Birkenhead is surging ahead with its plans for the regeneration of the town, as can be seen with the Wirral Waters project and the start of the redevelopment at Milton Pavement, Grange Road. The Council has put in effort, imagination and energy into launching these and other projects in town and has secured funds to carry them out.
We should also be looking at ways to save and improve our hospitality sector. In a rejuvenated town a burgeoning hospitality industry can create jobs, attract visitors and benefit local residents and their local economy.
And this is where Oxton comes in. Following a meeting with several of the hospitality businesses based on or around Rose Mount in Oxton, Mick Whitley, MP for Birkenhead, has raised the need for urgent action if they are to survive.
At the heart of the proposals they put to the MP is a plan to enable the businesses to take advantage of the relaxation of the rules regarding outdoor hospitality after 12 April. Income earned between 12 April and 17 May could mean the difference to these businesses between survival and bankruptcy. But to generate such income they need to be able to set up facilities on the pavement area of Rose Mount.
At the moment the traffic in the area makes this impossible, namely: there is a bus service that goes up and down the street; there are parking bays on the street; and the street is two-way traffic.
The businesses are asking the Council to take urgent steps to see if solutions to these issues can be found quickly.
Mick Whitley said, “Our exciting and innovative plans for regeneration must take into consideration all parts of the town and an area that depends on hospitality and specialist retail – like Oxton – must be included in the Council’s thinking.
“For this reason, I am supporting the call by this group of businesses to request urgent action to open up the pavements to outside service as this will be vital in saving the businesses, saving an area that can benefit from improved hospitality access and of course saving jobs in the area and making it attractive to residents and visitors alike.”
Image credit: www.birkenhead2020.com
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