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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.
The best pubs in the UK have been announced as part of CAMRA’s prestigious Pub of the Year competition 2022.
The 16 regional finalists, including New Brighton’s Magazine Hotel, will now have a chance to compete for the National Pub of the Year crown, the highest accolade afforded to Britain’s pubs.
The competition has been on hold over the last two years due to COVID-19 restrictions and was last won by the Bell Inn in Aldworth, Berkshire in 2019.
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Birkenhead MP Mick Whitley slammed the government when the news came through of the extent of raw sewage being pumped into our waters.
“The Tories are continuing to allow sewage dumping onto our beaches and into our waters. This isn’t just a destruction of our natural environment, it’s also a significant public health hazard” Mick said.
The Birkenhead MP added, “Families flock to the Wirral and Merseyside coasts to enjoy the British summer. They shouldn’t have to worry about being able to enjoy its coastal hotspots or whether they are swimming in sewage-infested waters.”
A project to showcase one of Merseyside’s fantastic green spaces has reached more than 380 people since it launched last winter, giving them the chance to get hands-on and find out more about the natural world on their doorstep.
Through the United Utilities Catchment Systems Thinking (CaST) Amount, funding was provided to The Land Trust’s Green Angels project at Port Sunlight River Park in November 2021.
Since then, the charity has held regular activity sessions and courses, enabling children and adults to not only get to know about what lives in the park, but do their bit to help the wildlife thrive there and in their homes and schools.
Passengers are now benefiting from a new lift at Birkenhead Park rail station, on Merseyrail’s Wirral line, which provides a step-free route from the street to the platforms.
With its official opening held on 26 August, the 16-capacity lift makes it easier to reach the platforms for wheelchair users, people with mobility needs, heavy luggage or those with children in buggies.
Local people who had campaigned for the new lift were joined by Cllr Liam Robinson, Liverpool City Region Combined Authority Transport Portfolio Holder, and Jane English, Deputy Managing Director of Merseyrail, for the ribbon cutting ceremony.
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The leader of Wirral Council has called an extraordinary meeting to help respond to the cost of living crisis.
Labour leader Cllr Janette Williamson has previously written to the Chancellor to declare a cost of living emergency and request urgent funding to avoid increasing council tax next year.
He has not yet responded, so she has now called a meeting of the council’s Policy & Resources committee on Wednesday 31 August to try to find ways to help residents through the crisis.
New Brighton RNLI lifeboat station is to benefit from a financial contribution from offshore wind leader Ørsted.
The company has pledged its support to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) through a new two-year partnership that will focus on training its volunteers to aid the charity in its mission to save lives at sea.
Ørsted will make a contribution of £140,000 over two years to fund training costs at seven RNLI lifeboat stations across the UK – New Brighton, Barrow, Clacton-on-Sea, Humber, Ramsgate, Skegness and Wells – to help the charity continue their invaluable work.
As Merseyrail’s owner is set for a management buyout, TSSA General Secretary, Manuel Cortes, has labelled the proposed management buyout of Abellio UK as “yet another missed opportunity” to bring rail services into public ownership.
The rail and transport union leader was speaking after Abellio announced the business is set for a management buyout of Dutch owner Nederlandse Spoorwegen.
The management buyout is led by Managing Director, Dominic Booth, who has decades of experience running public transport services in the UK.
The Tranmere Rovers Disabled Supporters’ Association (DSA) charitable arm, the Lee Knight foundation has done some amazing work at Prenton Park for disabled fans in recent years.
It has been behind three key fundraising drives for disabled fans:
Wirral Council has become the first local authority in the region to join a nationwide study that aims to quantify the environmental effects of urban trees and calculate their value to society.
The ‘i-Trees Eco Study’ is being carried out in partnership with Forest Research, Britain’s principal organisation for forestry and tree-related research.
252 survey plots have been chosen at random across Wirral – on both Council-owned and private land – to collect field data. At these plots, a range of information will be collected about the location, including whether the ground is covered with tarmac or grass, what species of tree (if any) is present and how big they are and how healthy they appear to be.
A new community garden space has been created in Wirral thanks to United Utilities and Sapphire Utility Solutions.
United Utilities was approached by a group of volunteers from the Poll Hill community in Heswall who wanted to bring life back to an overgrown parkland area which was owned by Wirral Borough Council.
They aimed to encourage the local community to grow some of their own produce along with protecting and encouraging wildlife, and attracting a wide range of insects, birds and mammals.
Tranmere Rovers in the Community will mark World Suicide Prevention Day on Saturday 10 September by displaying 135 football shirts in the Kop Stand for the fixture against Stockport County on Friday 9 September (7.45pm kick-off), to demonstrate the number of people estimated to lose their life by suicide during a 90-minute football game.
Statistics from the World Health Organization show that one person somewhere around the world dies an average of every 40 seconds from suicide, meaning around 135 people will tragically lose their life by suicide during a football game of 90 minutes.
We are appealing for supporters to bring their football shirts to the Club Shop at Prenton Park ahead of the fixture against Stockport County, and they will be displayed on 135 seats in the Kop Stand during the game to raise awareness of suicide prevention.
Tranmere secured their second League Two win of the season with two goals against Colchester in an otherwise uneventful game.
Rovers came off the starting blocks in fine form and with just four minutes on the clock at Prenton Park, they took the lead through a Josh Hawkes goal.
Josh Hawkes made his left footed shot from the centre of the box count when if found the bottom right corner, assisted by a Kane Hemmings cross.
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.
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