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.
Asylum seekers and refugees learn the quintessentially English art of crown green bowls at Port Sunlight
Asylum seekers and refugees have been given a lesson in perhaps the most quintessentially English of sports by pensioners in Wirral.
A group of around 30 students studying English as a second or other language, many from war-torn countries, were schooled in the art of crown green bowls at a unique event.
The course is part of an innovative new programme which puts experimentation at the heart of adult skills learning across the Liverpool City Region’s adult education curriculum.
Public consultation on future Hoylake beach management begins
The next stage in the development of a new Beach Management Plan for Hoylake Beach is approaching with the launch of an initial public consultation exercise.
This six-week consultation process will begin on Wednesday 29 June 2022 and run until Wednesday 10 August.
Residents and stakeholders will be asked to complete a questionnaire that will seek to find out how people use and view the beach currently and get their comments on how it should be best managed in the future.
Planned demolition progresses to enable Emergency and Urgent Care Upgrade at Arrowe Park Hospital
The Urgent and Emergency Care Upgrade Programme (UECUP) at Arrowe Park Hospital has progressed to the first phase of enabling works.
Early enablement works have now been completed, these included the relocation and redrawing of overflow ambulance bays and disabled car parking spaces, the movement of a high voltage power cable and the temporary relocation of the Urgent Treatment Centre (UTC.)
The Emergency Department (ED) and the UTC remain open and operational throughout the project. Any disruption caused is expected to be minimum.
Residents’ concern at proposed closure of Port Sunlight bank
Charity volunteers and vulnerable customers are to be left struggling after their much-needed bank is to close this September. Clients of NatWest in Port Sunlight have been told that their branch will close.
Labour’s new councillor for Bromborough, Cllr Sue Percy, has been working with residents and community groups to ask the bank to reconsider, or to mitigate the worst of the impact.
She says, “Residents are understandably concerned. Many feel they will be more isolated when the bank closes, and those who are struggling with mobility face additional barriers.
Save Wirral’s Green Belt: Residents urged to have their say on Leverhulme plans
Leverhulme has submitted outline planning applications that propose the development of housing across more than 110 acres of green belt land in Wirral.
Wirral Council’s recent draft Local Plan sets out a commitment to a brownfield-led policy on delivering almost 18,000 new homes, with the green belt being protected.
Wirral West MP Margaret Greenwood is opposed to the development of green belt land and is urging residents to have their say on planning applications that have been submitted to Wirral Council as part of Leverhulme Estate’s plans to build up to 788 new homes on the green belt. The applications are now live on the council website and people can submit their objections.
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Community comes together at Birkenhead Central Library in memory of Jo Cox MP
Wirral Deen Centre brought a large number of different members of the local community together on Saturday 25 June outside Birkenhead Central Library as part of the national Great Get-Together initiative in memory of Jo Cox MP.
Birkenhead and Wirral South MPs Mick Whitley and Alison McGovern, alongside Merseyside Police and Crime Commissioner Emily Spurrell and Heart4Refugees founder Kathy Vesey, spoke about the importance of Jo Cox’s message of unity and diversity.
Ferdushi Mohshin and Pauline Cocker from the Wirral Deen Centre expressed their gratitude to those present for coming together in friendship and harmony, emphasising this year’s theme of ‘Welcome’.
Community Shop Beechwood celebrates first birthday
The local community recently came together to celebrate the first birthday of Community Shop Beechwood, the award-winning social supermarket in Wirral.
Since the store opened in June 2021, it has supported hundreds of families on the cusp of food poverty by offering surplus food and household products from major brands and retailers at deeply discounted prices – saving each member an average £212 on their monthly shopping bill.
All the revenue raised from the in-store sales has been re-invested into Community Shop Beechwood to provide personal development programmes for members, including cookery clubs, home budgeting and interview skills. In the first 12 months, over 600 members have already engaged with the life-changing learning development programmes.
West Kirby RNLI tasked to assist adrift yacht
West Kirby RNLI was requested to launch by HM Coastguard following reports of a 22-ft sailing cruiser adrift adjacent to Thurstaston Beach.
The volunteer crew of West Kirby RNLI Lifeboat quickly assembled and located the vessel near to West Kirby Moorings.
They quickly ascertained that there were no casualties onboard and under challenging conditions skilfully placed the vessel under tow, after which it was safely secured to a nearby mooring.
Birkenhead MP slams bus service cuts
Birkenhead MP Mick Whitley has told the private bus operator Arriva, “enough is enough.” The MP has written to the company calling for a meeting to discuss their proposed bus service cuts.
He said, “The private companies are busting a gut to make as much money as they can by slashing services to the routes in some of Birkenhead’s poorest and most deprived areas prior to Liverpool City Region re-regulating the buses. But as well as bringing them back under municipal control, we urgently needed to stop Arriva’s scorched earth policy now.”
Mick Whitley continued, “Both Bidston St James and Rock Ferry wards have been identified by the Local Trust as ‘left behind neighbourhoods. Both are in the top 10% of deprived communities nationwide. And while the cuts will have a terrible impact across the constituency, this smacks of a deliberate move by Arriva to hit the poorest areas hardest.
Wirral student wins Jurassic World competition with BBFC
A student from St John Plessington Catholic College has won the ‘Create The Card’ competition by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC), in collaboration with Universal Pictures.
The competition involved a nationwide search for a talented young individual to design the official BBFC black card for the summer blockbuster, Jurassic World Dominion.
A black card is synonymous with the cinematic experience since the early days of motion pictures. It acts as a marker to audiences to stop talking, whilst also displaying the age rating of the film.
Birkenhead Park CC 1st XI and 2nd XI draw despite brilliant Barnes ton
Birkenhead Park CC 1st XI were held to an agonising draw against Wigan on Saturday after a Mike Barnes ton had set the game up for Park.
Skipper Tom Foster won the toss and elected to bat first at Bull Hey, with Barnes quickly finding his stride. However, a wicket apiece from Adam Samouelle and Jordan Hampson pegged Park back to 43 for 2. The in-form Foster now joined Barnes and the pair began to pile on the runs, putting Park in a strong position.
Foster passed a fourth league half-century in as many games before Barnes bought up a superb century, which was well celebrated on the sidelines by the growing Park away following. The 137-run stand was eventually broken and the score 180 for 3, as Foster was dismissed by Samouelle, for a well-crafted 52 (82 balls, 4 fours, 1 six).
Wirral Police weekly news round-up
This is the birkenhead.news weekly round-up of police activity in and around Wirral during the previous seven days.
What’s On? Guide
Visit our “What’s On?” guide for Wirral and the surrounding areas in the coming weeks.
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