Young people's vision for Liverpool

LIVERPOOL is bidding to join the Unicef Child Friendly City programme; putting young people at the heart of everything it does. The City Council is to submit an application to the child rights organisation to work towards the status, to cement and further Liverpool's work to ensure that children's rights are reflected in the policies, programmes and budgets of it and partner organisations. Child Friendly City is based around 11 'rights' including influencing decisions, participating in cultural events, being protected from exploitation and enjoying green space and nine components including developing a City wide children's rights strategy and supporting independent advocacy for children.

The City wants to improve the way providers of services in the City work for and with children, so that they have a say in decisions that affect them, experience services that are designed with and for them, know what services are available to them and feel safe and prioritised. Consultation is already underway with a wide range of young people across the City; and on Thursday, 20 September 2018, they attended a meeting with Mayor Joe Anderson and other Council leaders to give their views.  The group included members of:- YPAS (Young People's Advisory Service,) the Children in Care Council, Liverpool Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB) Young Advisors, Merseyside Youth Association, Barnardo's Young Carers, Liverpool Schools Parliament and Liverpool Arabic Centre.

Mayor Joe Anderson said:- "Our children are the future of our City and our success is dependent on them being given the best possible opportunities and gaining the skills and confidence to achieve their potential. We're not starting from scratch here as there is already a huge amount of work going on to enable children's voices to be heard. We have protected children's services as much as possible from the impact of austerity, such as by keeping all of our Children's Centres open and making care leavers exempt from Council Tax and spending ₤11 million on supporting families in crisis with emergency payments. But we need to do more to embed this approach across the whole City, and the ask to our partner organisations will be for them to work with us and commit to spending more on services for children and ask employers to commit to pay parents a minimum living wage."

The University of Liverpool has already committed to work as a research partner on Child Friendly City, to help drive evidence based policy changes and also support meaningful engagement and participation with young people.

An online survey has been launched to gather views from young people about what they would like to see from a Child Friendly City; it can be found online.

Councillor Barry Kushner, Cabinet member for children's services, said:- "We are ambitious about being a Child Friendly City and want to make a real difference to the young people of Liverpool. Partnering with Unicef will galvanise the work that we are doing and have planned, helping define and prioritise our work. We are listening to our young people and their families, building on our existing work to understand what a Child Friendly City would mean to them."

Jess Garside, a young advisor for the LSCB, said:- "Child Friendly City status would mean a lot to us in Liverpool. It's really important that children and young people are able to express their opinions and views. They are the future generation and they are the ones who are going to make the changes. No matter the ethnic origin, religion, sexuality or disability everyone must be treated equally."

Megan Sullivan from the Children in Care Council said:- "I feel we have an effective Children's Rights and Participation plan for children in care and it should be rolled out to all kids in the City. A child friendly City should be were children feel safe, heard, nurtured and are able to flourish."

Waterfront car park set for demolition

WORK could get underway next month demolishing the multi storey Waterfront Car Park in Liverpool ravaged by fire on New Year's Eve. A report to the Cabinet on Friday 28 September says detailed logistical plans have been drawn up to take down the car park, which has 1,191 vehicles inside it; of which 1,033 are completely burnt out.

None of the cars are able to be removed before demolition because of safety concerns about the residual strength of the building. Mersey Fire and Rescue Service recently concluded that temperatures during the blaze reached 1,000 celcius, far higher than the previous estimate of 600 degrees.

Work will only start once agreement is received from the Association of British Insurers (ABI) regarding the approach to the demolition and the process of removing personal belongings from the cars that are not burnt out.

An application for a new, 9 floor car park for 1,650 vehicles at Monarch's Quay will be considered by the planning committee on 9 October 2018. It will be funded by a combination of general Council spending and money generated from the insurance pay out from the fire.

The new car park will be fitted with state of the art CCTV and payments system, electric charging points, sprinkler system, 15 motorcycle spaces and 50 cycle spaces. It will also have 100 disabled parking spaces and fully accessible fire evacuation lifts.

A series of highway improvements are also being proposed to improve access into and out of the car park, especially after sell out events, at ACC Liverpool, to reduce congestion in the City Centre.

Mayor Joe Anderson said:- "Working out how to take down the existing car park has been a hugely complex and detailed piece of work which puts public safety 1st. It has been nine months since the fire, and in that time an incredible amount of hard work has gone in to coming up with a temporary facility to enable ACC Liverpool to continue functioning as normal but also designing and submitting plans for a new car park.  We must not forget that it has been a traumatic process for those whose cars were inside and have had to go through the process of negotiating an insurance claim. The new car park will be built to latest specifications and will give ACC Liverpool a facility that will more than meet its growing needs."

Subject to planning approval, the new car park will be built in front of the Exhibition Centre on former in filled docks by constructors Willmott Dixon, and is planned for completion by spring 2020.

As a temporary measure the Council is also erecting a four floor, 550 space car park adjacent to the current car park to support events at the waterfront venues. This will be completed and ready for operation in November. The car park will also have 100 disabled parking spaces and fully accessible fire evacuation lifts.

Once demolished, the previous car park site will be flattened and made safe before being incorporated into a masterplan.

Successful Liverpool Tattoo Announces Return to Echo Arena Liverpool in 2019

THE City of Liverpool Tattoo has announced it will return to the Echo Arena, in 2019, following a successful weekend of shows in 2018. Thousands attended the spectacular cultural showcase which featured a cast of almost 600 national and international brass, flute and pipe bands amid a wealth of military and community artistes plus Irish and Highland Dancers.

Aged from 8 to 80, performers charmed the audience with tuneage close to Liverpool's heart, including a Beatles set from Dublin's Artane Band, and renditions of:- 'You'll Never Walk Alone' from Britain's Got Talent finalists Innova and 'Fare Thee Well, My Own True Love' in the powerful event finale.

Event Producer Colin Wasson said the event has won the hearts of the Liverpool people:- "The response to the show was incredible. The Liverpool crowd loved it. A lot of work has gone into making this show possible and we plan to continue that work and spread the word that this is a cultural experience that will surprise you, it will delight you and we're pretty sure that it will move you. We will be back next year."

Lord Mayor of Liverpool, Councillor Christine Banks fulfilled the time-honoured Tattoo tradition of 'taking the salute' at the Matinee show. She said:- "We are delighted to welcome this inaugural event to the Echo Arena, and look forward to the City of Liverpool Tattoo becoming a regular highlight in the City's calendar."

The 2019 City of Liverpool Tattoo will take place on Friday, 13 September and Saturday, 14 September 2019, at the Echo Arena. To book tickets go to:- EchoArena.Com/Tattoo.  Call the Echo Arena Box Office on:- 0344 8000 400.