The Great Dane entertained guests with stories from his football career
Photos with thanks to Dave Evens (The Pap) from Activate Digital.

LFC legend Jan Molby was the guest speaker at a charity fund raising event held by Chester businessman Rob Lloyd, within the Village Hotel Chester.  The 150 guests had been raising funds for the chastity Sense, who have been running for over 60 years, helping who are deaf, blind and living with complex disabilities to communicate and experience the world. The event included a silent auction and, raffle, but Volunteers from Lloyd's Bank Liverpool City Team really kick started the event via presenting  a cheque for ₤4,500, that they had raised.  
 

THE Port of Liverpool is already the busiest port in the North West and the amount of freight travelling through it is expected to grow significantly over the next few years. The proposed bypass through a section of Rimrose Valley park would connect Princess Way, at the Port of Liverpool to the motorway network, at Switch Island. On paper, this all sounds good, but in reality, this very controversial road scheme to serve the Port of Liverpool has entered a new phase. Highways England has told the media that they are now conducting a series of surveys. Back in 2018 Sefton Council lost a judicial review over plans for a ₤250m bypass through Rimrose Valley, a well loved local country park. They added that they wouldn't appeal, yet vowed to fight on. Other groups have also spoken out against the plans, like the campaign group Save Rrimrose Valley.

According the Highways England the new 3 mile dual carriageway would take traffic away from communities in the proximity of Church Road and Dunnings Bridge Road, thereby reducing congestion and making journeys quicker and safer for residents and drivers.

In the latest press statement to the media, issued on 10 October 2019, the Government agency told the media that:- "around 2,500 HGV's are travelling to and from the port; equivalent to 1 lorry joining the A5036 every 30 seconds" and that the proposed bypass would take this traffic away from local communities. They stated that around 23,000 vehicles currently use the existing route of the A5036 every day, passing hundreds of homes and several schools in Litherland and Netherton. A spokesperson for Highways England said:- "The number of wagons that now go past our home day and night is unbelievable. To back up their findings they have contacted a group of environmental specialists who have begun carrying out surveys as part of design work for a new bypass through Sefton's Rimrose Valley to the Port of Liverpool.

Within the release, they have also confirmed that the contractors, who are working for Highways England, are also investigating habitats for otters, birds and bats which need to be protected by law during construction work on the proposed A5036 bypass.

The survey, we are told, will include an investigation into air quality, noise levels and ground conditions and will be taking place over the next few months. 2 public events will be held at the end of October 2019, where people will be able to find out more about these surveys.

A public consultation on the preliminary scheme design is due to take place in 2020, ahead of a Development Consent Order Application being submitted to the Planning Inspectorate for permission to build the road. If the scheme is approved then construction work could start by the end of 2022.

Carl Stockton, senior project manager at Highways England, said:- "We'll be carrying out surveys during the autumn as part of the design work we need to do to develop our proposals for a new bypass to the Port of Liverpool. We're encouraging people to come along to our public events later in October to find out more about the surveys, and we'll be holding a formal consultation once we have a preliminary design for the bypass. We're keen to hear feedback from everyone affected by the scheme so that we can take into account as many views as possible as we continue to develop our plans."

Jon O'Neill from the Church Road and District Residents' Association has lived alongside the A5036 ; Church Road, for 40 years. He said:- "When we moved here it was actually a fairly quiet road but it's gradually got busier and busier, and the vehicles have got bigger and bigger, particularly over the past few years with the expansion of the port. The number of wagons that now go past our home day and night is unbelievable, and the new dock is not fully operational yet. We're also extremely concerned about the fumes from the lorries, and the effect they have on our families, especially children. There are also several schools with playgrounds very close to the road. We need to get the trucks off the existing road and away from people's homes so building a bypass seems like the only real option."

As part of the series of surveys, the noise and air quality survey, taking place over the next few weeks, has meant the installation of temporary monitoring sensors being installed at several locations along the A5036 and within Rimrose Valley Park.

Small trenches and bore holes will also be dug in order to investigate ground conditions in and around Rimrose Valley. In the release Highways England that these will be filled in and the land will be returned to its present condition once surveys have taken place.

In response Stu, from Rimrose Valley Friends commented:- "We believe that this press release represents a change in tactics from Highways England in its latest attempts to convince the public that this road is essential. They are now focussing on the impact the Port's expanded operations and subsequent increase in HGVs is having on those living along the existing route. However, Carl Stockton seems to have conveniently forgotten that he was quite happy to offer a solution (Option A) which would have made this route a whole lot worse, during Highways England's public consultation in 2017. Why the sudden concern for these people now? Anyone could see that widening sections of that route was a non-starter and would have had a huge, negative impact on people's health. Why was it even on the table? Many people believe that Highways England is pursuing a classic 'divide and conquer' strategy, aimed at causing conflict and division amongst Sefton communities. From a Government owned company, this is shameful. They talk about a bypass 'through a section of Rimrose Valley.' The last design we saw (Option B), would run from the top to the bottom, severing the park in 2. Rimrose Valley would no longer be a park, it would be 2, glorified verges alongside 4 lanes of HGVs, vans and cars. Its proposed route also compounds the misery of those living along Princess Way. No one is talking about these people. They will have to deal with traffic from 2, major roads. This highlights the stupidity of the design. No one disputes the living conditions for communities along the A5036. The real issue here is that the proposed route would replicate those conditions for communities living alongside Rimrose Valley. This includes our own houses, schools, nurseries. Having suffered so much themselves, we don't believe that they would want the same for others. This isn't NIMBY-ism, or about 'us and them.' It's about demanding a better solution for ALL communities, which would be possible if the UK Government hadn't instructed Highways England in the 1st place and given more money for the project. Billions are spent on infrastructure projects in the South. Why are we worth less? This latest press release is nothing more than 'spin' from Highways England and our supporters will see through it. As for its hastily arranged public information sessions, there is incredibly short notice; less than 2 weeks, are midweek, predominantly during office hours, with the remainder when most people will be having their evening meals. They are not designed to enable a high turnout. Some might say this is deliberate. However, we will be there, voicing our opposition to these plans. The same applies when they commence the drilling of boreholes in Rimrose Valley itself. We are calling for ALL communities in Sefton and beyond to turn up to these sessions, to reject the road outright and to demand a sustainable solution to the movement of freight from the Port of Liverpool. Highways England is trying to distance itself from the driving force behind the road's construction, namely Peel Ports. We've received some very interesting information on their dealings with each other recently, which we'll be sharing in due course. If your readers want to see the results from Highways England's Public Consultation in to the 2 options offered; both of which were unpalatable to the local community and in our view fact weren't any choice at all. Option B (Rimrose Valley) was the least favoured. Summary of results of that 'Consultation' seen on the Highways England's website."

Another member of the public questioned the decision to rule out a tunnel as a considered option:- "Why should we in the North West be denied the option of a tunnel, deemed too expensive, when it would probably have been given priority in the South East. Drains on the public purse seem far less of a problem there Yet another example of the North/South divide?"

Drivers and residents can find out more about the surveys at public drop in events, at the SING PLUS Centre, on Cambridge Road, in Seaforth (L21 1EZ) on Tuesday, 22 October 2019, and at the Park Hotel, on Dunnings Bridge Road, in Netherton (L30 6YN) on Thursday, 24 October 2019. Both events will take place between 2pm and 8pm.

More details on the proposals for the new A5036 bypass to the Port of Liverpool are available on HighwaysEngland.Co.UK.  Should the Highways England Consultation results within Stu's quote should it no longer work, or you wish to only read it via ourselves, you can read it here.