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May 2008 Archives

Parking fee rise announced for Southport town centre care park

Posted by Jamie on May 30, 2008 9:15 AM

NEWS that Sefton Council is to review the controversial residential parking permit scheme will come as an enormous relief to many embattled town centre homeowners.

With purse strings tightening and fuel costs rocketing, the proposals to axe the biennial £20 fee will afford them an ever-so-slight breather from the soaring cost of owning a motor vehicle.

Not so good news, however, for residents, visitors and town-centre businesses who will be reeling from the authority’s announcement to review parking charges in Southport over the Summer.

The Visiter campaigned to throw out planned increases to on and off-street town centre charges in February – but now Sefton has proposed the first of what they label a “programme of increases”.

Tourist-friendly it most certainly isn’t, and the real losers are the many independent businesses which rely on people flooding to the town.

With shopping complexes north, east and south competing for trade, parking in the resort should be solely a way of ensuring high turnover of visitors to local shops, bars and restaurants.

The price hike at the NCP will net the council £42,000 – but the cost to small town centre traders, such as the likes of those on Wesley Street – could be incalculable.

Well done to Starr Trekkers who boldly go - through Southport!

Posted by Visiter Newsdesk on May 22, 2008 6:15 PM

HUNDREDS of women wearing illuminous purple T-shirts strolled through the streets of Southport late last Friday - and what a fine time they had too!
Last year those on the Star Trekk walk raised £80,000 vitally needed pounds for Queenscourt Hospice and the huge generosity of local women - and their many sponsors - has once again been in evidence, with a similar amount expected this time.
They say good fortune begins with one step - but with thousands of footsteps made last weekend people have shown how a huge difference can be made for those who need it most.
Congratulations to everyone who took part - see you all again next year!

Free bus transport could be an answer to parents' prayers

Posted by Visiter Newsdesk on May 22, 2008 6:13 PM

THE cost of public transport should not - but all too often is - a deterrent to parents when choosing a high school for their child.
At an average cost of £60 per month for a family with two school age children, the need to use buses is too often the fine line between a chosen school and the closest school.
News then that Merseytravel is poised to offer all local schoolchildren free term-time bus passes is great not only for the environment and traffic congestion, but also for free-choice.
Merseytravel chaiman Cllr Mark Dowd must be commended for proposing the scheme and it is vital that he is supported by local councillors as the bid is pitched to Goverment.
There however do remain concerns that need remedying.
The costings for the project - which will be funded by the taxpayer - are yet unknown, whilst bus operator Arriva must ensure that the increased numbers of passengers are catered for.
But if a financial burden - however small - can be lifted from the shoulders of school mums then it is something the Visiter broadly welcomes.

Shop, hotel, restaurant and bar workers are town's true stars

Posted by Visiter Newsdesk on May 15, 2008 6:15 PM

ALSO setting a fine example to everyone are the true stars upon whom Southport’s reputation depends.
As our town goes for Classic Resort status, with new hotels arriving soon, with an exciting new development planned for the seafront, Southport is on the up - and visitors are predicted to flock in in ever increasing numbers.
When they get here, first impressions are vital if we are to keep them coming back.
And if they come here and enjoy first class service, a friendly welcome, a professional attitude, they cannot fail to be drawn back.
There are many superb people who work in the tourism, leisure and hospitality industries in Southport, in shops, bars, hotels, restaurants and elsewhere, often without due recognition.
The Ambassador Awards on Wednesday night was the time to honour the fine job they do, day in and day out, and to say from all of us - thank you.

Would you stand up for someone who was being attacked?

Posted by Visiter Newsdesk on May 15, 2008 5:36 PM

WHAT would you do if you saw someone surrounded and being attacked by a group of thugs?
You could be hurt too. Would you hesitate - or dive in without a second thought?
Sefton Council chief executive Graham Haywood was sitting in his office when he saw police community support officer Simon Hart being pelted with bottles and then mobbed. The PCSO today tells the Visiter how he could have been seriously injured had no-one stepped in to help.
Mr Haywood rushed into the street, taking a town hall attendant with him, and as the police sirens sounded the culprits fled.
A community in which we live is only as good as we all make it.
Simon Hart today thanks Mr Haywood for standing up and being counted on his behalf.
It is a fine example he has set us all.

Southport Food Festival is looking very tasty!

Posted by Visiter Newsdesk on May 15, 2008 10:26 AM

SOUTHPORT Food and Drink Festival starts today - and like many people in Southport, staff at the Southport Visiter are certainly looking forward to it!

In most jobs people hate working late. I guess we are lucky being journalists though. On Tuesday night I saw the start of the flare competition in Maloneys bar in the Scarisbrick Hotel, which was great to watch! Later I was at the pre-event launch of the food festival at Wayfarers Arcade, a stunning setting for it.

From the food and drinks on display, the festival, our town's second, promises much. Great tomoatoes as ever from Flavour Fresh, sumptuous black pudding spring rolls and sweet potato soup from The Dining Rooms - surely one of Southport's best kept secrets - great cocktails from Chiquito's and excellent beer from the Scarisbrick Hotel, which is holding its annual Beer Festival at the moment. Apparently they have been selling out at an astonishing rate - Paul Bardsley's superb Southport Brewery creations are due to feature next week, so anyone heading down had better aim to arrive early.

Southport is buzzing when the food festival's on. We are fortunate to have such a wide range of venues here - you really can eat around the world in Southport - and what a superb way to celebrate what we have, as well as showcase to visitors what they should be enjoying and where.

Celebrity chef Michael Caines is due to arrive at the marquee in the town hall gardens at 1pm, and his demonstration promises to be among many highlights of this year's event.

