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Tour of Britain
route revealed
THE UK's largest
professional cycling race is less than a month away and the route
for the opening stage in Liverpool has been unveiled.
The Friends Life Tour of Britain 'Grand Depart' takes place
on Sunday, 7 September 2014, with the start and finish of the race taking
place in front of the world famous backdrop of the Three Graces. The Sunday will also see thousands of residents and visitors take
part in the free Sky Ride Liverpool Big Bike Event which gives
families the chance to get on their bikes and experience part of the
prestigious route before the main race takes place.
The schedule and routes for the day are:-
Sky Ride, 9am-12.30pm - Sefton Park (Croxteth Gate), Sefton Park Road, Croxteth Road,
Princes Road, Upper Parliament Street, Parliament Street, Chaloner
Street, Wapping.
Friends Life Tour of Britain, 2.15pm to 4.45pm. George's Dock Gates, The Strand/Goree, Strand Street, Wapping,
Chaloner Street, Parliament Street, Upper Parliament Street, Princes
Road, Princes Avenue, Croxteth Road, Sefton Park Road, Croxteth
Drive, Mossley Hill Drive, Aigburth Drive – the route then doubles
back on itself and after ten laps of the 13 kilometre circuit, will
finish on The Strand.
Stage One will get underway at 2.15pm, featuring intermediate YodelDirect Sprints at the finish line on laps 2, 4 and 6 of the 8
lap race. Riders will also contest a SKODA King of the Mountains
prime on Parliament Street on laps 3, 5 and 7, with the stage
finished expected at around 4.45pm.
Friends Life Tour of Britain Race Director Mick Bennett said:-
"The route for the opening stage is going to be spectacular and
iconic, whether people are watching at the roadside or at home on
the live television coverage.
With a Sky Ride beforehand and then some of the world's best
cyclists racing across ten laps afterwards, Stage One will be a
great, free day out for spectators in Liverpool. With a fast finish
along the Strand in front of the Three Graces, the stage is tailor
made for the sprinters, with the stage winner set to pull on the
first Friends Life Yellow Jersey of the 2014 race."
This is the first time the City has had the honour of hosting this
opening stage, although it has been involved with the event before
by holding stage finishes in 2006 and 2008, and a stage start in
2007.
Liverpool's Assistant Mayor and Cabinet Member responsible for
sport, Councillor Wendy Simon, said:- "We're delighted to be
hosting the opening stage of this prestigious race and excitement
will really start to build now the route has been revealed. It will
take in many of the beautiful sights of the City; the
fantastic green space that is Sefton Park and the stunning
waterfront will be amazing for these elite cyclists to take in as
they're racing around our City.
The Sky Ride Liverpool event earlier in the day is a great
opportunity for people of all ages and abilities to ride around
traffic-free streets and literally ride part of the route of this
famous event before the professionals get a chance! It's a
great message to encourage families to get out and be active, and
hopefully it will inspire more cyclists and could result in some
home grown cycling stars!"
The 2014 Friends Life Tour of Britain will take place across 8 days,
running from 7 September to the 14 September 2014. Full details of all of the stages,
including the Stage 2 Start on Monday, 8 September 2014, at Knowsley, can
be found via logging onto:-
tourofbritain.co.uk/stages.
Sky Ride is a national campaign between Sky and British Cycling,
encouraging thousands of people of all ages and abilities to get on
a bike and discover the fun, freedom and health benefits cycling can
offer. Much loved TV presenter and Sky 1's Got to Dance host Davina
McCall, is set to take part in Liverpool's first ever Sky Ride Big
Bike Event, organised in partnership with Liverpool City Council. A
passionate cyclist, Davina will join thousands of cyclists for a
great day of traffic free cycling.
Peter Haymes, British Cycling's Recreation Manager for Liverpool,
said:- "We are delighted to be bringing our first fantastic
Sky Ride Big Bike Event to Liverpool this year, especially linking
it into the Tour of Britain Grand Depart on the same day.
Cycling in the UK has transformed in the last few years with a
million more Brits now cycling regularly as a result of Sky's
partnership with British Cycling. We will be giving cyclists in
Liverpool the chance to ride a fun, friendly and traffic free route
through the City and then have the chance to watch big name
professional cyclists race on the same circuit later in the day.
We want to inspire people to get out on their bikes. It has already
been an awesome summer of cycling in the UK with the much heralded
Tour de France and Commonwealth Games, so we hope to wrap it up in
style with a huge celebration of all things 2 wheeled in Liverpool
on 7 September, I hope as many people as possible can join us!"
