Author: Ollie Cowan

A share of £115,000 is up for grabs to help make the Liverpool City Region a cleaner and greener place.

The funding has been made available for community and voluntary groups, schools, faith groups and not-for-profit organisations in Sefton, who can reduce household waste, encourage recycling and resource re-use and prevent carbon emissions.

The projects will also have to demonstrate wider positive impacts on the environment, health and education.

The money is coming from the Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority and Veolia Community Fund 2019/20, which has been running annually since 2006.

Successful applicants can be awarded up to £25,000 for schemes which operate across all six districts in Merseyside and Halton, and £8,000 for projects which work solely at one local authority level.

Interested groups should complete and submit a Stage One form with MRWA. If applicants are shortlisted then they will be asked to fill in a more detailed Stage Two entry. Successful projects will receive the funding in April 2019 and will have twelve months to deliver their schemes.

Organisations interested in this year’s Community Fund can either

• Download the Stage One application form and Guidance at www.merseysidewda.gov.uk
• Contact the Authority by Email: communityfund2019/2020@merseysidewda.gov.uk / Tel: 0151 255 1444

The deadline for stage one application submissions is set as Friday January 4, 2019 at 11.59pm.

Whether you swim, paddle, or simply enjoy a stroll along Sefton’s beaches, you can be assured, once again, that the quality of the water is of a high standard.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has published statistics that reveal that Formby, Southport and Ainsdale all boast clean bathing waters.

Formby beach has yet again been rated ‘Excellent’ – the highest, cleanest class – while Southport and Ainsdale beaches both retain ‘Good’ ratings for their water quality.

Green Sefton, Sefton Council’s dedicated eco-team, has been working tirelessly to maintain and improve the high standards of Sefton’s coastline, which has a direct positive effect on bathing water quality.

Cllr Ian Moncur, Sefton Council’s Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing, said: “Our thanks must go to the wonderful Green Sefton team, our beach clean volunteers and partners who work all year round to keep our bathing waters and beaches both clean and safe.

“We are delighted that our bathing beaches have once again been recognised by Defra and have repeatedly passed stringent water quality testing.

“For a number of years residents and visitors across Sefton have been encouraged to learn more about bathing waters and how they can play a major part in helping us improve the water quality in the borough.”

There are a number of ways you can help maintain, and improve, local bathing water standards, by taking action both at home and at the beach.

• Only flush the 3P’s down the toilet – poo, pee and paper. Everything else goes in the bin!

• Pour cooled kitchen fats in the bin, not down the sink.

• Pick up after your dog.

• Don’t feed birds at the beach and keep outdoor areas free of food waste.

• Always put litter in the bin or take it home if it’s full

For more information about Sefton’s beaches and coastal areas visit www.sefton.gov.uk/beaches.

Refuse and recycling collections in Sefton will continue over Christmas and the New Year for residents across the borough, with minor alterations to collection dates.

Sefton’s collection crews will be observing the usual Boxing Day bank holiday on Wednesday, December 26 meaning that there will be a slight change to regular bin collection days.

For collections which would normally take place on Monday and Tuesday, residents are asked to present their grey or brown bins or sacks for collection on Thursday, December 27.

Wednesday and Thursday collections will take place two days later on Friday, December 28 and Saturday, December 29 respectively.

For the week commending December 31, Monday’s collection will take place as normal, while the remainder of the week’s schedule will be collected one day later in line with the New Year’s Day bank holiday.

Food waste collections will follow the same Christmas schedule and normal service will resume from Monday, January 7, 2019.

Separate arrangements for trade waste collections over Christmas and the New Year will be made and businesses affected will be contacted directly by Sefton Council.

Similar to other years, the green wheelie bin collection for garden waste will be suspended from the end of November 2018 until March 2019.

Residents are also reminded of their rubbish responsibilities when disposing of waste at recycling centres over the festive period. Any rubbish left on the highway outside a recycling centre is considered fly-tipping and offenders can face substantial fines.

To check collection arrangements or for further information on all waste and recycling services, visit www.sefton.gov.uk/bins or follow us on Twitter @seftoncouncil.