Mayor of Sefton opens new dementia care communities at Dale Park
IN Southport, HC-One's Dale Park Care Home was visited
on:- 17 January 2024, by The Mayor of Sefton, Councillor June Burns, who cut the
ribbon as the home launched their newly refurbished residential dementia care
communities.
The open day, which was attended by members of the local community, marked the
official opening of the Buttermere and Windermere care communities at the home.
The communities have recently been renovated, including:- a resident hair salon
and nail bar, lounge, dining rooms and bedrooms.
The opening of the new communities completes the full dementia care
pathway at:- Dale Park, offering both residential dementia and
nursing dementia care.
Ian from the performance group Music in Mind was also there to
provide some entertainment for guests and residents, which included
a singalong for the residents, who enjoyed sitting in the lounge and
absorbing the atmosphere.
The home's chefs also whipped up a delicious buffet with homemade cakes that had the signature colour orange HC-One icing.
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Andrea Ekuruemu, Home Manager at Dale Park Care Home, commented:-
"Our Buttermere and Windermere residential dementia care communities
are absolutely beautiful, and I am very proud of what we can offer
residents at Dale Park, so it was lovely to be able to show June
around."
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Paul Allam, Area Director of Dale Park Care Home, commented:-
"We were delighted to welcome the Mayor of Sefton, June Burns, to
our home to see first-hand how we support residents to lead their
best lives and meet our residents and dedicated colleagues."
Government to crack down on disruptive street works to cut congestion and improve roads
A crackdown on disruptive roadworks could cut
congestion for millions of drivers and generate up to £100 million extra to
resurface roads, as the 1st key measures from the Government's Plan for Drivers
was delivered on:- Monday, 15 January 2024.
Roads Minister Guy Opperman has launched a street works consultation on a series
of measures to prevent utility companies from letting roadworks overrun and
clogging up traffic as a result.
The consultation seeks to extend the current £10,000 per day fine for
overrunning street works into weekends and bank holidays as a deterrent for
working on the busiest days for road travel. Currently, they are only fined for
disruption on working days. The measures could double fines from £500 up to a
maximum of £1,000 for companies who breach conditions of the job, such as
working without a permit.
The plans would also direct at least 50% of money from lane rental schemes to be
used to improve roads and repair potholes. Lane rental schemes allow local
highway authorities to charge companies for the time that street and road works
occupy the road.
As a result, the measures could generate up to £100 million extra over 10 years
to resurface roads while helping tackle congestion, cutting down journey times
and helping drivers get from:- A to B easier.
Launching on National Pothole Day, the consultation is part of a series of
measures from the Government's Plan for Drivers, a 30 point plan to support
people's freedoms to use their cars, curb over zealous enforcement measures and
back drivers.
Transport Secretary Mark Harper said:- "After investing an extra £8.3
billion to resurface roads across England, the largest ever increase in funding
for local road improvements, this Government continues to back drivers with
these new measures from our Plan for Drivers. Our new proposals seek to free up
our roads from:- overrunning street works, cut down traffic jams and generate up
to £100 million extra to resurface roads up and down the country."
Roads Minister Guy Opperman said:- "Being stuck in traffic is infuriating
for drivers. Too often traffic jams are caused by overrunning street works. This
Government is backing drivers, with a robust approach to utility companies and
others, who dig up our streets. We will seek to massively increase fines for
companies that breach conditions and fine works that overrun into weekends and
bank holidays, while making the rental for such works help generate up to an
extra £100 million to improve local roads."
While it's essential that gas, water and other utility companies carry out vital
maintenance work to provide the services we all rely on, the 2 million street
works carried out in England over:- 2022 to 2023, have cost the economy around
£4 billion by causing severe road congestion and disrupting journeys.
The consultation comes after this Government introduced a performance based:-
"Street Works Regime" to ensure utility companies resurface roads to
the best possible standard, and new lane rental schemes where utility companies
can be charged up to £2,500 per day for street works.
The measures can also help boost active travel by preventing street works from:-
disrupting walking, wheeling and cycling, while also providing opportunities to
improve pavements and pedestrian crossings and make repairs to pavements and
cycle lanes.
Edmund King, AA president, said:- "Overrunning roadworks and poorly
re-instated roads from utilities companies frustrate drivers, cause unnecessary
congestion, and trench defects can damage vehicles and injure those on 2 wheels.
We are pleased that the Government is looking to extend the fines for over
running street works, invest more of the surplus fines in roads and ensure that
those who dig up the roads repair them to a high and timely standard."
In addition, the Government plans to make all:- temporary, experimental or
permanent restrictions on traffic digital. These so called:- "Traffic Regulation
Orders" (TROs) include things like the:- location of parking spaces, road
closures and speed limits.
Making these digital mean they must now be added to satnav systems, ensuring
drivers have the most up to date information, making journeys easier and paving
the way for more reliable autonomous vehicles.
RAC head of policy Simon Williams said:- "Drivers shouldn't have to put up
with temporary roadworks for any longer than is necessary, so we're pleased to
see the Government is looking to do more to guarantee that utility companies
minimise disruption by carrying out roadworks as quickly and efficiently as
possible. They should also leave roads in better condition than they found them,
which unfortunately is hardly ever the case at the moment."
The measures follow the biggest ever funding uplift for local road improvements,
with £8.3 billion of redirected HS2 funding; enough to resurface over 5,000
miles of roads across England, as the Government continues to be on the side of
drivers and improve journeys for more people, in more places, more quickly.
Kent County Council's Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport, Neil Baker,
said:- "I welcome the launch of the Government's street works consultation
to consider measures aimed at preventing utility roadworks overrunning. We have
already piloted a pioneering Lane Rental Scheme on some of our roads, which
encourages utility companies to work in the most efficient way to minimise
disruption for the traveling public in Kent. I will continue to work with
Government, the Department for Transport and other stakeholders to find ways we
can reduce congestion in order to keep Kent moving."
Clive Bairsto, Chief Executive of Street Works UK, said:- "Utilities
perform a vital role in connecting households, working to the highest standards,
whilst complying with rigorous inspections to ensure works are high quality and
lasting. We look forward to engaging constructively with Government throughout
this consultation, representing our members and the wider industry, to ensure
both utilities and local authorities can deliver infrastructure works whilst
giving customers and road users the speed of delivery, lack of congestion, and
transparency they expect."
