This is a quick post for those local residents who I know read the blog from time to time.
It has been a busy afternoon.
At 12. 45 I met a few of the officers from the neighbourhood management team, Mark from Parks (that is how he described himself which I thought was great) and JB from the Friends of Newsham Park on Pythian Park.
The place is a total disgrace, the rear of the Royal Arch and other shops in that block on Kensington is covered in graffiti, including a swastika. I reported the graffiti three weeks ago but it is still there, despite promises to tackle racist graffiti fast. The place is also knee deep in bin bags, some still tied up, some set on fire. There were two burnt out cars removed this morning, just before I got there - fortunate for the officers!
I was so angry that nothing had been done and that the place still looks so terrible, despite so many of us ringing it in.
But we did agree some action and hopefully we should see a big improvement before the kids start their summer holidays and want to play there.
I then had a tour round the city centre One-Stop-Shop, always useful to see a facility that your own ward has been denied, just so you know what it is you need to campaign for. I was very impressed with the place, they have made it light, airy and pleasant with waiting times down to ten minutes. I had a go on one of the info-pods, it was good, but "could do better" on some fronts, so I promised to write up some thoughts and send them over. I think they were pleased that I had taken the initiative to get myself invited over, in my experience people appreciate members taking a bit of notice of the work they do.
I followed this by a tour round the Town Hall, it is mainly a place for holding functions, weddings, parties, except of course for the council chamber and room of remembrance. But I was interested to learn that I could arrange for my residents to take tea with the Lord Mayor, perhaps we can find a way of rewarding stalwarts of our residents assocation with a civic event like that. Or do you think that is a naff idea?
At 5pm I met the developers who are planning the highway works on Edge Lane to see their designs. I was mainly interested in the location of the pedestrian crossing near Deane Road but the digital tour along the whole road was fascinating, I have not seen models like that before. It was like a computer game.
Then I had my surgery, not many people come, I think they prefer to phone me or write, but I find it useful to catch up on my casework while I wait for them to come.
See you at the Kensington Regeneration Fun Day tomorrow!
1 comment:
The Phythian Park (referred to by the police as "Kensington Park") has been a disgrace for a number of years. The campaign to improve it has been underway for a long time but without success. Hopefully with a Labour councillor we can get something done. The graffiti and rats have long been a menace and this park was subject to the Section 30 order that was in force some time ago thanks to Nick & Richie in Central ward across the road.
The park was originally offered to the diocese as the location for the new Academy (despite its size and the necessity for greenspace) so it is unsurprising that it has been left to rot by this council. We had a petition some years back to get some action that resulted in a slight redesign. A petition a couple of years ago fell on deaf ears too.
The swastikas are something that have cropped up in various places lately. I reported more to the police the other week (on the Phythian Estate) - they appear to be linked to the so-called "KRS". The burned out cars are now becoming a regular occurence. I caught a number of lads in the act of driving a stolen car with its wheels blown out, and reported it to the police as the helicopter flew over the other night. The next morning I saw the car burned out on the park (the ones removed before you got there). It's nothing unusual though for there to be a car burned out on that site which is disgusting (since when should burned out cars be "nothing unusual". Rather sad. It should be a nice little community park but has been overlooked for too long. No doubt there are many more like it across Liverpool.
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