West Kirby: a safer and more pleasant place to shop.
So let's get this straight. Wirral Council consults the public on pedestrianising the Crescent in West Kirby.
. ...[more]
Jim McGinley, April 2009
Importance of Brook Advisory Service, Birkenhead.
It is good news that teenage pregnancy rates in Wirral are coming down, by 7% in 2007. Sadly Britain still leads the rest of Europe in this league table.
. ...[more]
Yvonne McGinley, April 2009
Sustainable Communities
Last year parliament passed the Sustainable Communities Act which could prove invaluable if adopted by Wirral Council in preventing the closure of libraries and recreation centres.
. ...[more]
Patrick Cleary, December 2008
Return to public transport systems
Our public transport systems used to be truly Public.
. ...[more]
Colin Hawksworth, Wirral Globe 2nd April 2008
Fluoridation of drinking water
I wish to raise the important issue of the human rights infringement
. ...[more]
Rosemary Bland, March 2008
West Kirby stands out amongst Wirral towns
in having preserved a vibrant selection of small, local food retailers. ...[more]
Patrick Cleary, February 13th 2008, Wirral Globe
We need to cut consumption of meat and dairy products
...[more]
Patrick Cleary, November 2007
Development plan is misguided
As Merseyside rushes headlong into a development programme based on traditional predict-and-provide thinking, we should seriously pause to consider that not everyone accepts this is a sensible way to go ...[more]
Patrick Cleary, October 2006
West Kirby: a safer and more pleasant place to shop.
So let's get this straight. Wirral Council consults the public on pedestrianising the Crescent in West Kirby. A clear majority is in favour (66%-19%). The Council also consults traders and, again, a clear majority is in favour (56%-22%).
Despite this overwhelming result the Council has now cancelled the project and we are given only a flimsy reference to a change of heart amongst traders as an excuse.
Residents can reasonably ask whether we are being told the real reason behind this decision. After all, what is the point in spending taxpayers money on consultation if the results are effectively ignored?
With this decision we have lost a small but important opportunity to make West Kirby a safer and more pleasant place to shop.
Jim McGinley
Green Party
Importance of Brook Advisory Service, Birkenhead.
It is good news that teenage pregnancy rates in Wirral are coming down, by 7% in 2007. Sadly Britain still leads the rest of Europe in this league table.
The Health Service in Schools initiative will be a positive step to reducing rates further in Wirral especially if it is combined with sex and relationship education, taught early enough by people who are enthusiastic and well equipped to deliver it.
One aspect not referred to in your article, however, is the important role played by specialist clinic services for young people provided by Brook Advisory Service in Whetstone Lane, Birkenhead. This service, which opened in 1992 has sessions 6 days a week and sees more than 16,000 young men and women every year. They are offered free, confidential sexual health information, contraception and pregnancy testing, advice and counseling etc.
I am sure this service has made a significant contribution to the reduction of teenage pregnancies in Wirral and will continue to do so in the future.
Yvonne McGinley
Wirral Green Party
Sustainable Communities
Last year parliament passed the Sustainable Communities Act which could prove invaluable if adopted by Wirral Council in preventing the closure of libraries and recreation centres.
Councils can use the Act to simply ask for more money. For example - a council asks for funds to keep a post office open and the emissions saved from people not having to drive further to the next post office etc. means the government does not have to spend public money.
Councils can also use the Act to ask for a transfer of public money spent locally that is currently under central control. An example is Business Link, a central body that spends about £500 million a year in Britain. A council could take control of the Business Link money spent in their area and use it to promote local businesses. If there was money left over they could use it to, say, keep more local public services open, or fund insulation to reduce fuel poverty.
Finally councils can use the Act to gain new revenue generating powers. For example the council could gain the power to charge a rate to car parks at out of town superstores. It could then use that revenue to promote more vibrant inner town areas.
At the Cabinet meeting of 24th November, Steve Maddox made the point that Council assets have been a problem for many years, and that the right decision needs to be made for the next 20 years. There is no reason for the decision to dispose with these assets to be made in haste.
The residents of Wirral don't want to see the further decline of local communities. This Act gives Councillors the power to protect and enhance our community and we urge Wirral Council to adopt it and use its powers to the full extent.
Patrick Cleary
Wirral Green Party
Return to public transport systems
Our public transport systems used to be truly Public. However, since privatisation, Conservative and Labour governments have siphoned away millions earmarked for essential investment - and now we're really paying the price.
