The Newsletter for your Community Issue 35: April 2013 See our website www.newferryonline.org.uk
GOOD NEWS FOR A CHANGE What a winter we have had! For once, New Ferry has had many things to celebrate (as well as avoiding the heaviest snow!).
• YOUTH CLUB SAVED – see box opposite • PORT SUNLIGHT RIVER PARK finally started on site with its £2.3million conversion of the former landfill. The community had been consulted on this so many times over the last decade, and the park will now open in summer 2014. The first task, to widen the steps from Shorefields Nature Park down to the beach, has already been completed. You can find out more at www.portsunlightriverpark.co.uk
• SHOREFIELDS NATURE PARK has been awarded nearly £8,000 from the Council’s Neighbourhood Fund. New Ferry Residents Association want to use the money (and hopefully get more from other sources) to improve paths and repair gates and fencing in the park). Find out more on page 2 of this newsletter and come to our next meeting to comment.
• PUFFIN CROSSING INSTALLED AT JUNCTION OF BEBINGTON ROAD AND BOUNDARY ROAD – at our meetings over the years, residents have asked for this safer crossing facility between the shopping precinct and Port Sunlight Village. It has now finally been installed.
• ROADS RESURFACING – two streets in New Ferry will be resurfaced this year: School Lane and Beaconsfield Road, whilst Egerton Road’s footpaths will also be improved.
BEBINGTON & NEW FERRY YOUTH CLUB SAVED Thanks to everyone’s help, the community pulled together to send a message loud and clear to cashstrapped Wirral Council: “You can make your savings elsewhere!” The council heeded our call, and our Youth Club is one of the few that will survive. Thankyou to everybody who signed the petition. It shows what PEOPLE POWER can do! We can also happily report that the Youth Outreach Team who work with disaffected teens in New Ferry Park will also survive the cuts.
• CRIME RATE IN NEW FERRY HAS FALLEN thanks to everyone taking heed of our previous newsletters and reporting crimes and anti-social behaviour issues. The anti-crime bus has been in the precinct on Friday evenings and extra police resources put in place to deter gangs from causing problems. This was down to New Ferry people REPORTING EVERYTHING that was going on. We haven’t stopped ALL of the problems, but we have cut it down. Some of the residents in Grove Street have joined together to form a Neighbourhood Watch. We recommend that other streets do the same – find out more on page 4.
NEXT COMMUNITY MEETING: Wednesday 22nd May, 2013 7 till 9pm at St Marks Church Hall, New Chester Road
Published by New Ferry Residents Association, c/o New Ferry Village Hall, Longfellow Drive, New Ferry, Wirral, Merseyside CH62 5JS. Printed by Graphitek Ltd, 32-36 Carrock Road , Croft Business Park, Bromborough, Wirral CH62 3RA
NeFRA Newsletter: Issue 35, April 2013 – Page 2
SHOREFIELDS NATURE PARK – PROPOSED IMPROVEMENTS
....AND HOW ABOUT KEEPING NEW FERRY TIDY?
With the new park now being created on the former landfill site, Shorefields Nature Park needs some improvements. New Ferry Residents Association (NeFRA) made a successful application for funding to Wirral Council’s Neighbourhood Fund and has been awarded £8,000. Although there are some immediate repair/ maintenance work issues that need funding, NeFRA would like to try to use the money as match-funding to win additional funding from other sources. To do this we need, to agree on what the money should be spent on. A plan is in preparation, but we need your comments to decide what the priorities should be. The following suggestions have been made so far:-
• Repair the fencing and gates at either end of the wooded area, to deter access by motorbikes which ruin the footpaths;
Despite our efforts to improve New Ferry’s environment, there are – sadly – some people who seem hell-bent on wrecking it.
• Carry out a litter pick of the wooded area and cliffs to remove all the tipped rubbish and windblown litter which has accumulated in recent years;
We need to care for our environment.
• Remove the old gateway/entrance to the woods from the end of Oakworth Drive and to fence off the gap to deter future access and protect the amenity of residents in that location; • To repair the damaged sections of footpath in the wooded area. With additional funding, if we can obtain it, we would like to suggest the following:-
• Introduce a new gravelled footpath along the top of the cliffs from the woods to the alley to the rear of River Terrace (to make the boggy field more “walkable” in wet winter months;
As the above photo recently taken from the bottom of the Shorefields cliffs looking upwards clearly shows, some people keep tipping household rubbish and building waste over the cliff edge. We are aware that this is being carried out not only by some local residents, but also people from outside New Ferry as well. We are also deeply concerned that with the Council introducing a charge to empty garden waste bins, more residents will simply tip their garden waste onto our open spaces. WHY should we all put up with this? Who wants to live in a sea of grot? Rubbish and litter everywhere? Dog dirt on the pavements? Vandalised signs and wrecked bins? Play equipment in the park damaged?
• Install new seating and/or picnic tables along the new pathway;
We appeal to everyone to take a ZERO TOLERANCE APPROACH to such anti-social behaviour. If you feel as we do and you witness any of the following, please ring the Council’s Community Patrol on 0151 666 5265 and report what you see and – if you know – WHO is doing it.
• Improve the steps at the end of River Terrace, with the addition of a handrail;
• Abandoning of litter in public areas like parks, in the street, anywhere other than in a rubbish bin.
• Install new fencing along the edge of the park to the rear of properties in Henthorne Road, to deter access by fly-tippers at this location.
• Fly tipping all manner of rubbish from old mattresses and plastic cots, to household rubbish. It is sordid and squalid. Do you really want to live in your own or everyone else’s filth?
