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.
Wirral Country Park improvements pave way for 50th anniversary celebrations
A number of projects at Wirral Country Park have been completed in preparation for next year’s 50th anniversary, marking the official opening of the park in 1973.
Three sections of the Wirral Way, totalling 1800 meters in length, have been widened and resurfaced. This will improve visitor safety on the shared pedestrian cycle route and improve biodiversity where woody vegetation along the verges had resulted in loss of wildflowers and wildlife species.
The work at West Kirby, Caldy and Heswall will also improve drainage, an important consideration with climate change expected to result in more periods of heavy rainfall.
Green light for Birkenhead’s Town Deal projects
A series of transformational projects worth millions of pounds for Birkenhead have now been given the go-ahead by central government.
Following Wirral Council’s successful Town Deal bid to government to secure the funding the business cases for the projects have been approved and the schemes can now move forward.
The projects form part of the Town Investment Plan and will help transform Birkenhead as part of the wider regeneration taking place across Wirral.
Lights switch-on returns to the hospice gardens
On Sunday 11 December at 5.30pm, Mr Mike Hall and his three sons; Josh, Harry and Freddie, will switch on 10,000 glittering lights which will shine out brightly from the trees and buildings in and around Wirral Hospice St John’s every evening in the run up to, and throughout, Christmas time.
Mike and his family will dedicate the switch-on to the memory of his wife, and the boys’ mum, Becky Hall, who was cared for at the hospice in 2021.
Mike spoke on behalf of them all; “What a privilege for us to be asked to switch on the Wirral Hospice St John’s Light up a Life lights. Becky touched so many lives in her 47 years, she was adored by her friends and family and had that special ability to light up a room wherever she went, so it seems especially appropriate and a lovely tribute. Becky would be so delighted and honoured.”
Birkenhead’s Friends of Flaybrick announce annual Service of Remembrance
Popular local charity the Friends of Flaybrick Memorial Gardens are gearing up for their annual Service of Remembrance which is to take place on Armistice Day, Friday 11 November 2022.
The service will be led by ministers from local churches and more than 400 guests are expected to join the Friends on the day, including Birkenhead’s MP Mick Whitley and the Deputy Mayor of Wirral Cllr Jerry Williams.
Children from local schools will also take an active part in the service. Attendees are asked to begin to assemble at the Cross of Sacrifice in front of the chapels from around 10:40am on the day.
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Freya Anderson is this year’s Wirral Sportsperson of the Year
A packed audience at Hulme Hall, Port Sunlight on Thursday 13 October was treated to a wonderful evening of presentations highlighting Wirral’s best sporting achievers and unsung heroes who dedicate their time and service to their clubs, leagues and associations.
The prestigious Wirral Sports Awards evening, celebrating its 58th year, was opened by the Mayor, Cllr Jeff Green, himself a passionate sports fan and golfer and was presented by BBC Radio Merseyside’s Ian Kennedy.
GB Team swimmer Freya Anderson received the Wirral Sports Person Award 2022. Former Premier League referee and ardent Tranmere Rovers supporter Mike Dean picked up the Outstanding Achievement Award.
Birkenhead MP: ‘Tories set to betray British Shipbuilding’
Mick Whitley, MP for Birkenhead greeted the credible reports, published on 29 October in The Telegraph newspaper, that Team UK, a consortium that includes the Cammell Laird shipyard in his constituency, was unlikely to win the government contract to build the Fleet Solid Support (FSS) vessels as “a downright betrayal.”
Mick said, “If the reports that the state-owned Spanish shipbuilders, Navantia are set to land the FSS contract are accurate – and I hope they are not – then the Tories’ much acclaimed National Shipbuilding Strategy refresh announced last March has already been consigned to the Whitehall wastepaper bin. I am fearful that Team UK’s bid – which could create up to 3000 jobs in British shipyards – will go up in smoke.”
Navantia are sugaring their pill with the offer to work in partnership with the Northern Ireland firm, Harland and Wolff, but as Mick said, “This will effectively mean that the bulk of the work will be carried out offshore and the British Shipbuilding industry will be left to stagnate. We cannot allow that to happen.”
