Wirral's independent local news website
Welcome to “Sunday Snippets” a weekly feature from birkenhead.news. It is a round-up of important local news stories from the last seven days. Click or tap on each story to read the full article.
Sue Higginson, Principal and CEO of Wirral Met College, has announced her intention to retire from her post at the end of the academic year, in July 2023.
Sue has worked in further education for 33 years and will have served as Principal and CEO for 11 years when she leaves.Sue said, “It’s been the greatest privilege to lead a fantastic College and to serve my own community as Principal. In the last 10 years, with my team, we have completely transformed the college and it is such a joy to have played a part in leading and developing Wirral Met College.”
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Environmental services, including collections of household waste at the kerbside, will resume next week as staff from Wirral Council’s contractor, Biffa, return to work after a week of industrial action.
Street cleansing will restart on Sunday 11 December, focusing on those areas of the highest priority. During the industrial action, environmental officers working for the council have been monitoring litter bins, so Biffa can be directed to those areas most in need when the service resumes.
Household waste collections will restart on Monday 12 December, but residents should note a significant schedule change for this week as the council seeks to ensure that collecting the most potentially hazardous waste is given priority.
Changes to some transport service charges, including Mersey Tunnel Tolls, are amongst the proposals to be considered by the Combined Authority at its meeting next Friday 16 December.
Inflationary pressures and rising energy prices have made it necessary for a review of costs relating to the Mersey Tunnels, supported bus services and Mersey Ferries.
In a bid to keep travel affordable for residents during the cost-of-living crisis, Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, Steve Rotheram, has introduced several cost-saving measures to the region’s public transport.
Whether you are looking to stretch your legs, exercise the dog, or just fancy a wander around the town centre, see which of these winter walks takes your fancy.
Wander through the streets of the town, enjoy a spot of shopping, stop at one of the many eateries to enjoy a bite…maybe a hot chocolate and a mince pie to really get into the festive mood.
Or, you could leisurely walk that stretches the border of the marine lake from West Kirby to Red Rocks at Hoylake and remains open whilst the flood wall construction is ongoing. There are five walks to tempt you in our guide.
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Birkenhead-based Equilibrium Northwest CIC’s annual Christmas Magic Event has received an extra boost this year, with local firm The Accountancy Partnership funding tickets for 100 children.
When a member of staff mentioned the local event, the firm reached out offering to pay the cost of 100 tickets for children who might not otherwise be able to attend.
Helping disadvantaged groups and individuals in the community, Equilibrium set out to reduce health and wellbeing inequality in Birkenhead. Their aim is to give disadvantaged people the same opportunities available to their peers, providing workshops, projects, and activities with those goals in mind.
Lee Latchford-Evans ‘steps‘ into the shoes of Prince Charming as Bethan Jacks loses hers in Cinderella at the Floral Pavilion.
Panto is not generally known for its genre-inverting innovation, and this one certainly stuck to the tried and tested formula: some singing, some dancing, some water pistol action, men in drag innuendo-ing some poor bloke in the front row and a random but somehow essential, and actually quite amusing, ghost sketch.
In addition, we had real-life miniature ponies pulling a Disney-perfect Cinders in a powder puff of blue sparkles in a fairytale coach which, seen through the eyes of my inner five-year old, was truly beautiful.
Merseyrail will run a limited train service on Tuesday 13 December, Wednesday 14 December, Friday 16 December and Saturday 17 December due to planned strikes by Network Rail staff who are members of the RMT union.
The Liverpool City Region rail network is affected by the UK-wide national walk out, as Network Rail signalling and maintenance employees will be taking industrial action from 02:00 on Tuesday 13 December to 01:59 on Thursday 15 December, and 02:00 on Friday 16 December to 01:59 on Sunday 18 December.
As has been the case during previous strike days, Merseyrail is limited in the number of trains that they can run by the number of Network Rail signalling and maintenance staff that are available. As a result, the operator will run a 45-minute service calling at all stations on selected lines between 07:30 and 18:30 to help passengers make essential journeys.
Live music, drinks, free clothes! All while supporting trauma victims and helping combat the pitfalls of the fast fashion industry – and saving some pennies at a time we could all do with some extra cash.
Following her busy pilot event in November, local musician and pre-loved fashion fan Erasing Grace – real name Anna Grace Du Noyer – hosts the second eco-friendly fashion frenzy event, Style Swap Social – the event where you can bring your old clothes and swap them for items you love.
The event will be held at Future Yard, Birkenhead on 20 December from 6pm alongside live music and a fully stocked bar.
Nearly 40 new retirement flats are to be built on the site of the now demolished Brookfield Nursing Home on Grange Road, West Kirby.
Churchill Retirement Living has been granted planning permission to build 38 independent living retirement apartments.
The new development will support around 70 jobs both during and after construction.
Birkenhead residents, workers, businesses and visitors are being urged to have their say on the opportunity for a dramatic transformation of Birkenhead Town Centre and the adjoining St Werburgh’s area.
The Birkenhead Town Centre and St Werburgh’s consultation launches on Wednesday 7 December and will continue for six weeks.
The council is seeking to maximise the prospects for the central Birkenhead area with a focus on attracting more people into the town centre and increasing leisure and residential opportunities.
The Power Foundation for Young People Charity is putting on a play that explores Lord Lever’s influence on the Congo from 1911.
Originally scheduled for this year, the production has been rescheduled for 19 January 2023 and will be performed at the Gladstone Theatre in Port Sunlight.
The play, written by Kai Jolley, is a pithy and humorous script and is important for the community and the further Merseyside population as there are themes around retrospectively looking at Lord Lever’s involvement with forced labour, especially in the Congo.
Soaring inflation and national economic pressures have seriously impacted Wirral Council’s budget setting for 2023-24.
Like other councils across the country, Wirral is seeing the costs of providing services increase at the same time as demands for those council services are also rising.
Initially working with a potential £49m gap, the latest forecast, based on the outcome of the Autumn Statement and refinement of assumptions, means that the council still needs to find savings of up to £38 million in order to set a legal budget.
Tranmere notched up their tenth game in a row without a win across all competitions with a 2-1 defeat at Grimsby Town.
Grimsby, on the other hand, ended their six-match winless streak in League Two with goals from Brendan Kiernan and Niall Maher at Blundell Park.
As a forewarning of what could be, Grimbsy’s Harry Clifton had an attempt at goal within the first 60 seconds and just 60 seconds later, Luke Waterfall’s header forced Ross Doohan into an early save.
This is the birkenhead.news weekly round-up of police activity in and around Wirral during the previous seven days.
Visit our “What’s On?” guide for Wirral and the surrounding areas in the coming weeks.
See the What’s On? Guide …
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