along country footpaths, drive a car and ride a motorcycle.

I hope that whatever form of transport I am using that I’m considerate of other road users.

I sometimes wish other road users – and walkers are road users – would show that consideration instead of blaming someone else for the problems they have caused through their own inattention.

D SULLIVAN,

TRANMERE

Unfair criticism

THE criticism levied by your correspondent from Prenton regarding the competence of our elected Councillors is unjustified.

Councillors are involved through the cabinet-based system introduced to local government by the Labour government.

As one who has supported those willing to put themselves forward as candidates for election to the council, I suggest your correspondent would find the task to convince a largely apathetic electorate it worth giving them their vote a very daunting task.

As far as being amateur politicians, many have professional qualifications and some years of business experience behind them.

The elected councillors rely on the professional advice of the officers employed by the council. Unfortunately, if things go wrong, the public blame councillors as they are the only named individuals available to the electorate.

ALLAN GUY,

THORNTON HOUGH

Blitz the beach

CALLING all truancy officers!

Go down to West Kirby beach on any hot sunny weekday in term time and you can make a clean sweep.

There are children of all ages there but the sad thing is some are with parents who are obviously condoning the absence.

S BIRD

Caves quest

CAN anyone help me find out information about the Worm Hole Caves in New Brighton?

I remember going there on a primary school trip. It was very interesting and I would like to go there again.

As far as I remember, the entrance was in a garden somewhere in Wellington Road and it was only open to the public one day a year.

It is a shame that so many people don’t know about the caves as it is local history.

P READ,

WALLASEY

Shelters an eyesore

WITH all the talk and plans for the renovation of New Brighton, couldn’t something be done in the meantime to those three ugly eyesores - the Victorian shelters.

They are in a disgraceful condition with most of the seats either broken or burnt.

They smell awful and, by looking at them, the last time any work was done to them was in Victorian times.

What a good impression they must give to visitors to the resort having to shelter under them.

A DOUGLAS,

WALLASEY

Permit problem

AS A resident of Liscard for the past five-and-a-half years, I find that every time I change my vehicle I am harassed by parking attendants.

Just recently, my husband and I have been fortunate enough to gain a second vehicle.

We tried to telephone the council to gain a resident’s code only to find ourselves repeatedly placed in a queue and on hold.

My husband has his own shop and works seven days a week while I work full-time Monday to Friday and then work in the shop one day at the weekend.

As we are busy, we didn’t have the time or inclination to be placed in a queue on the telephone for 15 minutes at the time, so we rang off until another day. We then began to receive parking tickets.

I spoke to the parking attendant after he had written the first ticket and told him where we lived, only to be given a ticket by him the very next day.

When I eventually got through to the council office and gained the code for my parking permit, I displayed it clearly on a piece of white A4 paper in the front windscreen of the vehicle - only to gain another three tickets.

I have now received seven tickets stuck on my vehicle when we displayed the code given to us as we were asked. Surely this indicates that the ticket issued before April 18 2007 would have been issued regardless of us gaining a code earlier.

Since we did not receive the log book for the new car until May 8 2007, gaining a residents only permit would have been impossible at this time.

Does this happen to other residents?

J YORK,

WALLASEY

Tips for council

I READ with interest the story on the Neston refuse collection point at Clay Hill that is considering issuing Neston residents with passes to stop cross-border Wirral people using their tip.

In years gone by I was one of those cross-border tippers. Why? I found that the layout was very user-friendly, my car was at a height that allowed easy access to each bay, there was plenty of car space which meant a quick and easy service and the areas around each large skip were kept very tidy.

I also used through business the main council tip in Chester (on the industrial estate close to Chester City FC), this again was an easy tip to use and a quick turn-around.

Wirral Council should take a leaf out of their neighbour’s books and re-plan their tips, if necessary using different contractors.

The difference between each I have found remarkable.

P HALES,

IRBY

Consult patients

I READ with interest the letter from Paul Holt from Arrowe Park Hospital about the new “bedside entertainment systems” which he states that, as part of the government’s national reform of the NHS, the hospital is obliged to provide.

Perhaps it might be an idea that before the government introduces such “reforms” that patients should be consulted?

Mr Holt states that patients are provided with BBC radio and children’s channel for free. Then there is a variety of packages a patient can subscribe to, assuming they have regular visitors who are able to go to the top-up machines and that the patient can afford to pay.

The most economical is the “special three-day offer, just £8”, running into about £80 if the patient is in for a month. A lot of money, particularly for the elderly.

There are other problems with these systems which perhaps have not been thought out, including the clock ticking on even when the patient may be too ill to watch TV and that the monitor may well have been pushed out of reach.

I also wonder about the strain on an elderly patient’s eyesight when the TV monitor is too near and it can not be pushed any further back.

Yes, there is a day room with free TV. Not a lot of use for those bed-bound or in an isolation room.

We also have a cost problem with the new phone facility. Great if your loved one can afford to phone you at 50p per minute, many 50p’s being spent listening to a drawn-out automatic operator.

The cost of the calls can soon mount up, especially unacceptable if the system is out of reach of the patient and the phone is ringing, all at 50p a minute.

MRS M A KALIL,

CALDY