North West Regional Conference on Saturday 16th October

The North West Lib Dems Autumn Conference will be held at the ACE Centre, Nelson, Lancs, on 16th October.

It will bring the regional party’s members together for our first conference since the General Election.

With the new coalition government having an ambitious plan for many of the reforms we have campaigned for - electoral change, an elected House of Lords, and more - it will be a chance to consider the new political
landscape here in our region and to plan for the referendum on the new voting system anticipated in May 2011.

The registration form, and exhibitor’s booking form, are ready to download now - the motions and agenda will be online soon. Conference also includes the Annual General Meeting of the North West Liberal Democrats.

Conference is open to all members, not just ‘the great and the good’, and as well as speakers and policy debates, offers a range of excellent training to help you learn about the party, our values, campaigning and more.

Advance registration closes on October 5th.

Find out more at http://www.northwestlibdems.org.uk/conference

Love at First Sign

Showing Lauren the new sign
(we had to wait until a speeding car went past)

I know I have posted before about variable speed sign but I'm absolutely over the moon that the two signs I recently campaigned for have now finally been installed on Marshside Road and Fylde Road. And I'm delighted to say they are both working well flashing away like billy-oh at drivers going over 30mph on these roads.

I especially like the one on Marshide Road since, as there are no street lights where it is located, it flashes like this great beacon in the darkness which I think probably gives the drivers a bit of a shock !

New Lamps Columns on Hawkshead Street

We reported recently that Hawkshead Street will soon be getting new lighting columns to replace the old fashioned cast iron columns.  A number of residents responded to ask why the original columns cannot be retained and renovated, many commenting that this may be a more cost effective option.  I passed the question on to the Highway Team and received the following response:

Unfortunately, the short answer is they are beyond repair for the following reasons:

1)   They are structurally unstable due to dissimilar metals being used in the upper section of the column.

2)   Electrically, this equipment does not meet current safety regulations.

3)   The poor spacings and the height of the existing equipment make it impossible to attain any reasonable lighting uniformity from the installation.

So now you know. 

A Walk in the Park

Just finished my regular circuit of the park and was delighted to bump into one of this wards Community Support and Traffic Officers.  It was a great opportunity to catch up and share information on any issues that have come up.  In particular, I was able to ask about the "Have Your Say" meeting which took place recently.  These meetings are designed to give local residents the opportunity to meet up with the police teams for their area to talk about any things of concern.  The meetings are also used to decide those things the police will be targeting for that month.  In the case of Cambridge Ward, it has been decided that the team will be focussing on speeding traffic particularly on Park Crescent, Park Avenue, and Fylde Road.  I also asked for Cambridge Road and Argyle Road to be added to the list.

If you have any issues of concern or if you feel that your road has a problem with speeding traffic then please let your FOCUS team know.

History, Hollywood and the Battle of Thermopylae

The family sat griped last night as the story of 300 unfolded on the big screen.  Now don't get me wrong, I don't have a problem with the film, although it was difficult at times to tell what was real and what was computer generated, what does bother me however is the rewriting of history according to Hollywood.

The film 300 tells the story of King Leonides of Sparta who fought to hold off the Persian invasion of Greece in 480BC. This is accurate up to a point, but the film does not give the context of this in relation to the history of Europe or the impact that this battle had on the world we live in today.

The Battle of Thermopylae, is in  fact, a well known fight both historicallyand militarily as it illustrates how important training, equipment and the use of the terrain is in warfare.  Indeed, it has become a symbol of courage against overwhelming odds.

Full details of the battle can be found on Wikipedia at Battle of Thermopylae

But this is only an example I worry that people, especially our children, will get a very distorted understanding of history if all they see is the Hollywood version.  History will become a series of glorified snap shots with nothing linking them to the real events.  So I was absolutely delighted to find the book "A Little History of the World" written in 1935 by Ernst Gombich which chronicles human development from the inventions of cavemen to the end results of the First World War. The book is a pleasure to read and since it was written originally for children, it manages to present the information in a way that is both interesting and detailed.

So, if your history is like mine which starts with the Italian Renaissance, skips through the Tudors and ends with Charles II, then I really recommend reading this book.

More details can be found on Wikipedia at A Little History of the World

Local PCSO's work recognised

I was delighted recently to learn that two of the Community Support & Traffic Officers for our area have recently received the "WOW Award" for customer service.  The officers were nominated for the award by a resident of Hornby Road in recognition of the help given to reduce damage to property and for restoring quality of life.

PCSO's Chris Ward and Trevor Vearncombe with their awards presented by ACC Gallan at Police Headquarters.

More details on the award and on policing in our area can be found at Cambridge Ward page of the Merseyside Police Website. 

Community Pay Back Working in Our Area

People found guilty of crimes spent a total of 280,750 hours doing community service work to pay back for their crimes on Merseyside, according to the latest just-published annual police report. Instead of fines or other measures, courts  sentence offenders to do community work, such as removing graffiti, picking up litter and other worthwhile neighbourhood clean-up and improvement projects.

In Sefton, the Community Pay Back team visit Southport on a regular basis - if you know of anywhere around you that has litter or graffiti or that could do with a tidy up please let your Lib Dem Team know by emailing sue@bluefountain.com so that we can get pass it on to the Community Payback.