Author: Bridie Finnan

Bootle Canalside will soon become a reality after Sefton Council’s cabinet’s approval of its business case, and additional funding to bring the project to completion.

Bootle Canalside will serve as a multi-functional events, entertainment, and hospitality venue. It will stimulate the local economy, transforming the look and feel of the town for residents, businesses and visitors and improving the quality of life for the community.

Further artists impressions released today give a flavour of what the site adjoining the Strand will soon look like with, a dynamic, multi-purpose open air venue sitting alongside the waters of the Leeds Liverpool Canal. The finished site will include food and drink offer outlets, located in our refurbished shipping containers, in a nod to Bootle’s industrial past. It will also feature an urban community garden to bring green space into the town centre.

The Council has committed £567,000 to complete the physical works on site, open up the canal towpath and start work on developing a full events programme, from Summer 2022. It will potentially include Christmas markets, music events and comedy shows.

The work will improve the environment and open up the canal for use, as well as providing a link to the future Bramley Moore Dock Everton development. The aim is to bring new activity to the under-used land as the long-term regeneration of Bootle develops.

The completion of the site is highly anticipated with a number of groups seeing the potential of such a diverse space. These include a ‘Street Food Regeneration Programme’ set to be delivered in partnership with the Government’s Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), the Nationwide Caterers Association, Hugh Baird College and Everton in the Community.

The approval of the Bootle Canalside Business Case by Sefton Council’s cabinet brings completion one step closer and signals its long-term commitment to the regeneration of Bootle.

Cllr Ian Maher, Leader of Sefton Council said:  

“It is hugely positive that we are making a commitment to develop Level Up our communities and provide important new infrastructure which will kickstart the regeneration and reorientation of Bootle town centre.

“On the back of the acquisition of the Strand and adjacent sites, we have an amazing opportunity to open up a substantial stretch of canal frontage, and the opportunities for community groups, events, and leisure activities are endless.

“We look forward to providing more updates on the progress of the physical works and the development of an events programme for this and next year, in the coming months.”

Sefton residents are being asked not to use unrelated council numbers to get in touch regarding bin collection delays.

The Council have requested that residents avoid using numbers dedicated to the delivery of other key Council functions as this can cause delays in other, unrelated areas and will not result in a quicker response to a bin collection query.

A spokesperson for Sefton Council said:

“We have received a number of calls relating to bin collections to phone lines that are dedicated to the delivery of other key Council functions.

We understand that residents may be unsure about what to do if their collection is missed or have questions regarding bin collections but we urge people to contact us via established routes if they need to speak with us.

The best way to contact the Council is via our website or via our Contact Centre on 0345 140 0845. We cannot take calls relating to bin collections on other numbers and residents will not get a quicker response by calling other numbers.  

We understand how frustrating it has been for local residents in recent weeks, however we would like to reassure residents that we are making progress in clearing the backlog thanks to the huge efforts being put in by our collection teams, the extra resources we have made available and a reduction in what were unusually high levels of sickness absence.

“We would like to thank Sefton residents for their patience while we have experienced these difficulties and also our teams for the considerable effort they have put in to carry out this catch-up operation.

“We continue to deploy extra resource to catch up on collections and we are asking people to leave their bin out. Our teams will reach every bin so please bear with us while we bring this issue to an end.”

Two psychologists from Edge Hill University are launching the first-of-its-kind experiment to discover whether children are the best people to convince adults to live more sustainably.

Professor Geoff Beattie and Dr Laura McGuire have created The Great Community Climate Change Experiment –  a unique psychological research project – where adult participants will be shown a new film about schoolchildren changing their own behaviours after learning about climate change. The grown-ups will then be asked by researchers whether the film has influenced them and their attitude to sustainability.

Participants will be asked to complete a brief survey both before and after watching the short film to test what effects the film has had.

The Sefton event will be held on:

Friday 24th June, Southport Eco-Centre, 6-8pm

Esplanade, Southport, PR8 1RX.

Book your event using this link: The Great Community Climate Change Experiment – Southport Eco-Centre

Professor Beattie said:

“What influences people to make changes in their everyday lives? Can local children be role models for adults? These are some of the big questions we will be asking in ‘The Great Community Climate Change Experiment’. If urgent action against climate change is going to be effective, we have to learn how best to convince people to make changes to their everyday lives and live more sustainably.

