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November 2007 Archives

Prioritise Southport's interchange

Posted by Digital Editor on November 30, 2007 9:00 AM

2008 is a big year for Southport.
There’s The Open at Royal Birkdale while other events, such as Southport Flower Show, Southport Summer Classics and Southport Air Show – not to mention nearby events such as the Grand National – will also help to bring millions of visitors to our town.
European Capital of Culture celebrations in Liverpool will also be a huge driver for us.
And local tourism chiefs are already preparing for a marketing blitz proclaiming our home town as ‘the North West’s Classic Resort’.
But will visitors get that immediate impression when they arrive here?
A bus and rail interchange was one of the key elements of the £4million Chapel Street redevelopment scheme when it was announced. But it was very quietly dropped from the schedule of work.
Now we learn that bus passengers displaced from Chapel Street will be catered for with a quick redesign of London Street, with ‘no immediate plans’ for a bus and rail interchange in sight.
People living in Ormskirk and Preston will continue to have difficulty in reaching us, with the Burscough Curves re-opening campaign still falling on deaf ears, while the quality (and many commuters tell us) reliability of trains from Manchester and Wigan dreadful.
Thankfully work is currently being undertaken to give the ugly carbuncle that is Southport station a timely facelift. And over the past few years, Merseytravel has done wonders in improving the quality of rail services between Liverpool and Southport.
However, while they have spent fortunes on creating a top quality bus interchange at Bootle Strand, and revamped stations such as Aintree, Old Road, Bootle Oriel Road and Birkdale, Southport station is a phenomenally busy transport gateway – used by 1.5million passengers a year – and it should be a priority for complete redevelopment, rather just given a new look.
People using public transport both within, and also to and from Southport deserve so much better.
Let’s hope that the phrase ‘first impressions last’ in this case proves to be a myth.

Southport's people are so kind

Posted by Digital Editor on November 23, 2007 9:01 AM

SITTING in a bath of beans, getting legs waxed for charity, throwing bosses in the pool, chauffeuring Pudsey Bear in Southport’s biggest truck, doing the Time Warp in fancy dress in a supermarket aisle.
Children In Need truly has brought out the best (and worst!) over recent years.
The latest efforts can be seen in glorious colour, across three pages dedicated to local people’s madcap antics.
If evidence was ever needed, it all reinforces the knowledge that when it comes to fundraising for others less fortunate than themselves, Southport people are head and shoulders above the rest.
Now, we are asking for your help again.
Christmas is around the corner, that great time for family and for celebration.
But it can also be a time, for some, for loneliness, for poverty and for despair.
You can find out how to put a smile on every face in our town this year through answering the call of our annual Wish Appeal, details of which can be found on page 7.
Southport Rotary, Southport Lions and ‘Southport Visiter’ staff have all pledged to work together to do what we can – and, with your help, we can truly make this a very merry Christmas – for everyone.

England's failure was a costly exit for Southport

Posted by Digital Editor on November 23, 2007 9:00 AM

ONE person who we doubt will be enjoying a happy Christmas this year is Steve McClaren who yesterday lost his job as boss of the England football team.
He has gone even before the turkeys, though he will have £2.5million burning a hole in his back pocket to cheer him up.
His failure, and that of his former charges, has cost owners and workers in Southport’s pubs, bars, supermarkets, hotels and sports shops among others hundreds of thousands of pounds next summer.
At least Southport FC is playing well, fighting hard for a place near the top of their league.
Let’s hope they can put smiles back on the faces of local football fans this season!

Support Southport British Legion's noble cause

Posted by Digital Editor on November 16, 2007 9:00 AM

A ‘COVENANT’ – with all the word’s Biblical connotations – means more than an everyday agreement.
And so, it is the named used to describe the ancient duty of a nation to look after those prepared to give their lives to protect it.
Now the Royal British Legion claims the Government is in danger of breaking its covenant with UK servicemen and women.
Veterans in Southport’s branch of the Legion are joining the campaign demanding the Government honour it – and they want you to join them.
Recent scandals have included sub-standard accommodation, poor kit in combat zones and compensation payouts to maimed heroes that have been dwarfed by those given to workers suffering office-based strains.
Today, the Visiter reports the story of 25-year-old Charlie Steel who has seen combat service in Iraq, Afghanistan and Macedonia.
He makes clear his disappointment with the financial, practical and medical support available to those like him who have embarked on an uncertain future outside the military.
Let’s make sure ‘Lest we forget’ is not a slogan confined to Remembrance Sunday – and back the Legion in its noble campaign.

