Lisa Rand is editor of The Mersey Monitor and its main contributor, covering councils, planning and community life across Merseyside, with a focus on exploring how decisions are made and what they mean in practice.
The campaign video, which now appears to have been deleted, was described as ‘despicable’ by the leader of Knowsley Greens by Lisa Rand A row has broken out in Knowsley as the election battle hots up ahead of polling day tomorrow after comments made by Labour’s Angela Rayner in
Welcome to the Mersey Monitor The Mersey Monitor is a small, independent newsroom focused on accountability, local decision-making and the systems that shape everyday life across Merseyside. The Monitor exists to make sense of how power operates locally, from council decisions and planning policies to housing, services and public spending,
The plan for the well known historic site was approved last month by Lisa Rand Plans for dozens of new homes on the former Johnsons site off Stanley road come with a separate set of rules about who gets them first and why. It comes after a decision approved by
Weird things can happen when you go networking in Liverpool by Lisa Rand Last week, I was invited to a networking event at the Albert Dock. Not my usual scene, but something about an email sent from the organiser the day before had piqued my interest. Strive Networking, which advertised
Money for Nothing, luxury wigs and musical tastes, mostly The Mersey Monitor planned a political mini series in the run up to polling day in Sefton and Knowsley this year, with aims to take a closer look at some of the wards, candidates and issues shaping the election campaigns. However,
Members of Liverpool‘s planning committee and a bunch of bins, of course by Lisa Rand Planning meetings are often reported like confrontations. Whether that’s residents versus developers or common sense versus bureaucracy, it’s the central drama that makes planning stories so compelling and a regular go-to for
The plans aim to address ‘operational and security’ issues by Lisa Rand Plans to tackle security concerns at the new Royal Liverpool hospital have cleared a key hurdle after A&E extension plans were confirmed as lawful by the council. The new hospital opened in 2022 following a series
Today is a day Liverpool never forgets. Ninety seven people died after the horrific events of 15 April, 1989. Needlessly, senselessly, disgracefully. For decades after, their families were forced into a second, utterly horrific, ordeal, one full of deflection, denial and institutional self-protection. Campaigners, including families and victims of the
Members of Wirral council are meeting this Thursday - we give you the low down by Lisa Rand It’s gone midnight and I’m sitting on my couch imagining what it might feel like to be a representative of the aristocracy at a council meeting. It wasn’t something
Council keeping its options open after owner finally comes forward by Lisa Rand A Granby home which has lain empty for nearly two decades could soon be in the possession of Liverpool Council after a local authority report agreed to press ahead with confirming a Compulsory Purchase Order approved by
The Mersey Monitor trawls local authority planning portals so you don’t have to By Lisa Rand One thing more or less guaranteed to see a bit of controversy when it comes to council decision-making relates to one of its most nebulous functions - planning. From bewildered residents being told