Glory days consigned to history

Jul 1 2009 Birkenhead News

NO mention in the Lonely Planet guidebook?

I'm not surprised when they assume we are part of Liverpool.

They should come on a sunny weekend and see our beaches, which are second to none.

We have over 100 items for which we can claim to have had the first, the biggest, the oldest, the tallest etc so what are they waiting for?

But come to think of it, if our council has its way, there will be nothing left for inclusion in the next Lonely Planet guide. So much of our glory is in the past and is now, or will be history, having been destroyed or about to be.

However, a history trail around the peninsula would take some beating as a tourist attraction.

JOANNA MCILHATTON

West Kirby

Thanks Ben

I HAVE followed the work Ben Chapman MP has done through your newspaper since he was elected in 1997.

He has never been afraid to take on issues and fought hard when there was an injustice.

He has even taken on the council over the closure of facilities in Wirral South such as libraries and recreation centres.

He was instrumental in conducting a meeting of Wirral South charities with people from the lottery organisation to help them submit lottery claims. Ben kept a promise to have an office in the constituency with disabled access and open to anyone who calls in with a problem from 9am until 5pm, five days a week.

He made sure the office was in the area where people might need the most help, in New Ferry.

To my way of thinking he has been a very good Member of Parliament for Wirral South.

FRANK MCCOY

Bebington

Pointless votes

RE: your articles about renegade Lib Dems being let off (June 17).

What has happened to our democratic process, a system that our politicians are so keen to foist onto countries like Iraq and Afghanistan?

Here, councillors elected to represent the views of local people are disciplined for doing just that.

I vote for the person who, I think, has the interests of this area as their remit, not to act as “lobby fodder” for dubious decisions made by unelected, highly-paid officials.

In my view government by the people, for the people, goes out of the window as soon as any election result is declared. This applies at both national and local level, why do we bother to vote?

J L MARSHALL

Eastham

Money matters

WHAT mentality do our councillors have to allow a deficit of £80m to accumulate (June 24)?

I suppose it doesn't matter to them really, it's not their money.

I would like to know what state their personal finances are like as it is abundantly clear that they have no financial sense.

It seems to me that in general when Labour have anything to do with financial matters, a large deficit occurs and then the Conservatives attempt to put it right when eventually they get into power. Perhaps in the future we, the owner of the debt, should be made aware of how efficient each councillor is at handling financial matters before we vote for them.

I vote for neither party.

JOHN MORTON, Eastham

Sponsor shame

WE are told the council has an £80m deficit and no doubt it will be the easy targets, such as the elderly and disabled, who will bear the brunt of cutbacks.

This is the only council that spends millions sponsoring its local football team each year (the exact amount they refuse to say, but it's just been extended for a further two years!).

Can someone explain what advantage to council taxpayers having “Wirral” emblazoned on football shirts has? TRFC is a commercial organisation and should not rely on our money to survive.

NAME AND ADDRESS SUPPLIED

Stop moaning

THIS is to those whingeing pensioners who seem to have nothing better to do than moan about having to take a ticket on Arriva buses.

For goodness sake get a life! After all you are getting a free ride.

I am also a pensioner with a free travel pass.

R A LAVERY, Moreton

Thoughtless

IN reference to the letter “Take More Care” (June 17) regarding the accident to little Liberty Dempsey.

Does the author of this letter not think it is somewhat thoughtless to use his sympathy for the plight of the little girl as a forum for all the ills that befall the cyclist, not forgetting the injured child was a pedestrian?

The cycle lane along Kings Parade (on the pavement) was ill thought-out, given the mixture of leisure activities that take place along that stretch of promenade and can become extremely busy on sunny days.

Since that accident I have moni-tored the amount of cyclists that ride on the pavements locally around Wallasey and believe me the amount is staggering – everyone appears to ride on the pavements.

Local bylaws make it an offence to cycle on the pavement. Perhaps our constabulary might like to enforce the bylaw before another kiddie or pensioner is injured.

NAME AND ADDRESS SUPPLIED

Take notice

THE inquiry into library plans by Wirral Council has now closed and while we all await the result there is an opportunity to sit back and simply contemplate why the Strategic Asset Review was ever conceived in the first place.

It has certainly provoked the greatest furore ever witnessed at grass roots level in Wirral, causing an endless list of public protest meetings, petitions with over 50,000 signatures and may well signal the end of a few political careers in the final outcome when the people of Wirral go to the polls next May.

At the end of the day it is the people of Wirral who, whatever the outcome are to be congratulated for standing up to be counted, attending the rallies, putting pen to paper in numerous letters to the press and organising themselves into the biggest protest movement to be seen in the North West for decades.

Perhaps politicians and civil servants alike will not now so readily take the people for granted, and there will be proper and considerate public consultation if ever the future for ordinary residents is to be affected by closure of so many essential public facilities?

Clearly the argument that the SAR was necessary to balance Wirral’s books fell on deaf ears.

Without wishing to anticipate the inquiry result may I suggest that Councillors Steve Foulkes and Simon Holbrook burn the midnight oil and devise an alternative plan and one hopefully not as scatterbrained as the first.

DAVID KIRWAN

Prospective Independent MP for Wirral West