Hawkshead Street Action UPDATE

To update an earlier post councillor Sue McGuire has now visited Hawkshead Street with a Highways Engineer from Sefton Council to investigate the situation of the road surface.

As a result the various pot holes and sites of erosion have been repaired. Sue can also confirm that the repairs have consisted of enlarging the defect area to at least a square metre in size (as a minimum), breaking out the tarmac down to firm ground and then replacing with new tarmac.

Councillor Sue McGuire can also confirm that the full resurfacing of Hawskhead Street has been included in the Highways Maintenance programme for 2010/11 which will include the removal of all the tarmac by 'planing' and replacing with new tarmac.

Action on Controlled Drugs - Diamorphine

Lib Dem Councillor Sue McGuire working with local residents has forced Sefton NHS to update its policy on the destruction of controlled drugs following the death of the patient.

As Sue explained

“I was horrified to discover that some nurses did not have the equipment to destroy the controlled drugs or were unaware of the policy of Sefton NHS regarding how to deal with controlled drugs following the deaths of terminally ill patients in Southport. As a result quantities of diamorphine were simply left with grieving family members to deal with.”

Doctor Harold Shipman killed 215 people over a 23-year period by collecting diamorphine prescribed for terminally ill patients after their deaths and so by not ensuring that their policy was implemented Sefton NHS could well have left the way open for something similar to happen in Southport.

Sue added

“I am so pleased that following the action of myself and two residents, the Primary Care Trust immediately took steps to ensure that all diamorphine left following a patients death will be dealt with correctly and in most cases destroyed in front of a witness”.

Did you know - Pothole Snap

Your local Lib Dem team are running a competition called POTHOLE SNAP.

The idea is to submit photos to the team of the worst potholes in our area.
Monthly prizes will be awarded for the best pothole snap submitted.
The best photos will be posted on the Cambridge Ward e-focus.

So get snapping those pesky potholes !!

Photos should be e-mailed to Sue at sue@bluefountain.com

Pothole on Cambridge Road

A rather large hole by the bus stop outside 85 Cambridge Road has been reported to the Council by your Lib Dem team.

Councillor Sue McGuire said"This was a very deep hole in a patched section of tarmac which could have given someone a twisted ankle or worse."

Sue added

"I'm really pleased to say that the council have now put a temporary patch on the hole and have earmarked it for further remedial work."

Pothole Watch - if you see a pothole please take a photo and e-mail to Sue - monthly prizes will be awarded for the best pothole snap submitted.

Action on Elswick Road

Following action by Councillors Sue McGuire and Carmel Preston working with the Community Safety Partnership of Sefton Council residents in the Elswick Road area where provided with two community skips to collect household waste and rubbish.

As Carmel Preston explained

"We had received report of fly tipping in the area and it made sense with all the building work to make the skips available so that residents could get rid of their rubbish easily."

Sue added

"The skip in the car park by Marshside School collected 760Kg waste whilst the total for the skip in Preesall Close was 1420 kg - these are really good amounts and show how effect the community skips are."

Residents in The Lawns are relieved

Following action by your Lib Dem team, residents in The Lawns are relieved to find that the dead and dying trees at the back of Melton Grange have finally been cut down and the whole area tidied up.

Residents first raised concerns when Melton Grange closed as a residential home and received planning permission to be converted into flats. As residents explained it looked like the site at the back would be left untouched with the dead and dying trees becoming increasingly more dangerous to our homes and gardens.

As Sue explained

"Tree Preservation Officer recommened that two Cupressus trees which were dead should be felled immediately since the bottom 1m of bark has been stripped casuing them to be 'ring barked' which has resulted in them displaying basal decay and initial cracking making them potentially dangerous. He also asked for the developer to take action to tiday up the site and I am very pleased to say that this has now been done."

Errosion on Hawkshead Street

During a recent visit to Hawkshead Street, Councillor Sue McGuire noticed that the road edge by the gulley was eroding away and as a result parts of the single yellow line were also being removed.

As Sue explained "The problem is happening at various points along the street - I have notified the council and am waiting to see what they say."

Sue added "I worry that if nothing is done now the situation will deteriorate further and will become a much bigger and more expensive job for the council."

Watch this space for further news.

Street Cleansing Action on Alexandra Road

Councillor Sue McGuire has taken action on Alexandra Road following on-going complaints by residents of the lack of road sweeping. Sue met with council staff responsible for street cleansing to show them the problem of unswept gulleys and litter left uncollected.

As Sue explained

"The officers could see immediately that the road had not been swept properly especially on the side where cars are parked." They have agreed that the mechanical sweeper will visit the road at 7:30am hopefully within this week to give the gulleys a really good clean hopefully before the majority of cars are parked."

Sue added

"The officers have also promised that this will not be a one off action and that the street sweeper will in future make regular early morning visits to Alexandra Road"

Litter and leaves in gutters really make an area feel uncared for and so if you feel your area has been overlooked by the cleansing team please get in touch with your Lib Dem Councillors.