Boundary Commission for England launches public consultation on proposed constituencies
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THE Boundary Commission for England (BCE) is inviting comments during its secondary public consultation on constituency boundaries, which is open now until 4 April 2022. The Commission is undertaking an independent and impartial review of all constituencies within England, to make the number of electors in each constituency roughly the same. The number of constituencies in England will also increase to 543. The 2023 Boundary Review requires substantial changes to the map of constituencies across England, and the Commission wants members of the public to help shape the boundaries in their area by taking part in a consultation, running until 4 April 2022. View the initially proposed constituency boundaries for your area and provide views on them by visiting the consultation website. Responses can also be sent in by letter, email or provided in person at a public hearing. The Commission will hold 32 public hearings across the country throughout the consultation period, allowing members of the public to have their say in person about the proposed changes in their area. Book a 10minute slot to speak at a hearing in your Region on the Boundary Commission's website. A video of each hearing will be available to watch on the Boundary Commission for England's YouTube channel shortly after it has taken place. The Commission received over 34,000 responses from the public during its 1st consultation last year. These comments are now available to view by area, along with the initial proposals for constituencies, on the consultation website.

Secretary to the Boundary Commission for England, Tim Bowden, said:- "The 2023 Boundary Review will rebalance the number of electors represented by each MP. It's important that the constituencies we shape reflect your local community as best as possible. We received over 34,000 responses during our 1st consultation last year which are available online for the public to read and comment on. We're inviting more people to have their say in our current secondary consultation, which is open now until 4 April 2022. Help us to get our proposals right for your area by telling us your views:- ViaBCEReviews.Org.UK, or at a public hearing in your region. We're looking forward to hearing your feedback, and we take every response into account during our review of constituency boundaries."

This update will see major changes to the electorate, with Southport's boundary moving into parts of West Lancashire, but staying in Sefton. Plus the moves will see many other changes to the political landscape across the Liverpool City Region... To see the maps, please go to:- BoundaryCommissionForEngland.Independent.Gov.UK.

Major highways scheme enters final phase

1 of Liverpool's key highways schemes, which was delayed due to the collapse of a contractor, is about to enter its final phase. County Road, which forms part of the historic A59, is a major gateway into the City Centre from the north of Liverpool, passing Everton FC's Goodison Park, before linking up to Aintree Racecourse and on to the motorway system. The road, situated in the heart of Walton, was undergoing a ₤5.9m revamp until the original contractor; Viam, formerly Kings Construction, went into administration last summer just months before completing the scheme. After a tendering process, Liverpool City Council appointed a new contractor, Huyton Asphalt, in late October 2022, to finish the scheme, which had already as well as the resurfacing of nearby Walton Lane. After the City's annual Christmas embargo on roadworks Huyton Asphalt undertook a comprehensive check of works to date at which an issue on the varying depths of the road required an urgent design review and further delayed the restart. To reduce delays for road users, contractors were asked to restart works on Walton Lane, which takes traffic to Queens Drive, 2 weeks ago.

The Council's Highways and Transportation team have now concluded the urgent design review of County Road, with roadworks set to begin on Monday, 28 February 2022. A phased programme of works; which will be running from Spellow Lane to Hale Road junctions; requiring lane closures during the day and a full road closure from 7pm each night until 6am, on a Monday to Friday basis. The resurfacing on Walton Lane will now be suspended, to allow for the works on County Road which are scheduled to be completed by the end of April 2022. Once the County Road works have finished, contractors will be redeployed back to Walton Lane with that scheme expected to end by the start of June 2022.

A 20mph speed limit will be in force on both County Road and Walton Lane until the schemes complete. The County Road scheme, which included:- t3upgraded crossings, a new toucan crossing and 2 new pedestrian crossings, bus priority at 2 major junctions and 2km of road resurfacing is a key element of a wider programme to upgrade the City's highways network over the coming decade. It has received ₤3.5m from the Local Growth Fund (LGF) via the National Productivity Investment Fund (NPIF).

Local Growth Funding is awarded to the Liverpool City Region Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and invested through the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority through its Strategic Investment Fund.

Councillor Dan Barrington, Cabinet Member for Environment and Climate Change, said:- "County Road has been beset with a number of deeply unfortunate setbacks which has caused huge upset, which we can only apologise for. The Council has moved as swiftly as possible to address each setback however, we appreciate that when a major road like County has already experienced more than 2 years of disruption, patience is understandably in short supply. I'm pleased that the urgent design review and new programme of works has been completed as quickly as possible, as it means we can revert back to County Road which is everyone's priority given the condition its in and the crucial role it plays on our network. It's worth stressing that it was right to mobilise on Walton Lane a fortnight ago, whilst this review was being done, as it meant the contractor was not standing idle, which would have been a waste of tax payers' money. Walton Lane will now be the main diversion until County Road is completed, and given we have now done a fortnight's work there it's in a better condition to take traffic and we won't have as much left to do to finish it. Of course, these timings can be affected by the weather and as we all witnessed last week mother nature can play havoc with these kind of plans. Hopefully we get a smooth run and there's no more setbacks."