I am looking forward to enjoying the food on offer over the next four days, and taking home the best local produce each night.

The diet can start again next week.....

Bon appetit!

Politicians are making Sefton Council a laughing stock

Posted by Visiter Newsdesk on May 12, 2008 2:20 PM

SOUTHPORT Food & Drink Festival starts tomorrow.
And while some of the area’s top chefs will be creating culinary masterpieces using ingredients such as beef stock, chicken stock and vegetable stock, Sefton’s councillors have come up with a unique recipe of their own - laughing stock.
The council is in chaos today, with no leader, with four Lib Dems having left the cabinet and saying they want no part in the administration, with Labour and the Conservatives refusing to form a coalition and refusing to put forward either a leader, or fill the vacant cabinet posts.
The row happened when Labour and the Tories tried to kick sand in the Lib Dems’ faces - who promptly took their ball home.
All sides have since been busy trying to spin their version of what happened and who was to blame in a bid to squabble their way up to the moral high ground.
Southport is really going places at the moment, exciting new developments springing up all the time, stunning new hotels on the way, great events and making a name with its ‘Classic Resort’ status. The forthcoming Golf Open really will see the eyes of the world on our town.
Politically our schools are among the best in England with Sefton Council officially rated as a four star suthority.
To get there it has taken tremendous hard work from the 8,302 full-time council employees, plus many more part-time, in addition to the 66 councillors who for many years have strived to work together in a hung council. Not an ideal situation, but they have done remarkably well to bring success from a long era of consensus, with politicians across the political spectrum and from areas as diverse as Bootle, Formby, Maghull and Southport working together.
It is time the blame game stopped. It was only a few days ago that local people voted in their thousands to put these politicians in office.
It is time they all remembered that - they need to grow up, start serving the people who put them into office and restore confidence in a council that will oversee the spending of £230,046,313 taxpayers’ cash this year, before the whole affair starts to leave a nasty taste.

This time of year, there's no better place to be than Southport!

Posted by Visiter Newsdesk on May 9, 2008 12:16 PM

WHEN the sun is shining, there really is no better place to be than Southport.
And fittingly, the beautiful weather comes at the same time as the start of the summer event season - a timetable jam-packed with things to do to keep everyone entertained.
In fact, there’s so much going on in England's classic resort the only problem will be trying to do it all.
The first event on the line-up, starting next week, is the four-day Southport food and drink festival taking place at various venues around the town, starting on Thursday.
The annual Ambassador Awards, rewarding local people for showing excellence in their work, is also being held and the refurbished Southport Theatre and Convention Centre has now re-opened for business with all sorts of acts booked to appear over the summer.
And next week is just the begining, there is more proof that Southport is a thriving place to live; the Southport International Jazz Festival at the end of May, Southport’s Charity Fun Fest in June, The Open Golf championship and the Southport Summer Classics concert in July, Southport Flower Show in August and lots more.
And details of all these fantastic events will be featured every week in your Southport Visiter. Just make sure you leave lots of space in your diary!

Should Southport be more child friendly?

Posted by Visiter Newsdesk on May 9, 2008 12:13 PM

AS mum Louise Cassidy calls for a more ‘baby-friendly’ resort, it causes us to wonder whether or not we give mothers a hard time.
Health and Safety rules mean that homemade baby food can’t be heated up in public microwaves, and last year the Visiter reported that a mother who breastfed her child in McDonalds was asked to leave. Mum-of-two Lindsey Black went on to support a proposed change in the law.
It’s not an easy job being a mum at the best of times.
Parents and their young families should be encouraged into our town, where they should be welcomed with open arms.

Should Southport Hospital be selling off its silver?

Posted by Visiter Newsdesk on May 1, 2008 6:17 PM

SOUTHPORT Hospital is selling off its silver.
The Trust is facing an £8m deficit and rather than lose jobs or services, it will bring in some much-needed cash by allowing 170 homes to be built on six acres of its land at Town Lane.
It’s a bold move, which many will congratulate - new homes are needed in Southport, especially for lower paid and key workers, and this will help solve some of the shortage. It will also swell the coffers, to the relief of staff.
Some however will worry that losing the land could restrict any future growth of services of site. Others may also question whether, in an ideal world, the land could have been used for building new parking space in an area where there are growing problems over where people leave their cars. The Trust’s promise to review parking this Summer is certainly a welcome move in this area.
Over the past few years the Trust has faced the problem of tackling huge budget deficits on more than one occasion, a situation which has led to continued stress for both managers and frontline staff.
This government promised huge investment in health when it was first elected back in 1997 - when Southport & Ormskirk Hospital Trust has to start selling off its own land as the only way of balancing its books, those promises are now starting to sound rather hollow.

Ale Caesar - Southport Swords herald the May Day start of Summer

Posted by Visiter Newsdesk on May 1, 2008 6:16 PM

AS DAWN stirred in Southport during the early hours yesterday, there were few signs of life.
The newsagent taking in his morning newspapers, the milkman ambling around town with his deliveries - oh, and a team of morris dancers and a crowd of well-wishers celebrating May Day before enjoying some great treal ale and bacon butties at the Scarisbrick Hotel.
The May Day ceremony, which heralds the Scarisbrick Hotel beer festival, has become something of a tradition in Southport, welcoming in the Summer.
Let’s hope, after the downpours of last year, they bring Southport - with some exciting events planned over the coming months - some better luck with the weather this year!

This page contains an archive of all entries posted to Visiter Newsdesk in the May 2008. They are listed from oldest to newest.

April 2008 is the previous archive.June 2008 is the next archive.

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