For full details about Sky Ride and to and sign-up for Sky Ride
Liverpool
or follow @GoSkyRide on Twitter.
Unexplained Death in Wallasey
MERSEYSIDE Police have
confirmed that a male who had been dead at a property in Wallasey
this week has been identified as being, 62 year old, David Thomson.
Mr Thomson, who was also known as "Donovan", was found
dead inside his property on Penkett Road on Tuesday, 5 August 2014
by Emergency services. There was evidence that there had been a
small fire inside the property that had been extinguished prior to
the arrival of the emergency services. At this time Mr Thomson's
death is not being treated as suspicious and the matter has been
referred to the coroner. The man has been identified and next of kin
have been advised. |
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Liverpool's
Library service reviewed
A report into the future of
Liverpool's library service is to be considered at a Cabinet meeting
on Friday, 15 August 2014. The Library Service needs to reduce its
budget overall by £2.5 million as part of the City Council's £156
million of savings needed over the next 3 years due to cuts in
Central Government funding.
The scale of the challenge resulted in a 2 month public and
stakeholder consultation which addressed the issues of remodelling
the service and looked at how the City's 19 public libraries were
used by customers.
The report identifies 11 community libraries that could be at risk
of closure if alternative and viable ways of delivering the services
from these buildings cannot be found. These libraries are:-
Breck Road Library
Dovecot Library
Fazakerley Library
Kensington Library
Lee Valley Library
Old Swan Library
Sefton Park Library
Spellow Library
Walton Library
Wavertree Library
West Derby Library
They are potentially at risk
because of a number of factors including below average use, high
running costs, their proximity to another library and the potential
of the service being provided by another organisation or group.
If the report is approved, another full consultation exercise will
be undertaken which will include a series of public meetings,
inviting people to have their say on the proposed service as a whole
as well as those venues which have been identified as potentially at
risk.
These sessions will look at all options including if they can
feasibly be operated and financially supported by any external
groups or organisations.
The proposed new library service would see:-
► 95% of residents living or working within 2 miles of a library.
► The City Council continuing to operate 7 community libraries
retained which would be: Croxteth, Norris Green, Toxteth, Childwall,
Allerton, Garston and Parklands, along with Central Library.
► Central Library stay open 7 days a week at 70 hours.
► The Home Library Service retained which serves mobility impaired
and socially isolated residents.
► The RNIB Talking Book Service (audiobooks for the blind and
visually impaired) retained.
► The all year round Read Liverpool online e-library service
continue.
Mayor of Liverpool, Joe Anderson, said:- "We have had
£176million cuts over the last 3 years, and we face another
£156million over the next 3 years.
We have produced a report that has looked at how we shape our
library service for the future, accepting the fact that we have to
make savings across all services, including Adult Social Care,
Mental Health, Children's Services and many others.
The library service cannot be excluded otherwise more cuts will fall
on other important services, which is why we have to make this
£2.5million saving.
The proposals are the fairest way of dealing with a financial
situation outside of our control. Not only have we had to find these
savings because of the cuts, we also have to find money to pay for
PFI schemes, like the £50 million borrowed to refurbish Central
Library. There are more service cuts and reductions to come, but we
will do as much as we can to save services and to protect the people
who rely on us."
More than 3,500 people took part in the initial public consultation.
If the report is approved, dates for the next set of public meetings
will be announced as soon as possible, with the information being
made available through sources such as the City Council's website
and in libraries.
The initial consultation found that:-
►
45% of customers use Central Library, and 40% of those consulted
said they would use this library if their local library closed.
►
The most used libraries are Central Library, Allerton, Childwall,
Garston and Norris Green. Together these libraries account for 57%
of the total library use across the City.
►
59% of respondents said they would be willing to visit another
library if their local one was to close.
Assistant Mayor and Cabinet Member responsible for libraries,
Councillor Wendy Simon, said:- "The sheer scale of the cuts
which face the Council mean we have to make some extremely tough
decisions.
We, along with an independent company, have scrutinised all the
responses to the consultation looking closely at areas such as what
library services the residents use, when they use it and how often.
At the same time we have to look at the individual venues and
consider what their running costs are, can we work with partner
organisations to keep costs down, were they located near another
library and had any community based organisation shown an interest
in taking over the running of the facility.
It's important to stress that it isn't a foregone conclusion that
the libraries identified will close; we are carrying out a further 4
week consultation to make sure all options are considered and that
it has been a fully comprehensive review of the service as a whole." |
