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Sefton Council’s Director of Public Health thanks COVID test centre staff

29 March 2022
Martin Driver
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Categories: Front Page, Health, Latest News
Margaret Jones, Director of Public Health in Sefton
Margaret Jones, Sefton Council’s Director of Public Health

With Sefton’s COVID-19 testing centres closing this week, the Borough’s Director of Public Health Margaret Jones has issued a message of thanks to all those who have been staffing them.

Spread

Mrs Jones said: “COVID Test centres have played a huge role in helping prevent the spread of coronavirus infections in Sefton so I would like to say a huge ‘thank you’ to all of those who have worked at them for all their efforts to help keep our communities safe and reassuring our communities.”

Walk-through PCR test centres for people with COVID-19 symptoms were first set up in August 2020. The first two were at Bootle and Southport Town Halls with a further two at Crosby Library and Netherton Activity Centre being added. They will close after Thursday 31st March.

Closures

This week also sees the closure of Sefton’s rapid test sites for people without symptoms, at Sefton’s Bootle Town Hall, Bootle Strand Shopping Centre and Southport Splash World.

The Southport Dunes closed on Sunday 27th March, The Strand site closed on Monday 28th March and the Bootle Town Hall site’s final day is Thursday 31st March when it will close at 3pm.

Sefton Council has supported staff at the Council testing centres to access redeployment opportunities into other roles.

Thousands of people

Margaret Jones added: “By carrying rapid LFD tests for people without symptoms, handing out free home test kits and dispensing advice, staff at rapid test centres have helped thousands of people make sure they are not passing on the virus without knowing it because they don’t have symptoms.

“This has been invaluable in terms of protecting those people vulnerable to COVID’s potentially serious effects and reducing pressure on our health service.

“I am so grateful for all their hard work and wish them well for the future.”

Sefton Council has advised people to remain cautious and considerate to others. Advice includes continuing to wear face coverings in busy indoor areas and on public transport and maintaining distancing where necessary.

Longer Opening Hours for Recycling Centres

28 March 2022
Bridie Finnan
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Categories: Front Page, Latest News

Sefton residents will soon have the opportunity to recycle more as Household Waste Recycling Centres open for an extra three hours every day.

From Friday 1st April the region’s Centres will be open from 8.00am until 8.00pm.

There are 14 Household Waste Recycling Centres in the region. They are operated by resource management company Veolia on behalf of Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority (MRWA).

 

Carl Beer, Chief Executive of MRWA, said: “The Recycling Centres accept a range of household materials for recycling, from batteries, cans and cardboard, through to garden clippings, glass bottles, wood, and white goods. They also accept lesser-known items such as food and drink cartons, clothes, hard plastics and electrical items. The lighter summer nights mean we can open for longer.”

 

Householders can check both www.recycleright.org.uk or www.merseysidewda.gov.uk for details of what can be accepted at their local site.

The Centres provide a popular service for residents and can become extremely busy at peak times so visits should be planned carefully.

There is a system in place for those who wish to visit in a van or with a large trailer. Bookings can be made at www.merseysidewda.gov.uk.

More information on what you can do with your household waste items can be found at www.recycleright.org.uk.

Formby – Altcar Road, Formby – L37 8EG
Sefton Meadows – Sefton Lane, Maghull – L31 8BX
Southport – Foul Lane, Scarisbrick New Road – PR9 7RG
South Sefton – Irlam Road, Bootle – L20 4AE

 

Southport-based Great Escape project will help local jobseekers learn new skills and increase employability

28 March 2022
Martin Driver
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Categories: Front Page, Latest News, Uncategorized

Poster for Great Escape initiativeJobseekers in Sefton are being offer the chance to develop new skills that would enable them to deliver arts-based projects in local communities.

Drama and music

The Great Escape is a series of drama and music workshops taking place at Southport’s Market Quarter. Funded through the European Social Fund and supported by Sefton Market, The Great Escape is being led by local drama school and an agency Acting Angels and Job Centre’s Sefton Partnership Manager.

