Queens Drive works begins

A £2.1 MILLION scheme to improve a major Liverpool route is about to get underway.  Carriageway resurfacing began on Queens Drive on Tuesday, 30 August 2011, between the city’s boundary with Sefton at Stuart Road and Townsend Avenue.

The 10-week scheme will bring essential improvements to the road surface and represents a significant council investment in one of the city’s important strategic corridors.

The works will be carried out in 3 phases, to minimise disruption:-

►  Phase 1 - Townsend Avenue to Utting Avenue (30 August to 11 September 2011)

►  Phase 2 - Utting Avenue to Walton Hall Avenue (12 September to 9 October 1011)

►  Phase 3 - Walton Hall Avenue to Stuart Road / Sefton boundary (10 October to 4 November 2011)

Liverpool City Council’s Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Transport, Councillor Malcolm Kennedy, said:- "This scheme is the latest part of our work to drive up the quality of our roads. Queens Drive is one of the most important roads in the city, and a major route for business, so it’s very important that it is well maintained.  I’m looking forward to the completion of this vital work, which will massively improve Queens Drive, and bring huge benefits to motorists, residents and businesses for many years to come. We’ll be working closely with local people and businesses affected by the works to keep them up to date and minimise disruption as much as possible."

Information boards have been in place for the past three weeks informing the motorists of the start date and timescale of the works. Variable message signs have also been activated at key locations to advise of the works, and all local residents and businesses will be kept up to date via letter prior to the start of each phase.

Traffic management measures will be in place while the works are on-going. Traffic will be full contra-flow to allow work on each carriageway to completed, with the road reduced to a single lane in each direction.

A dedicated traffic officer will be onsite 24 hours a day to provide access to residential and business properties through the works. All traffic management will be removed on match days to ensure ease of access for football fans to and from the football stadia.

As part of Phase 2 of the work, Walton Hall Avenue at Queens Drive will be closed, over the weekend of 8 October and 9 October 2011, when there are no Liverpool FC or Everton FC matches due to an England international.

The contractor for the works is Tarmac, with Enterprise Liverpool managing the project.

Range High School are delighted with the GCSE results

STAFF and governors at Range High School are delighted with the GCSE results that their pupils have received. Headteacher Graham Aldridge said:- "I would like to congratulate all our Year 11 pupils on a fantastic set of results which represent an enormous amount of work by both pupils and staff at the school. We’re especially delighted that the number of A and A* grades has increased again." The headline A*-C including English and Mathematics was slightly lower than the last 2 years which is an area for further investigation during exam result reviews with HoFs and CALs. However, overall results were in line with previous years and we achieved comparable 5x A*-C and 5x A*-G statistics. The Average Point Score (APS) was very high (463) and maintains the increase made last year, (472, in 2009 this was 402). A*-A grades have continued to rise and the gains made last year have been consolidated.

Birkenhead School... Grant Award

THE England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is pleased to announce that Birkenhead School has been awarded a grant from the England and Wales Cricket Board in partnership with Sport England.

The investment supports Sport England’s and the ECB’s national strategy 2009 – 2013 which aims to grow the number of people playing sport, sustain participation by encouraging more people to keep playing sport, and help talented sports people excel.

The Birkenhead School was identified by the Cheshire Cricket Board and by the ECB as a venue of strategic importance, due to the location. The arrangement that has been agreed between the Cheshire Cricket Board and Birkenhead School is deemed to be mutually beneficial.

The School was awarded a grant of £25,146 for an up-grade of the school’s sports hall with a particular focus on cricket. The total project cost was £35,528 approximately.

The School’s Head of PE and Master in Charge of Cricket, Rick Lytollis, said:- "We were really delighted when we were awarded the grant and we have been pleased to work with the ECB and the Cheshire Cricket Board on this project. This will mean that the Birkenhead School will become more of a focus for cricket development in Cheshire. We already field 10 school teams – including the preparatory school – but there will also be considerable community benefit as the indoor net facility will be available to local clubs and to the Cheshire Cricket Board for District and advanced coaching courses.  We can also provide additional cricket coaching opportunities for the school teams and we aim to increase the number of girls playing cricket."

Mike Woollard, the Cheshire Cricket Board’s Cricket Development Officer said:- "We are really pleased with the partnership arrangement with Birkenhead School as this enabled us to secure the grant which will provide cricket opportunities for the School and also local clubs. The new cricket facilities are excellent and will mean the Cheshire Cricket Board will have access to quality indoor facilities and this is important for our progressive junior development programme.   We are fortunate to have such a good working relationship with the School and we believe this top grade project will benefit cricket impact in the Birkenhead area. We are grateful to ECB and Sport England for the generous support and we regard the grant as an investment in the game for the future and for the benefit of the local community."

Sport England’s Director of Property, Charles Johnson, said:- "The improved practice and coaching facilities at Birkenhead School will be welcomed both by experienced players looking to improve their game and by people who are new to cricket. We are confident that the ECB’s strategic approach to investing in high-quality, sustainable facilities will help cricket to attract and retain many new participants and create more opportunities to develop sporting talent"

The £18 million of capital investment which has been awarded to cricket will be distributed to strategically identified applicants who can evidence their contribution to the games outcomes to grow and sustain current levels of participation, improve people’s experience of cricket and improve the quality and opportunity to develop talent. 

Projects eligible during this period include fine turf provision, non turf provision, land purchase for cricketing purposes, indoor provision for cricketing purposes and communal changing facilities.

Bruce Cruse, the ECB’s National Funding and Facilities Manager said:- "The ECB is pleased to invest in this worthy project and to give a boost to grass roots facility development. It has been planned to input new impetus into the playing future of the local community. I am confident as the investment matures cricket locally will go from strength to strength."