Just shabby treatment of a long standing Southport councillor

Posted by Digital Editor on November 16, 2007 9:00 AM

NEWS of the removal of the party whip from Conservative councillor David Pearson came as a huge shock to many people, following a party meeting on Monday evening.
The Dukes Ward representative and his wife, Barbara, were popular with many people during their Mayoral year in 2003/2004. His constituents have continued to back him too, giving him their unbroken mandate for more than 16 years.
To be removed from power in a secret internal ballot – and with no subsequent reason given to ‘Visiter’ readers and his constituents, and no immediate recognition of his efforts over the years – seems a shabby way to treat any public servant.

Let Kew residents have their say

Posted by Digital Editor on November 9, 2007 9:00 AM

WHAT a tremendous opportunity for Southport.
A council investigation estimated that there is an urgent need for more than 3,000 homes in our town – especially those that younger Sandgrounders and first-time buyers can afford to move into.
So news that an estate featuring 650 homes – a third of them earmarked for social housing – can only be welcomed.
As ever though, the devil is often in the detail.
Many established Kew residents are already campaigning against the plans, insisting the infrastructure in the area will not be able to cope with the imposition of such a large scheme.
Debate has been raging, as the comments on the news forum www.southportvisiter.co.uk testify.
Over the past few years residents have campaigned for a community centre in Kew, to no avail. There is no promise that a centre would be included with the new plans.
Traffic pressures, and parking pressures, have also been issues in Kew which the Visiter has well documented. And a 650-home estate with all the young families that promises to bring would also raise questions over whether Kew Woods primary could provide enough places, or whether a new school would need to be built.
Questions are also being asked as to whether enough affordable homes are being allocated, and whether enough of these will be for first-time buyers rather than just social housing.
More new homes and more affordable housing is great news for Southport.
But local people are rightly asking some very searching questions about the issues that go with them.
Let’s hope residents are given the chance to fully influence the plans before they come to fruition.

Have your say by logging onto the Visiter's online forums by clicking here

Who are the guys behind political fireworks?

Posted by Digital Editor on November 2, 2007 9:01 AM

BONFIRE Night may commemorate the thwarting of the Gunpowder Plot 402 years ago this month, but this week it was in Sefton’s town halls that the political fireworks were to be seen.
And the comments of Southport’s MP about the impending departure of the council’s chief executive, Graham Haywood, will have certainly lit the blue touch-paper in the borough’s corridors of power. Dr Pugh’s claims of Machiavellian power struggles among senior officers has introduced an extra note of drama – and offers a fascinating contrast to the drab legalese so often associated with council business. But we should beware losing sight of the context of Sefton’s latest political bust-up, which is the Major Review into how the council delivers its vital services to local taxpayers.
With the costs of the recruitment process alone for a new chief executive estimated at £35,000, we must not forget that agonising over making the books balance forms the backdrop to the dispute.
Wherever the truth of the matter lies – we can only hope it all comes out in the wash.

It’s safety first at Southport fireworks events

Posted by Digital Editor on November 2, 2007 9:00 AM

IT is the weekend when the sky is full of whizzes, bangs and the collective cries of “ooh” and “aah”.
Throughout Southport and the rest of the area there are some fantastic large-scale displays organised for all the family to enjoy, with added attractions to complement the bangers and Catherine Wheels (see page 10).
And at a time when warnings about illegal fireworks are becoming more prevalent, surely it is best to let the professionals light the fuse on the fun.
Shop-bought fireworks can never match the spectacle of the official extravaganzas, but if you are planning a back garden display, be careful, and be safe.

This page contains an archive of all entries posted to Visiter Newsdesk in the November 2007. They are listed from oldest to newest.

October 2007 is the previous archive.December 2007 is the next archive.

Many more can be found on the home page or by looking through the archives.