|
Southport poem
could be the £1,000 winner
A poem about Southport
could win £1,000 in a free poetry competition. Entry is
completely free and anyone, young or old, can have a go - beginners
too! All you have to do is send a poem about Southport or another
town in your circulation area to "Local Poem" by
email or post your poem to:- United Press Ltd, Admail 3735, London, EC1B 1JB.
The best poem will win £1,000 cash and you can send up to three
entries, which must be no more than 25 lines (each blank line counts
as one line) and 160 words each.
"It can even be about something or someone from the poet's
home area. We
find that poems written from personal observation and experience are
the most heartfelt and expressive, so we're expecting some great
entries from your readers. The contest is designed to encourage
ordinary people to write poetry; to both express themselves and be
more creative.
Last year's winner was from Coalville and previous winners came from
Surrey, South Yorkshire, Bristol, Oxford, Stafford, Rotherham and
Greater Manchester. Maybe this year the £1,000 will go to a poet
from Southport or a neighbouring town. Winning poems have been about
a river, a tower, a local character, village life and local
history." explained a United Press spokesman.
The closing date is:- 31 December 2013.
Liverpool City
Region Review of Strategic Governance
THE Liverpool City Region
has undertaken a Governance Review to further strengthen the
delivery of strategic economic development, regeneration and
transport to increase economic growth and jobs, and provide greater
transparency.
The Councils, (Halton, Knowsley, Liverpool, Sefton, St Helens and
Wirral), Merseytravel and the Local Enterprise Partnership believe
that the current way of delivering these can be improved to
accelerate economic growth.
Based on the current available evidence, this has led to a preferred
option being recommended by the Liverpool City Region Cabinet which
could see a "Combined Authority" being set up. This would
strategically lead work on economic development, transport and
employment and skills in the City Region to support jobs and growth.
A Combined Authority would not mean the creation of a "Super-Council"
- it is about formalising the existing positive informal
arrangements and being able to draw-down powers and resources from
Central Government for local use.
It would provide clear leadership and greater transparency, while
creating a legal entity which would be in a position to attract
funding and devolved powers from Government.
Many other areas across the country are also pursuing changes to
their governance arrangements and this recommendation would enable
the Liverpool City Region to compete with them.
2 documents have been produced which will be available to download
from the Local Authority and Merseytravel websites. These are:-
► A Governance Review, which looks at how functions are organised at
the moment, reviews the options for change and recommends that a
Combined Authority is consulted upon
► A Draft Scheme, which sets out the possible functions of a
Liverpool City Region Combined Authority
The next stage of the process is to collect feedback from
stakeholders on the review of strategic governance and the potential
operation of a possible Combined Authority as part of the ongoing
review process. This will run between 2 August 2013 and 6 September
2013, and stakeholders are invited to send their feedback to:-
lcr.governance@knowsley.gov.uk.
Following this consultation period, a final recommendation will come
back to individual Cabinet and Council meetings in September, and if
agreed by all City Region Councils, a formal submission will be made
to Government on September 30.
Birkenhead North
Station improvement to begin this month
MERSEYTRAVEL has announced
that work on phase 2 of the Birkenhead North Station improvement
scheme will started this month (August 2013). The second phase
of works will link the car park to the station via a new, fully
accessible pedestrian bridge equipped with passenger lifts, giving
step free access to both platforms. Due for completion by March
2014, the improvements will make Birkenhead North Station completely
accessible and DDA compliant.
Phase one of the scheme provide a new 274 space car park with
dedicated Blue Badge parking, lighting, CCTV coverage, secure
fencing and provision of adequate drainage, allowing for climate
change and offers increased access and convenience for passengers
travelling toward Liverpool, New Brighton, West Kirby and beyond.
Working with Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council, The park and ride
projects at both Birkenhead North and Bidston stations have been put
in place by Merseytravel to meet the increasing demand for parking
spaces with easy access to the rail network and to alleviate
problems being caused by on street congestion and parking around
Birkenhead stations.
Councillor John Salter, Merseytravel's Lead Member for Rail said:-
"Limitations on funding have meant that the project has had to
be introduced in two stages. Phase one was financed through the
European Union's European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) but the
grant funding did not cover the cost of Phase 2; a bridge and lifts
to link the car park at Birkenhead North to the station.
Phase 2 has been funded from a number of sources including; rail
industry finance, money from the Department for Transport and
Merseytravel, hence it taking a little longer to complete."
The scheme has been delivered through the CEEQUAL process, which is
a sustainability rating system that recognises projects achieving
high environmental and social performance.
ARREST OF DARREN O'FLAHERTY
FOLLOWING WANTED APPEAL BY SOCA
A Merseyside man who is wanted in Spain on
suspicion of a fatal shooting has been arrested in North Wales.
Darren O'Flaherty, aged 39, from Kirkby, was arrested by firearms
officers from North Wales Police at a Chinese restaurant in
Caernarfon last night at 7.15pm. The arrest follows a joint
operation by Merseyside Police and North Wales Police. O'Flaherty
was the subject of SOCA's Operation Captura publicity campaign
seeking wanted fugitives in Spain. Spanish authorities want to speak
to him about the shooting of a man in Torremolinos in July 2010 and
two attempted murder charges. He is also the subject of a European
Arrest Warrant for a kidnap offence committed against a HGV driver
on the A1 in Bedale in North Yorkshire in October 2006. O'Flaherty
has appeared before magistrates this morning for a minor driving
offence committed on Merseyside. Other court proceedings regarding
the more serious offences will now follow in Yorkshire. |
 |
Plans for the
new Royal get backing from local leaders
THE newly published
plans
for the new Royal Liverpool University Hospital have received
widespread support from business, political and healthcare leaders
across the City.
