Wirral News letters: 22 July 2009

Jul 29 2009 by Lorna Hughes, Birkenhead News

We don’t want this crossing

I SEE that residents living near Spital crossroads are petitioning the council to provide a pedestrian crossing near the junction to enable them to cross safely.

The residents of Heath Road in Bebington have a recently-installed Puffin crossing which nobody asked for and nobody wants.

It is in very good condition as it was very expensive and it is rarely used.

The Spital residents are welcome to it, as it will be of much more use to them than it is to us.

W GREEN

Bebington

No to surgery

May I, through your paper, answer the letter that John Thompson wrote about the Warrens.

This is green belt land, haven’t the PCT taken enough of Arrowe Park already? They keep eating away at our park. Would Mr Thompson like it if the PCT came along and built such a building alongside his home? I don’t think so.

The doctors have needed a new surgery for years and have missed land close by all the surgeries in the past. So I for one don’t want this building by me.

MRS S TRIPP

Thingwall.

Keep it small

There have been a lot of allegations about a number of members of Parliament and I am sure they will be all sorted out one way or another.

What concerns me more than anything is the manner in which some party leaders are speaking of boundary changes; these take place every 20 years or so.

The Boundary Commission looks at the movement of people up and down the country and it determines how many constituents an MP should represent on an equal basis.

The Boundary Commission has concluded since the last General Election that each MP should represent approximately 60,000.

What does bother me is that if politicians become involved in these boundary changes, then the system could be open to gerrymandering, where boundary changes take place to benefit one particular party.

Larger constituencies would certainly reduce the number of marginal seats with a party in power that would be very difficult to shift, if at all possible.

The latest boundary changes have been completed since 2004 and will come into effect at the next General Election. Wirral South will lose some people to Birkenhead as will Wirral West. This is because of the movement of people out of Birkenhead and as Birkenhead grows with all the regeneration, the next boundary moves may move those people back.

The people of this country should not accept that politicians should ever be involved in boundary changes. To leave themselves open to be accused of gerrymandering is a very serious thing.

If the political party that happened to be in power could arrange the constituency boundaries to their own benefit, we would be moving closer to a dictatorship.

It might sound good for MPs to have larger constituencies, but in the long term I believe it would be a disaster.

FRANK MCCOY

Bebington.

Maggot worries

RE: Blues over bins (Letters, July 8). I agree with the comments by Chris and Rob 100%.

We take every sensible precaution to keep our bins clean but we have an occasional shiver when we see maggots.

We are fortunate to have a driveway and a hosepipe without which clearing them would be difficult. The council should have an urgent rethink on this subject with a view to emptying green bins more often in the summer months.

A OWINGS

CH61

Lack of respect

IN reply to the letter Badge Blues.

I am a disabled lady who also lives in Greasby. I also have problems when my husband and I go shopping in the village.

I contacted a councillor a few years ago about lack of respect for disabled people and lack of spaces. The reply was “contact Street Scene and they will send out a warden to book them”.

I also contacted another councillor who said she would contact the police, then advised me I could have a word myself. Sadly nothing has been done.

ANGRY DISABLED LADY

Address supplied

Fairground fun

MAY I through the letters page of the Wirral News put the following questions to Michael Emberton and the rest of the Wirral Show committee.

For 2010 and onwards would the committee consider extending the current show days to either three or four, and to raise more coppers and introduce more attractions, bring in an affordable entrance charge?

Would the committee consider introducing large steam-powered fairground organs and hobby horse rides, including an old fashioned fairground, doing away with noisier rides? Would the committee consider ending the show with a fireworks display? I would like to see a representation from the Royal Marines Military Band, along with a air sea rescue exercise done by a RAF rescue helicopter, again weather permitting.

RICHARD GLOBE

Wallasey

Preparation

OBVIOUSLY Mr Cameron of Heswall (Letters, July 22) does not use Heron Road.

Who decided to resurface a road that was resurfaced not that long ago? All that was needed was the manholes lifted to the level of the existing road but The Powers That Be decided to resurface without lifting them, causing damage to our tyres, wheels and suspension.

Surely before any resurfacing work is done to the road you require preparation work, which starts with lifting the manholes, bringing the road level to their level.

DC (WIRRAL ADVANCED DRIVER)

Meols

Pothole potty

SANDY Cameron surely views Heswall through rose-coloured spectacles: Our roads are in a terrible state.

Has he driven on Telegraph Road past the Oldfield Drive/Mere Lane junction, or on Baskervyle Road, Delavour Road, Hillside Road, South Drive, Thurstaston Road?

With Heswall’s Councillor Hodson being this year’s Mayor, I had hoped that we might receive some attention. Every time the councillor drives between his home and the town centre he must experience personally many of the potholes and other deficiencies.

CHRIS LORD

via e-mail

Bike alarm

I HAVE for some considerable time become alarmed and concerned about the number of cyclists, of all ages, who feel they have a right to use the pavements rather than the roads as their means of access.

This became a stronger issue in my mind recently when I was witness to, and assisted casualties with, quite serious injuries as a result of cyclists using the pavement with a total lack of care and attention – one at the blindspot of Black Horse Hill/Greenbank Road, West Kirby, and one in Claughton Village.

When asking for guidance and support from the police I was told it was an issue which could not be legislated or ruled upon – why not? Surely a simple set of guidelines and correct code of behaviour, linked to the Highway Code, would solve the problem. Has the time come for cycle driving tests and number plated bikes so that offenders can be identified and reported in the same way as motorists who break the law in speeding and careless driving?

BARBARA SINCLAIR

West Kirby

Trouble ahead?

IN reply to the letter “Ghost town” (July 22). A similar fiasco is on-going in Penrith, Cumbria, which appears to be several months in advance of Neston's rejuvenation (eyesore).

If Penrith's experience is anything to go by then, to use a well-known quotation, “Neston ain't seen nothin’ yet”.

OLD NESTONIAN

via e-mail