Rainhill Village Life - Supported by your Labour Councillors

Wednesday, March 23, 2005

VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT - HOUGHTON STREET

An artists impression

HOUGHTON STREET - MONUMENT TO OUR LOCAL RAILWAY HISTORY

We are always pressing for improvements to our Village, sometimes on safety groungs, sometimes on visual impact and often because of the many residents requests we get. One of the most common gripes is to do with the state of the Village Centre, and we always take them on board.

You may have seen some improvement in the Village within the last six months but lots of the centre still looks tired. We have had SUCCESS in winning funding which will transform Houghton Street, which no longer sustains vehicular traffic, into a pedestrian monument to the Rainhill Village links with 19th century rail transport.

Funding has been won to enable work under "Heritage Public Art" to conserve this area with an art feacture and possible tree planting, all cordoned off by bollards along Warrington Road. Views are still being sought over this conservation idea, comments from the Parish Council, the Civic Society and the Railway Heritage Society are being sought. Comments left by interested residents on this website are most welcome.

Tuesday, March 22, 2005

NORBUS TRAVEL LTD SURRENDER LICENSE

The recent chaos caused by the bus services franchised to Norbus will hopefully soon be a thing of the past. Their notification that they intend to surrender their license means that Merseytravel can officially request tenders for a replacement bus service provider.

At this time we are informed that the local services (128/137/138 /140 and 194/195) will be taken over by Huyton Travel, whilst the school bus services which were previously run by Norbus will be taken over by Ace Travel.

We have received numerous complaints regarding Norbus recently, and whilst we must expect a little teething troubles from the new providers, we will be closely monitoring the services and expect a major improvement. We actively welcome comments from local public transport users, especially over the quality of the services provided by Huyton Travel and Ace Travel.

Sunday, March 20, 2005

Planning Issues

APPLICATIONS RECENTLY REVIEWED
1525 318/320 Warrington Road - erection of substation - granted subject to resolution of both noise and magnetic field strength issues.
0113 Land by 34/36 Rainhill Road - erection of single storey detatched dwelling - refused
.
RECENT SUBMISSIONS
0210 12 Norbury Fold - Conversion of flat roof
0215 Fairchild Farm, Fox Bank Lane - Conversion of outbuilding to dwelling
0225 14 St James Road - Two storey extension and Conservatory
0242 1a Lincoln Way - Conservatory
0266 5 Honiston Avenue - Single storey extension
0269 Eccleston Park Golf Club - Regrading of golf course, landscaping, etc.
0290 Oak Tyre Services, Warrington Road - Temporary siting of 20 storage containers
0296 30 Porter Close - Single storey extension
0301 535 Warrington Road - single storey extension
0303 80 Bishopdale Drive - Conservatory & front porch

Sunday, March 13, 2005

RESIDENTS SCORN OVER NORBUS SERVICES

A NORBUS vehicle operating around St Helens

ANGER MOUNTS OVER NORBUS

Very many residents from Rainhill and St Helens have been outraged at the recent bus services provided by NORBUS. All the local councillors, including us, have been inundated with complaints from angry travellers who have been let down, many on infrequent services, by buses which didn't even turn up.

Many complaints have been forwarded by us to Merseytravel through our representatives who sit on Merseytravel Board, Councillors McGuire and Hargreaves, demanding that action be taken swiftly to rectify the problem. Lots of rumours suggesting all sorts of problems are being circulated, from Norbus sacking many of their drivers, to Norbus actually being out of business.

We are awaiting an official response which we will be happy to pass on. Meanwhile, we are campaigning on behalf of the many disgruntled passengers to sought out the problem ASAP.

Saturday, March 12, 2005

Fencing funding success

An example of suitable fencing

SAFETY FENCING TO BE INSTALLED

Residents of Stephenson House had long been campaigning for new fencing to be installed between their residence and the Holt Lane Playing Area. Local Labour councillors have been working with them and have been putting pressure on various organisations to help with the necessary funding.

Councillor Mike Doyle was delighted when he was told that the funding had eventually been found and said, "We were always optimistic that we could achieve what was necessary. The new fencing is needed badly and we were able to persuade Social Services Department of St Helens Council that they should fund the fencing. This is a further example of people power working with their local representatives"

Wednesday, March 09, 2005

RAINHILL GETS GREENER

SUCCESS - Green Waste Recycling Update.

Further to our recent posting, St Helens Council are to issue green recycling bins to another 1330 Rainhill households. As reported, our work convincing Council Officials that it made economic sense to include Rainhill residents in the next Roll-Out of green bins was indisputable.

Areas bordered by Holt Lane, Two Butt Lane, Ellerslie Avenue and Rainhill Road will be supplied with green bins in late April and early May 2005.

Police Forum Headlines

Cllr Keith Deakin, St Helens Councils representative on Merseyside Police Authority, and Superintendant Mike Baines, Head of Operations in St Helens, presented the latest report back to a packed Thatto Heath Activity Centre audience last night.

Mike informed the meeting that a major drive combatting Anti Social behavior had been ordered by Merseyside's Chief Constable. New powers will soon be in place to take action on persistant badly behaved children aged between 10 years and 17 years of age.