Plans submitted to transform brownfield Bromborough site into a sustainable riverside community
Proposals to create a thriving new riverside community – Bromborough Wharf – on land off Dock Road South in Bromborough have been submitted following a public consultation on the plans.
Bromborough Riverside Regeneration Ltd and its development company, Black Pearl Homes, together with property investment and development company, Grammont Group, are working together to regenerate the former engineering and chemical works.
The site has been identified in the latest draft of Wirral Council’s Local Plan as a preferable place to deliver a new community and is ideally located with the M53 motorway, bus and train services, and essential local amenities all nearby.
Merseyrail restore full timetable following cancellation of RMT strikes
Following the announcement on Friday of the suspension of national industrial action by Network Rail staff who are members of the RMT union, Merseyrail have been able to restore a full, normal timetable on all parts of the network for Monday 7 and Wednesday 9 November 2022.
In addition, the later start to services planned for Tuesday 8 and Thursday 10 November will also now not take place, with a full, normal timetable operating.
Merseyrail had previously announced that despite the cancellation of the RMT strikes, there would be some disruption to services.
Birkenhead pupils lead the way in national walking initiative
Pupils in Birkenhead are celebrating coming first on a national leader board of active schools.
Birkenhead Christ Church Primary School is one of ten schools on the national leaderboard for the WOW Walk of Fame for October 2022.
Pupils in Wirral are celebrating coming first on a national leader board of active schools. Birkenhead Christ Church Primary School is one of ten schools on the national leaderboard for the WOW Walk of Fame for October 2022.
Still time to take part in 20mph speed limit consultation
Wirral residents still have time to have their say on proposals to introduce 20mph speed limits in more areas of the borough.
A period of consultation with residents is underway on the first 15 ‘zones’ where the council wants to reduce speed limits in an effort to improve air quality and make roads on which people live, shop or study safer for everyone.
Over the next four years, a total of 54 zones will be consulted upon covering all residential areas across Wirral.
Search for living relatives of Pte. William Carden killed in action during WWII
On the leafy outskirts of Venray in the Netherlands, you will find the Commonwealth Military Cemetery of Honour, officially named ‘CWGC Venray War Cemetery’, overseen by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
The cemetery contains the war graves of 692 soldiers and one civilian; a war correspondent. They died between September 1944 and June 1945.
Hay Mulders lives near the cemetery in a small town of about 2000 inhabitants called America, in the area Limburg. He contacted birkenhead.news because there is a grave at the cemetery for Pte. William Carden 4042197 of Birkenhead, and he is trying to trace the soldier’s family and find out more about him.
Wirral MP criticises government’s inaction as energy giants’ profits soar
Margaret Greenwood, the MP for Wirral West, has said in a parliamentary debate that it “cannot be right” that people are having to choose between heating and eating while profits at the world’s biggest energy companies continue to soar.
In May, the government announced a temporary levy – effectively a windfall tax – on the extraordinary profits of oil and gas companies. Labour had been calling for a windfall tax since January and urged the government to backdate the levy to the start of the year, but the government refused to do so.
There are measures within the levy which allow energy companies to shield 91p in every £1 of their profits from the new tax if they invest the profits in fossil fuel extraction in the UK.
Tranmere out of FA Cup in first round
For the first time since 2011, when Tranmere lost to Cheltenham, they are out of the FA Cup at the first hurdle.
Carlisle progressed through to the second round of the FA Cup after securing a 2-1 win at Brunton Park.
Tranmere came close to taking an early lead at eight minutes when a Kane Hemmings right footed shot from the centre of the box was saved in the centre of the goal by 6′ 9″ Carlisle keeper, Tomas Holy.
Tranmere’s unbeaten run ends with defeat by Carlisle
Tranmere Rovers’ unbeaten run came to an abrupt end at Prenton Park on Saturday.
The players looked tired and uninspired from the off, seemingly with no shape or plan. In under a minute, the home side was 1-0 down.
Kristian Dennis opened the scoring with less than a minute gone, with a left-footed shot from very close range to the bottom left corner of Doohan’s net. He later secured three points for Carlisle when he calmly converted a penalty ten minutes into the second half.
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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