• Install new heritage signage explaining the fascinating history of Shorefields, the foreshore and its incredible birdlife;
• Install new bins where possible. We would love to hear your comments about Shorefields Nature Park and what should happen here if we can get enough money to make these and other improvements. Please let us know what you think by coming to the next NeFRA community meeting at 7pm on Wednesday 22nd May at St Marks Church Hall. If you are unable to attend, but would like to write down your comments, please do so and send them to us at our address: New Ferry Residents Association, c/o New Ferry Village Hall, Longfellow Drive, New Ferry, Wirral, Merseyside CH62 5JS
• Churning up parks with motor bikes, quadbikes and other vehicles. • Breaking public amenities, anything from swings and flower beds in the park to fences, pathways and street signs. • Getting drunk and behaving irresponsibly in public; • Allowing dogs to foul streets, pavements and parks and not cleaning up the mess. If we want to enjoy life we need to try to make the world a more beautiful and happier place. Do your bit, and REPORT IT! Reporting it DOES get results!
NeFRA Newsletter: Issue 35, April 2013 – Page 3 USEFUL INFORMATION & NOTICES:
Recycle unwanted furniture Items of furniture can be recycled by Wirral Independent Recycling Enterprise (WIRE) and they even collect free of charge. Ring them on 0151 638 6691
Wirral Farmers’ Market Dates The next markets will be held on: th Saturday 11 May 2013 th Saturday 8 June 2013 th Saturday 13 July 2013 Find out more at www.wirralfarmersmarket.org.uk
Anti-social behaviour Neighbourhood Watch is one of the biggest and most successful crime prevention initiatives ever. Getting together with your neighbours to take action can cut local crime. We all know the police are there to help us, but with the current cuts they need our help more than ever. YOU can set up a Neighbourhood Watch Scheme in your own street, with the help of a group of your own neighbours – whether that be four or forty households. And DID YOU KNOW that belonging to a Neighbourhood Watch scheme may also help to reduce your insurance premiums (with some companies). A scheme is usually led by a volunteer co-ordinator whose job it is to get people working together and make sure things get done. A committee is usually formed, to discuss local issues affecting your street and to keep in close contact with local police to share information and advice. If you are interested in setting up a scheme in your street and being the volunteer co-ordinator, you can get information on how to do so from:David Nichols, Wirral Watch, Merseyside Police, Wirral Joint Community Safety Team, Old Courthouse, Manor Road, Wallasey, Wirral CH44 1BU Tel: 0151 606 5057 or email: wallasey@crime-prevention.co.uk GENERAL ADVICE: In Wirral at the moment there are some types of crime which are currently happening. Be aware, be safe! • Keep your house and car keys out of sight of anyone peering into your letterbox to use a hook on a pole to get at them (particularly car keys!); • Keep doors and windows locked whilst you are out in the day and at night. This includes properly lifting the handle of modern uPVC doors and patio windows; • Fit a shed alarm, as garden sheds are currently a target for opportunist thieves in this area.
Having problems with anti-social behaviour in your neighbourhood? Ring “It’s Your Call” on 0151 606 2020. The line is open 9am – 5pm Monday to Friday, with an answerphone for out-of-hours advice. All calls treated in confidence. You can also ring Wirral Community Patrol on 0151 666 5265. They have mobile officers who can respond 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
BUTTERFLY PARK OPEN DAY & ART TRAIL Sunday 5th May 2013, 11-4pm Come and join us for our Open Day See ‘IMAGO’ our NEW BUTTERFLY HUT to be opened by the Mayor of Wirral, Cllr Gerry Ellis at 11am Visit the NEW Apothecary garden, our Caravan Visitor Centre and Art Trail. We have new artworks on the trail this year by artists: Sarah Jane Richards, Anna Ketskemety, and Pamela Sullivan. Lots to see and do for all the family. Follow us @wirralbutterly or on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ newferrybutterflypark for more news
• Woodland Craft • • • • • • • • • •
Demonstrations; Art & Craft tables Plant Sale Cake Sale Face Painting BBQ Tmbola Raffle Nature Walks Pond Dipping and ....Spider Walks
FREE ENTRY Disable parking only on the site; other parking along Greendale Road (opposite the park). New Ferry Butterfly Park (behind Aldi).
NFRAG Newsletter: Issue 35, April 2013 – Page 4
PERIOD PHOTO COLLECTION: BEBINGTON ROAD, ROAD, 1950 1950 Many of you will not have seen this photo before; you may have seen photos of the same street, but not this detail of the shops that were there are the time. The photographer is standing close to the junction of Bebington Bebington Road and Boundary Road (the latter being off to the right where the new Puffin crossing has just been installed) and facing towards the tolltoll-bar crossroads.
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The first three shop units to the left, previously W.J. Gregory are now occupied by Griffiths Griffiths the Butcher. Butcher. All the shops seen in this row were originally built as terraced houses with front gardens, but were
EVENING CONTACT TEL: EMAIL ADDRESS:
extended to the front in the early 20th century as
New Ferry Residents Association consists of local residents and business people. We work together with officers from Wirral Borough Council, local councillors and our Member of Parliament in order to improve New Ferry. We are a non-political organisation. If you have any community based problem which you think we can help you with, please contact us by writing to:
New Ferry Residents Association, c/o New Ferry Village Hall, Longfellow Drive, New Ferry, Wirral, Merseyside CH62 5JS Website: www.newferryonline.org.uk Published by New Ferry Residents Association, c/o New Ferry Village Hall, Longfellow Drive, New Ferry, Wirral, Merseyside CH62 5JS. Printed by Graphitek Ltd, 32-36 Carrock Road , Croft Business Park, Bromborough, Wirral CH62 3RA