Successful applicants will be paid ÂŁ10 for each of the eight, weekly tutorial sessions the go to. They will also receive ÂŁ5 expenses for both the interview, enrolment exit appointments.

Confidence & self esteem

Participants must be aged over 19 and be residents in Merseyside. The weekly sessions are based around building individuals’ confidence, improving their self-esteem and broadening their social circle.

Those taking part will also learn a new set of arts and community-based skills that will increase their employability.

To apply or find out more people should contact Acting Angels on 07970 365 422 or email dramaschool@actingangels.co.uk.

Sefton’s Blundellsands & Victoria ward councillors funding study to help determine future of Crosby’s Coronation Park Lake

26 March 2022
Martin Driver
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Categories: Front Page, Latest News, Sefton Council

Sefton’s Blundellsands and Victoria ward councillors have committed funding for a report on possible future uses for the lake in Crosby’s Coronation Park.

Prioritised

Following a recent consultation about the potential development of the Park, improvements to the lake have been prioritised by the Coronation Park Friends Group working with Green Sefton.

Cllrs Natasha Carlin, Christine Howard and Diane Roscoe who represent the Blundellsands ward and Cllrs Leslie Byrom, Janet Grace and Michael Roche who represent the Victoria ward have agreed to make funds available for a consultant feasibility report on potential ideas for the lake.

Family-friendly

Announcing the funding, the two wards’ councillors said: “The Lake is an important focal point in Coronation Park, and we want to develop a new vision for it that is family-friendly and is sustainable, not relying on mains water.

“There have been suggestions that it could be more of a natural feature where local people can experience local wildlife in the future.

“Like local residents and the Coronation Park Friends Group we are keen to see the lake returned to an attractive feature of the park and look forward to seeing the outcome of this feasibility study.”

Find out more about Sefton’s parks and greenspaces.

Council’s work on Sefton’s very own ‘Nile’ reduces Birkdale residents’ flooding risk and provides boost for Borough’s amphibian friends

26 March 2022
Martin Driver
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Categories: Front Page, Latest News, Uncategorized

Sefton Council has finished the first part of works to improve drainage in the Birkdale coastal area.

As a result of the work, the risk of flooding to properties in the area by surface water has been reduced and habitats in the green beach area have been improved.

A flooded slack in winter. Picture by John Dempsey
A flooded slack in winter. Picture by John Dempsey.

Nile and Taggs

The works has been carried out on the Nile and Taggs watercourses in the dune system on the coastal side of the Coastal Road in Birkdale. These channel surface water drainage from properties inland and the road itself.

The existing system is believed to be part of the Cheshire Lines railway line, which was built in the late 1800s.

Dune and saltmarsh

Since then, the level of the beach has risen and the dune and saltmarsh area is also more than 150cm (5 feet) higher in some areas. This has restricted the water from draining onto the foreshore, resulting in flooding inland and silt building up in the watercourses, further compounding the issue.

The improvements have cleared the debris and reconnected the watercourses with the open coast, allowing the water to freely drain away. The work was designed to ensure that water drains through the reserve area constantly but slowly, allowing it to be filtered naturally and behave much like a sustainable drainage system, before the water eventually finds its way across the green beach and onto the foreshore.

Short and long-term

Cllr Ian Moncur, Sefton Council’s Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing said: “Flood risk is a serious issue for residents across the Borough and our officers are dedicated to finding both short and long-term mitigation and solutions to it.

“It’s fantastic to see the delivery of vital improvements like this being delivered by our Green Sefton team.”

Careful steps were taken during the work to ensure that there was no disturbance to existing areas of botanical importance or to any of the ‘special features’ of the Site of Special Scientific Interest, such as the flocks of wading birds or wildfowl that call the foreshore home.

Essential drainage works at Birkdale Hills Local Nature Reserve will also indirectly improve the habitats in ways that will increase opportunities for our insect, amphibian and botanical natives.

You can find advice about flooding on our website.

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