“We are assessing whether people are more likely to alter their behaviour once they’ve seen children from their own community change because of their increased emotional engagement with climate change through the creative arts. It’s a very local angle on climate change, with a very high-level goal – making significant change in attitudes to sustainability.”

 Dr McGuire explained:

“By using creative arts techniques, such as drama, creative writing, art, songs and rap, we wanted to really engage children and young people with climate change and to tap into their underlying implicit attitudes. Implicit attitudes are attitudes which are held without conscious awareness but direct much of our everyday habitual behaviour.”

“This project was the first of its kind because it measured the change in the pupils’ underlying attitudes towards climate change and the film we then made, funded by the AHRC, really shows the impact of the project. It was a huge success with the children taking climate messages home, telling their parents to save energy and recycle more.”

Organisations including Sefton Council and Sefton CVS have come together as part of Dementia Friendly Sefton to call on the community to get a diagnosis this Dementia Action Week, which runs from the 16th-22nd May.

The aim of the week is to raise awareness and encourage action around those living with dementia and those people who care for them.

This Dementia Action Week, there is a push to encourage those who might be living with, or close to someone who might be living with, with undiagnosed dementia to:

• Be able to understand and recognise potential dementia symptoms
• Contact the Alzheimer’s Society for guidance and support
• Feel empowered to take the next step
• Improve the diagnosis process for both them and healthcare professionals.

With a sustained drop in dementia diagnosis rates for the first time ever, research was conducted to understand the key barriers and benefits to getting a diagnosis.

As well as the misconception around memory loss just being part of getting old, research found being in denial, and referral times to specialists, are big barriers for those experiencing symptoms to seek a diagnosis.

Cllr Paul Cummins, Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Chair of Dementia Friendly Sefton said:

“I am so proud to celebrate Dementia Action Week and I take this opportunity to thank the huge number of organisations from across Sefton that help create a place where people with dementia are understood, respected and supported.

“A diagnosis can be incredibly meaningful to someone with undiagnosed dementia, it can be a gateway to support, guidance and self understanding. It is daunting but it is the first step to dealing with the condition. I urge everyone in Sefton to consider themselves and their family members this Dementia Action Week.”

Justine Shenton, Deputy Programme Manager, Living Well Sefton said:

“It is important to raise awareness this Dementia Action Week of the condition and how to recognise signs and symptoms that go beyond what we all consider symptoms of ‘old age.’

“Being diagnosed with dementia can be daunting but with the right care and support, that fear can be allayed. In Sefton, there is some amazing support out there and I’m proud to be a part of Dementia Friendly, making our community a better place for people living with dementia and in doing so, enable them to live the lives they choose to live.”

Dementia Friendly Sefton are a group of organisations and individuals who are determined to maintain and improve Sefton’s ‘Dementia Friendly’ status.

In October 2019, thanks to the work of Sefton’s Dementia Action Alliance (DAA), the borough was officially recognised by The Alzheimer’s Society as ‘working towards becoming dementia friendly’. This status means that Sefton is a place where people with dementia are understood, respected and supported.

For more information, visit the Alzheimer’s Society website

Sefton Council’s Head of Operational In-House Services, Michelle Williams has described reported incidents of abuse aimed at refuse collection teams and reception staff by members of the public over delayed bin collections as ‘completely unacceptable’

Michelle said:

“We understand the frustration felt by many residents over the delays that have resulted from a combination of successive Bank Holidays and significant staff absences in addition to operational issues.  We are working hard to catch up on missed collections as soon as we can.

“We want to thank our teams for the considerable effort that is going into achieving this but to say that incidents of abuse they have received as they go about their work is entirely unacceptable and will not be tolerated.

“These are the same teams who people praised and came out to clap for their work throughout the COVID pandemic, and we would ask people to now treat them with that same respect.

“We would like to reiterate our apologies to those who have been affected by these delays and thank the overwhelming majority of residents who have shown patience and understanding.

“I can reassure them we are doing everything we can, including deploying extra resources, to clear backlogs and get collections back to normal as soon as we can.”

Michelle went on to say reports of abuse about the delays to bin collections aimed at reception staff at Council buildings was also unacceptable.