One West Kirby Newsletter

February 2024

Dear West Kirby Friends and Colleagues,

As 2024  unfolds, we are pleased to provide you with another update on our work in the past year.

Like many volunteer organisations in West Kirby, we have been busy behind the scenes addressing various issues which we know impact on our residents, businesses and visitors.  We do hope that you find this of interest. Please share it with as many friends, colleagues, neighbours and local businesses as you can to ensure that as many people as possible in West Kirby are kept up-to-date with events and have the opportunity to help shape the future of the town.

West Kirby Neighbourhood Framework and Station/Concourse Masterplan

One West Kirby was listed as a consultee in the brief which Wirral Borough Council sent to its external consultants, who have been working on a Neighbourhood Framework for the town and a Masterplan for the Concourse and Station area of central West Kirby (in line with a policy in the submitted Local Plan for Wirral).

As a result of being listed as a consultee, we have had positive contact with the council’s consultants on several occasions over the last eighteen months, contributing to their understanding of the town and its needs, and sharing with them the results of the meeting which One West Kirby held with local organisations, businesses and individuals in June 2022 as well as the results of the survey we ran with over 1,000 responses in 2020.

We were expecting that a first-stage online public survey/consultation would be launched by the Council in December 2023 to gather information on community views and priorities for the town and the Concourse but, disappointingly, that has not happened and we have no information as to when it will. We hope that it will not be long in coming.

It is our intention to arrange a further meeting of representatives from interested local community and business groups shortly, to discuss both the future consultation and potential input from the community into both the masterplan process and longer term plans. We would encourage as many groups as possible to be represented and share your views.

New Wirral Way Entrance

In 2021 we approached Wirral Borough Council to see if there were any funds that could be made available to better promote the entrance to the Wirral Way and make it more attractive and visible. With the 50th Anniversary last year we were delighted to be invited onto a WBC working group with the West Kirby Rotary Club to help develop a project that would be in keeping with the local area but deliver an enhanced entrance for the Wirral Country Park.  The project completed in October last year and was opened by one of the first-appointed Country Park Rangers.  The white fencing (which matches the Wirral Country Park train station at Thurstaston) and the entranceway reflecting the art sculptures in Ashton Park have ensured improved recognition of and access to the Way.

South Parade Flood Defence Wall and Reconstruction

The reconstruction of the promenade, construction of the new flood defence wall and the resurfacing of the road and pavements on South Parade was substantially completed in July last year. Local people and visitors are using the promenade again, the new seating is being well used and life has hopefully returned to normal, in particular for the residents who were subjected to prolonged inconvenience.

Since then, One West Kirby has been liaising with Councillors and council officers for resolution, as far as possible, of various snagging and other issues relating to the “finished product”.

One aspect of the ‘new’ promenade is the camber, in places quite pronounced, along its length. This wasn’t contemplated by the community in advance of the construction, and has been the subject of some adverse comment. The answer given to One West Kirby when we made representations about it is that it complies with relevant government guidance/regulation and is a consequence of the geometry of the project. Regrettably, nothing can be done to change it.

The number of waste bins initially installed (only four) was also the subject of comment. An enquiry by One West Kirby about whether this number could be increased was met by the response that, if sufficient representations are made by the public about their inadequacy to handle the volume of waste, the council would reconsider the position. However, initial concerns about the capacity of the four waste bins do not seem to have been repeated.

One West Kirby, with the help of our councillors, has monitored the promised refurbishment/replacement of the seating on the exterior of Victoria Gardens and in “The Ovens” on the promenade side of Coronation Gardens. It is rewarding to see that these have  been completed as promised.

The one remaining detail still to be finalised is the reinstallation of the second of the two Edwardian shelters. This is  being positioned in the triangle space between the entrance and exit lanes to the sailing school car park where footings have already been laid. It is now partly-erected. One West Kirby will continue to monitor its reinstallation and pursue updates on progress.

Finally, now that the whole project has been completed, giving South Parade a “new look”, the condition of the exterior of the sailing school building gives cause for concern. One West Kirby has had an initial discussion with one of our Meols and Hoylake Ward councillors (this part of the town falling in that Ward) with a view to encouraging action by the council to address this issue.

West Kirby Station and Town Security

During the past  year, One West Kirby representatives, led by Management Group member Dawn Wormell, have continued their quarterly liaison meetings with Merseyrail’s Head of Security and related agencies including British Transport Police and Merseyside Police, and further meeting dates for the next twelve months have been put in place.

The question of security came into sharp focus in mid-June when a huge gathering of young people (numbered by the police at about 800) took place on Cubbins Green and was marred by a serious stabbing incident.

That experience led Merseyrail and Merseyside Police to take additional measures to safeguard the town, and since then the level of cases of anti-social behaviour and petty crime seems to have reduced significantly.

However, complacency must be avoided and One West Kirby will continue to liaise regularly with all these agencies in an effort to minimise future problems.

Starship Developments - Former M&Co Site

In the course of construction works on site, Starship demolished the majority of the sandstone wall on two sides of their site facing onto Sandlea Gardens, apparently with the knowledge and consent of the relevant council department, but in a manner which raised concerns about the safe keeping of the sandstone for use in its rebuilding in due course.

One West Kirby wrote to the council’s Chief Executive, with the knowledge and support of the Friends of Sandlea Gardens, to make strong representations about the process which had enabled this to be done and to seek a number of specific assurances about how the developer handles the materials apparently recovered from site for storage and re-use, and the subsequent reinstatement.

The council has informed One West Kirby that there has been no breach of planning legislation and that the issue is in the hands of the council’s Asset Management department for investigation.

One West Kirby will maintain its watching brief with the Friends of Sandlea Park to seek a satisfactory final outcome.

Ashton Court, Banks Road

One West Kirby has maintained its periodic liaison with Magenta about the progress of the intended development and has been assured that steps are being taken in the background to move the project forward before a start on site.

One West Kirby will keep in touch with Magenta and will encourage their continued liaison with the community (residential and business), which started with their public meeting to explain their plans, so that the community is kept fully informed.

Banking Hub for West Kirby

One West Kirby has been liasing with Cllr Max Booth about work being done to secure a banking hub for West Kirby following the closure of NatWest’s branch next July. The latest update from him is this:-

“Regarding the banking hub for West Kirby, the West Kirby NatWest branch will be closing on Monday 8th July 2024.

I have had confirmation that LINK has decided that a Banking Hub is required in West Kirby, and to ensure that residents are not left without branch services for an extended period of time, NatWest have increased its closure transition period and will keep the branch open until July 2024.  

The Hub will provide a face-to-face service and a NatWest Personal Banker will be available one day a week to talk to customers about their banking.

I am expecting an update from NatWest and LINK over the coming months to provide further details on the Banking Hub.”

We will continue to keep in touch with Cllr Booth about the Hub.

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