Although crime figures for our area, D3 - which includes Rainhill, Eccleston, Thatto Heath and West Park, are well down during the last 6 months, the perception of crime, the fear of it happening, had appeared to have increased. For this reason, the Reassurance Project, which aims to combat the fear of crime, will be rolled out to include Rainhill Village.

Inspector Don Blackburn, who leads the team covering D3, gave a presentation which highlighted the latest initiatives. In response to resident's views on policing priorities, he gave a series of new initiatives to include:

Speeding Traffic - a new speed gun has been purchased and known speed-runs are to be targetted

Sales of Alcohol to youngsters - In partnership with Trading Standards, test purchases will be carried out at various outlets where underage sales are suspected.

Anti-Social Behavior - as previously stated, more police action and more rapid response times whenever possible. Section 30 notices (which can target individual streets) will be sought.

Drugs - a Crack House closure has recently taken place and several other locations are being investigated.

Tuesday, March 08, 2005

Sure Start HAPPY ELEPHANT in the Village Hall

Councillor Doyle and Councillor Glover are seen with some of the Sure Start Happy Elephant team who hope to provide a service to Rainhill's young families in the near future

Some of the Happy Elephant team seen beside their display where they distributed all kinds of information about the work they undertake. Shown are Lisa Lunt, Family Link worker, Jayne Vincent, the Neighbourhood Development Coordinator, Andy Pope who is a male Involvement Worker and Natalie Hill who is the Portage Worker

Sure Start HAPPY ELEPHANT comes to RAINHILL

Sure Start Happy Elephant have been active in the Thatto Heath area for a number of years, and now they would like to extend their services to some residents from within Rainhill Village.

Today saw their first networking meeting in the Village Hall, where they met with interested parties from within Rainhill to introduce themselves, and give a presentation on their level of services they provide at present.

Your local councillors, together with members from Church Groups, Voluntary Sector members, St Helens Chamber, Health Workers and others, heard how various services are provided to youngsters and their families, in fact to include the antenatel period up to their 5th birthday. We fully support this new initiatve and feel it is long overdue, local families in Rainhill have the same needs as in other areas of St Helens.

The initial catchment area of Rainhill, where they wish to extend their services, runs from Elton Head Road into the Village Centre, extending in a westerly direction to Chatsworth Road and up to Longton Lane Community School. Other areas could possibly be included in the future.

The Group intend to introduce themselves more fully in the coming months with displays and promotion days in prominent sites around the village. Dates and venues will follow when known.

In the meantime, Sure Start Happy Elephant are more than happy to discuss their work and their future extended services with any interesterd parties. Phone them on 01744 813100.

Thursday, March 03, 2005

Recent council tax rises in the North West

COUNCIL TAX RISE IS LOWEST ON MERSEYSIDE

The Labour controlled St Helens Council has again set the lowest council tax rise on Merseyside, set at 2.5% for the fourth year in succession. Only Manchester Council could match the figure and many other authorities were forced to set much higher increases. This figure has been set with no cutbacks in services or job losses, indeed more money being able to be spent on frontline key services. Both Education and Social Services are in line to benefit from large cash injections.

For a full outline of all the key pointers, see the official council website at www.sthelens.gov.uk

Tuesday, March 01, 2005

"Keep Off" signs in place at last

Angry neighbours have complained bitterly over a number of months regarding the numbers of 4 wheel drive vehicles and motorbikes which have been speeding across the green pasture land off Stoney Lane opposite where Dee Road adjoins it. With the help of Labour councillors, Suttons Haulage, who own the land, have agreed to erect signs on their land that warn "Trespassers will be prosecuted".

We had originally requested physical barriers in addition to any signs, and we will be monitoring closely how effective the signs are on their own. Please inform us of further disruptive behavior around this area, we will progress more action if necessary.

Labour Cares

: Name: Cllr. Steve Glover; Location: Rainhill, Merseyside, United Kingdom

This site is our information portal to the people of Rainhill Village. It is hoped that we can provide a whole host of items ranging from planning issues, new developments to our village, interesting facts as they happen, indeed anything that you may find of interest. Thank You. Cllr. Joe DeAsha 01744 678980 -- email: cllrdeasha@sthelens.gov.uk Cllr. Steve Glover 01744 678947 email: cllrglover@sthelens.gov.uk. Cllr. Barrie Grunewald 07802 551647 -- email: cllrbgrunewald@sthelens.gov.uk ****************************** SURGERY DATES------------- First Friday - Rainhill Sports Club, Warburton Hey 7-8pm Second Friday - Longton Lane School 6.30-7.30pm Third Friday - Rainhill High 6.30-7.30pm DISCLAIMER Comments posted on this website should be relevant to the topic concerned. All comments are anonymous and any which are obscene, racist, sexist or homophobic will be removed. For personal enquiries we can be contacted by phone or by email, details of which are provided. *** Website designed, promoted and published by Rainhill Labour Party, 628 Warrington Road, Rainhill, L35 0NS

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