The Mayor of Liverpool, Joe Anderson, said:- "This is a very
welcome move forward. The new Royal is a hugely important
development for Liverpool, not only because it is replacing an
outdated hospital with a superb new facility which will provide
first-class levels of care but it is also key to the regeneration of
the area and the future of the City. Hundreds of jobs will be
created during its construction and when it is completed the Royal
hospital will be at the heart of the new Bio-Campus. This will
create 5,000 high tech, well-paid jobs and help make Liverpool a
world leader in the field of life sciences."
The Lord Mayor of Liverpool, Councillor Gary Millar said:-
"The business case sets out why the new Royal Hospital and
Bio-Campus are so important to Liverpool. They will make us a
leading City in so many respects – from the level of care which will
be provided to being a world leader in life sciences. The
development of the Knowledge Quarter is vital to the future
prosperity of the City and the new Royal is a key element in that
Quarter."
Robert Hough, Chair, Liverpool City Region Local Enterprise
Partnership (LEP) said:- "This marks another critical
milestone in this project. It is of vital importance to the City
Region in terms of both healthcare and the depth and sheer quality
of the biomedical opportunities. Our ambition now is to help grow
the Biosciences sector in the region and retain established talent.
Achieving both forms a significant part of our shared commitment to
develop the Knowledge Economy in the City Region."
Councillor Roz Gladden, Liverpool City Council cabinet member for
adult social care and health, said:- "This is an important
step in the creation of a world-class hospital for Liverpool. The
new Royal will be a state-of-art hospital which will provide the
highest levels of care and the plans for it have gained a wide level
of support throughout the City. I believe that it is a vitally
important development in delivering the quality of health care which
our citizens deserve and need."
Dr Nadim Fazlani, Chair of Liverpool Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG)
said:- "The new Royal will be a tremendous asset for
Liverpool, both in terms of the facilities it will offer patients
and the associated benefits it will have for the City's research
capability. Crucially, it is an opportunity to design a
state-of-the-art building around the needs of modern healthcare,
which have changed dramatically in the time since the current
hospital was built. Liverpool faces significant health challenges
and over the coming years all organisations delivering NHS care
locally will be working together to improve the health of our
population and ensure that we can offer the high-quality services
that the City needs. The new Royal reflects this drive towards a
local NHS which delivers the very best care for the people of
Liverpool, both now and in the future."
Louise Ellman MP for Liverpool Riverside said:- "I welcome
this very important milestone achieved after so many years of
campaigning. The new hospital will bring improved health facilities
helping to narrow the ten and an half year gap in the life
expectancy between people in Liverpool and those in more prosperous
areas. The new Bio campus, expanding one of Liverpool's growing
sectors, will be a major step forward in Liverpool's regeneration;
putting Liverpool on the world stage for life sciences and bringing
5,000 hi-tech jobs."
Central Ward Councillor and Cabinet Member for Employment,
Enterprise & Skills Nick Small said:- "I've been campaigning
with residents living in Central Liverpool for 10 years for a new
Royal Liverpool University Hospital. The part of the City I
represent has high early death rates and many residents living with
long-term health conditions. Investment in a new Royal will
significantly improve the health outcomes, quality of life and life
chances for the residents I represent. But the new Royal is much,
much more than this. The economic impact the new Royal will have kickstarting new investment in to Liverpool Bio Campus and wider
Knowledge Quarter cannot be underestimated. This is one of the
City's brightest opportunities to transform our economic prospects
and it's all about creating linkages between clinicians, academic
researchers and business. I'm also very proud of the partnership
between the Trust, its contractor Carillion and the City Council on
construction. Building the new Royal will create 750 new
construction jobs and 75-100 apprenticeships. We're committed to
getting local people, especially those living in those communities
with the highest levels of unemployment, back to work and the new
Royal is a great opportunity to do just that."
Steve Rotherham MP for Walton said:- "The National Health
Service continues to be the envy of the world and provide
first-class patient care, free at the point of use to over 64
million people in Britain today. In order to ensure that we continue
to provide the patient care that the people of Liverpool deserve, it
is vital that we continue to strengthen and modernize our local
health sector in order to ensure we have world class hospitals and
world class services. The New Royal Hospital will provide the City
with 750 new construction jobs and 100 new apprenticeships. The
development is also estimated to contribute £240 million to the
local Liverpool Economy.
Modernising our NHS is a key component for the future of our City,
our country and our economy. With the development of the Liverpool
Bio-Campus, we will begin a new chapter which will see Liverpool
recognised as a world leader in the life sciences and the creation
of over 5,000 new hi-tech jobs. The campus will attract inward
investment and bring leading scientists to Liverpool to play their
part in this exciting new venture. Liverpool has led the world in
harnessing the economic and cultural benefits of the Arts and
creative Industries in recent years and I am delighted that we are
now set to add modern science and innovation to the City's
international offer."
Aidan Kehoe, chief executive said:- "We are delighted to have
received such widespread support for the new Royal from patients,
staff and local people as well as our local MPs, the Lord Mayor and
Mayor of Liverpool and local business leaders. They all agree that
the new Royal will not only provide the state of the art hospital
that the City needs in order to tackle the serious health issues
people in Liverpool face, but also with a huge opportunity to create
new jobs and bring investment into the City with the building of the BioCampus."
|