If government was to re-allocate a quarter of the national road budget - over the next ten years we could build light rail systems in eight cities, create 10,000 people-friendly home zones, put £4 billion into cutting train and bus fares, £1 billion into rural transport and £1 billion into transport for disabled people. This would also bring about thousands of new local jobs.
Let's make public transport the easiest, cheapest and cleanest option.
Colin Hawksworth
Wirral Green Party
Published in Wirral Globe, 2nd April 2008
Fluoridation of drinking water.
I wish to raise the important issue of the human rights infringement that is the involuntary dosing of the population with fluoridated water. Already, 10% of British people have fluoride in their drinking water and proposals are to extend this highly unpopular plan to the whole of the UK, despite being opposed in most other European countries. I would like to emphasise these points:
1. There is considerable concern that fluoride is linked to a wide range of medical disorders, including bone cancer.
2. There is considerable evidence that fluoride does not reduce tooth decay.
3. Fluoridation of water supplies is enforced mass medication. It is an infringement of human rights and medical ethics.
Tooth decay is caused by poor dental hygiene and excessive consumption of refined sugar products. Fluoridation doesn't address this at all. The Green Party believes in prevention before cure and supports an education programme on dental hygiene and a ban on water fluoridation.
Rosemary Bland
Wirral Green Party
Farmers' Market Better Than Supermarket
West Kirby stands out amongst Wirral towns in having preserved a vibrant selection of small, local food retailers. Unlike most areas, residents can still get their fish, meat, fruit and vegetables without ever stepping inside a supermarket. This was reflected in the New Economics Foundation study from 2006 which showed that West Kirby had not yet succumbed to being another clone town, populated only by chain stores with no connection to the local community.
Local shops are not only important for preserving character and keeping money within the community. They are also vital in giving people the opportunity to purchase locally grown food. In contrast, the supermarket model is based on cheap and abundant energy with food often transported over thousands of miles before it reaches the consumer. In the era of climate change and soaring energy costs we have to find a better way that brings us back to eating more locally sourced, seasonal food, which is better for our health and the environment.
In the very week that saw Wirral Council slip further down the government rankings in the environmental sector, it has an opportunity to restore some credibility by rejecting Aldis plans for another supermarket in West Kirby. A regular farmers market would be a far better addition to the town and should be a major part of the Councils planning for West Kirbys future.
Patrick Cleary
Wirral Green Party
Published in Wirral Globe, 13th February 2008
We need to cut consumption of meat and dairy products
A local, national and global challenge to our common sense of responsibility is the need for all of us to cut down on consumption of meat and dairy products. The reasons are quite shocking, although some are currently being brought to our attention in the UK such as public and personal health being at risk.
What may surprise us is that the livestock industry accounts for 18% of all greenhouse gas emissions. This is more than the transport sector, including aviation. World-wide we are eating more meat and dairy products year by year. These facts are from the Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations Report of 2006 Livestocks Long Shadow.
Currently it is being taken up by the Compassion in World Farming. It is also strongly backed by Jonathon Porritt to awaken policy makers and producers who are reluctant to make any change in intensive livestock farming. He describes current practices as a serious threat to health, animal welfare, environmental protection and sustainability
As the only U.K. political party with an explicit policy on food and animal welfare, the Green Party has established over the years the need to reduce our dependence on food animals and linked this up with other policy areas such as health, education and agriculture. We are therefore pleased to publicise and support the CIWF campaign (www.ciwf.org.uk).
Patrick Cleary
November 2007
Development plan is misguided
As Merseyside rushes headlong into a development programme based on traditional predict and provide thinking, we should seriously pause to consider that not everyone accepts this is a sensible way to go. Developments based around massive commercial structures and expanded road and air travel are hugely dependent on increasingly scarce and highly polluting energy sources. They also leave us vulnerable to the inevitable crunch in energy supplies as resources deplete and large sections of the rapidly expanding global population industrialise.
It doesnt have to be like this. On October 17, Oakland City Council unanimously passed legislation making Oakland the first city in the USA to aim for oil independence by 2020. Inspired by Sweden, which earlier this year released a landmark national action plan that is expected to reduce oil consumption by as much as 50% by 2020, the City of Oakland hopes to provide a similar model for cities in the U.S.
Given the current emphasis on green thinking it is hugely disappointing that this has not filtered through in any meaningful way to those who are entrusted with planning the future development of our region. There is so much that we can easily do to reduce our energy consumption, protect ourselves from the inevitable shortages of the future and, at the same time, make our contribution to tackling climate chaos. Unfortunately, current developments are taking us in the opposite direction.
Patrick Cleary
Green Party (Wirral)
October 2006
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