Your Views: 05/12/12

Dec 5 2012 Birkenhead News

Is council fit for purpose?

IT BEGGARS belief that one of the newly appointed Wirral Chief Officer’s (Graham Burgess) first tasks is to spend £25,000 on office refurbishment, and not be aware that listed building consent was required.

This is the same council that takes no heed of residents’ wishes, and grants approval for the Sainsbury’s site in Greasby. One begins to wonder if the administration at Wirral Borough Council is fit for purpose?

Regarding the budget options, should many of Graham Burgess’s proposals be accepted, this will lead to:-

1. Increased crime levels due to the reduction in street lighting.

2. Vastly reduced tourism, due to the reductions in street cleaning, park maintenance and floral displays, leading to reduced incomes (if not bankruptcy) for the service industries located on the Wirral.

3.Increases in fly-tipping.

Relating to the budget questionnaire, was this put together by the council, or was an outside consultant used? If the latter, what was the cost? Furthermore, what has my gender/ethnicity/sexual orientation etc got to do with reducing costs?

A JOHNSON,

Prenton

Grateful thanks

I WOULD like to say a big thank you to Arriva for returning my Border terrier calendar which I lost on the 437 West Kirby to Liverpool on Wednesday, October 30.

This was for my sister who has a Border terrier. It’s nice to get something back that I had lost. Thank you so much for returning it to me – it’s nice to know that there are some honest people out there.

Cathy Horner

Bromborough

What a picture!

WHAT a great picture of the ‘Firework Palm Tree’ in Birkenhead Park (Wirral News, Nov 14) sent in by SHAUN > D. Well done, Shaun.

D GRATTON,

Prenton

Slap in the face

ACCORDING to a recent article in the local media, leader of Wirral Council, Councillor Phil Davies, has visionary plans for the Wirral. Yet the proposed cuts to Wirral and its public services is far from visionary.

Propositions include: the closure of apprenticeship schemes, closure of three of the remaining four care homes; the redundancy or sacking of up to 500 WBC staff; closure of children’s school road crossings; a 30 per cent rise in the cost of meals on wheels services for the elderly; drastic cuts and closures in nursing and residential care for vulnerable adults; massive cuts and closures in sheltered housing for vulnerable adults; the closure of two of the three remaining residential care homes for people with disabilities and mental health problems; team support – providing services for families with vulnerable children – to be cut from 11 to four, a 70 per cent cut; and the closure of the children’s outdoor education centre The Oaklands.

So much for Phil Davies and his colleagues’ “visionary exercise”.

Yet multi-national developers are now poised to move into Wirral and build their multi-billion pound concrete monstrosities and pay zero taxes, whilst many local businesses are struggling with no wavering for taxes. The words coming to mind are immoral, unethical and unfair.

The public overwhelmingly gave their votes to Labour in the local elections this year for positive social policies and fairness, and to have their voice represented.

Phil Davies and his Labour colleagues have given a slap in the face to these voters who entrusted them for proper and just representation.

We now know where their priorities lay.

‘If you tolerate this, your children will be next’ (Manic Street Preachers)

Charles Barnes,

West Kirby