Things going down on Merseyside this week Greetings fellow Monitorites, It’s that time of the week again when we dig through the council calendars of Merseyside to find out what‘s going to being discussed next. If you’re new here, welcome. We send this email out usually on
The borough has seen more code of conduct complaints in two months than the whole of the previous year A single councillor is behind a sharp rise in code of conduct complaints at one Merseyside council, a senior officer has revealed. Monitoring officer Jan Bakewell, whose role includes handling code
Who paid attention to the line on page 17? When Sefton Council announced last week that Southport’s 87 year old aviary would close, there was an immediate public backlash. The BBC reported a bird keeper describing the news as a ‘bolt from the blue’, residents were in uproar all
… and some important updates on the Monitor Greetings fellow Mersey Monitorians, Welcome to this week’s newsletter about local democracy-related events across Merseyside. We need to start, unfortunately, with yet another apology. Last week you didn’t receive your regular email brimming with meetings, events and all manner of
What is actually happening at one of Southport’s most prominent sites? The future of a key Southport site has been thrown into confusion after the council admitted this week that months of updates given to councillors about it were incorrect. An exclusivity agreement linked to a proposed £75 million
Plus: liver birds, legal letters and a missing portrait Welcome to the Monitor’s packed weekly digest including our diary of local democracy related meetings and events coming up across Merseyside this week. We’d firstly like to apologise that this regular email has arrived a little late to your
Just 15 months after approving its local plan, Wirral’s about to start it all over again Wirral is about to begin making a new local plan just 15 months since the last one was adopted, after councillors agreed the first steps this week amid concerns about what it could
Why is Wirral Council buying the depot of a bin company it’s awarding a potential £350m contract to? The bins in Wirral could soon be emptied by Biffa, the company that already does the bins in Wirral, after a contract worth £350m over 16 years cleared a major hurdle
What’s coming up across Merseyside (and an apology from the Monitor) If you’re new here, welcome. If not, hello again. The Mersey Monitor is a little independent public-interest newsroom in and about Merseyside. We’re focused on the communities that make our region what it is, the
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One of Sefton’s biggest housebuilding projects is back before councillors tonight and it all centres on a spine. Well, a spine road, to be more precise. Planning officers are recommending approval for another change to the massive and somewhat controversial East of Maghull development, this time allowing Persimmon Homes
Two years ago, 18 specialist mental health beds at Bowmere Hospital in Chester were closed due to staff shortages. Tonight, Wirral councillors will be asked about that change becoming permanent. A report going before the council’s Adult Social Care and Public Health Committee argues the beds are no longer
But why is the borough in its ‘highest demand’? Sefton Council is becoming ‘attractive’ to private hire drivers amid a surge in applications for licences registered in the borough, according to the head of licensing in Sefton. The remarks were made by licensing chief Mark Toohey at a meeting of
If we don’t know what’s going on, or what decisions are being made, how can we figure out if any of it should be happening the way it is or not, or what, if anything, we can do about it? It’s a thought that sits at the
A grilling for the metro mayor ‘He-Man or Steve Rotheram?’ is not a question the Monitor expected to be asking random people in Crosby on a damp evening in June. We do, however, go wherever the story takes us, and last night it took us to a slightly confused
New takeaways could be stopped from opening up near primary schools in Sefton under new planning rules due to be discussed at the council’s cabinet next week. The changes would extend existing restrictions around secondary schools and colleges to include areas around primary schools for the first time. A
Less than half of staff within a regional NHS body responsible for planning health services across Cheshire and Merseyside are confident using official internal whistleblowing processes because of fears concerns won’t be acted on or could even lead to reprisals, according to a report due before regional health bosses
Larks in the Park is being ‘reimagined’ this bank holiday weekend. What made the original so special? by Lisa Rand A ‘reimagining’ of Larks in the Park will come to Sefton Park’s bandstand this bank holiday weekend, over 40 years after the events became part of a ‘moment’ in
North Park Lodge was built in the late 19th century but is now deemed surplus to council requirements having been unused for some time. by Lisa Rand A historic building in a popular Bootle park could be sold at auction after a decision by Sefton Council to dispose of it
Sefton’s outgoing mayor said she was ‘at Buckingham Palace with 8,000 people‘ when she found out she had lost her council seat. Outgoing Sefton Mayor, former Cllr June Burns, who represented Park ward before losing her seat in the new Maghull East ward at the recent local elections,
The Mersey Monitor was founded on a pretty simple belief: that people taking part in local public life is crucial to a thriving democracy, and further, that people are better able to take part in that public life when they understand how the places they live actually function (or don’
A 15 year old takes on the pomp and ceremony of an historic council meeting Last night both Liverpool and Wirral councils kicked off the annual council meeting season with events at their town halls. In the coming weeks it will be Sefton and Knowsley’s turn too. If you’
