Sefton Council and its partners have submitted a ₤19.2 million bid for Crosby Town Centre

ENTITLED:- 'Reimagining Crosby' the bid includes plans for a new, state of the art library in the Town Centre along with community facilities, a new Health and Wellbeing Hub and 30 new apartment homes.

Located on the site of the current Green Car Park and combined with the library, the Health and Wellbeing Hub will be able to provide central GP services and other community health provision. Further details of the Centre's design are still to be finalised.

Alongside the library and Wellbeing Hub, the Levelling Up Fund bid also includes improved access to the Town Centre. The strong focus on making Crosby more pedestrian and cycle friendly is in line with the Council climate emergency declaration and commitment to active travel.

This will remove barriers, enhance the ease of movement and improve access to the public spaces in and around the Centre, making them more user friendly for all kinds of journeys. Improvement to Town Centre parking is included in the bid, with additional spaces provided, as well as electric vehicle charging points.

The Bid's proposals will support the recovery of Crosby improving access to local services, diversifying what the Town can offer and encouraging people to stay for longer.

Cllr Ian Maher, Leader of Sefton Council said:- "Our approach to the Levelling Up Fund has focused on bringing benefits to local people and developing opportunities for jobs, investment and recovery to parts of our Borough that have been hit hard by the Pandemic. Health, wellbeing and community are at the heart of our ₤19.2million 'Reimagining Crosby' bid, which has been designed to deliver a range of benefits to people in Crosby and across our Borough."

Sefton Council is also submitting a ₤14.5 million bid designed to kick start nearby Bootle's economy.

Cllr Maher added:- "The projects being submitted as part of our bid for funding are varied, ambitious and will shine a light on what Crosby and Bootle have to offer, bringing much needed footfall and focus to our Town Centres."

Bill Esterson MP for Sefton Central said:- "The vision of a new Village Centre would make Crosby a very attractive destination for many people living nearby and from further afield and would revitalise a Centre that is in need of a significant investment."

Dr Craig Gillespie, Clinical Director for Bootle, Crosby and Maghull Primary Care Network said:- "The proposed Crosby Town Centre project is a great opportunity to knit modern health and social care services in to the heart of our community; it could allow a Primary Care Network hub to develop and deliver services 'closer to home,' thereby impacting on the wider determinants of health and reducing inequalities."

Consultation will take place on the Library and Health and Wellbeing Hub proposals, alongside other works including:- highway changes and plans for the improvement of other public areas in the Town Centre as these schemes progress.

If the necessary Levelling Up Funding is approved the Library and Health and Wellbeing Hub could be opening its doors as early as the 2nd ˝ of 2023.

Sefton is eligible to submit up to 3 bids to the ₤4.8 billion Levelling Up Fund, which has been established to invest in projects focused on:- Town Centre and high street regeneration, local transport, cultural and heritage schemes.
 

1st major incident training in Merseyside, in 18 months, takes place aboard RFA Austin

MORE than 80 staff from Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service took part in a major incident training exercise aboard the Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessel RFA Fort Austin, on Tuesday, 23 June 2021; the 1st for 18 months due to Coronavirus.

Part of an initiative between Cammell Laird and Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service (MFRS), the training exercise put 10 fire and rescue teams through their paces with 2 different emergency scenarios; both set on the 23,384 tonne vessel which is berthed at Cammell Laird's facility, in Bidston, Wirral.

The 1st scenario involved a fire in the galley and resulted in the successful recovery of 2 missing people and full evacuation of the ship. The 2nd scenario, which was put into action as the 1st unfolded, involved a fall in the engine room and a patient with a broken leg. The emergency team treated and recovered the patient from the lower confines of the engine room to the shore.

RFA Austin is currently docked at Bidston Repair Berth (formerly Ilchester Wharf) as part of Cammell Laird's 10 year contract to maintain nine vessels in the RFA flotilla.

Spanning 24 metres at its widest point and including:- more than 12 flights of stairs (from the lower hold to the bridge), 11 decks and two flight decks, RFA Austin is a complex and sizeable vessel and the perfect location for major incident refresher training.

MFRS Operational Training Manager, GM Barry Moore said:- "The exercise aboard RFA Fort Austin was a great success and a fantastic opportunity to test our response to the kind of marine emergency scenarios we could face in Merseyside. The vessel was ideal for this exercise, which is a great example of our ongoing collaboration with Cammell Laird around emergency response. The exercise involved multiple complex rescues undertaken in confined spaces at different locations on board the ship. Crews used breathing apparatus to locate the missing persons along with the set-upof rope access equipment to lift the fall 'casualty' prior to a ship to shore transfer. Due to the Pandemic and to support the safety of our staff we have been unable to carry out any large scale training exercises for around 18 months, so it was great to be back!"

Stephen Gibney, HSEQ director atCammell Laird Shiprepairers and Shipbuilders Limited said:- "At Cammell Laird we are committed to the continuous improvement of our existing systems, processes and practices. As part of this, Cammell Laird is working with MFRS to develop both organisations' emergency response capability and knowledge."

Cammell Laird's HSEQ Manager Willian New co-ordinated this event, as well as a number of other joint development exercises with MFRS. Merseyside Fire &Rescue Service's Training and Development Academy also provides annual fire watch and fire marshalling training to Cammell Laird's Birkenhead based team.

Cammell Laird was founded in 1828 and is based on the River Mersey, in the Liverpool City Region, on the west coast of Britain. The company's Birkenhead site expands across 130 acres and includes:- 4 dry docks, a large modular construction hall and extensive covered workshops. It is also at the centre of a marine and engineering cluster, with easy access to:- support services, classification societies and Port State Authorities.