Gone fishing - but not for long...
Just a quick note so you know we haven’t disappeared entirely. We’ve had to take a few days away but we will be back with some (hopefully) exciting updates for you before you know it… See you very soon!
Lisa Rand
Lisa Rand is editor of the Monitor. An experienced local journalist focused on Merseyside, obsessions include how decisions are made and what they mean in practice. May often be found rooting through decision portals or asking awkward questions.
Events and updates
We’re watching, we’re scrutinising - and this is why it matters
It’s also a good job too because there‘s plenty going on across Merseyside this week. Hello Mersey Monitoroos, You might want to grab a quick cuppa and get yourself comfy before you tuck in to this week’s digest. It‘s a bit of a bumper one, but
St Helens
What happened at St Helens’ first Reform-led full council meeting?
Green spaces, flags (again) and some things the Monitor won’t repeat. St Helens‘ first proper full council meeting under Reform’s leadership took place on Wednesday at St Helens town hall, with the leader Cllr R. George Woodward appearing to take a few moments before it all kicked off
St Helens
Want a flag flying over the town hall? Make sure you write to the leader
Curious things coming out of St Helens cabinet this month. Until this week, St Helens was one of many local authorities without a formal flag policy. That has now changed, following a meeting of the borough’s cabinet on Monday. The cabinet, made up of mostly relatively newly elected Reform
Liverpool
Are Your Party’s days on Liverpool council numbered?
Party‘s future faces fresh questions after deputy leader quits. Questions have emerged over the future of Your Party Liverpool on the city council after one of its councillors resigned from the party just weeks after the local branch was launched. The resignation from Your Party of Cllr Sam Gorst,
Sefton
All kinds going on across Merseyside this week
Flags, finances, feathered friends and other funny business Good afternoon Mersey Monitorers, If you’re new here, thank you for signing up to the Monitor. We’re a little independent public interest news site operating on a not-for-profit basis and our aim, first and foremost, is to keep
Sefton
Birds, budgets and transparency
A fiery four-hour meeting sees Sefton councillors spar over transparency in the sweltering heat Last night’s meeting at a sweltering Southport Town Hall for Sefton‘s first full council gathering since the May elections appears to have been relatively well attended by the public as well as councillors
Sefton
Could Sefton Labour lose a key vote on Southport’s aviary?
We take a look at the maths ahead of a key vote over the controversial decision to close Botanic Garden’s aviary When Sefton Council announced plans last month to close the nearly 90-year-old aviary at Botanic Gardens in Southport, it didn’t just provoke a backlash among
Knowsley
Does Kirkby need padel like an elephant needs a boat?
How ‘Pride in Place‘ is shaping up in Kirkby as millions are earmarked for a new padel centre in the town ‘This isn’t about pet projects, it’s serious investment for the priorities of local people.’ That’s what communities secretary Steve Reed said last year about the government’
Liverpool
Plans to stop whole streets turning into Airbnbs
And when shared housing is not a HMO, as well as other nuggets from Liverpool’s draft local plan Liverpool’s blueprint for how the city should develop over the next two decades is coming before cabinet tomorrow, and it contains a few, well, interesting developments. The draft local plan
Events and updates
What, where, when?
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
St Helens
One councillor behind sharp rise in complaints
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